GreenClips.215 05.07.03 AIA ANNOUNCES 2003'S TOP TEN GREEN PROJECTS The American Institute of Architects has announced the Top Ten Green Projects for 2003. In alphabetical order, the projects are: Argonne Child Development Center, San Francisco, California, by 450 Architects; Chicago Center for Green Technology, Chicago, Illinois, by Farr Associates Architecture; Colorado Court Affordable Housing, Santa Monica, Calif., by Pugh Scarpa Kodama; Cusano Center at Tinicum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by Susan Maxman & Partners; Fisher Pavilion at Seattle Center, Seattle, Washington, by Miller|Hull Partnership; Herman Miller MarketPlace, Zeeland, Michigan, by Integrated Architecture; Hidden Villa Youth Hostel & Summer Camp, Los Altos Hills, Calif., by Arkin Tilt Architects; San Mateo Forensics Laboratory, San Mateo, Calif., by Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum; Steinhude Sea Recreation Facility, Steinhude, Germany, by Randall Stout Architects and Archimedes GmbH; and Wine Creek Road Home, Healdsburg, Calif., by Siegel & Strain Architects. For full project descriptions go to http://www.highperformancebuildings.gov/case_studies. Environmental Building News, May 2003, p 7. STUDIES AIM TO PROVE FINANCIAL ADVANTAGE OF GREEN BUILDING If the construction industry is to adopt sustainable design, the ecosystem of banks, insurance companies, and real-estate appraisers must see a financial advantage in doing so. "Making that link to the financial levers will be fundamental to transforming the building market," says Christine Ervin, president and CEO of the U.S. Green Building Council. If that link is successfully established, it will be due in part to studies being conducted in states like California and Massachusetts, where architects, engineers, and environmental advocates are churning through statistics, breaking down economic arguments, and fashioning them to appeal to developers. During the next few years the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust Fund's green buildings program will conduct detailed five-year tracking studies of 60 to 70 projects. LEED is its preferred but not required green building methodology. The goal is data on life-cycle costs, return on investment, net present value, and other key measures. And recently the state of California commissioned the Capital E Group, an energy research firm in Washington, D.C., to crunch the numbers on LEED costs and returns. Its review of three-dozen LEED and equivalent projects revealed design and construction costs of zero to three percent higher than conventional projects for substantially lower peak energy use and higher worker productivity. The group is also attempting to amass statistics that will put a dollar value on worker productivity and health. Metropolis, June 2003, p 118, by Ted Smalley Bowen. RADIANT HEATING/COOLING SYSTEMS DELIVER COMFORT AT LOW COST Radiation, convection and evaporation all contribute to human comfort, but typical North American HVAC systems only address convection (moving a lot of air) and humidity control. In Europe, radiant temperature control systems are widely used and have been functioning well for over two decades. The most common method for radiant cooling and heating in Europe is applied capillary tube sheets. Normally these consist of small diameter plastic tubing mats embedded into plastered walls and ceilings, or integrated into suspended ceiling panels. Another system is the Swiss BATISO concept (an acronym for Batiment Isotherm--constant temperature building). This uses plastic tubing cast into the building's concrete structure. Warm and cool water is pumped through the tubing to control the concrete slab temperature to create radiant cooling and heating. Coupled with a displacement ventilation system, much of the heat from lights and equipment can be removed from the space directly, resulting in a very stable indoor climate. With a radiant heating/cooling system, the building air system only needs to provide treated, filtered outdoor air and can be 20 percent of the size one normally expects for an "all-air" type temperature control system. Typically, a thermo-active slab office building uses 70 percent less energy than the best conventional all-air HVAC system. In North America, there are presently only two functional commercial radiant slab cooling systems: the ICT Building at the University of Calgary, and Gleneagles Community Center, West Vancouver, B.C. Canadian Architect, March 2003 (p 38) and April 2003 (p 32), by Geoff McDonnell. [For full text, go to Archive at http://www.cdnarchitect.com ] DESIGN OF WISCONSIN NATURE CENTER DISAPPOINTS, DESPITE GREEN FEATURES Despite a long list of green features, from low-flow toilets to solar power, the new Schlitz Audubon Nature Center in Bayside, Wisconsin, is not memorable architecture. Designed by The Kubala Washatko Architects of Cedarburg, Wisconsin, the $5.5 million, 30,000-square-foot building is spatially coherent, light-filled and engaging inside. The exterior, however, is another story. The building sprawls and is too heavy for its site -- a reflection of the myriad functions packed in, including classrooms, a preschool, offices, an auditorium and space for corporate rentals. The three-layered, seamed aluminum roof all but overwhelms the long, horizontal mass, calling attention to sun-shading and water-recovery technologies instead of becoming one with the composition. "The building was the product of so many different forces," said design architect Joel Krueger, including a visual preference survey, the center's mission as both an indoor and outdoor classroom, and the need for something that would last as long as a century. In this throwaway age, an enduring building is the ultimate way to go green. But within that framework it is possible to imagine a structure that would have exploited green technologies, perhaps even a vegetative roof, while blurring the distinction between inside and outside space in a more graceful way. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 4 May 2003, by Whitney Gould. [More: http://www.schlitzauduboncenter.com ; http://www.tkwa.com] STUDENT DESIGN COMPETITION FOR ECOHOUSE Architectural Press has announced the 2003 International Student Design Competition for an Ecohouse. The competition calls for students to design an Ecohouse in their own hometown. Two key aims are to make it comfortable and to make it a real 21st-century building, safe from climate change and able to survive without relying heavily on fossil fuels. The competition is open to a student or group of students in a school of architecture anywhere in the world. Deadline: July 1, 2003. More: http://www.architecturalpress.com Architectural Record, May 2003. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 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. 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. THE LIGHTWASH PROGRAM http://www.lightwash.com The LightWash Program offers combined energy and water conservation rebates of up to $450 per qualified efficient commercial washers (100+ models). Available to multi-family common area laundry, businesses with on-premise laundry, and coin laundry stores in California. WSU ENERGY PROGRAM http://www.energy.wsu.edu Providing objective research, information and solutions. Washington State University Cooperative Extension Energy Program in Olympia, Washington. Subscribe to GreenClips and other mailing lists on energy and the environment at http://listserv.energy.wsu.edu .......................... GREENCLIPS NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT! Twice a month GreenClips is distributed electronically to over 10,000 readers interested in sustainable building design. But we can't do it without the financial support of our sponsors and members. If you find GreenClips valuable, please consider becoming a sponsor or voluntary member. Email chrishammer@greenclips.com for details. ABOUT THE PUBLISHER: Sustainable design consultant Chris Hammer publishes GreenClips in San Francisco. Ms. Hammer helps her clients with environmentally responsible approaches to urban planning and development, and to building design, construction, and operation. GreenClips is edited by Jennifer Roberts (jennifer@jenniferroberts.com), whose book on green home design will be published in 2003. To CONTACT THE PUBLISHER: Email chrishammer@greenclips.com or call 415.928.7941. Copyright 2003 Sustainable Design Resources. All rights reserved. Republishing GreenClips in print or on a web site, in whole or in part, or commercial distribution in any form requires advance permission of the publisher.