Fw: GreenClips.129 10.06.99

[Guest guest]

>Welcome to GreenClips, a summary of news on sustainable building design and

related government and business issues published every two weeks by Chris

Hammer.

>

>. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

..

>

>

>READ ON!

>Don't stop reading at the last news Clip - watch our sponsors'

announcements

>below for information on conferences, products, services, and other useful

>resources.

>

>. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

..

>

>

>GreenClips.129 10.06.99

>

>

>UK'S BRE INTRODUCES LIFE-CYCLE ASSESSMENT TOOLS

>This summer, the UK's Building Research Establishment produced

Environmental

>Profiles, a methodology report and a database intended to help UK building

>designers cut through confusing claims about the environmental impacts of

>construction materials. BRE's methodology presents a consistent framework

for

>identifying and assessing the environmental effects of building materials

>over their entire life cycle--extraction, processing, use, maintenance, and

>disposal. The Environmental Profiles database, which follows the BRE

>methodology, contains building product information supplied by UK

>manufacturers. " The standardized methodology will allow designers to demand

>reliable and comparable environmental information about different building

>materials, and will give suppliers the opportunity to present credible

>environmental information about their products, " says Suzy of BRE's

>Centre for Sustainable Construction. The result of three years of work,

these

>documents were developed in collaboration with building materials industry

>representatives, with funding from the [uK Department of the Environment,

>Transport and the Regions]. The database is available as an Internet

>subscription [cost: L200-500 per year]. More:

><http://www.bre.co.uk/envprofiles>. - Green Futures, Sep/Oct 99, p 42, by

>Tom Harvey.

>

>GOOD DESIGN IS GOOD BUSINESS, SWISS BUILDING SHOWS

>Switzerland's ABB Power Generation Ltd. is one of this year's winners of

the

>third annual Business Week/Architectural Record " Good Design is Good

>Business " awards. Sponsored by the American Institute of Architects, the

>awards honor collaborative efforts between client and architect to create

>architecture supporting specific business goals. Designed by architect Theo

>Hotz of Zurich, ABB's new headquarters houses 2,100 employees. Consistent

>with European regulations mandating workers' access to daylight, the

>building's six-story, fingerlike wings of office space provide daylight and

>natural ventilation to all. External automated blinds shade the operable

>curtain wall, minimizing air conditioning, even with the high percentage of

>perimeter wall. Lobby and atrium spaces are only minimally heated and

cooled,

>thermally buffering occupied spaces. The building mass absorbs excess heat

>generated during the day, exhausting it or reradiating it at night, as

>needed. These conservation techniques pay back more quickly in Europe than

in

>the US due to higher energy taxes. Swiss regulations enabled creative

>financing: the land and building were sold before construction to a

>consortium of pension funds, then leased back by ABB, allowing ABB to

afford

>a better quality facility while lowering occupancy costs. In addition, ABB

>managed to rezone its surplus property (much of it obsolete industrial

sites)

>for higher value uses, realizing up to 10 times previous book value on the

>redeveloped land. Also winning a BW/AR award this year was the L.

>Preger Intelligent Workplace at Carnegie Mellon University. - Architectural

>Record, Oct 99, p. 94.

>[Full text: <http://www.archrecord.com>]

>

>COLORADO BUILDER EMBRACES GREEN PRINCIPLES

>Concern for the environment has guided McStain Enterprises of Boulder,

>Colorado since the company began more than 30 years ago. For McStain, which

>builds about 350 units a year, including starter homes, luxury condominiums

>and large custom homes, green building starts with land planning. " We have

a

>tremendous responsibility when we put something on the ground, " says Tom

>Hoyt, McStain's president. " We're establishing land patterns that several

>generations are going to have to live with. " McStain's planning reflects

New

>Urbanism principles, including pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods with

narrow

>streets and walking and biking paths. McStain participates in Built Green,

a

>program funded by the Governor's Office of Energy Conservation that

>encourages using resource-efficient building products. McStain uses

wet-spray

>cellulose insulation, for instance, both because it's made from recycled

>newsprint and because it performs better than fiberglass. Tighter building

>envelopes allow builders to centralize HVAC units and simplify mechanical

>systems, cutting maintenance costs and making homes more affordable.

McStain

>is currently working with the Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings

>to build three homes in order to evaluate which environmental systems

perform

>best for the least cost. McStain Enterprises sees their building philosophy

>as a partnership with the natural environment, so they build with the

>knowledge that land and natural materials are irreplaceable. Adhering to

>green principles can also help builders differentiate themselves in the

>market. " By no means does being a green builder mean you can't be a

>leading-edge profitable builder, " Hoyt says. " We're a big believer in doing

>both. " - Professional Builder, Sep 99, p 86, by Rob Fanjoy.

>[More: <http://www.mcstain.com/environm.htm>]

>[Full text: <http://www.probuilder.com/features/0999/mcstain.htm>]

>

>GLASS TILES HELP SUSTAIN LOCAL RECYCLING

>Although for years Minnesota has achieved one of the nation's highest glass

>container recycling rates, in some rural Minnesota communities, low glass

>volumes and long hauling distances to central recycling facilities make

>recycling expensive. As a result, some counties are exploring local markets

>for recyclable glass, including road aggregate, underground filter media,

and

>abrasive blast material. One of the more promising, higher-value

alternatives

>is tile manufacturing. Using glass collected from rural residential

programs,

>Winona ORC Industries, Inc. is moving toward full production of garden

pavers

>and glass tiles. WORC has sold decorative garden pavers to several stores

in

>Minnesota and Wisconsin, and its glass tiles, which are exceptionally

strong

>and meet or exceed ASTM standards, have been well received by customers.

The

>St. Neighborhood Energy Consortium, a local nonprofit organization

>involved in recycling, recently used WORC's glass tiles for a countertop in

>its new building. A report by WORC and the Southeastern Minnesota

Recycler's

>Exchange, " Recycled Glass Manufacturing: A Demonstration Project, " provides

>information about manufacturing and marketing recycled glass tiles. Order

>report from Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance: 800 657 3843.

More:

><http://www.moea.state.mn.us/lc/glass.cfm>. - Resource Recycling, Sep 99,

p

>14, by Deborah McCoy and Dan Krivit.

>

>COAL SLUDGE AND RECLAIMED GLASS HIT THE ROAD

>After 10 years of research into alternatives to landfilling coal-combustion

>waste, this summer Consol Energy of Library, Pennsylvania built and

>successfully operated a pilot plant that converted a coal combustion

>byproduct into 150 tons of aggregate for road building and concrete block.

>The material, which meets commercial specifications, will be placed in a

>blacktop test strip in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania to see how it stands

up

>in real-world conditions. The project received about $1.5 million in

funding

>from Consol, the US Department of Energy, Pittsburgh-based electric utility

>Duquesne Light Co., and SynAggs Inc. " The market will ultimately decide,

but

>between building demand for aggregates, environmental concerns and a new

wave

>of utility regs, our timing couldn't be better, " says Yuran of

SynAggs.

>Meanwhile, the Minnesota Department of Transportation has developed a

>specification for using 10 percent glass in aggregate production. This step

>paves the way toward requiring recycled post-consumer glass in the base of

>public works road construction projects. Results of recent county

>demonstration projects indicate that mandatory " shall use " language in bid

>specifications is more likely to increase market demand for reclaimed glass

>than " will be permitted " language. [see Clip above for more on recycled

>glass.] - ENR, 20 Sep 99, p 15 (coal sludge article); Resource Recycling,

>Sep 99, p 14, by Deborah McCoy and Dan Krivit (recycled glass

article).

>

>. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

..

>

>GreenClips is free of charge thanks to individual members and these

sponsors:

>

>BANK OF AMERICA http://www.bankofamerica.com

>For information on Bank of America's environmental programs, select Inside

>Bank of America, and then The Environment.

>

>EPA'S ENVIRONMENTALLY-PREFERABLE PURCHASING PROGRAM

>Greening the government, one purchase at a time.

>http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/epp

>

>INTERFACE, INC.

>More than a carpet company. Much more.

>http://www.interfaceinc.com

>

>WSU ENERGY PROGRAM http://www.energy.wsu.edu

>Providing objective research, information and solutions. Washington State

>University ative Extension Energy Program in Olympia, Washington.

>Subscribe to GreenClips and other mailing lists on energy and the

environment

>at <http://listserv.energy.wsu.edu/guest/RemoteAvailableLists>.

>

>ALAMEDA COUNTY SOURCE REDUCTION AND RECYCLING BOARD

>The Grants to Non-Profits Program is soliciting proposals for grant

>applications for the 1999/2000 fiscal year. Eligible Projects will result

in

>a measurable and sustained decrease in quantities of materials landfilled

in

>Alameda County, California. This includes source reduction, recycling

>collection or processing, market development, public education, and

recycled

>product procurement projects. About $775,000 is available for non-profit

>organizations with federal, tax-exempt status. Government agencies or

>for-profit businesses are not eligible to apply. Proposers are strongly

>urged to attend a Voluntary Information Workshop, October 21, 1999 at

Alameda

>County Recycling Board Room 777 St., Suite 100, San Leandro,

>California, from 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon. Proposals are due November 22,

>1999. To receive an application or to obtain a list of previously funded

>grants and case studies visit <http://www.stopwaste.org.>

>

>US DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY http://www.eren.doe.gov/buildings

>The US Department of Energy's Rebuild America program has helped introduce

an

>energy-awareness curriculum, Active Physics, in the secondary schools of

>Little Rock, Arkansas. Historically, only 20% of high school students take

>physics. Active Physics, a revolutionary hands-on approach sponsored by the

>National Science Foundation, should reach 80%. The course involves students

>in hands-on experiments and focuses on applications in sports and other

areas

>of personal interest. In Little Rock, Active Physics will include the

>Lighting in the Library activity developed by DOE's Office of Building

>Technology, State and Community Programs, which teaches about energy

>efficient lighting. More information on BTS' programs to improve building

>energy efficiency is available on DOE's Energy Efficiency and Renewable

>Energy Network website <http://www.eren.doe.gov/buildings>or by calling 800

>363 3732.

>

>. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

..

>

>ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

>Sustainable design consultant Hammer publishes GreenClips in San

Francisco. Ms. Hammer helps her clients with environmentally responsible

approaches to urban planning and development, and to building design,

construction, and operation. GreenClips is written by Hammer and

.

>

>To CONTACT THE PUBLISHER

>Email GreenClips@... or call 415.928.7941.

>

>BACK ISSUES

>Two Internet sites host GreenClips archives for reference and research:

>http://solstice.crest.org/sustainable/greenclips-info.html (keyword

search)

>http://www.greendesign.net/greenclips (browse contents)

>

>REDISTRIBUTION

>Please do not redistribute or post copies of GreenClips regularly.

Encourage readers who receive GreenClips from you to subscribe directly.

Continuing sponsorship depends on accurate reader counts.

>

>To SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE

>Subscribe, unsubscribe, or change your address at this web site:

>http://listserv.energy.wsu.edu/guest/RemoteListSummary/GreenClips

>

>You can also do this by email following these instructions:

>Address an email message to <GreenClips-request@...>.

>In the body of the message (not the subject line) type either:

>subscribe <your internet email address>

>unsubscribe <your internet email address>

>

>. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

..

>

>Copyright 1999 Sustainable Design Resources. All rights reserved.

>Republishing GreenClips in print or on a web site, in whole or in part, or

commercial distribution in any form requires advance permission of the

publisher.