GreenClips.214 04.23.03 BEST DESIGN LIST INCLUDES DIVERSE GREEN BUILDING PRODUCTS Metropolitan Home has once again published its signature Design 100 list, a chronicle of newsworthy design, from architecture to furnishings to kitchen gadgets. A number of green building products appear on the list, including MeadowBoard from Meadowood Industries of Oregon. MeadowBoard - available as a flat or molded wavy board is made from the otherwise discarded stems of rye grass, an annually renewable resource. The boards are strong, elastic, insulating, and naturally sexy. A 1/4-inch thick, 4-by-8-foot sheet is $22; http://www.meadowoodindustries.com . Kalwall Corp. has unveiled a new translucent glazing product containing Nanogel, a silicon-based aerogel that insulates (with a value of R-20), resists mildew, keeps out noise and softens daylight. Residential skylight units cost $40/square foot; http://www.kalwall.com . Detroit's co-lab*, an art and architecture collaborative, has refashioned old tires into garden containers and roof shingles; http://www.co-labstudio.com. Bonded Logic makes UltraTouch insulation from recycled post-industrial denim and cotton fibers. A 5 1/2-inch batt has an R-value of 19, meets most common building code requirements, keeps out noise, and is safe to handle. It sells for $0.50 to $0.70/square foot; http://www.bondedlogic.com. Bedrock Industries makes its 19 colors of Blazestone tile entirely from post-industrial and postconsumer glass. Basic four-inch-square tiles are $4 each; http://www.bedrockindustries.com. Metropolitan Home, May/June 2003, p 79. SUSTAINABILITY GAINING A FOOTHOLD IN ARCHITECTURE EDUCATION The sustainability movement is changing the way a number of schools approach architectural education. Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, approaches sustainable design as a cross-departmental area of inquiry. It offers a number of minors from different disciplines, including: Environmental Context for Business, Environmental Contexts in Healthcare, Environmental Policy, Sustainable Land Systems, and Technology and the Environment. At Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Florida, architecture professors are teaching a critical regionalism informed by environmentalism. In some courses, students work with clients and communities to better understand and engage the cultures and climates of tropical regions. The National Architecture Accreditation Board (NAAB), the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA), and the AIA's Committee on the Environment are all debating different ways to promote, document, and quantify efforts in sustainability education. One of the most important questions is to what degree standardization is needed. The NAAB is currently debating whether sustainability will be a criterion for school accreditation, or just optional subject matter that can be assessed using the current set of standards. The AIA's Committee on the Environment would like to establish a national rating system for all architectural schools, so that there can be a public assessment of each school's commitment to sustainability in its curriculum. Architecture, Apr 2003, p 49, by Julia Mandell. AIA RELEASES NEW GUIDE FOR WRITING GREEN RFPS AIA's Committee on the Environment (COTE) has put together a brief but useful guide to greening requests for proposals (RFPs) and qualifications (RFQs). Intended for clients, "Writing the Green RFP: Sustainable Design Language for Consultant Requests," presents the basics of the RFP for design services and addresses some considerations unique to the green RFP. The guide offers sustainable design language for the following RFP sections: Project Introduction; Project Objectives; Qualifications and Experience; Services Required and Approach; Scope of the Project; Budget; Submissions Requirements; Evaluation Methodology; and Contractual Information. Sixteen sample RFPs and RFQs, from Oberlin College, Battery Park City, and the U.S. Navy, among others, are reprinted in full. Download for free from: http://www.aia.org/pia/cote/rfp . Environmental Building News, Apr 2003, p 15, by Jessica Boehland. DESIGN COMPETITION ANNOUNCED FOR HAWAII CONSERVATION AND ARTS CENTER In Hawaii, the Nature Conservancy, Kapolei High School, and the National Endowment for the Arts are seeking design proposals for the new Malama Learning Center. The deadline is July 1, 2003. The 25,000-square-foot building will nurture conservation and the performing and visual arts. Green, sustainable technology will be a running thread throughout the center. Details: http://host36.ipowerweb.com/~malamale Architecture, Apr 2003, p 30, and competition website. GREEN IDEAS FOR HOTELIERS AROUND THE WORLD In the United States, scientists from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory conducted a lighting study at a hotel in Sacramento, California. The researchers found that during typically unoccupied daytime periods between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. there was no significant falloff in use of bedside lamps and bathroom lighting, implying that they were being left on when guests left their rooms. "We found that one of the largest energy saving opportunities in hotel guest room lighting is eliminating the unnecessary extended operation of the bathroom fixtures," says LBNL researcher Michael Siminovitch. The researchers found that a combination of two solutions was most effective. The first is a timer that turns off the lights after one hour. The second solution is a light-emitting diode (LED) night light for guests who like to have a light on at night. Details: http://lighting.lbl.gov/projects/hotel/Hotel.htm . Meanwhile, in Italy, the Province of Rimini recently published a guide to green purchasing, which is available to interested hoteliers throughout Italy. For information, email renata.mirulla@ecobilancio.com . And in the United Kingdom, a new publication, "Waste Counts -- A Handbook for Accommodation Operators," provides practical help to operators of accommodations ranging from the smallest B&Bs to large hotels, on how to recycle items they may currently throw away. The handbook is free to UK hotels; email mtodd@brookes.ac.uk. The Green Business Letter, Apr 2003, p 5 (LBNL study); GreenHotelier, Apr 2003, p 7 (Rimini guide); and GreenHotelier, Apr 2003, p 8 (UK handbook). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GreenClips is free of charge thanks to individual members and these sponsors: BUILDINGGREEN, INC. 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