GreenClips.178 10.24.01 GREEN GUIDELINES PROCESS YIELDS KEY LESSONS FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT As part of its Sustainable City Program, adopted in 1994, the City of Santa Monica hired consultants to develop design and construction guidelines aimed at more environmentally responsive building and site design. The final result extended well beyond the simple design advice initially envisioned. It led to the modification of existing City programs and ordinances and to the creation of new ordinances aimed at environmental sustainability. Also, the cooperation and coordination within the City administration that marked the project from the beginning has continued, possibly heralding a new way that City operations will address sustainability issues that cross administrative boundaries. Key lessons learned by the consulting team as they developed the "Green Building Design and Construction Guidelines" include the following: 1) Sustained political will is necessary to create and implement sustainable development programs; 2) Public and private-sector "champions" are invaluable; 3) The concerns of professionals and skeptics need to be directly addressed; 4) The cost effectiveness of sustainable building development must be demonstrated; 5) Implementing sustainable urban development programs requires extensive coordination and cooperation between City departments, which can aid their future operations; and 6) Sustainable development consulting teams need to work closely with City staff to tailor implementation strategies to the local context. "The role of local governments in fostering 'green' buildings: a case study," Building Research & Information (2001) 29(5), by Ian G. Theaker and Raymond J. Cole. [About the Guidelines: http://greenbuildings.santa-monica.org] ADVANCES IN BUILDING DESIGN REDUCE BIOTERRORISM RISK Engineers and terrorism experts say advances in building design over the last 5 to 10 years have left the nation surprisingly well prepared to reduce the danger from threats like airborne anthrax spores. Those advances, many involving indoor air quality and energy efficiency, can't eliminate the threat entirely, but the more advanced and expensive technologies can push the level of protection much higher. Carrier, the heating and cooling systems manufacturer, already marketed ventilation systems that maintain "positive pressure," which can keep polluted air, or a cloud of a biological agent released outside, from entering a building without passing through its intake filters. The company also markets high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters that are continually irradiated by ultraviolet light. HEPA filters capture more than 99.97 percent of particles larger than half a micron, and ultraviolet light kills common bacteria, molds and fungi, as well as anthrax spores. A human hair is about 100 microns across. Less expensive filters that meet the latest ASHRAE standards can capture up to 95 percent of particles of five microns, but many buildings have older systems that capture less than 20 percent of those particles. Efficient filters cannot prevent all exposure to a biological attack from within a building, as when people opened envelopes filled with fine powder contaminated with anthrax. But filters can stop the powder from spreading through the rest of the building through the ventilation system. The New York Times, 29 Oct 01, p B8, by James Glanz. MORE HOME BUILDERS EMBRACING GREEN PRINCIPLES Although some home builders remain unconvinced about the benefits of building green, many of Southern California's biggest builders are incorporating green strategies in their new houses. One challenge facing builders is the lack of uniform green building guidelines. Although not officially recognized within the industry, the new California Green Builder guidelines, created by the state's Building Industry Institute, has established minimum criteria for residential green building. Builders who recycle 50 percent or more of construction waste, cut energy costs, create landscapes that use 25 percent less water than typical homes, among other initiatives, may market themselves as green builders under the guidelines. Forecast Homes, Pardee Homes and Shea Homes are among the California builders beginning to embrace these green principles. Going way beyond minimal green standards, Santa Monica architects Larry Scarpa and Angela Brooks say they design all their buildings using green strategies, including Colorado Court in downtown Santa Monica, a 44-unit affordable-housing complex. Set for completion early next year, the complex will utilize solar panels to produce electricity and a low-energy, natural gas-powered turbine system to provide 100 percent of the building's hot water needs. The development also will feature an underground storm-water retention system to capture 95 percent of the site's storm-water runoff. Los Angeles Times, 14 Oct 01, p K1, by Diane Wedner. [About the California Green Builder program: http://www.thebii.org/cgbp.asp.] GREENER CHOICES FOR PARTICLEBOARD AND MDF While demand for particleboard and medium-density fiberboard (MDF) is increasing, the availability of wood residues may not be keeping pace with this demand. This has led some producers to use alternative sources of fiber, such as agricultural, wood and paper waste. Four US plants produce particleboard and MDF from straw: Primeboard in North Dakota, Isobord Enterprises in Minnesota, FiberTech in California, and Pacific Northwest Fiber in Idaho. Two plants produce particleboard from bagasse, the residue from sugar cane processing: Acadia Board in Louisiana and Hawaiian DuraGreen in Hawaii. Particleboard and MDF are also available containing recycled wood content or wood fiber derived from sustainable forestry, but most of these products use formaldehyde-based resins. Formaldehyde is considered a probable human carcinogen. The most widely used alternative to urea formaldehyde for particleboard and MDF is methylenediphenyl isocyanate (MDI). Products made with MDI do not emit a toxic gas during usage, but there are concerns about MDI toxicity for workers exposed during particleboard and MDF manufacturing. One company, Homasote, produces an MDF-like board from post-consumer recycled waste paper, using a formaldehyde-free wax emulsion as the binder. SierraPine offers formaldehyde-free MDF made from recovered and pre-consumer recycled wood fiber. More: http://www.isobordenterprises.com; http://www.primeboard.com; http://www.pacificfiber.com; http://www.hawaiianduragreen.com; http://www.homasote.com; http://www.sierrapine.com; FiberTech, tel. 530.458.4547; Acadia, tel. 727.393.9668. Green Seal's Choose Green Report: Particleboard and Medium-density Fiberboard, Oct 01. SALT LAKE CITY TO DRAFT HIGH-PERFORMANCE BUILDING STANDARDS Salt Lake City's Mayor Rocky Anderson recently announced plans to draft high-performance building standards for future city buildings and remodeling projects. The city's new main library, a $60-million building now under construction, will incorporate green building practices, including occupancy sensors, recyclable carpet, solar-powered outdoor lights, and planters and ponds that retain storm water. Although most of those plans were conceived before Anderson took office, the mayor wants to continue the trend. A task force of architects, engineers and city staff working with consultants will craft a list of requirements for future city building projects. Eventually, the new rules could extend to any business or nonprofit agency that receives city funding. State building managers are considering similar guidelines and adopted an energy conservation policy in August. Salt Lake City's initial investment of $143,000 will pay for the consultants' work, publication of the standards and development of a Web site. Still, Anderson's initiative may be limited from the outset. After a decade of pre-Olympic and boom-time building, Salt Lake City's construction list is relatively short. The new library may be the only chance to put the building standards into practice for awhile. The Salt Lake Tribune, 11 Oct 01, p D1, by Rebecca Walsh. [Mayor Anderson's press release: http://www.slcgov.com/mayor/pressreleases/hp%20buildings.htm] CORRECTION In GreenClips 177, we provided an incorrect website in the "Home Energy Programs Guarantee Savings" clip. The full text of the article is available from Environmental Building News at http://www.buildinggreen.com/news/guarantee.html. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 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