GreenClips.153 10.11.00 DOE PROPOSES NEW APPLIANCE STANDARDS The US Energy Department recently proposed new energy-efficiency standards for central air-conditioners, heat pumps and clothes washers, as part of a broader package of appliance standards that go into effect between now and 2007 under a law that Congress passed in 1987. The law established minimum standards and a schedule for improvements. The latest proposals call for central air-conditioners to be 20 percent more energy efficient, heat pumps to be 30 percent more efficient and clothes washers to use 35 percent less energy and water. A requirement for water heaters that are 5 to 9 percent more efficient was proposed last April, and a requirement for refrigerators to use 30 percent less electricity is expected to go into effect next summer. A new regulation on fluorescent lamps was completed last month, to go into effect in 2005. The energy-saving techniques vary. Clothes washers, for example, will have to have sensors to measure the amount of clothes in them and meter out precisely the amount of water needed; they will also spin faster, reducing the work that the clothes dryer must do. The clothes-washer standard would add as much as $240 to a washer's price, but would save consumers $30 a year in power and water costs. The standards would add $274 to the price of new central air-conditioners, an increase of about 12 percent, and $486 to the price of new heat pumps, an increase of about 13 percent. The New York Times, 3 Oct 00, by Matthew L. Wald, and Associated Press, 4 Oct 00, by H. Josef Hebert. [More: http://www.energy.gov/HQPress/releases00/octpr/pr00249.htm; http://www.energy.gov/HQPress/releases00/octpr/pr00255.htm] IDAHO DEVELOPMENT EMBRACES SUSTAINABILITY PRINCIPLES Hidden Springs, a new master-planned community situated 20 minutes outside of Boise, Idaho, is composed of three distinct neighborhoods that provide a sense of small-town, rural living in a way that embraces principles of sustainability. Developed by Hidden Springs LLC, a partnership between the Grossman Family Properties of Boise, and the Carlyle Group of Washington, D.C., the 1,844-acre development is built around a 100-acre working farm, which produces fruits and vegetables that are sold at Hidden Springs' general store and farmer's market. More than 800 acres will remain as protected open space, with over 100 miles of hiking and biking trails. Hidden Springs' Village neighborhood is a small, walkable district with houses situated on narrow, pedestrian-friendly streets, where front porches, not garages, are the dominant features. The Valley neighborhood extends out from the center of the village and home sites are set in an orchard-like landscape. The Foothill homes are situated to maximize views of the dramatic natural surroundings. Frank Martin, president of Hidden Springs, says this is the first community in the Northwest developed in conjunction with the US Department of Energy's Building America program. The development employs an innovative wastewater reclamation system that biologically treats water using heavy aeration; after 36 days the water can be reintroduced to irrigate the farm and common areas. And thus far, energy standards and construction techniques adopted in the first phase have yielded overall energy savings of one-third over traditional developments. Professional Builder, 1 Sep 00, by Elyse Umlauf-Garneau. ARMSTRONG PAYS FREIGHT FOR CEILING TILE RECYCLING Armstrong World Industries has dramatically expanded its program for recycling old ceiling tiles, which it collects from building owners and uses as raw materials in the manufacture of new acoustical ceilings. The program involves three steps. First, building owners need to verify with Armstrong that their old ceiling tiles can be recycled. Neither the old nor the new replacement ceilings need to be Armstrong products to qualify for the program. Then building owners must have their old tiles stacked on pallets and wrapped for pick-up. Once there is a full trailer load of old tiles (30,000 square feet or more), Armstrong will work with the owner to arrange for a truck to pick up the material anywhere in the continental US and transfer it to its nearest manufacturing facility. Armstrong pays the freight for shipment to the plant. The building owner's costs for removing and handling the tiles for recycling are competitive with landfill disposal costs. For more information, call 888-CEILINGS or go to http://www.ceilings.com. Environmental Building News, Oct 00, p 6, and Armstrong website. UK'S ATELIER TEN IS NO ORDINARY BUILDING SERVICES FIRM Behind some of the most innovative sustainably designed buildings lies a collaboration with London-based Atelier Ten. This environmental engineering firm collaborates with architects and structural engineers from project inception to maximize the potential of a building's form and construction to control the internal environment. Now in its tenth year, Atelier Ten recently won the Innovation of the Year Building Services award for its natural ventilation of Great Notley Green School in Essex, designed by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris. Atelier Ten director and co-founder Patrick Bellew calls the school a "simple passive design," explaining that "we worked really hard with the architects to develop an efficient plan and get all the windows and openings in the right place," thereby maximizing daylight and natural ventilation and controlling solar gain. The Martial Rose Library extension at King Alfred's College in Winchester illustrates another thread in Atelier Ten's work: the use of a Swedish proprietary system called Termodeck which allows air circulation and passive thermal storage in pre-cast concrete planks. Such an approach differs from the natural ventilation approach used at Great Notley and is based instead on minimizing infiltration and recovering heat generated by building occupants and activities. Most environmental engineering innovations are reinterpretations of old ideas married with new technologies, and, according to Atelier Ten, the best solutions are the result of an iterative design process with a creative, multi-disciplinary team Building Design, 29 Sep 00, p 23, by Hattie Hartman. [More: http://www.a10.co.uk.] MICROTURBINES INCREASE COGENERATION OPPORTUNITIES The Capstone 330 MicroTurbine from Capstone Turbine Corp. is paving the way for cost-effective cogeneration in commercial and industrial buildings. Most power plants achieve a conversion rate for source energy to electricity of only 30 to 35 percent. Cogeneration can boost the overall efficiency of energy production from fossil fuels by using the otherwise-wasted thermal energy. Until recently, however, cogeneration has been greatly restricted because the places we can use waste heat (buildings and industrial facilities) are usually far removed from where the heat is generated (at the power plant). But new microturbines, with an average size of 25 to 200 kilowatts, are miniaturizing power generation and increasing opportunities for cogeneration. Primary customers for microturbines include companies requiring highly reliable power or dependable standby power, such as manufacturing and data-processing facilities, and facilities that can benefit from cogeneration, such as restaurants, retirement homes, manufacturing plants, and office buildings with absorption cooling or dehumidification systems. The Capstone 330 MicroTurbine has particularly low emissions; using propane or natural gas, NOx emissions are less than 9 ppm and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions are nearly zero. Installed cost of the Capstone 330 is typically less than $1,000 per kW of capacity. More: http://www.microturbine.com. Environmental Building News, Oct 00, p 8, by Alex Wilson. NEW REGISTRY FOR PRODUCTS MEETING IAQ STANDARDS A new Web-based product registry from Air Quality Sciences, Inc. lists products that meet widely referenced indoor air quality (IAQ) guidelines. The Greenguard Registry relies on voluntary emissions standards, including standards from the US Environmental Protection Agency, the State of Washington, the Carpet and Rug Institute, and German regulations for emissions from office equipment. To have products considered for the registry, manufacturers must pay a testing fee ranging from $6,000 to $15,000 per product, depending on the product's size and the complexity of the necessary testing. Greenguard is not yet a full-fledged certification system; rather, it is designed to exclude products that perform poorly when measured against the appropriate IAQ standard for that type of product. The registry doesn't provide product information or testing details to the public. To obtain emissions- or product-related information, specifiers must contact the product manufacturer directly. Greenguard currently lists about 75 products--including furnishings and office equipment--from 23 companies. More: http://www.aqs.com/greenguard.htm. Environmental Building News, Oct 00, p 5, by Nadav Malin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GreenClips is free of charge thanks to individual members and these sponsors: ENERGY RESOURCE CENTER http://www.socalgas.com/erc Find out if you can reduce your energy costs by bypassing the grid, and generating your own electricity. New micro-turbine technology now allows even smaller businesses to take advantage of this strategy. This seminar, On-Site Generation: More Power to You, provides a broad overview of on-site power generation, both distributed generation and cogeneration. Discussion will include an update on non-polluting fuel cell technology, a review of regulatory issues, including air quality. Find out how to maintain micro-turbines and other natural gas-powered generating engines. This seminar includes a demonstration tour of a Capstone micro-turbine on display and in operation at the ERC. This class (seminar #6114) will be held from 1 to 4:00 p.m., Wednesday, November 8. Cost is free. (Includes continental breakfast and lunch.) The ERC is located at 9240 E. Firestone Blvd., Downey, CA, 90241-5388. To register call 800 427 6584 and press option one, or dial direct to 562 803 7500. Be sure to mention the seminar number. 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 Cooperative Extension Energy Program in Olympia, Washington. 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