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| Issue No. 286 | April 12, 2006 |
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AIA AWARDS 2006 TOP TEN GREEN PROJECTS
The American Institute of Architects Committee on the Environment selected the following as this year's Top Ten Green Projects: Alberici Corporate Headquarters in Overland, Mo., by Mackey Mitchell Associates; the Animal Foundation Dog Adoption Park in Las Vegas, Nev., by Tate Snyder Kimsey Architects; Ballard Branch Library and Neighborhood Service Center in Seattle, Wash., by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson; Ben Franklin Elementary School in Kirkland, Wash., by Mahlum Architects; Immaculate Heart of Mary Motherhouse in Monroe, Mich., by Susan Maxman & Partners, Architects; Philadelphia Forensic Science Center in Philadelphia, Penn., by Croxton Collaborative Architects, P.C., and Cecil Baker & Associates; Skaaren Environmental Learning Center at Westcave Preserve in Dripping Springs, Tex., by Jackson & McElhaney Architects; Solar Umbrella House in Venice, Calif., by Pugh + Scarpa; University of Texas Health Science Center and Student Community Center in Houston, Tex., by BNIM Architects and Lake|Flato Architects; World Birding Center Headquarters in Mission, Tex., by Lake|Flato Architects.
www.aia.org/release_041906_EarthDay
Environmental Building News, Vol 15, No 5, May 06, p 5.
WAL-MART EXPLORES MULTILEVEL DESIGNS, INCLUDING HOUSING
Over the past couple of decades, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has made its sprawling single-story stores the most feared force in retailing. But as the company tries to penetrate urban areas that have lofty land prices and entrenched antidevelopment movements, it's increasingly building up, not out. Wal-Mart now operates roughly 20 multilevel stores, many of them in buildings vacated by other retailers. Over the next five years, the company plans to open another 50 to 60 on lots one-third the size of its traditional 25-acre swaths. "Historically, if a site didn't fit our size, if it didn't fit our parking ratio—1,000 spaces and a 195,000-square-foot supercenter—we would walk away and chase other opportunities," said Rob Bray, Wal-Mart's senior vice president of real-estate construction and design. "Today, we say, 'How?'" Those who have criticized Wal-Mart for contributing to sprawl aren't necessarily impressed by the new, more compact stores. Al Norman, founder of Sprawl-Busters Consultants in Greenfield, Mass., likened it to Wal-Mart's nascent program to open environmentally conscious stores. "If they have two or three green stores out there, who cares?" Mr. Norman said. "It's so clearly tokenism." In Pass Christian, Miss., a town mostly leveled by Hurricane Katrina, Wal-Mart is considering rebuilding a supercenter in a new-urbanist format, with 300 to 500 townhouses and apartments. If Wal-Mart adopts suggestions from regional planners, the Pass Christian design would call for encircling the store's parking lot with multilevel retail shops and apartments. Pass Christian architect Rubin Riley, together with New Orleans architects Marcel Wisznia and Bob Tannen and developer Pres Kabacoff, are studying who might occupy the housing, what it might cost and whether it would be profitable. Kabacoff said the Pass Christian development would probably have four or five stories of housing. "You wouldn't see the store from the street," he said, but signs would announce its presence.
RAIN GARDENS DON'T CLEANSE POLLUTED WATER
In a pioneering study of the ability of rain gardens to treat stormwater for pollutants and to reduce runoff, Michael Dietz and John Clausen determined that the rain gardens they constructed "worked well for overall flow retention but had little impact on pollutant concentrations" in the water draining through the gardens. The researchers defined rain gardens as "shallow depressions in the landscape that are planted with trees and/or shrubs, and covered with a bark mulch layer or ground cover." They constructed the two test gardens in Haddam, Conn. In the test gardens, the researchers set out to measure the volume and composition of water entering the garden, or influent; the overflow, or effluent; and water percolating through the soil, or percolate flow. Water samples were analyzed to assess levels of total phosphorus, total Kjeldahl nitrogen, ammonia-nitrogen, and nitrite+nitrate-nitrogen. All pollutants were poorly filtered from the roof runoff. The gardens proved more effective at capturing water. "Installing a rain garden without an underdrain may not be appropriate in all situations," the authors conclude.
www.clear.uconn.edu/raingarden/raingarden.htm
Landscape Architecture, May 06, p 84, by Jean Marie Cackowski-Campbell and Sally Augustin.
GREEN GLOBES™ SUSTAINABLE ASSESSMENT SYSTEM COMES TO THE U.S.
Another organization has entered the nonresidential rating sphere—the Green Building Initiative (GBI)—with the Green Globes™ system for commercial buildings. GBI's philosophy is that "green" will become mainstream only under certain conditions—and that certification systems should be rigorous without greatly increasing costs or imposing undue demands on design/construction practitioners. GBI is currently certifying buildings through a relationship with Arizona State University and building sciences expert Harvey Bryan, Ph.D. Although the Green Globes points system is consistent in many ways with LEED, it also has numerous unique aspects, such as: 1) inclusion of performance criteria related to acoustics (which has a significant impact on health and occupant productivity), 2) provision of points for all the major credible forest certification systems, and 3) a rating framework that does not hold projects accountable for non-applicable criteria. GBI was established to accelerate adoption by offering approaches particularly suited to mainstream designers and contractors who seek simpler, less costly approaches to incorporating meaningful environmental improvements from their projects.
www.thegbi.org/greenglobes
The Construction Specifier, Mar 06, p 117, by Jiri Skopek.  GreenClips is free of charge thanks to individual readers and
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STOPWASTE: JOB ANNOUNCEMENT
Alameda County Waste Management Authority and Recycling Board has a position available in its Green Building Program. About 70% of the time is spent on Civic/Commercial Buildingand the rest on Residential Building and the agency's Bay-Friendly Landscaping program. Deadline June 12. For details and an application, visit www.stopwaste.org
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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. Redistribution
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