GreenClips.191 05.08.02 HOW GREEN DEVELOPERS GET INVESTORS' ATTENTION Green development may eventually blend with the mainstream, but it is not there yet, in part because financial markets remain an obstacle. One problem has been that people are trying to sell green and sustainability instead of the benefits of a development, says John L. Knott Jr., CEO of both Dewees Island, a "green" island retreat near Charleston, SC and The Noisette Co., which is building a 3,000-acre environmentally sensitive urban redevelopment in North Charleston. Environmentally responsible projects are more durable, economical and efficient to run and they offer healthier and more comfortable environments to the occupants and tenants, Knott maintains. That's what gets an investor or a buyer's attention. Jody Durst of the Durst Organization, which developed Four Times Square in New York City, agrees. "The issue isn't some vague sense of social responsibility," says Durst. "Rather it is the concrete matter of health, safety, productivity and cost efficiency." And according to Jonathan F.P. Rose, president of Jonathan Rose & Companies of New York City, "Banks ignore green and look at cash flow only." Rose's firm is currently managing about $200 million worth of green development, including the 27-acre Highland's Garden Village close to downtown Denver. "Investors want to see exactly the same return on a [green project] as on any other investment," says Rose. ENR (Engineering News-Record), 29 Apr 2002, p 58, by Nadine M. Post. PORTLAND HONORS LOCAL BUSINESSES FOR THEIR ENVIRONMENTAL ACHIEVEMENTS In April, the city of Portland, Oregon, announced the winners of its annual Business for an Environmentally Sustainable Tomorrow (BEST) awards. BEST awards for overall success in the categories of saving energy, conserving water, reducing waste and promoting transportation alternatives were given to American Honda Motor Co. and Ashforth Pacific Inc. InFocus Corp. and Hot Lips Pizza were honored for their energy efficiency efforts. Of special note is Hot Lips' heat recovery system for high-output pizza ovens: the blazing heat is transferred by copper piping to a 120-gallon water tank that provides hot water for washing dishes. Overall, the company has reduced its energy consumption by half. BOORA Architects Inc., which received an award in the transportation category, says that 60 percent of its staff uses mass transit, 22 percent bike or walk and 4 percent carpool. This success is driven by incentives, including free and reduced-cost transit passes and bike-riding amenities. Arciform LLC and Ecotrust were recognized for their waste reduction efforts, Neil Kelly Co. was honored for water conservation, and Stormwater Management Inc. won in the new product category. Stormwater Management's product, which is made from recycled plastic and composted leaves, is used to filter stormwater runoff contaminants such as oils, greases and soluble metals. The Business Journal Portland, 19 Apr 2002, by Brian J. Back. [More: http://www.sustainableportland.org/energy_com_best.html ] MIXED-USE DEVELOPMENT NEAR LONDON AIMS TO TRANSFORM SUBURBIA The Beddington Zero Energy Development (BedZED), a housing complex about 20 kilometers from the center of London, includes 82 homes, 18 mixed working-living units, and 1,560 square meters of workspace. Its density is about 400 habitation rooms and 200 jobs per hectare. If that density were replicated throughout the UK, it would cut urban sprawl by 75 percent and eliminate the need for development of greenfield sites, claims Bill Dunster, the project's architect. BedZED's heating demand will be 90 percent below the requirements of national building regulations, its designers claim. Homes have no mechanical heating. Instead, solar gain through south-facing windows and human activity provide the heat, says Chris Twinn of Arup Ltd., the project's design engineer, while thermal mass, triple glazing and high levels of insulation help retain the heat. Among other green features is the site's wastewater treatment plant, which will use reed beds to produce effluent suitable for watering gardens and flushing toilets. The municipal sewer connection that permitting authorities required will lie idle, says Twinn. Construction is nearly complete on the $17-million project, which should be fully occupied by early summer. ENR (Engineering News-Record), 29 Apr 2002, p 61, by Peter Reina. [More: http://www.bedzed.org.uk ] ISO 14000 HELPS PROVIDE FRAMEWORK FOR CONTINUAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVEMENT To improve the green design of a building, environmental considerations must be factored into all stages of project development and implementation. An environmental management tool such as the ISO 14000 Environmental Management Systems -- a series of voluntary standards that ensure the systematic establishment and maintenance of an environmental management methodology -- can help a company do that. Nortel Networks, for example, used the ISO 14000 EMS for an infill building project designed to connect two existing buildings at its Corktown campus near Ottawa. The design team established a five-step process for incorporating environmental considerations, including identifying environmental opportunities that possessed the greatest potential economic and environmental impact and that were realistically achievable, and establishing environmental priorities that would be used to evaluate design decisions and monitor the project's environmental successes. One of the critical lessons learned by the design team is that incorporating environmental priorities into design and construction is an ongoing process. Establishing a framework such as the ISO 14000 EMS allows the project teams to learn from and improve on their experience with each project they encounter. Canadian Architect, Apr 2002, p 22, by Vince Catalli and Maria Drake. [For more information: vcatalli@bydEsignconsultants.com] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GreenClips is free of charge thanks to individual members and these sponsors: C&A FLOORCOVERINGS We choose not to just make carpet but to also make a difference. http://www.powerbond.com EPA'S ENVIRONMENTALLY-PREFERABLE PURCHASING PROGRAM Greening the government, one purchase at a time. http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/epp GREEN BUILDING SERVICES http://www.greenbuildingservices.com Green Building Services offers environmental design and energy efficient consulting services to help you design, build and market high-performance commercial buildings, through design charrettes, energy analyses and the entire LEED certification process. INTERFACE, INC. 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