GreenClips.197 07.31.02 APPROACHES TO WRITING GREEN SPECS To communicate environmental goals and requirements in construction specifications, some spec writers suggest modifying CSI's SectionFormat three-part structure by adding a Part 4 on environmental considerations. But the general consensus is to weave green issues into the existing structure. Many spec writers have appropriated "Section 01350 Special Procedures" from CSI's MasterFormat to use for environmental procedures. For example, a set of reference specifications for energy efficiency developed by Eley Associates and others for the California Energy Commission includes a more comprehensive "Section 01350 Special Environmental Requirements" that is now being used for all major construction by the State of California. While covering environmental considerations only once, in Division 1, makes things easier for the spec writer, if important information is not included with each section, subcontractors might not see it. Architectural firm HOK tends to include the relevant information with each section. Incorporating the requirements of rating systems such as LEED can be challenging. Spec writer Stephen Andros of G&E Environmental adds a new section 01355 "Special Procedures -- LEED Certification" that describes LEED, lists prerequisites and credits the designers intend to achieve, refers to the various technical sections with specific information on achieving those credits, and lists the paperwork the contractor has to supply for the LEED application. New initiatives to provide green spec resources are underway: HOK and USGBC are considering developing a "LEED-Spec" initiative, while a CSI Task Team is establishing a section format with environmental articles, paragraphs and text. Environmental Building News, Jul-Aug 2002, p 1, by Nadav Malin. PERFORMANCE-BASED FEES SPUR SAVINGS AT OREGON SCHOOL Energy-efficiency features at the new North Clackamas High School near Portland, Oregon, are expected to reduce its energy bills $75,000 to $80,000 annually. Early in its design, the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) selected the building as one of four U.S. demonstration projects for its "performance-based fees" (PBFs) experiment. PBFs are professional fees in which the savings derived from an efficient design become part of the compensation package for designers -- the greater the energy savings, the more the architects and engineers earn. With funding from the Energy Foundation, RMI worked closely with Eley Associates -- who had developed the primer "Energy Performance Contracting for New Buildings" -- to create a set of PBF guidelines for the project. Designed by BOORA Architects and CBG Engineers, the total capital cost for the 265,000-square-foot school was only $118.70 per square foot. Total energy savings is expected to be 44 percent better than the Oregon Energy Building Code requires. The money saved through energy efficiency will be split between the designers and the school fifty-fifty for the first two years. "The extra compensation allows us to do extra research, evaluations, and testing so that we can develop cost-effective systems, especially passive systems," says BOORA architect Heinz Rudolf. Solar Today, Jul-Aug 2002, p 36, by Cameron M. Burns and Huston Eubank. [Also published in RMI Summer 2002 newsletter. Full text: http://www.rmi.org/sitepages/art1153.php ] GIANT GREEN RESORT AND CLEAN ENERGY PARK PLANNED FOR SYRACUSE Robert Congel, who founded and heads The Pyramid Companies, the largest shopping center developer and manager in the Northeast, intends to build the nation's largest retail, entertainment and hospitality center in Syracuse, NY. Congel has promised that the resort, called DestiNY USA, will be the largest green building in the world, using no fossil fuel energy. The Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) and other experts on green development have helped steer DestiNY USA's design. The $2.2 billion project -- estimated to encompass 15 million total square feet of space -- will contain hundreds of stores and theme restaurants, a large aquarium, a 65-acre indoor park, a 15,000-seat amphitheater, a six-story rock and ice climbing wall, and an indoor 1,200-foot-long replica of the Erie Canal. Congel has also drawn up plans for a nearby 300-acre, $500 million center for clean-energy research and manufacturing, dubbed the "Oil Addiction Rehabilitation Park." The Pyramid Cos. will require companies supplying DestiNY USA with solar panels, fuel cells, windmills and other energy systems to build those products at the technology park. The Post-Standard (Syracuse), 7 Jul 2002, by Rick Moriarty; Green@Work, May-Jun 2002, p 40, by Penny Bonda; and RMI Summer 2002 newsletter, p 17. [More: http://www.syracuse.com/destinyusa ] LEED-CI PILOT PHASE UNDERWAY LEED for Commercial Interiors (LEED-CI) is accepting applications through the end of August for its pilot phase, with selection of the pilot projects to be made by late September. LEED-CI closely follows the format and structure of LEED 2.0 but modifies credits to make them applicable to interiors projects. The pilot phase will run for one year. Data collected during the pilot phase will guide any necessary adjustments to LEED-CI prior to the official USGBC membership balloting process and public launch of the new rating system. The LEED-CI pilot program is being funded in large part by the U.S. General Services Administration. Environmental Design + Construction, Jul-Aug 2002, p S6, by Penny Bonda, and USGBC website. [More: http://www.usgbc.org ] DEBUNKING MYTHS ABOUT SUSTAINABLE LAND USE Commonly held myths about the environment and development often stand as barriers to sustainable land use. Here are eight prevailing myths, followed by facts that debunk them. MYTH 1: Environmental protection and land development are incompatible. FACT 1: Careful land development can enhance environmental resources and reduce pressure on more sensitive resources elsewhere. MYTH 2: Environmentally sensitive development adds little to market value. FACT 2: Green projects often achieve premium prices and fast absorption rates. MYTH 3: Zoning regulations protect the environment. FACT 3: Land use regulations often discourage development practices that protect the environment. MYTH 4: Compact development causes more environmental harm than low-density development. FACT 4: Compact development can direct growth away from environmentally sensitive areas. MYTH 5: Concentrated development means more traffic congestion. FACT 5: In dense developments, people drive less, walk more, and use mass transit more. MYTH 6: Large-lot residential development preserves open space and reduces infrastructure costs. FACT 6: Suburban large-lot development often is both ecologically and financially inefficient. MYTH 7: Green building practices are too costly to become mainstream. FACT 7: The economic competitiveness of green features is on a steep upward curve -- with both market share and demand on the rise. MYTH 8: Developers and environmentalists are always in conflict. FACT 8: The growth-versus-environment debate is not an either-or proposition. Urban Land, Jul 2002, p 54, by David J. O'Neill and Victoria R. Wilbur. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 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