Practical Eco

Green Building the Cheapest Way to Slow Climate Chaos

You've got to respect the report in Scientific American saying that green building is the cheapest way to slow global warming.  You probably know that anyway, if you're reading this blog. (Notice how I'm calling it "climate chaos" now? Global warming sounds to benign.)

The article in SA is good read, but the statement comes originally from  the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), which was established under NAFTA.

According to their statistics "Green Building" represents only 2 percent of commercial 0.3 percent of new homes in the US. That's just not enough.

They mention the fact that conventional building benefits from volume discounts that keep prices lower. So when green building reaches 50% (why not 100%?) then the cost differential should shrink. 

Of course that doesn't take into account the fact that much of green building is simply about mindfulness and attention to how things are not. It's not all about the materials.

But as more of this sort of news gets out the snowball will keep growing and perhaps soon all building will be high-performance (see my post from last year about why I don't like to call it "green" anymore).

GreenPros Training: April 5th passive solar case study

Designers, builders and homeowners looking to put theory into practice should attend the "Green & Passive Solar Case Study & Design Lab"

This full day course presented by Alicia Ravetto, AIA LEED, a Carrboro architect, and Paul Konove a local designer-builder will be April 5 from 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM. at Central Carolina Community College.

The workshop will focus on greening plans and specifications to achieve your optimal green design goals.

Alicia and Paul will share with their experience from actual design projects. Highlights include an exercise to determine optimal lot siting for green building and an exercise to design /modify a conventional home plan to optimize renewable energy, green construction details, and specifications.

Central Carolina Community College, Pittsboro Campus Multipurpose Room, Building 2

COST: $90
PRE-REGISTRATION: call CCCC Continuing Education 919-542-6495 ext. 223
ON-SITE REGISTRATION: starts at 8:30 am

CoStar Study shows LEED buildings outperform others

The CoStar Group just released a study concluding that LEED certified buildings do better in terms of occupancy rates, sale price and rental rates.

The results indicate a broader demand by property investors and tenants for buildings that have earned either LEED® certification or the Energy Star® label. Naturally, this strengthens the business case for commercial green buildings, though it was pretty strong already.

According to the CoStar study, LEED buildings command rent premiums of $11.33 per square foot over their non-LEED peers and have 4.1 percent higher occupancy. Rental rates in Energy Star buildings represent a $2.40 per square foot premium over comparable non-Energy Star buildings and have 3.6 percent higher occupancy.

And  Energy Star buildings are selling for an average of $61 per square foot more than their peers, while LEED buildings command a remarkable $171 more per square foot.

Read the full press release here.

 

Ecolect - new resource for finding sustainable materials

I've just stumbled into Ecolect which is a fairly new website that features information about an impressive array of sustainable materials for  building and interior design.  It's quite heavily focused on interiors, surfaces and textiles. But I was amazed at how many things I found there that I had not yet heard of. And here I was thinking I had a pretty good knowledge of eco materials. Obviously the rate at which new green products and materials are being introduced is accelerating. Which means we'll all need resources like this even more.

Ecolect's mission is to provide the tools and resources that make it easier for you to design responsibly. So they provide us with:

1. A website featuring only materials with sustainable attributes, a place that stimulates discussion about defining sustainability and is a source of accurate information
2. A place for you to contribute user reviews and images of materials you use
3. Helpful case studies on successful sustainable design
4. An informative blog that discusses how design and ecology affect the world

Lemons to Lemonade: How to Launch a Sustainable Business in 24-36 Months

CSE Distinguished Speaker, Rinaldo Brutoco will be presenting Thursday March 27, 6:00pm at the Koury Auditorium, UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School,  Chapel Hill

The event is free and open to the public with free parking in the business deck. A book signing will follow.

The attend please RSVP to: cse@unc.edu

UNC Kenan-Flagler’s Center for Sustainable Enterprise is pleased to host Distinguished Speaker, Rinaldo Brutoco, on March 27. A highly successful entrepreneur and international business executive, Mr. Brutoco is a practical visionary, change agent and futurist. Mr. Brutoco was co-founder and COO of the nation's first pay cable television operation, Optical Systems Corporation, as well as CEO of one of the first companies to offer over-the-air television transmissions of major motion pictures, Universal Subscription Television.

For 13 years, Mr. Brutoco also served as the Chairman of Logical Data Management, which pioneered distributed data processing transfers. Most recently, he founded Seven Oaks Ranch, Inc., a sustainably designed, values-driven enterprise which manufactures and distributes organic food products. He also founded the World Business Academy, which advances global business leadership thinking on sustainable business strategies, global reconstruction, and values-driven leadership.

Mr. Brutoco is the co-author of the new book Freedom from Mid-East Oil, and has been the contributor to, or principal author resource for, several books including Winning the Innovation Game and New Paradigms in Business. 

Vacuum glass at R12+

According to Inhabitat,  Guardian Industries have unveiled a new super insulated vacuum glass that offers an insulation rating of R12-R13.

It uses the same principle as a vacuum thermos bottle to achieve this incredible R value.

The creators, Guardian Industries, hope to have these in the market next year. So I won't start warming up the car to get mine yet but I'm intrigued at the radical shift in energy efficiency this could mean for buildings everywhere.

See the full story on Inhabitat.

Carolina Recycling Association annual conference March 25-28

The Carolina Recycling Association annual conference is fast-approaching, being held this year at the North Raleigh Hilton, March 25-28. 

The conference will feature many sessions on ways recycling is contributing of North Carolina’s sustainable economy. The keynote speaker on Wednesday morning, March 26^th will be John Wells, CEO and President of Interface America, who will describe the company’s successful drive toward environmental sustainability.  On Thursday of the conference, Jeff Barrie will show and discuss his award-winning film “Kilowatt Ours.”

Free passes to hear both John Wells and Jeff Barrie are available at the bottom of the CRA main conference Web page

Winmore Neighborhood Hosting a Talk by Dan McFarland

Dan McFarland, from Southern Energy Management, will be giving a talk tonight titled, "Green Building: How Will I Know When I Build One."

Dan is the Director of Builder Services at Southern Energy Management and a local source of great knowledge about high-performance building.

The event runs from 7pm to 8:30 pm at 112 Della Street in Winmore, which is just off of Homestead Road in Chapel Hill, to your right as you head West from MLK.  Builders and the public are invited to attend.

New Green Development in Greensboro

A new development of 85 Energy Star (or better) homes will begin construction soon in Greensboro. The community to be called Terrapin Ridge has 85 sites that have been sensitively cleared in accordance with Green Building Initiative (GBI) standards.  A  model home has been designed and will begin construction in a few days. Between 8 and 10 builders are sought to take on a minimum of 3 lots each. Lot sizes vary from a 1/4 to 1/3 acre in size.

The community is within easy access to Greensboro, Burlington and RTP off of the Mount Hope Church Road exit (exit 132) of the I-40/85, about a mile and a half from the freeway. It's being positioned as an "Arts and Crafts"  neighborhood of custom-built homes starting in the $300,000's.  Sidewalks will be brick pavers and street lighting will be decorative. Acres of common ground are also part of the package. 

For more information and details contact www.TeamLeung.com, part of Keller Williams Realty.

Window Films to Cut Down Heat Also Improve Security

I've been on the look out for retrofit solutions to improve existing windows and came across the 3M Prestige line of products while attending a home show in Wilmington last week.

The film is available in a range of tints, but the effectiveness in reducing heat gain is not dependent on the tint. A nearly clear film will still repel 97% of the infrared light which heats your interior. That, of course, will cut your cooling bills in Summer. It also repels the UV light which can fade your furniture and carpets.

In addition, it won't change the visible reflectivity of the glass, so your windows won't become mirrors outside like with some other films.

But what sold me is the safety and security angle. The film is so strong and the adhesives so aggressive that you can smash the window and it holds the shards together. This makes it hard for burglars to smash through. And in my case,  where I have low thin windows and a 2-year-old, hard for toddlers or anyone else to hurt themselves.

The local installation company Carolina Solar Security works the region from the coast to the Triangle. They are very knowledgeable, friendly and professional. 

Duke campus expansion will be green

In last night's public meeting about the Duke Central Campus expansion plans, the architects of the plan claimed that the project will be green. It will encourage walking and cycling and will disrupt as few trees as possible. Though the project is still conceptual, Duke wants to complete it within four years.

Duke has engaged the firm Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects as master designers of the plan charged with developing the overall vision for the campus.  The firm also created the sports "quad" and the area known as Krzyzewskiville" at Duke.  Other works they are known for include the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, Reagan National Airport and work at several other universities.

There will be further public meetings as the plans evolve, the next one will be in May to address more specific designs.

Add a tank to a tankless hot water heater?

It may not seem sensible at first but adding a small tank to a tankless hot water heater can be a smart thing to do. Why? There are two key problems that can arise with tankless, or on-demand, hot water heaters. They are a cold water surprise when two showers are taken a few minutes apart, and a loss of pressure when two or more people are using hot water.

Basically, the problem occurs with after one person has showered the water in the pipes should still be hot for a while, assuming they're well insulated. But since the heater itself is not the water there will cool quickly. Once a second person starts to shower that cold water is moving down the pipes before the heater has kicked in resulting in a sandwich of cold water in the pipes that will hit the shower shortly.  By adding a ten-gallon heated tank to the system, the cold water surprise can be totally eliminated. The cold sandwich is tempered in the tank before it moves on up the pipes.

The loss of pressure is another problem that requires the addition of a small pump to resolve. For the whole story see Michael Chandler's article in Fine Home Builder magazine.

Greensboro Chalks Up First Speculative Green Warehouse Development

The new Bull Ridge Distribution Center is the first speculative warehouse building to be registered with the USGBC LEED program. The building is awaiting certification but is ready and waiting for tenants now. It offers reduced operating costs and the conservation of natural resources as well as convenient location for manufacturing and distribution businesses.

The developers, Liberty Property Trust who currently have about 3 million square feet of space that meets LEED standards, say that green buildings can reduce operating costs from 23 percent to 60 percent. PLus, the better air quality and natural light can improve employee performance up to 25 percent.

Via Springboard. See full story here.

PureWood - treated with heat rather than chemicals

I picked this up from Building Green today. A new outdoor decking wood made from Southern Yellow Pine and treated with heat - no copper arsenate or other chemicals at all. Hence the name, Pure Wood.  This process that was developed in Finland by Stellac Oy, and is licensed by Bay Tree Technologies here in the US, lasts about 50-60 hours.  The lumber is heated to 210°F then to 370°F or as high as 480°F when the sugars in the wood are transformed rendering them undigestible to insects or other decay organisms. They then recondition the wood with steam to restore some of the moisture.

The end result is a decking material that has no chemical preservatives, just pure wood, which is a relief. And it will be guarateed for 25 years even with ground contact. Some of the downside are that it's expensive, about the price of composite decking; and that a great deal of energy goes into making it. Currently it's mainly oil used to fire the burners, but the company are hoping to be able to operate with as much as 80% renewable fuels.

Bay Tree are currently establishing its distributor networks for the product so it's not yet available. But I'm looking forward to seeing some real world applications.

See www.purewood.net.

Ecoterrorism in Washington Sadly Misguided

I read this morning in the NY Times that Eco terrorists have torched five "green" luxury homes built in rural Washington state. I'm certainly no supporter of McMansion style building of mini mansions with green features, but there's just no sense in this or any violent act, no matter how justified the perpetrators think they are.

It reminds me of a story back in 1998 when I was in the UK, about an animal rights activist releasing 6000 minks from a farm. Of course, most of them died because they were unprepared for life in the wild and many of them killed local wildlife in their attempts to survive.

This case is a similar fiasco since the burning of 5 homes will have release huge quantities of CO2 and toxins into the air.

See the full story in the New York Times here.

Ground Source Heat Pumps video

Geothermal and Geoexchange systems are certainly among the most sensible, cost effective forms of renewable energy for buildings. Also known as ground-source heat pumps they may not have the pizazz of a solar panel, and they're not a visible badge either, but they are reliable and predictable, which neither Sunlight or the Wind can claim.

I caught this video here on CleanTechnica.com. It's a great outline if you know nothing about these systems.