GreenClips.232 01.28.04 HAPPY BIRTHDAY GREENCLIPS! This year is GreenClips' 10th birthday! Celebrate by donating to GreenClips. Your donations keep us going year after year. Visit www.greenclips.com for info. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . EPA ANNOUNCES SUSTAINABILITY COMPETITION FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced a new P3 Award: A National Student Design Competition for Sustainability. It will provide grants to teams of college students to research, develop and design sustainable solutions to environmental challenges. P3--for people, prosperity and the planet--has two phases. Initially, teams compete for $10,000 grants. EPA will support up to 50 student design projects during the 2004-2005 academic year for research and development of their sustainable design. This first phase is meant to encourage creativity, allowing the teams to: 1) define a technical challenge to sustainability; 2) discuss the relationship of the challenge to people, prosperity and the planet; and 3) develop a design approach to address the challenge. Challenges from a wide range of categories will be considered, including agriculture, built environment, ecosystem, energy, resources and water. In spring 2005, the P3 grant recipients will be invited to Washington, DC to compete for the P3 Award, which provides additional funding for further design development and implementation. The award is open to undergraduate or graduate teams in colleges, universities and other post-secondary institutions in the United States. Closing date: March 25, 2004. More: http://es.epa.gov/ncer/p3/designs_sustain_rfp.html The Green Business Letter, Dec. 2003, p 4, and EPA website. SUSTAINABLE DESIGN GUIDELINES PUBLISHED FOR WTC DEVELOPMENT The World Trade Center development team recently released guidelines that will help shape how the office buildings and retail space manage energy consumption while minimizing their impact on the city's environment. Hints of how the new standards may be applied are already evident at ground zero's first construction site, 7 World Trade Center, just north of the main redevelopment site. There, large diesel engines were fitted with powerful filters and switched to ultra-low-sulfur fuel to reduce air pollution. The program's success helped lead to the adoption of a city law mandating low-sulfur fuel and high-efficiency filters in all public construction. At 7 World Trade Center, rainwater will be collected on the roof and stored in tanks for reuse in toilets or to irrigate a small park next to the site. Computers will control heating and lighting, and power to commercial tenants will be metered, which should encourage conservation. Janno Lieber of Silverstein Properties, the developer who holds the trade center's commercial lease, said environmental features accounted for 3 to 5 percent of the cost of constructing 7 World Trade Center. On the main redevelopment site, the Freedom Tower, a much larger building, will incorporate many of the same environmental features as 7 World Trade Center, and a few not put in effect there, such as propeller-driven wind turbines that will furnish up to 10 percent of the tower's electricity. The New York Times, 20 Jan 2004, p A18, by Anthony DePalma. [To download the guidelines, go to http://www.renewnyc.com/plan_des_dev/environmental_impact_contents.asp and click on Appendix A ] EPSON TO REDESIGN SEMICONDUCTOR PLANTS TO SAVE RESOURCES Electronics giant Epson plans to set up "green factories" by 2010 to improve resource efficiency in the water- and energy-intensive semiconductor industry. Rising and falling demand for semiconductors can lead to wasted resources at big, energy-intensive plants if the factories don't operate at full capacity. Epson's idea is to set up scalable clean rooms with their own air conditioning and water purification, with the flexibility to match output demands. These "containers" would be set up in existing facilities as needed to produce different electronic products, with containers added and removed in response to fluctuating demand. Only the small area of the container needs to be air conditioned to clean room standards. The Green Business Letter, Dec. 2003, p 2. [Download Epson's 2-page newsletter about concept: http://www.epson.co.jp/e/newsroom/envi_news/0309Environewsline.pdf ] SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS WHAT'S NEEDED TO ACCELERATE GROWTH OF GREEN BUILDING "Marketing sustainable design services is gaining increasing importance," according to a new report documenting a survey of building professionals. The report, "Marketing Sustainable Design Services," by Jerry Yudelson, sustainability director of Portland-based Interface Engineering, is based on a survey of 473 attendees of the U.S. Green Building Council's 2002 GreenBuild conference in Austin, Texas. Yudelson found 76 percent of respondents saying they had attracted new clients based on their green-building expertise. Yudelson also queried respondents about marketplace conditions that could help accelerate the growth of greener buildings. Among the needs: case study data, comparative cost information, demonstrable information on the benefits of green buildings, personal stories, and creation of a cadre of certified building assessors. To obtain the report, email jerry_y@ieice.com . The Green Business Letter, Dec. 2003, p 2. AN OVERVIEW OF ASHRAE'S NEW RESIDENTIAL VENTILATION STANDARD In 2003, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) published its new Standard 62.2-2003, "Ventilation and Acceptable Indoor Air Quality for Low-Rise Residential Buildings." It describes the minimum requirements necessary to provide minimally acceptable indoor air quality for typical situations, and is applicable to both new and existing homes, including all single-family homes and small multifamily homes. ASHRAE standards can become codes, and if they do, they become the legal minimum requirements. The cost for meeting Standard 62.2 is estimated at about $200. Some of the standard's major requirements are listed here. VENTED COMBUSTION EQUIPMENT: Allows natural draft appliances inside the home, but under some circumstances requires testing to reduce risk of combustion by-products spilling into the home. LOCAL EXHAUST: Required only in kitchens and bathrooms; requires that the fans be somewhat quiet but doesn't provide energy-efficiency requirements. Good practice is to install low-sone, energy-efficient exhaust fans so they are used more often and cost less to operate. GARAGES: Allows return ductwork in the garage, but requires that it meet a tightness limit. HEARTH PRODUCTS: Allows certain hearth products inside the pressure boundary, but under certain circumstances requires a test to reduce risk of spillage. PARTICLE FILTRATION: Requires that all HVAC components have a good particle filter to keep them from becoming a contaminant source. CLOTHES DRYERS AND CENTRAL VACUUMS: Requires all clothes dryers to be vented directly outdoors, but does not address central vacuum systems. TOXIC COMPOUND STORAGE: Use of products such as cleaning solvents, paints and pesticides is typically a "high-polluting event" as defined in the Standard; they should be used with increased ventilation such as open windows or additional exhaust fans. MINIMUM MECHANICAL VENTILATION RATES: Typically 40 to 70 cfm, depending on the size of the home; in mild climates and other special circumstances, allows natural ventilation to be used instead. ASHRAE Journal, Jan. 2004, p S149, by Max Sherman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GreenClips is free of charge thanks to individual members and these sponsors: BUILDINGGREEN, INC. Build Your Expertise with BuildingGreen Suite, a revolutionary green building tool from the people who bring you Environmental Building News. Clear, powerful information presented online - at your fingertips. 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