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WASTE NOT, WANT NOT

Two months after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, it's still unclear who's going to take out the trash. New Orleans authorities are faced with 90 million tons of wreckage and lack both landfill space and new building materials. The scale and potential $2 billion price of the clean-up task has given recycling advocates like Brad Guy, president of the Pennsylvania-based nonprofit Building Materials Reuse Association, an opportunity to make the case for reclaiming as much as 25 percent of the building materials in a 1,400-square-foot home. In fact, Guy's nonprofit is now advising the Army Corps of Engineers on the cleanup. Other nonprofits, such as Habitat for Humanity and North Carolina-based Design Corps, which creates affordable housing for migrant workers, are likely beneficiaries for any Gulf Coast recycling and reuse programs. But because municipalities must reimburse FEMA for any profits they make themselves from recycling, they may opt for quicker disposal methods, such as incineration. In the meantime, waste disposal contractors such as North Carolina-based Prime Environmental International have their fingers crossed. The developers of a chipboard-like product made from construction debris, the company asked FEMA for a storm recovery contract in February 2005. "The answer was no," says CEO Barry Fischer. Eight months and two storms later, negotiations have restarted.
Architecture, Dec 05, p 46, by Justin Tyler Clark.

ADOBE GOES GREEN, CUTS COSTS

At the Adobe Systems headquarters in downtown San Jose, a computer system checks the weather forecast before turning on the sprinklers. The $3,600 smart irrigation system will pay for itself in less than five months, by saving $10,000 each year. Adobe is applying to the U.S. Green Building Council for a "platinum" certification. If successful, the building would be the first platinum designation under the LEED-EB, existing building operations. Although it is easier to build an eco-friendly building from scratch, Adobe went back to the oldest towers in its headquarters and updated them to meet the standards. A $1.2 million total investment has yielded just under $1 million in annual cost savings, plus about $327,000 in rebates, mostly from utility PG&E. Adobe put 41 energy-saving projects in place, ranging in price from zero to almost $158,000. By retrofitting parking garages in the East and West towers with fluorescent lighting, Adobe will save $100,436 a year on an investment that cost only $157,775. Installing automated faucets and toilet flush valves in all towers at a cost of $110,358 delivered annual savings of $24,949. Reducing the run time on an outdoor fountain from 119 to 60 hours a week cost nothing, while saving $4,418 a year. "The population here has grown by 35 percent, but our energy usage has actually gone down about 7 percent since 1999," said George Denise of Cushman & Wakefield, which manages Adobe's facilities. The implications of what has been accomplished at Adobe are expected to have a huge ripple effect in Cushman & Wakefield buildings.

BUILDINGGREEN ANNOUNCES 2005 TOP-10 PRODUCTS

BuildingGreen, Inc., publisher of the GreenSpec® Directory and Environmental Building News(TM), announced its fourth annual Top-10 Green Building Products: 1) BioNet® Erosion-Control Mats from North American Green; 2) PureBond(TM) Hardwood Plywood and Agrifiber-Core Panels from Columbia Forest Products; 3) Nybacker(TM) Tile Backer Board from NYCORE, Inc.; 4) Stonescape(TM) Polymer Composition Tile from American Biltrite Canada, Ltd.; 5) Terratex® Biobased Textiles from Interface Fabrics and Carnegie; 6) Uppercut(TM) Dual-Flush Flushometer Valve from Sloan Valve; 7) Aquia(TM) Dual-Flush Toilet from TOTO USA, Inc.; 8) Ice Bear(TM) Thermal Energy Storage System from Ice Energy, Inc.; 9) UltimateAir(TM) RecoupAerator® 200DX Energy Recovery Ventilator from Stirling Technology, Inc.; 10) Enbryten(TM) LED Luminaires from Permlight Products, Inc.
Environmental Building News, Dec 05, p 7.

LED-BASED TASK LAMP ENTERS MARKET

The first task lamp using energy-efficient light emitting diodes (LEDs) to provide illumination has hit the marketplace. Luxo's "LED Arketto" uses three 3-watt LEDs but provides more usable light than the comparable 40-watt halogen that it will replace due to the higher efficiency of the source and better optical control of the light. LEDs are the key to the next generation of energy-efficient lighting in buildings. Luxo's Arketto LED resulted from extensive R&D by the manufacturer, with the help of technical advice and support of Stephen Johnson, head of the Lighting Group at the Environmental Energy Technologies Division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Johnson's association with Luxo actually began with a research project funded by the California Energy Commission's Public Interest Energy Research Program. Luxo is hoping to increase the designers of commercial office furniture into using their energy-efficient Arketto lamp for built-in fixtures.
Environmental Energy Technology Division News, Summer 05, p 5, by Stephen Johnson.

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