April 02, 2007
NAHB says residential market is going green
We've been seeing references to green building practices in newspapers, popular magazines, and in the trade press for the past year or so. This year, the National Association of Homebuilders' green building conference in St. Louis attracted a good-sized crowd.
Here's a link: http://www.nbnnews.com/NBN/issues/2007-04-02/Front+Page/index.html
Note that builders and home buyers are beginning to see beyond the usual high-efficiency appliances and insulation to the green residence as a complete system. This is an important mind shift: from "bolting on" green features to designing and building a green home through an integrated process.
Posted by aquacura.com at 06:17 PM | Comments (0)
March 18, 2007
Time to raise the volume
Well, it has been far too long since I posted an entry. Last week I attended the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association conference in Boston (getting out of town just before the snow). I guess I'd summarize my feelings as, "It's time to raise the volume."
I've been convinced for many years that human activity would impose impacts on global climate. Probably about 10 years ago, I accepted that uncertainty persisted, but it seemed to me that it would be logical to decrease our eco footprints and control potential greenhouse gas emissions, because doing so would a) not be overly difficult (it still isn't), and b) be good for society in any event.
A couple of years ago, I was still taking some comfort in the 2001 IPCC report that, in good scientific fashion, expressed continuing uncertainty as to the drivers and potential ill effects of global warming.
But around 2004, my willingness to see "the other side" faded away as Europe toasted and as the Antarctic ice was seen to be melting and falling apart faster than the models had predicted. And the glaciers: is there one anywhere in the world that has not retreated significantly in the past few decadeshttp://www.architecture2030.org/global_impact/global5.html.
Now Greenland and Arctic ice. And ice storms in Pennsylvania, where we used to get good, honest snow. And bark beetles climbing the mountains to attack trees that they could not get to when winters were colder. And deer ticks (Lyme disease) overwintering, moving tick season toward year round. And on and on.
It's time to raise the volume. I'm going to try not to be strident, but just insistent. We are facing a situation that will threaten civilized society. Should I repeat? CIVILIZED SOCIETY WILL BREAK DOWN IN THE LIFE TIMES OF CURRENTLY LITTLE PEOPLE WHO ARE HERE ON THE EARTH NOW if we don't do something serious and quickly.
These are my grandchildren. I have five, ranging from 7 to almost 2. These little people will see massive struggles between people living in higher (or lower) latitudes and people living in regions closer to the equator, which will become inhospitable as this century progresses. Today, these people emigrate for economic opportunities. How much more intense will the struggle between those in place and those who want to (need to) join them when the motivation is survival?
So I'm going to get back to the mission of convincing my readers that climate change is a serious challenge, and that an essential part of our campaign to turn back from disaster lies in making our new and existing buildings far more energy efficient.
For now, look at the 2030 Challenge: http://www.architecture2030.org/home.html. It's a great website with information that lay people as well as technical people can understand and appreciate.
Posted by aquacura.com at 01:57 PM | Comments (0)
November 22, 2006
Cost of Green -- Part MCMVII
I seem to be one of few (if any) green building professionals advocating a different way of framing the "cost of green" discussion.
I'm back from Greenbuild 2006, where one speaker after another compared the cost of a green building with a conventional building by expressing the cost of the one building against the average cost of how many? conventional buildings. Often, the green building is a few dollars higher per square foot than the average of conventional buildings. That number is then adopted as "this year's" green building premium.
The CEO of the Enterprise Foundation did it in the opening plenary, observing that Green Communities houses cost 3% or 4% more than conventional houses.
Maybe it's part of the progressives' fairness doctrine: we feel the need to fully disclose the down side as we present the up side. But what, exactly, are we disclosing? I suggest the comparison would be far more valid if we express the cost of a green building - say in $ per square foot - and place it in the range of conventional buildings.
Posted by aquacura.com at 07:33 AM | Comments (0)
August 09, 2005
Another good WalMart story
Showing my willingness to accept good works from bad actors, see the following link.
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/08-04-2005/0004082553&EDATE=
Posted by aquacura.com at 06:40 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
July 27, 2005
Crushed concrete attribution
In my prior entry on this subject, I neglected to attribute the idea to Bill Wenk of Wenk Associates. http://www.wenkla.com
I met Bill today at a meeting in Pittsburgh, and we talked at greater length about a project in Milwaukee where thousands of cubic yards of concrete waste is being used to create subsurface stormwater retention ponds. The project enjoys a cheap medium and Wisconsin DOT enjoys a disposal cost much lower than they expected to pay.
I hope Bill doesn't mind my suggesting that you contact him for details (like what sort of crushing equipment, what to do about rebars, etc)
His email is bwenk@wenkla.com
Posted by aquacura.com at 10:17 PM | Comments (0)
July 26, 2005
Wind power in China
An article in today's New York Times about China's wind power industry provides some hope that they might be coming to their senses about electric power production. They seemed to be following in the sooty footsteps of the U.S. -- first, pollute the air by burning dirty coal, then do something better. Maybe they will leap directly to renewable power production.
Transmission of wind-generated power from the steppes to the eastern cities is certainly going to result in some inefficiencies, but maybe a wind power industry will be able to produce a smaller windmill that can be sited throughout the country, to achieve a distributed power production network.
Posted by aquacura.com at 02:07 PM | Comments (2)
Good site for green homes
I have come across a good site for information on green building practices for homes. Use this link: http://www.homes-across-america.org
Posted by aquacura.com at 01:36 PM | Comments (0)
July 25, 2005
Crushed concrete for stormwater storage
I recently heard of a clever way to combine demolition waste reuse with stormwater management: use crushed concrete to create subsurface storage for stormwater.
Modern stormwater management practices, particularly retention of runoff from small storms, often entails subsurface storage beds. These beds are often built on drainable soils, to allow retained rainfall to infiltrate rather than to run off the site. Standard practices are to use gravel, perforated pipe, or formed plastic storage units.
Crushed concrete could also be used, allowing you to deal with a waste product and to save the cost of gravel (or at least the cost difference between gravel and the cost of crushing the concrete) I expect you could also realize somewhat higher void space in a bed of crushed concrete, compared to gravel. Higher void space would decrease the storage volume required to hold a particular amount of rainfall.
Does anyone out there have experience with this approach?
Posted by aquacura.com at 08:40 PM | Comments (0)
July 21, 2005
Give the devil its due
Although I am no fan of WalMart, I am willing to concede that if they begin to green up their retail stores, it could serve as an important positive example to other big boxers.
See below:
"We see it as a next step in evaluating the impact we leave on the environment as we look toward smart growth and sustainability in the building of our new stores," said Mike Duke, executive vice president and chief executive officer of Wal-Mart Stores - USA. "This store will contain many of the best resource conservation and sustainable design technologies currently available to minimize the use of energy and natural resources."
The McKinney store will experiment with materials, technology, and processes, which include:
* Reducing the amounts of energy and natural resources required to
operate and maintain the stores
* Reducing the amount of raw materials needed to construct the facility.
* Substituting, when appropriate the amount of renewable materials used
to construct and maintain the facility.
"We want to make the best use of renewable and alternate sources like wind and solar energy to generate electricity to supplement the power needs of the store," said Don Moseley, PE, Wal-Mart's experimental projects manager. "The store at McKinney will draw its energy first from on-site resources and systems, and then from conventional utility sources as a secondary service. For example, the waste cooking oil which had been used to fry chicken will be recycled by mixing it with used automotive oil from the Tire and Lube Express to serve as fuel to heat the building."
Biodiesel!! Mixed with waste oil!! That's pretty impressive.
Posted by aquacura.com at 09:06 AM | Comments (3)
July 18, 2005
The two-percent myth
If you are involved in green building, you have undoubtedly heard the two-percent myth: Green buildings cost about 2 percent more to build than a conventional building. This assertion, which makes the rounds even at meetings of true believers (I attended a Pittsburgh GBA meeting earlier this year where I heard it four times from the podium) is simply silly, for a number of reasons.
First, and most important, a thoughtful design and construction team can make a building as green as the budget allows. A well-integrated team can trade costs to achieve significant energy efficiency and to produce a healthful indoor environment while staying within a capital cost budget. You can make a building as green as you choose.
Second, the 2 percent myth is based on old information. As green building practices become more common in the construction industry, hard and soft costs are decreasing. Consider certified wood. Only a couple of years ago, a builder had to work hard to identify a source of structural lumber, and then had to import the lumber from a distance. Distribution is improving, and we may soon see a distribution center in our own region.
Third, how can one discern a 2 percent difference between a building that has been built and one that exists only on paper. If you are comparing green to conventional, you are doing so with estimated costs. The uncertainty in a cost estimate done from a detailed take-off is probably greater than 2 percent (builders, please help me here). The comparison point is probably pretty far back in the design process -- it is highly unlikely that you would do a detailed design of both buildings. So what is the uncertainty in this earlier-stage estimate? Surely more than 2 percent.
If we want to counteract the 2 percent myth, we have to change the frame of the discussion. If we simply argue against the myth, we will actually reinforce it. So I have some alternative frames to propose.
1. You can be as green as your budget will allow.
2. You can probably build LEED Silver without spending more.
3. You can build green to your budget, and then enjoy the energy efficiency benefits for the life of the building.
I welcome your thoughts.
Posted by aquacura.com at 09:57 AM | Comments (2)
July 12, 2005
Gathering place for green building professionals
Since I left big engineering to form tiny Aqua Cura I have met scores of design and construction professionals who are deeply committed to green building practices. Almost all of them work in small firms; many of them own these small firms.
In my other life, I could call on the marketing department to support my business development efforts. Now, I am the marketing department, as well as the doing the work department (to say nothing of the human resources and billing departments).
So to succeed, we become more collaborative. Which is a more enjoyable way to work, anyways. I am going to try to help myself and all other green building professionals who are willing to share information as they build teams to pursue opportunities.
Please, if you want to draw a team together, use this weblog. Post your idea as an entry and see who responds.
Posted by aquacura.com at 05:27 PM | Comments (1)