GreenClips.212 03.26.03 PORTLAND REPORTS ON ITS GREEN BUILDING PROGRESS In early March, the Green Building Division of Portland, Oregon's Office of Sustainable Development reported to the Portland City Council on the program's progress. The program came into being in 1999 courtesy of some bureaucratic reorganization and about 25 cents added to every household's monthly garbage collection bill. The program provides technical assistance, small grants and training on green building practices to developers, builders, homeowners and design professionals. According to the Green Building Division's 32-page report, "Strategic Investment in Green Building," the program has exceeded all of its goals. As of February, green building design and construction practices have been implemented in 41 commercial and mixed-use buildings, totaling 3.1 million square feet, and in 1,314 housing units. The program has provided technical assistance on more than 300 projects. The Green Building Division's new five-year strategic action plan, which was presented at the City Council meeting, focuses on several key areas, including: making the permit process for green buildings easier, extending programs to the greater Portland-metropolitan area, establishing a high performance business center and establishing an ecological urban design studio. To download the report, click the "Newsworthy" link at http://www.green-rated.org Portland Daily Journal of Commerce, 5 Mar 2003, by Cody McCullough; and The Oregonian, 2 Mar 2003, by Randy Gragg. EDUCATION IN BUILDING SCIENCE BASICS IS KEY TO REVERSING MOLD FRENZY The New York Times reports that over the last five years, mold has exerted increasing strains on the real estate industry, the insurance industry, the court system and architectural and construction practices. Yet, there are those who contend that, however legitimate in some cases, the current concern has also been exaggerated. Meanwhile, The Construction Specifier reports that the real solution to mold is to educate everyone involved in the built environment on the basics of building science, which views a structure as components working as a complete system. Today's trend toward energy efficiency complicates matters when parties are not educated on how all systems work together. For example, it is crucial to consider moisture flow--due to gravity, capillary action, air transport, or vapor diffusion--particularly where mold is concerned. While plumbing is an obvious source of moisture problems, a lesser known yet equally detrimental source is liquid water or water vapor entering through the envelope. An effective, continuous air and vapor retarder keeps the amount of water vapor entering the envelope to a minimum, allows the ventilation system to work more efficiently, and provides a means to control the infiltration and exfiltration of air. The US DOE's moisture analysis program, available at http://www.ornl.gov/ORNL/BTC/moisture, allows for simple calculations of a building's tendency to accumulate moisture. Integrating building science into the specifications doesn't have to be complicated. Sample general specifications could include the following language: Provide labor, materials, products, equipment, and services to install insulation, air/vapor barrier, and ventilation systems that maintain effective control of air, moisture, and heat transfer within the building envelope. (Include performance requirements of the building and design details.) The New York Times, 23 Mar 2003, by Dennis Hevesi; and The Construction Specifier, Mar 2003, p 58, by Mason Knowles. KNOLL'S OFFICE SYSTEMS NOW AVAILABLE WITH FSC-CERTIFIED WOOD In January 2003, Knoll, Inc. became North America's largest furniture manufacturer with Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) chain-of-custody certification. The certification of Knoll's manufacturing plants in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Ontario was performed by Scientific Certification Systems. "All of our standard furniture lines are available with FSC-certified wood," reports Lou Newett, Knoll's manager of environmental health and safety. The upcharge for specifying this option is minimal on large jobs, according to Newett. Using the FSC's percentage-based claims rules, Knoll can label products as certified as long as 70 percent of the wood in the overall product is certified. On large jobs it can be hard to procure enough solid lumber or veneer, so they make up the difference with certified composite core materials. Knoll currently has no products for which FSC-certified wood is used by default, due to difficulties in procuring the quantity of wood they would need. More: http://www.knoll.com Environmental Building News, Apr 2003, p 7, by Nadav Malin. COUNTY SUPPORTS RECYCLED PRODUCTS MANUFACTURING IN PUGET SOUND AREA In King County, Washington, the Solid Waste Division's four-year-old LinkUp program provides a broad range of services to help build sales for goods made with recycled content. These services include helping companies develop business plans; evaluating technologies and markets for recycled products; assisting with material testing; locating reliable suppliers of recycled materials; providing entree to government purchasing departments; creating marketing materials; and developing media plans. There are currently 18 manufacturers actively partnering with LinkUp, including Quarry Tile, the maker of Eco-Tile, a ceramic tile that combines recycled glass, recycled grinding paste from the computer disk industry, and recycled soil/rock waste from the premixed concrete industry. LinkUp is helping Quarry Tile find new markets for Eco-Tile by providing marketing support and material testing services. Another partner is Allied Floors, whose Spectocular Floors product mixes recycled glass in a custom-colored cement base to create a customized floor design. Allied has received marketing support from LinkUp, including assistance with a logo design and product brochure. LinkUp also helped Recovery One, a construction, demolition and land-clearing debris recycling facility, to create a marketing campaign and to develop a market for recycled scrap carpet--the first program of its kind in the Northwest. For more information, email LinkUp's project manager, Erv Sandlin at erv.sandlin@metrokc.gov In Business, Jan-Feb 2003, p 20, by Erv Sandlin. DO-IT-YOURSELF CONCRETE COUNTERS FROM BUDDY RHODES San Francisco concrete artist Buddy Rhodes has introduced a new line of concrete mix products. Rhodes, a pioneer in using concrete for home interiors, believes a concrete counter is not beyond "anyone who is interested in making their own counters and is not afraid to get their hands dirty." His counter mix is a combination of bleached, gray portland cement, sand and rock, and 30 percent recycled materials that include reclaimed coal industry fly ash and reclaimed concrete from freeways. The basic 70-pound bag of counter mix is $72. More: http://www.buddyrhodes.com San Francisco Chronicle, 12 Mar 2003, by Laura Thomas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GreenClips is free of charge thanks to individual members and these sponsors: BUILDING & OPERATING SUSTAINABLE CAMPUSES IN THE 21st CENTURY This conference presented by University of California, Merced, in association with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is April 28th and 29th in Modesto, California. Latest developments in sustainability will be discussed in breakout groups covering topics such as: energy efficiency and renewable energy; materials and waste management, indoor environmental quality; integration of sustainability into academic curricula; and water management. For more information visit http://www.cce.csus.edu/cts/merced/. BUILDINGGREEN, INC. Providing authoritative, unbiased information to help you improve the environmental performance of buildings and the surrounding landscapes. Now featuring the new, updated 3rd edition of GreenSpec Directory with more than 1650 listings of green building products. Please visit http://www.buildinggreen.com/ecommerce/ C&A FLOORCOVERINGS We choose not to just make carpet but to also make a difference. 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. 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