GreenClips.246 08.18.04 PROJECTS SOUGHT FOR HOME DESIGN BOOK GreenClips editor Jennifer Roberts is looking for innovative residential projects to include in her new book, REDUX: Designs that Reveal, Recycle and Redefine. Info: www.jenniferroberts.com/redux.htm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ARCHITECTS NEED FEEDBACK ON ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE A study published in the United Kingdom examines the importance of post-occupancy evaluations (POE) and the need to provide feedback to architects on their project's actual performance. The study looked at three buildings -- a glass museum and two speculative offices -- designed by the same practice. It included pre- and post-occupancy evaluations, as well as a feedback exercise in which lessons learned were fed back to the architects at a seminar. The post-occupancy evaluations compiled information on energy use, comfort satisfaction, and actual conditions encountered, drawing on data from energy bills, the Building Use Studies (BUS) Questionnaire survey, visual inspection, and monitoring of relative humidity and illuminance. Results indicate that the architects sometimes made decisions for aesthetic reasons without being certain of their environmental impact. There were also missed opportunities for performance improvements, especially in energy consumption, glare, usability of controls, communication of strategies, and comfort conditions. The study's authors propose a systematic approach to giving architects project feedback, with emphasis on feeding information forward to new projects and recording decision-making. To close the information loop, project briefs need to explicitly mention performance targets for energy use, management expectations, and control requirements, and need to promote feedback itself. Building Research & Information, Jul-Aug 2004, Vol 32(4), by Isabel Carmona Andreu and Tadj Oreszczyn. [More: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/09613218.asp] IN CHILE, INDIANS STRUGGLE TO TAKE BACK FORESTS SUPPLANTED BY TREE FARMS The forests in southern Chile once belonged to the Mapuche Indians, but now they are filled with tree farms supplying lumber to the United States, Japan and Europe. The Mapuches are trying to reclaim the forests, employing tactics some say verge on terrorism. Despite international protests, 18 Mapuche leaders are scheduled to go on trial soon, accused of burning forests or farmhouses or destroying forestry equipment and trucks. On land the Mapuches claim is theirs, forestry companies have planted hundreds of thousands of acres of tree farms with Monterey pine and eucalyptus trees, non-native species that consume large amounts of water and fertilizer. Chilean exports of wood to the United States, almost all of which come from this southern region, are about $600 million a year and rising. Though an international campaign led by the conservation group Forest Ethics resulted in the Home Depot chain and other leading wood importers agreeing last year to revise their purchasing policies to "provide for the protection of native forests in Chile," some militant Mapuche leaders are not satisfied. "The big companies and the big landowners are usurpers who profit at our expense, and we want them to leave," complained Jose Huenchunao, a Mapuche leader who is among the 18 scheduled to go on trial. The New York Times, 11 Aug 2004, p A3, by Larry Rohter. SHIFTING FROM PRODUCTS TO SERVICES: DRIVERS AND BARRIERS In the business world, the concept of shifting from selling products to providing services has been around for decades, but in recent years it has attracted renewed interest, due in part to its potential to expand business opportunities while reducing environmental impacts. There are a number of critical factors driving this shift, as well as barriers slowing this transformation. The most important external driver is legislation, including the Extended Producer Responsibility principle, deregulation and stringent chemical regulations. Internal drivers include resource efficiency and management support. IBM and Xerox, for example, perceive service orientation as a survival strategy and enjoy revenues from their high volume of leasing and remanufacturing operations. Closing product cycles allows companies to have a constant flow of raw materials, which can be used for further production. At Interface, Inc., the CEO initiated corporate value changes that influenced the entire production process, including moving toward a closed loop system. A major barrier to shifting toward service-oriented solutions is low demand, especially if customers lack knowledge of life cycle costs or perceive the prices of service-oriented offers to be prohibitively high. To gain customer acceptance, companies need to provide more attractive offers, or at least the same level of function and comfort as products provide, and companies shouldn't assume that customers are more interested in the product function rather than in its ownership. The Journal of Sustainable Product Design, Vol 2 No 3-4, p 89, by Oksana Mont. [More: http://www.cfsd.org.uk/journal/index.html] WHEN WILL HEMP'S TIME COME? At a time when textile and carpet producers are turning to corn as the renewable fiber of the future, hemp remains the prom king that missed the dance. Hemp has been grown for thousands of years in China, but nearsighted policies fetter its use in the United States, where it has been illegal to grow hemp since 1937. It is widely known that hemp grown for fiber is harvested before the plant buds, and that it contains less than one percent of THC, the psychoactive substance in the cannabis species, compared to 15 percent or higher in marijuana. Yet the ban continues, at a time when our need for organic renewable fibers is expanding. Unlike cotton, hemp requires much less water and no pesticides. Also, hemp is ultraviolet resistant, so its natural color doesn't fade in sunlight. The Chinese are the leaders in hemp and blend textiles, but until recently the report on imported Chinese hemp fabrics was mixed. For the past decade, Barbara Filippone, founder of EnviroTextiles, has been working with Chinese mills directly, and has established quality standards for all the hemp and blend textiles that her company imports. The flow of Chinese fabric imports is quickening, and many are marveling at the material for the first time. Interiors & Sources, Aug 2004, p 54, by David Mahood. [More: http://www.envirotextile.com] START SMALL, THINK BIG, BUILD A GREEN DOLLHOUSE The Green Dollhouse competition's goal is to "inspire lots of people (big and little) to take steps to make their own homes a little healthier and easier on the environment." The competition calls for design professionals and students to design and build their own dollhouses, which will be judged by green building experts including David Arkin of Arkin Tilt Architects. Winning entries will be exhibited at Coyote Point Museum in San Mateo, Calif., the first stop on a five-venue national tour. Applications are due October 14; dollhouses must be submitted by December 15. Info: http://www.greendollhouse.org Environmental Building News, Aug 2004, p 8, and Green Dollhouse Project website. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 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