| GreenClips.202 10.09.02 ARLINGTON COUNTY REWARDS DEVELOPERS WHO BUILD GREEN In Arlington County, Virginia, the county's two-year-old green building program is helping promote the construction of environmentally friendly buildings. Several public and private projects are in the design stage or close to completion, including the Pentagon's new Metro entrance, Aurora Hills Fire Station No. 5, the Langston-Brown Community Center and school, the Walter Reed Community Center, and the Washington Capitals' ice rink. In exchange for building greener buildings in Arlington, developers can receive a bonus density of as much as 0.25 floor area ratio [the building's gross floor area divided by the total area of the lot]. The Navy League of the United States, for example, received county approval to build a new headquarters with bonus space that amounts to almost half an extra floor than zoning regulations otherwise would have allowed. Some features--such as sensor-driven faucets and onsite showers and bicycle racks--are commonplace. But others--such as a reflective roof and a cistern that stores and filters runoff for use in the building's plant irrigation system--are more state of the art. The county's green building program follows the LEED guidelines created by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). At the Pentagon, officials are seeking to meet USGBC standards for its entire renovation project, as well as the new Metro entrance, a Pentagon athletic center and a remote delivery facility. The Washington Post, 10 Oct 2002, by Fredrick Kunkle. [More: http://www.co.arlington.va.us/des/epo/green.htm ] PORTLAND MIXED-USE COMPLEX BOASTS LIBRARY, APARTMENTS AND CAFE The city of Portland, Oregon, has taken another pioneering step toward increasing urban density and preventing sprawl with its new Hollywood Library/Bookmark Apartments building, which opened in May. The energy-efficient, mixed-use complex is possibly the country's first joint venture between a public library and a private developer. Above the ground-floor library, 19 of the 47 apartment units are reserved for households below the area's median income. There's also a cafe on site. The building features low-toxic water-based paints, energy-efficient appliances in all the apartments, and an energy-conserving reflective roof, and is in walking distance of stores and bus and light-rail lines. The grounds include a bioswale, an open channel with plant life that catches water runoff and filters out pollutants. "It was a huge challenge to build a public ground floor with domestic upper floors," says Will Dann of Thomas Hacker and Associates, the principal architects. "But it all came together nicely as one building." Portland residents seem to agree. "People really like the idea of living above a library," says Francesca Gambetti of Shiels Obletz Johnsen, the firm that managed construction. "They like the convenience of being able to walk downstairs to borrow a book or a movie." [More: will@thomashacker.com ] Metropolis, Oct 2002, p 50, by Liz Nakazawa. ATLANTA MUSEUM FEATURES WILLIAM MCDONOUGH + PARTNERS EXHIBITION The Atlanta International Museum of Art and Design is currently presenting the exhibition "Ecology, Economy, Equity: The Architecture of William McDonough + Partners." McDonough advocates a cyclical approach to design that would eliminate the idea of "waste" altogether.Featured projects include the Herman Miller GreenHouse Factory and Offices, Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies at Oberlin College, and Museum of Life and the Environment underway in York County, South Carolina.The exhibition runs through December 20. Metropolis, Nov 2002, p 148. [More: http://www.atlantainternationalmuseum.org/exhibit_upcoming.htm ] CHICAGO'S GREEN BUNGALOW BLOCK SHOWCASES ECO-FRIENDLY RENOVATION In Chicago, four historic bungalows have been renovated for modern lifestyles in cost-effective, environmentally friendly ways. The Green Bungalow Block demonstrates how Chicagoans can renovate bungalows to take advantage of environmentally friendly materials and techniques while maintaining the historic charm and character of the bungalows. The City of Chicago and the Historic Chicago Bungalow Association spearheaded the project. One home was restored to reflect the original bungalow design, replete with fine woodwork and stained art glass windows. Attic insulation was made from recycled denim, and a tankless water heater heats only as much water as is needed. A second, wheelchair accessible bungalow includes a geothermal heating and cooling system. The third bungalow has a spacious home-office addition on the back of the house with its own entrance. It includes a combination heating system that works as both a furnace and hot water heater. The fourth home features rooftop photovoltaic panels. More: http://www.chicagobungalow.org/062502.html Solar Today, Sep-Oct 2002, p 84. SOLAR-POWER ENTREPRENEUR BUILDS OFF-THE-GRID DREAM HOME Scheduled for completion early next year, the off-the-grid dream home of John Schaeffer and Nancy Hensley in Mendocino County, California, will feature passive and active solar techniques. Schaeffer is president and founder of the Real Goods Solar Living Center, considered the largest retailer of renewable energy products. Designed by Berkeley architect Craig Henritzy, the 2,900-square-foot home, called Sunhawk, will use recycled wood from all over the map, including redwood from a naval warehouse in New Jersey and a winery in California. The building resembles a hawk, with the hawk's tail housing an outdoor terrace, one wing housing a bedroom and the other wing housing the kitchen, which will be equipped with a solar oven designed by Henritzy. Daily at noon a stained-glass, south-facing window with a hawk design will cast a hawk image that will line up on a slate pattern inside the home and, based on its location, indicate the time of year. Sunhawk's exterior walls are made of Rastra, a cement-like block that consists of 85 percent Styrofoam and 15 percent concrete. The photovoltaic system includes 4 kW of Astropower 110w modules and 11 kW of Siemens 75w modules. The architect estimates Sunhawk's construction costs at $195 per square foot, with a total cost of $600,000. More: Craig Henritzy, tel. 510.526.8602, henritzy@mindspring.com San Francisco Chronicle, 9 Oct 2002, p F10, by Laramie Trevino. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 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