Greenclips.154 10.25.00 AUSTIN OFFERS FINANCIAL INCENTIVES FOR SMART GROWTH In Austin, Texas, a new score card system helps planners determine if a development deserves financial support from the city. The City of Austin's "Smart Growth Criteria Matrix" evaluates a development plan's location, integration of uses, ability to support transit, pedestrian-orientation, and quality of urban design, among other things. A total of 635 points are available in 14 categories. Projects that locate in Austin's downtown zone can earn 25 points. Projects in the urban core or one of the city's Desired Development Zones accrue fewer points, but all projects may boost their scores by locating in an untested market or an "area of economic need." In the land use category, projects with a mix of residential, retail and office uses earn the highest number of points. The urban design criteria focus on human-scale detailing, the amount of window space at street level, and the compatibility of building height and massing with adjacent facades. The city will waive 50 percent of development fees for projects on the first threshold level, 201-275 points. At the second and third level, the incentive package may include a waiver of up to 100 percent of development fees, coverage of utility charges, and investments in infrastructure construction. More: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/smartgrowth/smartmatrix.htm. New Urban News, Oct-Nov 00, p 1. BALTIMORE REHAB EMBRACES GREEN DESIGN An old Montgomery Ward warehouse that has been vacant since 1985 is being transformed into what will be Baltimore's largest office building. The rehab of the 1.3 million square foot building will take a green design approach that reduces energy consumption costs and uses environmentally sensitive materials. Montgomery Park, as the new $75 million complex will be called, will use recycled material in its new partitions, ceiling tile, carpet, and resilient flooring. Tall industrial steel sash windows along the building's perimeter, which provide a great deal of natural light, are to be reglazed with insulating glass. Sensors will adjust interior lighting depending on the amount of daylight available. Rainwater that hits the building's roof will be collected in underground storage tanks and used to flush toilets. About 75 percent of demolition debris like radiators and piping will be salvaged. Energy costs are expected to be about 98 cents a square foot annually, compared with about $2 in an average office building. Montgomery Park is being developed by partners Samuel K. Himmelrich Jr. and David F. Tufaro; the architect is Daniel, Mann, Johnson & Mendenhall. The Maryland Department of the Environment has already committed to occupying 262,000 square feet of floor space. The agency had been looking for a site in keeping with Maryland's Smart Growth Initiative, which encourages rehabilitation of older buildings in areas with existing infrastructure. The New York Times, 22 Oct 00, p 50, by Charles Belfoure. INDUSTRY SURVEY ASSESSES STATE OF GREEN HOME BUILDING An online survey looking at the state of green building in the residential construction industry revealed that many builders underestimate the willingness of prospective home buyers to pay extra for green features. The survey, sponsored by Cahners Residential Group (publishers of Professional Builder and other industry publications) and building industry manufacturers and associations, was aimed at consumers and builders representing a geographic cross-section of the United States. Of the builders surveyed, 54 percent said that green building accounts for less than 25 percent of their business, yet 21.7 percent said that 75 percent of the homes they build are green. Part of the explanation for the high number of builders claiming to build green may be that 86.5 percent said that environmental sensitivity assisted in meeting local approvals. When asked about home buyers' willingness to pay for green, builders said that less than half would pay extra. In contrast, 89 percent of home buyers said they would pay more for green features if they improved the home's quality, durability and health. Over half would pay between $2,500 and $5,000, and 9.5 percent would pay $10,000 for a green package. These numbers are significant since 95 percent of builders claimed that the greatest constraint in using green products was cost. In general, builders said that green building products were not very available locally. When they were, 60 percent said they were 5 to 15 percent more expensive. Professional Builder, Sep 00, p 84 and p 90, by David Johnston. [More: http://www.housingzone.com/topics/pb/green/survey/2000index.asp#] BEES 2.0 WEIGHS PRODUCTS' ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released BEES 2.0, an updated version of the free software developed to help designers, builders and product manufacturers evaluate cost-effective green building products. Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability (BEES) 2.0 includes comparative environmental and economic performance data for generic building products used for framing, wall finishes, wall and roof sheathing, insulation, roof and floor coverings, slabs, basement wells, beams, columns, parking-lot paving, and driveways. Future versions of BEES will evaluate brand-specific products, allowing for benchmarking against generic product performance. BEES 2.0's environmental performance analysis considers all stages in a product's life, from raw material acquisition through disposal. The environmental impact analysis measures a product's impact on global warming, acidification, eutrophication, indoor air quality, resource depletion, solid waste and other areas. The economic performance analysis covers the initial investment, replacement, operation, maintenance and repair, and disposal. Environmental and economic performance scores are combined into an overall score. The NIST Building and Fire Research Laboratory developed the tool with support from the US Environmental Protection Agency and the White House-sponsored Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing. Download BEES 2.0 from http://www.bfrl.nist.gov/oae/bees.html. Architectural Record, Oct 00, p 181, by Barbara C. Lippiatt. DOES HIGH-PERFORMANCE DESIGN REQUIRE MORE TIME AND MONEY? Natural Resources Canada operates two programs--the Commercial Buildings Incentive Programme (CBIP) and C-2000--that are part of federal government efforts to improve the energy performance of commercial buildings. Both programs operate on the assumption that design for high performance requires extra design time and incurs extra costs for contracted specialists and energy simulations. The programs offer financial incentives to cover some or all of these extra costs. A survey of 18 completed CBIP and C-2000 projects revealed that respondents perceived considerable improvement in their buildings' energy performance, as well as modest improvement in indoor air quality and illumination. Time required for concept design and design development increased by 0.8 weeks on average or about 7 percent (12.6 weeks for participating high-performance buildings, compared to 11.8 weeks for buildings usually produced by the respondents). Time required for contract documentation went from 5.9 to 6.3 weeks, an increase of 0.4 weeks or 7 percent. Design fees for participating projects, as a percentage of total costs, rose from about 9.0 percent to about 10.5 percent of the organization's normal design fees. Capital costs were about 2.0 percent more than for buildings usually built by the responding organization, but still 1.9 percent less than perceived industry norms. In other words, while C-2000 and CBIP projects were somewhat more expensive than what the respondents usually build, their usual buildings are significantly less expensive than the industry norm for the relevant building type. The survey results must be interpreted with caution, however, since the sample was very small and it's not clear that all respondents spent enough time to obtain actual cost data from their records. For more information, email larsson@greenbuilding.ca. Building Research and Information, Sep-Dec 00, p 413, by Nils Larsson and Jim Clark. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 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