GreenClips

Issue No. 260 | Mar 16, 2005

GREENCLIPS GETS A MAKEOVER!
Thank you www.stopwaste.org for funding our new design.

PARTNERSHIP PROMOTES GREEN AFFORDABLE HOUSING

A new partnership between the Enterprise Foundation and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is contributing to the greening of affordable housing. In September 2004, these organizations?joined by the American Institute of Architects, the American Planning Association and several other corporate, financial and nonprofit partners?launched the Green Community Initiative, a $550 million fund to build more than 8,500 environmentally friendly affordable housing units over the next five years. Through this new Green Communities Initiative, Enterprise and NRDC will work through community development corporations and homebuilders to provide grants, loans, equity, training and technical assistance to encourage housing developers to incorporate green design into their work.
Environmental Building News, Mar 05, p 14
www.greencommunitiesonline.org

USING SPECTRALLY SELECTIVE WINDOW FILMS FOR STAINED GLASS

The majority of existing architectural stained glass installations fail to prevent excess solar energy from entering the opening and overheating the building. To increase energy efficiency, d esigners may want to consider the benefits of spectrally selective windows films. Although applied heat-blocking window film can be a solution, this author does not recommend applying heat-reflective window film directly to a piece of stained glass due to concerns about uneven heat absorption and subsequent glass and/or frame damage. Instead, existing stained glass applications need to add a pane of glass exterior to the stained glass onto which a heat-blocking film has been applied. However, it is important to note that simply selecting a conventional tinted or reflective film may not only block heat, but also a significant percentage of visible light. Spectrally selective applied windows film?s ability to transmit a significant amount of visible light without substantial color distortion makes it suitable for preventing overheating in existing architectural stained glass installations. However, not all products are considered equal?many so-called spectrally selective films transmit no more than 34 percent of visible light. The higher the visible light transmission, the clearer and more colorless the appearance of the window film. These films have only been on the market since 1993, and their use with stained glass is an even newer application.
The Construction Specifier, Mar 05, p 56, by Marty Watts

SENATE OKs OIL DRILLING IN ARCTIC WILDLIFE REFUGE

In a major victory for President Bush's energy policy, the Senate voted to open Alaska's wildlife refuge to oil drilling. The 51-to-49 Senate vote moves the prospect of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) closer to reality after two decades of debate. The measure must still be approved by the House, which is far from certain. The fight over ANWR?which may or may not have a significant amount of oil beneath its surface?is one of the longest-running environmental dramas in recent history. For years, Democrats and a few Republicans in Congress have been able to fend off oil exploration and development there by threatening a filibuster. But now, GOP leaders in the Senate have succeeded in attaching it to the 2006 budget resolution as a potential source of revenue. The move sidestepped a filibuster by Democrats which would require 60 votes. The budget resolution required only a 51-vote majority. Without more exploration, even the best estimates of oil in ANWR are educated guesses. The US Geological Survey (USGS) figures the amount of "technically recoverable oil" to be between 5.7 billion barrels (95 percent probability) and 16 billion barrels (5 percent probability) with a mean value of 10.4 billion barrels. "Economically recoverable oil" is the more relevant figure, according to USGS officials, meaning a company would find it financially worth the effort. What all of this means, claim drilling opponents, is that ANWR likely contains less than a year's worth of oil?none of it reaching the US market for at least 10 years.
The Christian Science Monitor, 17 Mar 05, by Brad Knickerbocker

U-CAL BERKELEY SEEKS LEED-RATED BUILDINGS FOR SURVEY

One of the few efforts to quantify the performance of LEED buildings is under way at the Center for the Built Environment at the University of California, Berkeley. CBE hopes to use its indoor environmental quality survey to compare the performance of LEED and non-rated buildings. As of November 2004, the center had collected a database of responses from 25,000 occupants of 150 buildings to questions on such topics as thermal comfort, indoor air quality and lighting. However, only six of these buildings were LEED rated. Satisfaction levels for those six buildings were ?all over the map,? says Charlie Huizenga, CBE research specialist. But the second highest scorer for ?overall building satisfaction? was the LEED-rated headquarters for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Annapolis, Md., completed in 2000. With so few rated buildings in the database ?the statistics are not necessarily rigorous,? admits Huizenga. CBE is actively pursuing more LEED-rated projects.
Engineering News Record, 25 Feb 2005, p 18, by Joann Gonchar
www.cbe.berkeley.edu/research/survey_leed.htm

GreenClips is free of charge thanks to individual readers and the following sponsors:

ARMSTRONG CEILING SYSTEMS

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; 20 million square feet recycled to date. www.armstrong.com/commceilingsna/article10790.html

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. www.BuildingGreen.com/go/suite/

CALIFORNIA INTEGRATED WASTE MANAGEMENT BOARD

Attend the 6th Annual Environmentally Preferable and Recycled Product Trade Show April 6-7, 2005 at the Ontario Convention Center in Ontario, California. Learn about sustainable building and design, and purchasing recycled-content and environmentally preferable products and services. Workshops include Environmentally Preferable Purchasing and Green Lodging. www.ciwmb.ca.gov/buyrecycled/Events/TradeShow/

CHONG PARTNERS ARCHITECTURE

We provide strategic planning, urban design, architectural design, interiors and graphic design to clients in the healthcare, education and institutional markets. Green design is an important part of our work. LEED accredited professionals provide sustainable consulting services that include: integrated strategic planning, LEED consulting, feasibility studies, architectural and interiors research and design, materials and material lifecycle analysis and building and systems performance analysis. www.chongpartners.com

DENVER GREEN BUILDING CONFERENCE

On April 27-29 learn from renowned master developers, architects, building scientists, and technical specialists about innovation techniques and ramping up green building projects for commercial and mixed-use. Tours, keynotes, workshops and exhibits will be held at Belmar, the sustainable downtown in Lakewood, CO. Sponsored by Continuum Partners, McStain Neighborhoods, Intrawest Placemaking, USGBC Colorado and New Belgium Brewing. www.denvergreenbuilding.com

ECOSA INSTITUTE

Ecosa Institute is now enrolling for its summer 2005 Hands-On Workshops in Sustainability. Register early for discounts. Guest speakers are Pliny Fisk and John Todd. Receive a Permaculture Designer Certificate, experience with sustainable building materials, and college credit. This fall Ecosa welcomes Glenn Murcutt and Edward Mazria for its semester immersion program in Sustainable Design. www.ecosainstitute.org

EPA'S ENVIRONMENTALLY-PREFERABLE PURCHASING PROGRAM

Greening the government, one purchase at a time. www.epa.gov/opptintr/epp

GREEN BUILDING SERVICES

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. www.greenbuildingservices.com

RATCLIFF ARCHITECTS

Call for academics! We are developing an advisory board of academic experts in the field of sustainable design to assist with the growth of the Green Matrix, a web-based sustainable design tool which receives an average of 4,500 hits per day. To keep our content cutting-edge, we seek to translate the most current research on sustainable design topics and make it easily available. www.ratcliffarch.com/green_architecture/green_arch.html

RUMSEY ENGINEERS

Rumsey Engineers, a preeminent leader in sustainable HVAC and Plumbing design, has openings in our Oakland, CA office for mid to senior level articulate and innovative HVAC and/or plumbing engineers with at least 3-5 years of energy efficient design experience. Please e-mail resume: info@rumseyengineers.com
Website at rumseyengineers.com

STOPWASTE

On May 1st more than 30 Bay Area homeowners will open their doors for the Build It Green Home Tour. The tour covers the spectrum from remodeled bungalows to ultra-modern additions to brand-new houses. Don't miss this chance to meet homeowners and building professionals who have built and remodeled green. Volunteers can attend the tour for FREE! More information at www.stopwaste.org/home/index.asp?page=597

SUSTAINABLE DESIGN RESOURCRES

As a Principal of San Francisco-based Sustainable Design Resources, Chris Hammer's sustainable design consulting services include LEED certification, building material recommendations, specifications, developing design tools, and post-occupancy evaluations (POE). www.greenclips.com/SDR

WSU EXTENSION ENERGY PROGRAM

Providing objective research, information and solutions. Washington State University Extension Energy Program in Olympia, Washington. Subscribe to GreenClips and other mailing lists on energy and the environment at listserv.energy.wsu.edu/read/ or visit their website at www.energy.wsu.edu

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. Email or call for more information: chrishammer@greenclips.com; 415.928.7941. GreenClips is edited by Susan Vogt, a Portland, Oregon freelance writer with 25 years of experience in energy-efficient and sustainable buildings.

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