GreenClips.142 04.19.00

NY EXHIBITION CELEBRATES GREEN DESIGN
"Ten Shades of Green," a new architecture show at the Urban Center in New York City, demonstrates that environmental priorities are not antagonistic to the highest aesthetic standards. Organized by the Architecture League with Peter Buchanan as guest curator, the show features 10 European buildings, including: the Beyeler Museum in Basel, Switzerland, designed by Renzo Piano; the Gotz headquarters in Wurzburg, Germany (Webler und Geissler Architekten); the Mont-Cenis Training Center in Herne-Sodingen, Germany (Jourda et Perraudin Architectes, and Hegger Hegger Schleiff); the Minnaert Building in Utrecht, Netherlands (Neutelings Riedijk Architekten); the Commerzbank  headquarters in Frankfurt (Norman Foster); and several residential designs, including the Cotton Tree Pilot Housing complex in Queensland, Australia. A project like the Commerzbank building, Europe's tallest skyscraper, makes several key points about the design process. Green architecture demands close collaboration between architects and engineers. And a building's environmental components are not bolted-on attachments; they are designed for particular climate conditions and client needs. Architecture, accordingly, is a process of integrating aesthetic, structural, social and environmental  factors into an organic whole. The integrity of architecture is the most  valuable lesson the show has to teach. "Ten Shades of Green" continues at the Urban Center, 457 Madison Avenue, New York City, through May 13. [On April 29, the Architecture League will present a daylong conference, "Environment, Technology and Form" at Rockefeller University in New York City.] - The New York Times, 16 Apr 00, p 37, Section 2, by Herbert Muschamp, and Architecture  League website. [More: <http://www.archleague.org/>]

PROS AND CONS OF STRUCTURE-AS-FINISH
Designers and builders expose structural elements in their designs for a variety of reasons, including design aesthetic, cost, indoor air quality and material considerations. A number of common building systems combine the functions of building structure and skin. Cast-in-place concrete, for  example, can serve as both structure and skin, using form-liners or other techniques during the pour to create acceptable finish surfaces. But special care must be taken with any structure-as-skin system in wet climates, since building systems that rely on a single barrier to keep water out are prone to  failure. Many systems that combine building structure and skin can also be used to create finished interior surfaces. A polished and sealed concrete slab, for example, may provide an acceptable floor, although it can be difficult to protect the slab during construction. Many newcomers to the idea  of structure-as-finish assume that by leaving off materials they will always save money. But Anne Whitacre of Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership in Seattle notes, "If you wish the structural elements of a building to be left exposed, you are asking concrete workers, iron workers, and even rough carpenters to  exhibit a degree of fineness in their work which is not typical of their trades, and it will influence cost." If structure-as-finish is to be a cost-saving approach, it may require challenging some user expectations regarding the appearance of a building or interior space. - Environmental  Building News, Mar 00, p 1, by Nadav Malin.

OPPOSITION CONTINUES TO DOG GRAND CANYON DEVELOPMENT
Last August, the US Forest Service approved a controversial deal allowing development of 282 prime acres adjacent to the Grand Canyon in exchange for 2,118 acres in the surrounding Kaibab National Forest. The $330 million development, called Canyon Forest Village, would include 1,220 hotel rooms, 50 hostel-type beds, 270,000 square feet of retail, and 1,100 affordable housing units for local employees. But the project still must beat contentious opposition and obtain zoning in order for the land swap to be finalized. Opponents believe that the project will hurt their livelihood and damage the ecosystem. In late January, a group of northern Arizona economic interests filed suit against the Forest Service to block the land trade. Hopi and Havasupai tribes have backed the proposed development because they believe it will protect the environment and won't exhaust the springs that  feed the Grand Canyon's waterfalls. Most of the Village's water will be transported by railroad from the Colorado River; the balance will come from recycled water so that groundwater isn't depleted. In fact, strict covenants prohibit the use of groundwater. Also, developer Tom De Paolo pledged to  adhere to US Green Building Council standards for construction, energy conservation, recycling and operation. If zoning is approved, the first hotel rooms could be available as soon as 2002. - Urban Land, Mar 00, p 34, by Catherine Reagor.

NORTHWEST SEES MORE ENVIRONMENTALLY CONSCIOUS HOUSES
Heidi Wolf and Jeff Meyer's 92-year-old house in Wallingford, Washington [near Seattle] may look like any other remodeled old house. But it includes environmentally conscious features such as a Rumford fireplace, shaped to radiate heat into the room without sucking warmed air out. The basement floors are natural linoleum and cork. And behind the bathroom wall, a coil of copper pipes works as a heat exchanger, prewarming water from the outside with water drained from the shower. Architect Rob Harrison, who designed the remodel, is also editor of the EcoBuilding Times and the Green Pages, published by the fast-growing Northwest EcoBuilding Guild. The Guild now has  420 members and seven chapters in the Northwest, while the number of listings in the Green Pages has jumped from 75 in 1994 to 314 today. A variety of concerns have fueled the Guild's growth: the effect on people of toxic chemicals in some building materials; energy consumption; and the  home-building industry's impact on the environment and salmon habitat. Stemming the decline of the salmon population is a key issue in the Northwest's green building movement. To do that, houses will need to be built  in a way that minimizes runoff, drainage problems and the disruption of the streams that salmon need to spawn. - The Seattle Times, 30 Mar 00, by Bill Kossen. [More: <http://www.ecobuilding.org/>]

SUN WALL DESIGN COMPETITION
The US Department of Energy and the American Institute of Architects have announced a national design competition for what will be the largest federal government building solar energy system in the world. The competition calls for an attractive and practical "sun wall" for the 28,000-square-foot south wall of DOE's headquarters building in Washington, DC. DOE estimates that a photovoltaic system could generate up to 200 peak kilowatts of electricity. The winning design team will receive a $20,000 cash prize, and a combination of public and private sources will fund the installation. Entries must be received by August 1. More: <http://www.doe-sunwall.org/>. - Environmental  Building News, Mar 00, p 7, and DOE website.

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