GreenClips.237 03.31.04 PUBLICIZE YOUR CONFERENCE OR EVENT IN GREENCLIPS Reach 10,000+ GreenClips readers by placing a sponsored announcement. Email chrishammer@greenclips.com for details. Scroll down to our Sponsors section to learn about two upcoming conferences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . WAL-MART PLANS TWO SUPERSTORES FEATURING GREEN TECHNOLOGIES Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, has chosen Aurora, Colorado, as one of two cities where it will build an experimental supercenter using environmentally friendly technologies. The store will include a variety of green technologies Wal-Mart plans to test before implementing in other stores. Wal-Mart spokesman Carlos Montoya said he could not detail the exact technologies that will be used, because the company has not submitted its plans to the city. Wal-Mart plans a similar store in McKinney, Texas. Officials selected the two cities because their different climates offer unique testing grounds for the new technologies. The retailer plans to partner with colleges and universities to study the stores. Results of the analysis would be used to design and build other stores and would be shared with the entire industry, Montoya said. Barring any problems with approvals, construction could start late this summer. Wal-Mart has come under fire in the Denver area because of its plans to drain a nearby lake to make room for another new store, but Montoya said plans for that store are still up in the air. The Denver Post, 13 Feb 2004, p C-1, by Kristi Arellano. PULTE WILL COMPLETE CIVANO WITHOUT NEIGHBORHOOD CENTERS Pulte Homes, the nation's largest residential builder, paid $8.57 million in early January to purchase approximately 480 acres in Civano, a development on the southeast fringe of Tucson that combines principles of New Urbanism and environmental sustainability. The Federal National Mortgage Agency (Fannie Mae) sold the land to Pulte, which will build Civano's final two neighborhoods. Some Civano residents are upset that Pulte will not also build centers containing restaurants and shops in its two neighborhoods. Pulte intends to build about 1,500 houses at Civano, and has agreed to offer five percent of available lots to builders who use innovative techniques such as rammed earth or straw bale construction. Fannie Mae will continue to develop lots in Civano's first neighborhood, where about 350 of 500 houses planned have been built. Sunset magazine recently named Civano the "Best New Community" in its annual survey of best places to live. New Urban News, Mar 2004, p 20. [About Civano: http://www.civano.com] ARTIST-INVENTORS TRANSFORM WASTE INTO BEAUTIFUL PRODUCTS Don McPherson, founder of a scientific glass company in Berkeley, California, and a creator of blown-art glass, wanted to use his technical knowledge to benefit society. In 1996, he began looking for a way to use the 500 tons of glass that get dumped in the San Francisco Bay Area each month. The result is a product called Vetrazzo, formed from colored concrete and 80 to 90 percent recycled glass, including beer bottles, clear tempered glass, and glass from traffic lights. McPherson's company, Counter Production, custom casts countertops, sinks and fireplace mantels from Vetrazzo, which is as hard as granite and more beautiful than terrazzo. Counter Production keeps between 50 and 100 tons of glass out of landfills each year and helps recyclers stay in business. McPherson is part of a wave of artist-inventors coming up with next-generation green products, as is Stanley Shetka, a professor of art and design at Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota. Shetka invented a process for transforming paper or fiber into ShetkaStone, which can be cast into slabs for doors, counters or decorative objects. ShetkaStone has the variable coloration of natural stone and can be recycled again. Shetka developed the product after asking himself why we use paper once, then throw it away, so that it makes up about 40 percent of all solid waste. More: http://www.counterproduction.com, http://www.shetkastone.com. San Francisco Chronicle, 20 Mar 2004, by Susan Kuchinskas. STUDY SUGGESTS UV TREATMENT IN DUCTS IMPROVES OCCUPANT HEALTH A study led by McGill University of Montreal suggests that mounting ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) lamps in air ducts can improve the health of a building's occupants. Researchers surveyed 771 workers in several Montreal office buildings over a nearly one-year period. They installed UVGI lamps in the ducts of the buildings, turned them off for 12 weeks, then on for 4 weeks -- a cycle repeated three times. The researchers noted a 20 percent drop in "building-related" symptoms (e.g., headaches, fatigue, skin irritation, and respiratory problems) among the study subjects when the lamps were on. Allergy symptoms in some subjects dropped by as much as 40 percent. The study concluded it would cost $52,000 to equip a roughly 118,000-square-foot office building with UV lamps, which would add $14,000 in operating costs per year. This is a modest investment, the researchers suggest, compared to productivity losses tied to sick-building syndrome. But neither UVGI nor other treatment techniques can correct design flaws that introduce airborne pathogens in the first place. "UV shouldn't be used as a band-aid," said J. Patrick Carpenter, senior engineering principal at Kling, a Philadelphia-based A/E firm. "You want to eliminate contamination at the source." Architectural Record, Mar 2004, p 170, by Ted Smalley Bowen. [Full text: http://archrecord.construction.com/features/digital/archives/0403dignews-2.asp] REPORT HIGHLIGHTS ENERGY-SAVING TIPS FOR SMALL RETAILERS The Toronto environmental group Greenest City has published "Greening the Small Retail Sector," a user-friendly, 26-page report that offers tips and case studies to help small, street-facing retailers cut energy costs and climate impacts. Included are energy-saving success stories from Toronto-area retailers. The authors say that "seizing energy and waste saving opportunities at the small retail sector can help to reduce operating costs, improve customer loyalty, and contribute to local economic development; thus ensuring the continued vibrancy of one of Canada's most important economic sectors." Download the report: http://greenbiz.com/toolbox/reports_third.cfm?LinkAdvID=49321 The Green Business Letter, Mar 2004, p 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GreenClips is free of charge thanks to individual members and these sponsors: ARMSTRONG CEILING SYSTEMS http://www.armstrong.com/commceilingsna/article10790.html Armstrong offers an expanding portfolio of sustainable ceiling products. Through the Ceiling Recycling Program, an industry first and only one of its kind, old tiles are shipped to an Armstrong plant, not a landfill; 17 million square feet recycled to date. ENGINEERING GREEN BUILDINGS CONFERENCE http://www.hpac.com/products/egb.htm The first-ever national green building conference for engineers featuring leading experts providing intensive/interactive sessions on green-building design for new construction, renovation and O&M. July 20-23, 2004 Cleveland, Ohio. EPA'S ENVIRONMENTALLY-PREFERABLE PURCHASING PROGRAM Greening the government, one purchase at a time. http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/epp FIRST ANNUAL TETON GREEN BUILDING CONFERENCE http://www.tetongreenbuilding.com/ Please join developers, planners, builders and architects June 2-4 at Jackson Lake Lodge in Grand Teton National Park to learn from national experts about the LEED standard, building science, methods and materials for colder climates. This first annual event is sponsored by AIA-Wyoming, USGBC-Colorado Chapter, and Vail Resorts Development Company. 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. 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, author of "Good Green Homes: Creating Better Homes for a Healthier Planet" (http://www.goodgreenhomes.com). To CONTACT THE PUBLISHER: Email chrishammer@greenclips.com or call 415.928.7941. BACK ISSUES Two Internet sites host GreenClips archives for reference and research: http://listserv.energy.wsu.edu/greenclips/visit.html (keyword search) http://www.greenclips.com (browse contents) REDISTRIBUTION Please do not redistribute or post copies of GreenClips regularly. Encourage readers who receive GreenClips from you to subscribe directly. Continuing sponsorship depends on accurate reader counts. SUBSCRIBE / UNSUBSCRIBE To subscribe via e-mail send a blank message to subscribe-greenclips@listserv.energy.wsu.edu To unsubscribe via e-mail send a blank message to unsubscribe-greenclips@listserv.energy.wsu.edu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Copyright 2003 Sustainable Design Resources. All rights reserved. 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