The first full day of sustainable building material tours got off to a rocky start. I awoke to discover that my bank and auto insurance company hadn’t been playing well together for the past three weeks. As a result, I was on the road, with a rental car, and without auto insurance. I never [...]
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  by kevin, on May 16th, 2010View on tour: PDX 2010 in a larger map A week ago I posted a question on a LinkedIn discussion board asking for sustainable building material manufacturer recommendations in the Portland OR area. I was pleasantly surprised not only by how many responses I received, but also by how many interesting companies there appear to [...] by aleida, on April 28th, 2010 Image courtesy of BrightTALK webinar The BrightTALK programming continued with Randy Knox’s presentation titled Adobe – LEED & Beyond. Knox is the Head of Environmental Programs at Adobe, and oversees their global real estate facilities and physical security operations. His was a very short presentation – it lasted only 28 minutes – but it was nevertheless a very informative look at Adobe’s internal sustainability initiatives. In the United States, Adobe has already earned four LEED-EB Platinum certifications: three for their headquarters in San Jose, CA, and one for their offices in San Francisco, CA, which also happens to be the oldest building in the world with that level of certification. The shift at headquarters began during the energy crisis of 2001 with a concerted effort to reduce their electrical use. With just a few small and simple projects (like turning off lights and de-lamping certain areas of their building), they reduced their use by about 10%. This compelled them to commit to an additional 10% reduction, and installed real-time electrical meters to measure their progress. Meters in place, they replaced incandescent bulbs with CFLs in some areas, installed watt stopper power strips in all of their 2,500 employee offices (which also allowed them to run other electrical devices via motion sensors), reduced the run time of their garage fans (without endangering human safety), and reduced the length of time that their outside lights were on at night. The projects cost $118,000 to implement. They received $79,000 in rebates from PG&E, their local utility, for a total out-of-pocket expense of $39,000. Knox reports that they are currently saving about $212,000 per year thanks to these changes. But they didn’t stop there. Continuing with lighting, they replaced all of their garage high-pressure sodium lamps with CFLs. Currently, they are experimenting with LEDs, which are already installed in elevator lobbies and exit signage. They are working on transitioning their garages’ first floor to LEDs. So far, they have spent $400,000 on these lighting efforts, have received $70,000 in rebates from PG&E, and are saving $306,215 per year. by aleida, on April 27th, 2010 Image courtesy of BrightTALK webinar Right at noon on April 22, 2010, BrightTALK presented the roundtable discussion Ghirardelli Goes Green. Moderated by Deanna Meredith, the Senior Marketing Manager for Willdan Energy Solutions, the panelists were Jane Echlin, the General Manager of Ghirardelli Square and the Developer Representative for Fairmont Heritage Place located in Ghirardelli Square, Darren Nix, the LodgingSavers Program Manager with Ecology Action, and Dr. Densen Cao, CEO of the CAO Group. The discussion was specifically centered on the transition of the historic Ghirardelli sign that sits atop Fairmont Heritage Place to an LED system. “Ghirardelli Goes Green started last year with a focus on our trash and recycling program, but has morphed into us reviewing other areas here at the property … where we and our tenants can make an impact,” says Echlin. They have tracked gas and electricity use for each tenant through the ENERGY Star website. An assessment of the carbon monoxide emissions in their parking garage concluded they could turn off some fans. And then they organize an actual event – that coincides with Earth Day – attended by various participants who showcase ways that the public can reduce energy use. Last year, Echlin and her team actively started looking at alternative, lower wattage lighting systems. The property had historically had problems with maintenance with the old type of bulb, which would be affected by the salty air and often go out. But when they started looking at the options “we were confused by the amount of product out on the market and knowing which were reliable products, which were going to last, etc.,” says Echlin. For professional advice, she reached out to Willdan Energy Solutions and PG&E. by aleida, on April 27th, 2010Image courtesy of BrightTALK webinar BrightTALK’s Green Building Summit on April 22, 2010 continued with Bridging Ecological Research and Urban Design: Ecological Design and Planning, presented by Alexander J. Felson from Yale University School of Architecture and Forestry and Environmental Studies. Felson first did a fast-paced overview of the lack of rigor within [...] by aleida, on April 26th, 2010 Image courtesy of BrightTALK webinar BrightTALK’s Green Building Summit on Thursday, April 22, 2010 continued with a presentation titled Sustainable Federal Buildings: Mariposa Land Port of Entry, AZ, presented by Melissa Farling, Brian Farling, and Eddie Jones, all three from Jones Studio, an architecture firm based in Phoenix, Arizona. They gave us an overview to some of the considerations that are going into the redesign of one of the largest ports in the United States. The Mariposa Land Port of Entry is just one of thirty-three ports of entry along the United States – Mexico border. Located in Nogales, Arizona, “Mariposa’s facility annually processes more people than LAX and JFK combined. It inspects $12.85 billion of merchandise, and 45% of the produce consumed in the US crosses Mariposa,” said Jones. Yet the facility struggles to do its job. These numbers are continually increasing, and during harvest season, trucks already have a wait time of up to 10 hours. But at least they have designated paths to follow; pedestrians have to use worn dirt paths to get to and from the port. “The traffic queues, congestion, exhaust fumes, and dessert temperatures combine to create a toxic environment and an unpleasant experience for customs and border patrol agents, [United States citizens], and Mexican citizens.” Built in 1973, the port is in need of a major redesign. “One of our most daunting challenges was to redesign the port to move traffic more efficiently, while saying architecturally, “Welcome to the U.S.A.” The project is pursuing a “whole system” approach – one that minimizes the use of resources and impact on the environment while providing security and a welcoming environment. Inspired by linear rail yards, the redesign includes a clear area for southbound traffic into Mexico, two designated areas for northbound traffic (one for personal vehicles, and a much larger one for commercial trucks), and two safe and distinct lanes for pedestrians. Lastly, an “oasis” has been carved out for port employees. Designed at the scale of a small downtown main street, it will provide a safe zone where employees can enjoy the outdoors and de-stress. by aleida, on April 26th, 2010 Image courtesy of BrightTALK webinar To mark the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, BrightTALK, the on-line webinar service, went all out with a week-long schedule packed with a total of 54 sessions. Of the eight presented on April 22, seven focused on green building. Kevin previewed the day’s line-up here. I started the day with The Economics of Green Building, presented by George Elvin, Ph.D., the Director of Green Technology Forum and an Associate Professor of Architecture at Ball State University. The main theme of the presentation was, as he put it, “saving the planet without breaking the bank.” (Why do people insist on this ridiculous notion of “saving the planet”??) He touched upon these six major topics:
The forty-eight minutes that Elvin had for this session prevented him from doing an in-depth look into any of these topics, yet he managed to pack in a lot of information. I’ll take a cue from him and focus only on what he presented for item number one. For it, Elvin provided some of the results of a survey from earlier this year that asked practitioners to identify what they considered the most low-cost LEED credits that they achieved in a building. by aleida, on April 19th, 2010 Image courtesy of Interstyle web site “This movement is all about collaboration.” So said Tammy Schwolsky, CEO of Residential Energy Assessment Services, Inc. (REAS), while giving us a sneak peek at her ZENERGY House the day before its grand opening (we covered that event here). Kevin had asked her what single aspect had surprised her the most during the two-year house renovation project, and without hesitation she said that it was how everyone really needed to work together to accomplish truly sustainable results. We encounter that sentiment quite often in our conversations with artists, designers, fabricators, and all the other professions whose practitioners are actively working in the sustainability movement. Yet of everyone we’ve talked to and worked with, few individuals embody that sentiment better than Robyn Palmen, Architectural Sales Manager at Interstyle Ceramic & Glass. Several years ago, when we started looking for recycled glass tiles, our knowledge of that entire category was rather limited. We were very much still learning what questions to ask manufacturers about their products to determine whether or not they would support our pursuit of sustainable strategies. We found Interstyle right at that time, and from the onset Robyn was welcoming of our inquiries, enthusiastic about keeping us informed about new developments, and mindful to check in with us often to make sure we were well stocked with samples and product details. I realize that you may be reading this and thinking, “What’s the big deal? That’s her job.” And all that may be trivial, but I often found that, in reaching out to other companies, I usually hit a brick wall: messages were never returned and e-mails went unanswered; or if I did manage to speak with someone, I would either get vague answers or be promised information that later would not be delivered. A few months ago I wrote a little about an experiment that Interstyle did for us (read that post here). It was Robyn who took our design specs and got that sample through their shop, all before we ever specified any of their tiles. Now, this post is not about Robyn specifically, but I find it difficult to speak of Interstyle without mentioning her because, to us, her approachability is a reflection of the company, their values, and their integrity in the sustainability movement. And when we combine that with the incredibly beautiful products that they design and manufacture, we must admit that we are huge fans – we just love what we see. Insterstyle Ceramic & Glass is a family-owned company based in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. It was founded in 1977 by Ernesto and Georgia Hauner. The Brazilian husband and wife team had once ran Mobilinea, a modern furniture company. Their emigration to Canada had forced them to leave that company behind. Once in British Columbia, they decided to delve into the world of ceramic tile and, thus, continue their entrepreneurial proclivity in their new home. Read more stories of sustainability: Interstyle Ceramic & Glass by aleida, on April 11th, 2010 Image by Aaron at Pixel Planet On Friday, April 2, the ZENERGY House prototype opened to the public. It was the culmination of years of work by Tammy and Ron Schwolsky, co-founders of Residential Energy Assessment Services (REAS), an energy auditing and consulting company, and the beginning of a living laboratory where the Schwolskys have put every energy efficiency product and strategy in the house to the test, and use the process as a teaching opportunity for the local community. Tammy tells us that she and Ron, both energy auditors, bought the house in 2007 with the original intention to do a whole house energy efficiency retrofit and put it back on the market within six months. They hoped to use the project as an example to builders and homeowners that a market demand for high performance homes does exist. Unfortunately, their timing could not have been worse. They realized they wouldn’t be able to sell it, so they modified their strategy. Their work had already shown them that it’s sometimes difficult to get people to change long-lived behavior related to buildings if you can’t show them a better way in practice. So, they began to re-envision the house as a tool for them to teach and for others to learn about how to “green” existing homes, getting it to be as close to net-zero energy as possible.  Image by Aaron at Pixel Planet The house was specifically chosen for its size. At 2,450 square feet of living space, it represents the average size of a single family home in the United States. It’s a one story structure with a large entry area, a living room, a kitchen with a small eating area, three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a tiny sitting room, a two car attached garage, and an outdoor pool. Built in 1950, it was hardly a model for energy efficiency. An exhaustive energy audit made use of a blower door, duct blaster and infrared camera, combustion analyzer, and only after knowing the state of the house did the improvements begin. Some of the more notable improvements are:
by kevin, on April 8th, 2010
In 2004, on a busy corner in Venice, CA, an old Hudson auto repair garage built in 1923 was converted to an art gallery. Abbot Kinney Boulevard, between Venice and Pacific, is a ten block long collection of trendy restaurants, custom jewelry shops, book stores, clothing stores, and consignment shops. Every medium-size U.S. city has a similarly gentrified stretch. The garage was located at the southeastern end of that stretch at the corner of Venice and Abbot Kinney. Others in the community may not have given much notice to yet another gallery opening in an already artsy neighborhood. However, it was the first time the garage had been used for anything other than auto repair since it had been built. The new tenant and planned space were different, yet not in a way immediately obvious, especially to that tenant. epOxybOx (intentional spelling) was an art gallery dedicated to presenting green art and the work of fine artists using green materials or media. That idea may have been several years ahead of the curve, but that’s not what set it apart. At the time, no one could have predicted what it would become and how it would evolve. When Deborah Guyer Greene started epOxybOx, she wasn’t fully aware of the path it would take. In fact, her new venture began on a bit of a lark. She was art director for the Foliage Theater Project and ran the Shakespeare Probation Program where she taught theater to violent offenders between 14 and 19 years old. One day, while searching for a large wall surface for a mural painting, she stumbled on the shuttered garage. She knew as soon as she saw the place she had to do something with it. During a recent interview, she referred to it as divine intervention. “It’s a terrible way to make business decisions,” she warns. Without a written business plan and before securing investment capital, Deborah signed a lease and formed epOxybOx. It quickly became a social hub, a community gathering place, an event center, and a place to party. Event and opening audiences went from small crowds to large throngs. While converting garage to gallery, Deborah knew she wanted to use environmentally favorable building materials, but finding them was far more difficult than she expected. That struggle planted a seed in her mind. Two years later she joined forces with Sasha King to form epOxyGreen. Their idea was that green materials should be easier to find and affordable to purchase. At first they carved out 500 square feet in the garage lube room, but the new business was an instant hit and required additional space. As the showroom grew, the gallery shrank. It eventually took over all 1,500 square feet. |
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