GreenClips.181 12.05.01 GREEN UNIVERSITY BUILDINGS LEAD THE WAY IN BOSTON AREA In the Boston area, green design is moving toward the mainstream, with university projects at the forefront. "Universities and biotech companies especially want to be environmentally responsible," says John Hess, director of green design for Vanderweil Engineers, the engineering designers for MIT's Stata Center, which will have underfloor air distribution and operable windows. Simmons Hall, a new MIT dormitory, features exposed concrete as a thermal barrier with waffle-like openings to naturally ventilate the building. MIT's new Media Lab extension will feature exterior solar screening to reduce air-conditioning load. At Harvard, a 240-unit graduate student dormitory complex now under construction will have an EnergyStar roof, heat-recovery exhaust, low-shading glazing and a waste-management plan. And a project by the Harvard School of Public Health at the Landmark Center in Boston boasts the first use in the U.S. of DALI [Digital Addressable Lighting Interface] lighting, energy-efficient illumination that is managed by a laptop. A coalition that includes the Greater Boston Real Estate Board is looking to get a green building tax credit law passed in Massachusetts similar to one that was enacted in New York last year. Bills introduced in the house and senate would allow a 5 to 8 percent credit for using green design technology and materials. Boston Herald, 23 Nov 2001, by Paul Restuccia. INDIANA DEVELOPMENT FOSTERS COMMUNITY AND CONSERVATION Tryon Farm, a 170-acre environmentally sensitive farm-based development in northwest Indiana, is a family enterprise, designed, developed and managed by Chicago architect, Edward J. Noonan and his family. "It was a dairy farm that for a century was a terrific place to live. It's still a farm. . . What we've tried to do is fit the homes into the landscape without intruding," says Eve Noonan, a marketing specialist and Mr. Noonan's wife. In the design, groups of 8 to 20 homes are clustered in eight "settlements" separated by fields, woods or meadows. More than 120 of the farm's 170 acres are permanently off limits to construction. Buyers own their own homes and a small skirt of land around the building, but the rest of the land is in common ownership. Prices range from $100,000 for 650-square-foot lodges to $400,000 for 2,400-square-foot four-bedroom homes. Michigan City's zoning code allows 150 homes on the property; so far 25 homes have sold. Tryon Farm goes further than other alternative housing developments in encouraging fealty to nature and community. Waste water from homes, for example, is cleansed in constructed wetlands that also serve as habitat for birds; the water is then used to irrigate alfalfa fields. To encourage interaction among neighbors, there's a community garden and a common area for parking cars. The New York Times, 25 Nov 2001, p S13, by Keith Schneider. [More: http://www.tryon-farm.com] KING COUNTY SHOWS FINANCIAL BENEFITS OF CONSTRUCTION RECYCLING Since 1993, King County, Washington has been educating the construction industry about reusing building materials and recycling construction, demolition and land-clearing (CDL) debris. The county has found that early planning and a committed crew can yield an 80 to 90 percent job-site recycling rate and significant cost savings. The county's CDL program targets large, commercial job sites and takes a proactive approach, identifying upcoming projects that could generate substantial waste, contacting developers and working with the project team to develop a waste management plan. In the region, the success of construction recycling hinges on two factors: recycling must remain voluntary; and recycling must be economically viable without direct subsidies from King County government. Fortunately, in the King County region, job-site recycling makes economic sense. The cost to dump construction materials averages $85 per ton, whereas recycling costs anywhere from nothing to $55 per ton. Initially the program faced a common belief that job-site recycling would raise labor costs because it requires separating and sorting material. But the county's case studies showed that cost savings from recycling offset the rare, negligible increase in labor costs. BioCycle, Nov 2001, p 46, by Theresa Koppang. [More: http://dnr.metrokc.gov/swd/bizprog/sus_build/susbuild.htm.] COLORADO PROJECT COMBINES GREEN BUILDING AND AFFORDABILITY At Highlands Garden Village, a 290-home project in Denver, Colorado, developers Burgwyn, Perry & Rose went to substantial lengths to use recycled construction materials and to make the homes energy efficient. Their efforts included purchasing energy-efficient appliances and windows, and minimizing the length of heat ducts. Recycled content construction materials include oriented strand board for sub-flooring and exterior walls, insulation, carpet pads, interior doors, tiles, I-joists in floor and roof trusses, and decking and other outdoor structures. Electricity generated from wind farms will be used in some of the units, and the developers have obtained alternative vehicles for a neighborhood car-sharing program. Codeveloper Jonathan Rose estimates that green building techniques raised construction costs by two or three percent. Built on a vacant, 27-acre infill site, and master planned by Calthorpe Associates, the project includes 90,000-110,000 square feet of commercial, plus 38,000 square feet of civic/community buildings. Fifty-two single homes, 54 townhouses, and 63 apartments for senior citizens are mostly complete, as is a 33-unit cohousing community situated within the project. A 74-unit multifamily building is under construction. Forty percent of the senior apartments are "affordable" defined as within the budget of someone earning 60 percent of the area's median household income, while 20 percent of the other multifamily units are affordable. New Urban News, Dec 2001, p 11. [More: http://www.rose-network.com/projects/highland.html] MANUFACTURERS TURN TO NATURE TO SOLVE ENGINEERING PROBLEMS What does the white lotus flower, a symbol of purity, have to do with house paint? The white lotus turns out to have tiny points on it, and when dirt falls on the leaf, it teeters on those points and then is carried away when drops of water roll across the leaf. The lotus, in other words, has a self-cleaning leaf. This lotus effect has been applied to a house paint on the market in Germany and Asia called Lotusan, which is guaranteed to stay clean for five years without detergents or sandblasting. The lotus effect is being applied to other products, including roof shingles. It's an example of biomimicry, a concept that is gaining momentum among manufacturers. "Businesses should work like a living system," says Janine M. Benyus, author of "Biomimicry." One company interested in a more natural approach is carpet manufacturer Interface. "The question we ask is, How would nature solve this problem?" says David Oakey of David Oakey Designs in LaGrange, Georgia, who designed Entropy, a biomimicked carpet made by Interface. When ordinary carpet wears out, the whole thing needs to be replaced because of differences in dye lots, though just 20 percent of the carpet may be worn. Entropy mimics the randomness of a forest floor with different shades and sizes. Because there are no matching problems, small sections can be replaced, installation is easier, and there is far less waste. The New York Times, 11 Dec 2001, p D1, by Jim Robbins. [For more about biomimicry and business, see article "R Power" by David Oakey in Interior Design, Nov 2001: http://www.interiordesign.net.] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 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