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VERMONT BLENDS 'GREEN' FLUSH TOILETS AND A GREENHOUSE

The State of Vermont has installed a system that uses a greenhouse full of plants and organisms to clean wastewater at a rebuilt rest stop on Interstate 89, and then pumps the treated water back to the toilets for reuse. State officials said the system, called a Living Machine, not only advanced green construction, but also allowed the rest area to stay open and the country's first Vietnam veterans memorial, erected in 1982, to remain at the site. "Its purpose is two-fold," Gov. Jim Douglas said. "We thought it was important to do something honoring our Vietnam veterans, and Vermont has a long tradition of environmental stewardship." The rest stop, a $6.3 million complex located near Sharon, VT, includes the toilets, greenhouse, tourism brochures and a newer, bigger Vietnam memorial. In a living machine, the contents of a flushed toilet are pumped into a filtration system to remove odor and then six concrete cylinders holding vegetation. The plants are South Asian natives, a good choice both because of the Vietnam memorial and because their roots are well suited to host the organisms that eat the waste, converting it into plant food. After the water is clean, it is pumped back into the toilets, to resume the cycle. Just to be safe, signs hanging over toilets warn users that the water, which is dyed blue, is nonpotable.
The New York Times, 31 Aug 05, by Katie Zezima.

COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS OPEN THEIR WINDOWS

"There are nine reasons not to provide natural ventilation [in commercial buildings] and one reason to do it," says Clark Bisel, senior vice president at Flack and Kurtz in San Francisco. But in spite of the drawbacks, Bisel is a proponent for that one reason: People prefer it. And ASHRAE-sponsored research by Gail Brager, associate professor in the Department of Architecture at the University of California, Berkeley, suggests that productivity improves and energy costs go down in buildings where users have control over temperature and ventilation. Brager examined 160 buildings on four continents in various climate zones, finding that availability of personal control over local conditions alters people's thermal expectations. Brager says the narrow range of comfort temperatures required by the traditional version of ASHRAE Standard 55 requires more buildings than necessary to be air-conditioned, and has led to our culture's addiction to it. In Essen, Germany, the RWE Tower became the first contemporary high-rise to be naturally ventilated. So, why are naturally ventilated office towers not prevalent in the U.S.? "You need to understand your climate to embrace natural ventilation," says Bisel. "Northern Europe, northern China, and northern California are all examples of places with temperate, nonhumid climates that lend themselves more easily to natural ventilation than the east coast and southeast regions of the U.S." Places that have longer springs and autumns and milder summers and winters have more incentive to take advantage of the natural climate in building design. Space planning and building management also are factors that can support or thwart the effectiveness of natural ventilation systems. A large office floor that can be reconfigured constantly is not conducive to user-controlled natural ventilation. Even so, some buildings are breaking new ground. Case studies such as the new Nolen Greenhouses at the New York Botanical Garden suggest that heating, cooling, and ventilating do not require the highly mechanized, energy-devouring machinery that we take for granted.

ANDROPOGON: THE NEXT GENERATION

Philadelphia-based Andropogon was among the first to center its practice on ecology and restoration. The firm seemed to spring fully formed from the head of Ian McHarg. Now 30 years old, Andropogon employs 32 staff members and has 148 projects at various stages of completion. Its work ranges from small projects for long-time client the Morris Arboretum to large-scale planning and design for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Janelia Farm Research Campus in Virginia. Andropogon bridges the gaps between science, technology, and design by maintaining close ties to the scientific community. Clients are educated to view their resources differently. For example, a university came to view its forested acreage not as a land bank for its next building, but as an essential part of its storm water system. One way Andropogon convinces clients to embrace ecological design in general and the firm specifically is to demonstrate how its approach saves money. Over the years, the firm's reach has extended far beyond the institutional preserves it is known for—the resorts, campuses, and arboretums—and into urban environments around the world. How will Andropogon transform over the coming decades? "We are interested in using high design to reveal natural environments," says Carol Franklin, one of the firm's founding principals. "Before, the highest compliment, we could be paid was 'it's as if no one has been here.' Then our goal was to gracefully place human beings in the least visible way into a site. Now we are moving much more toward articulating those interventions and making them part of the celebration of the site."
Landscape Architecture, Sep 05, p 78, by Susan Hines.

RAISED ACCESS FLOORS DELIVER MULTIPLE BENEFITS

For nearly a century, architects and engineers have stuffed mechanical and electrical systems into the space over our heads. Raised access floors turn this practice upside down, delivering greater flexibility, energy efficiency, occupant comfort, and indoor air quality. There are two types of raised access floors: data/electric; and data/electric with HVAC. The latter delivers heating and cooling through the under-floor plenum and is a type of displacement ventilation. Air is pushed under the floor; diffusers in the floor panels introduce fresh conditioned air, while return air is drawn off the ceiling. Temperatures within the space are allowed to stratify, with the goal of obtaining an occupied comfort zone six feet off the floor. By contrast, a traditional HVAC system places air delivery and return at ceiling level. The lower air-pressure requirements of displacement ventilation offer a 20-30 percent decrease in fan horsepower, and additional energy savings may be gained from increased use of an economizer, which pulls in outdoor air for cooling. Air quality is improved because air rising from the floor to the ceiling return vents carries away airborne contaminants. Access floors do pose a few challenges. Mark Cortoneo, CPD project manager at Erickson, Ellison & Associates, the engineering firm working on the Minneapolis Public Library, suggests the real burden lies on the general contractor, who must pay close attention to schedules to ensure overhead work is completed first. Finally, the plenum must be sealed to ensure even air distribution and maximized energy savings.
Architecture Minnesota, Sep/Oct 05, p 23, by William Weber.

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