GreenClips

Alice Bieneman, an interior designer contracted to Evanston Northwestern Healthcare, uses the software PinPoint to select furniture from ENH's stock in existing warehouses. The database program was developed by Iowa-based Allsteel. It might seem counterintuitive for a furniture maker to help a business find old pieces in its inventory, but Allsteel sees it as a way to remain relevant even to corporate clients who aren't making new purchases. The service provided is invaluable to companies rearranging offices so often that tracking what they own becomes a daunting task. Furniture manufacturers call this emerging field "asset management," which evokes spreadsheets rather than armrests. "Customers are looking for solutions-ergonomics, standardization, green initiatives," says Karen Olderog, Allsteel's vice president of corporate accounts. Although executives talk to investors about spending forecasts and predict their earnings down to the penny, they often can't keep tabs on what's in their warehouses-and many don't bother to try. A critical discussion among corporate executives involves the cost and consequence of disposing of used material. While it's hard to gauge how much an asset-management program can keep out of landfills, the PinPoint model certainly helps corporate buyers think about how to reuse goods. "When you look at what we save in materials because we're not having a manufacturer build something new," Bieneman says, "the value to the corporation is tremendous." Olderog notes that PinPoint lets managers from one of the client's divisions "reserve" an unused piece of furniture from another division-possibly saving that item from a premature death. The capacity to reuse and recycle improves when big companies embrace a strategic approach in what they own. Walter Munroe, who manages workplace services for Steelcase, an Allsteel rival, says his company has started recycling programs for customers. "We grind stuff up with a network of recyclers and get seventy to eighty dollars a ton for steel," he says.
Metropolis, Mar 05, p 72, by Alec Appelbaum
www.metropolismag.com/cda/story.php?artid=1152

Many landscape architects are not aware of the nuances and potential pitfalls of designing irrigation systems that contribute to LEED credits. In some cases, landscape architects are losing points because either they do not have the mechanical knowledge regarding irrigation system design or they are designing irrigation systems that will not support plants or that will become a maintenance nightmare. Water Efficiency Credit 1.1 is awarded to projects that limit the amount of potable water used for irrigation. The requirement is to reduce potable water consumption by 50 percent of what a traditional irrigation system uses. To attain this credit, most landscape architects design and specify a low-volume or "drip" irrigation system, but many.are not aware of several inherent problems associated with these systems. The first is that they are very susceptible to becoming clogged with soil particles or insects. The second problem is related to ongoing maintenance for the owner ; low-volume systems require more work than a traditional system. While these systems have very few moving parts, they require automatic flushing, and filtration units need to be cleaned and inspected annually. Dripline, or flexible plastic pipe with emitters formed into the tube, should be located so that soil and debris cannot be sucked back into the emitter when the irrigation cycle is completed. A properly designed dripline system uses automatic flushing to carry any potential clogging debris away from the emitter orifice in the pipe. This requires accurately designing this feature into the dripline system or zone. In many cases the water cost savings will pay for any additional maintenance requirements.
Landscape Architecture, Mar 05, p 58, by Eric D. Davis

CHOOSE GREEN REPORT FOCUSES ON WOOD FINISHES AND STAINS

The new Choose Green Report on Wood Finishes and Stains focuses on interior and exterior wood finishes used as architectural coatings (excluding paint). The report covers varnishes, shellacs, lacquers, natural oils, water-based wood finishes and wood stains. Most U.S. companies are formulating their wood finishes to comply with California regulations on volatile organic compounds (VOCs). California allows up to 350 grams per liter (g/l) of VOCs in varnishes and up to 250 g/l of VOCs in stains. Many penetrating finishes are being reformulated to meet low-VOC regulations in states an on the federal level. These reformulated finishes may contain higher solids content, reactive diluents, new types of solvents and/or co-solvents or other non-traditional substitutes. These low-VOC requirements favor film-forming formulations over products that penetrate the wood surface, since traditional wood stains were formulated to penetrate the wood, and the new formulations that meet the VOC requirements may not penetrate as well.
Choose Green Report, an 05, by Kimberly Davis, Kristen VanHooreweghe and Mary Swanson www.greenseal.org/recommendations/CGR_wood_finish.pdf

SHEEP AND GOATS REPLACING GAS-GUZZLING LAWN MOWERS

Because gas-guzzling, air-polluting lawn mowers contribute to global warming, there is renewed appreciation for less manicured, less contrived and more natural landscapes. In fact, prescribed grazing is making a come back. Prescribed grazing can be effective in controlling noxious weeds, reducing the incidence and intensity of wildfires and improving wildlife habitat and plant diversity, especially around residential communities. Prescribed grazing uses sheep and goats separately or in combination, depending on the management objectives and type of vegetation. In general, sheep are better for a landscape of grasses and forbs (broadleaf annuals and perennials). Goats will eat some herbaceous plants but prefer weedy plants (shrubs, vines and small trees). The Sea Ranch, a 4,000-acre residential community on California's Sonoma Coast, has adopted prescribed grazing. Fenced in with a 42-inch-high solar-powered electric fence on small, three- to four-acre paddocks, sheep and goats are moved every three or four days, depending on the size of the paddocks and density of vegetation. The Sea Ranch grazing program has proven cost-effective. The initial cost of grazing averages $250 per acre, whereas mowing can cost $1,000 per acre. Such a revolutionary approach may be a hard sell for corporate or government clients accustomed to tidy carpets of mown lawn, but a compelling argument can be made on ecological, aesthetic, and economic grounds. The significant ecological benefits include reducing fertilizer and pesticide use, eliminating toxic runoff from chemicals that poison streams, lakes and aquifers, eliminating the use of gasoline fuel and its attendant pollutants that contribute to the greenhouse effect, and creating wildlife habitat in the rich diversity of a meadow, prairie or savanna.
Landscape Architecture, Mar 05, p 50, by Russell Beatty

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