GreenClips

Issue No. 280 | Jan 18, 2006

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DO RECYCLING AND SOURCE REDUCTION SAVE ENERGY?

One energy conservation success story that has gone largely unreported is recycling, but that's about to change. The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency has developed a way to quantify the energy benefits of improved materials management and found that recycling and source reduction conserve large amounts of energy. Since the energy of waste management practices for specific products accrue throughout the life-cycle, EPA undertook a study to calculate the energy benefits of improved material management using data from an existing greenhouse gas (GHG) life-cycle analysis. During the 1990s the EPA began an ongoing analysis of the life-cycle GHG impacts of waste management activities. Using life-cycle data from the GHG emissions research effort, the study developed net energy factors for a selection of commodities analyzed for four waste management options: source reduction, recycling combustion and landfilling. Energy impacts were calculated in million BTU per ton of material, with negative values indicating net energy savings. The study shows energy savings associated with recycling various materials are driven largely by the difference between manufacturing the material using virgin inputs and manufacturing the material using recycled inputs. But recycling results in some energy savings for all of the materials. The study demonstrates that recycling is not the only materials management practice that saves energy. In fact, waste reduction efforts such as source reduction can result in significant energy savings, in nearly every case exceeding the energy benefits of recycling. The study is summarized in the report, Solid Waste Management and Greenhouse Gases: A Life-Cycle Assessment of Emissions and Sinks.
Resource Recycling, Jan 06, p 23, by Henry Ferland.

http://yosemite.epa.gov/oar/globalwarming.nsf/content/
ActionsWasteToolsSWMGHGreport.html

SUPERMARKET DESIGNER HOPES TO TURN SHOPPERS INTO ENVIRONMENTALISTS

In 1991, Germany enacted a packaging ordinance requiring all industries to take back used containers. Packaging for household goods, like shampoo and milk, bear the green-dot logo, a swirling arrow identifying products licensed by the Duales System of Deutschland, the country's leading package recycler. Despite their admirably progressive legislation, Diane Jess, a finalist in Metropolis' 2005 Next Generation Competition, asserts the Germans are no more partial to sorting their waste than U.S citizens. In fact, she is out to debunk the myth that American consumers are apathetic about the environment. Not only does the German system compel nearly everyone to sort their refuse and recycle their used bottles, it also encourages manufacturers to design products that are less of a hassle for consumers. In the absence of such laws in the U.S., Jess believes financial incentives and provocative branding are needed to coerce consumers to do the right thing. So, Jess is proposing to open a suburban-scaled supermarket called R3, (Rethink the Way You Shop) that builds on the American catchphrase "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle." A package-recycling center shaped like an oversize stack of newspapers adjoins a grocery store fashioned after a two-liter bottle. Connecting the two is a boutique stocked with a colorful array of branded but empty reusable bottles.

Metropolis, Feb 06, p 63, by Laurie Mantra. http://raum5.com

AIA TARGETS 50% FOSSIL FUEL REDUCTION IN BUILDINGS

AIA TARGETS 50% FOSSIL FUEL REDUCTION IN BUILDINGS The American Institute of Architects' board of directors has set a goal of halving the amount of fossil fuels needed to construct and operate buildings by 2010 and reducing that amount a further 10 percent in each of the following five years. The ambitious goal was set in one of two "High Performance Building Position Statements" approved by AIA in December 2005. The first position statement, "Sustainable Architectural Practice," charges architects with leading the building industry towards more sustainable practices. The second position statement, "Sustainable Rating Systems," expresses support for "rating systems and standards that promote the design and construction of communities and buildings that contribute to a sustainable future."
Environmental Building News, Jan 05, p 3, by Nadav Malin.

www.aia.org/siteobjects/files.hpb_position_statements.pdf

NEW YORK'S GREEN HIGHRISES FEATURED IN EXHIBIT

An exhibition on green architecture opened at the Skyscraper Museum in New York City and will run through May. ''Green Towers for New York: From Visionary to Vernacular'' includes 15 buildings under construction or under contract, including Lord Norman Foster's Hearst Tower, David Childs's Freedom Tower at ground zero, the Helena and Mosaic apartment buildings on the West Side of Manhattan and the Bank of America building at 1 Bryant Park. Among the projects featured are Goldman Sachs's headquarters in Battery Park City, which has a green roof, low-flow plumbing fixtures and carpeting with reduced chemical levels; a research laboratory for Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, which uses fritted glass and materials without ozone-depleting components; and a new headquarters for The New York Times Company, which features an interior garden open to the sky and ceramic tubes that calibrate sunlight entering the building. Meanwhile, in 2000, state legislators approved a state tax credit for new or rehabilitated buildings that meet green standards. Last October, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg signed into law the Green City Buildings Act, which required that nonresidential projects costing $2 million or more meet LEED standards. The legislation also applies to private projects that receive $10 million or more in public financing or are at least half financed by public money. The bill takes effect next January and is estimated to affect $12 billion in new construction.
The New York Times, 2 Feb 06, p B1, by Robin Pogrebin.

www.skyscraper.org/WHAT'S_UP/CURRENT/exhibits.htm

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

ATHENA SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS INSTITUTE

The Athena Institute is a non-profit research institute dedicated to sustainability of the built environment. There are three main thrusts to Institute activities: developing comprehensive, comparable LCA databases for building materials and products; developing software that incorporates the databases for use in the design process; and participating in international activities to further the science of LCA in relation to buildings. www.athenaSMI.ca

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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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