GreenClips.29 08.30.95 CLUSTERED HOUSING Hiram Township residents accept inevitable development of their picturesque Portage County, Ohio farmland. But instead of conventionally subdividing the 374-acre Hillbrook Farm Conservancy, its owners are studying clustered housing to conserve land and save scenic views. Their proposals group homes on lots smaller than the 2.5-acre minimum that conventional Township zoning requires. Township officials are considering three schemes. A Conventional Plan allocates 4.2 acres per lot leaving 18.8 acres as green space. Cluster Plan 1 has 1.8-acre lots and 214 acres of green space. Cluster Plan 2 uses 1.26-acre lots to conserve 256 acres. - EcoCity Cleveland, June 1995, p. 8, by Jody Schroath. WETLANDS COULD EASE MISSISSIPPI FLOODING Researchers are finding that wetlands, besides their biological richness and power to cleanse polluted waters, can absorb copious quantities of floodwater. Some hydrologists believe this overlooked wetlands feature is the foundation for an alternative to the dam and levee flood containment policies criticized after 1993 Mississippi River floods. Restoring enough wetlands could sponge flood water naturally. Hydrologist and engineer Dr. Donald L. Hey directs the Des Plaines River Wetlands Demonstration Project, a complex of experimental wetlands 35 miles north of Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. Dr. Hey's research team measured and analyzed water pumped into the experimental wetland from the Des Plaines River and water leaving its outlet. They found that the 5.7-acre marsh can handle the annual run-off from a 410-acre Northern Illinois watershed and reduce pollutants up to 99 percent. For the larger upper Mississippi watershed, Dr. Hey calculates that restoring less than 3 percent of the land to three-foot-deep marshes would abate floods and produce high-quality water throughout the drainage. - The New York Times, August 8, 1995, p. B5, by William K. Stevens. MULTI-TENANT CHALLENGES Designing office buildings for multiple tenants challenges green designers. Green design requires early integration of building systems, but the developer of a multi-tenant building controls only the building shell. Tenants are responsible for inside building systems. And, neither tenants (not owning the building) nor landlords (not paying tenants' utility bills) are willing to invest in energy-conserving systems. The Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) is addressing both challenges. RMI's Green Development Services is coordinating a consortium of building product manufacturers assembled by Continental Offices Limited (COL), a Chicago-based firm that specializes in developing large, multi-tenant office buildings. The consortium hopes to design the fourth building in COL's Continental Towers development to be at least 50 percent more efficient than its predecessors. RMI is also working on new lease language that encourages both tenants and landlords to share the costs and the benefits of energy-efficiency measures. - Rocky Mountain Institute Newsletter, Summer 1995, p. 9. T-5 LAMPS Phillips, Osram, and GE will be selling the new T-5 fluorescent lamps early next year in Canada. A successor to T-8 lamps, T-5 tubes will be slimmer(16mm compared to 26) and more energy efficient (87 lumens per watt compared to 77) than T-8s. - Advanced Buildings Newsletter, August 1995, p. 1. COMPOSTABLE UPHOLSTERY FABRICS Architect William McDonough, the German environmental chemist Michael Braungart, and New York City textile manufacturer DesignTex have developed a line of compostable upholstery fabrics. DesignTex approached McDonough with the idea of using yarn from recycled plastic. But McDonough insisted on natural fibers that can return to earth when the fabric wears out. Wool-and-ramie blend fibers proved to be both workplace-durable and compostable. Another challenge was to find nontoxic dyes. With the help of European chemical giant Ciba-Geigy, Braungart identified 16 brilliant colors with no carcinogens, bioaccumulatives, or mutagens. - Metropolis, September 1995, p. 44, by Laura Riley. SALVAGE COMPANIES While other demolition contractors spend energy breaking things apart and hauling rubble, these three make money finding new uses for materials from buildings they demolish -Grindstone Services Inc.'s Sackville, New Brunswick warehouse has three work areas - a lumber yard, an antique shop, and a processing area. Grindstone plans to launch a national inventory database of recycled materials on the Internet. - Alumi-News, July/August 1995, p. 27. Randazzo Enterprises of Castroville, California sells plumbing fixtures, lumber, hardware, and bricks to contractors and farmers. - BioCycle, July1995, p. 39, by Dennis Fukai. Architectural Salvage of North Vancouver, British Columbia is currently dismantling four of seven Yarrows shipyard buildings in North Vancouver, recycling everything from heavy timbers to kitchen sinks. - EcoDesign, July 1995, p. 5. CALGARY'S AUTONOMOUS AND SUSTAINABLE HOUSE One could easily drive by the Autonomous and Sustainable House in northwest Calgary, Alberta and never notice how innovative it is. That's the idea. Yet the 1,750 SF three-bedroom home will function without power, water, or sewer service. Photovoltaic panels, a Tesla turbine, and fuel-cell cogenerators will eventually power the house. Heat will come from a ground-coupled, high-performance heat pump. A rainwater collection and storage system and composting toilets eliminate the need for water and sewage connections. -EcoDesign, July 1995, p. 1, by Garry Checora. THREE GREEN MATERIALS R-Control, a wall and roof panel system manufactured in Belgrade, Montana (800-766-3626), consists of plywood or chipboard with an insulating structural core of expanded polystyrene. R-Control reduces the need for framing lumber in residential construction. PrimeBoard (701-642-2727), made from compressed straw, is an alternative to particleboard. BioComp (913-378-3890), manufactured in Mankato, Kansas and made of plastic and straw, is an alternative to natural wood. BioComp can be used instead of pressure treated wood for sill plates, and for separating concrete slabs from wood framing or straw. - The Last Straw, Summer 1995, p. 13, by Chris B. Stafford and BJ Harris.