| GreenClips.52 07.31.96 INCREMENTAL CAPITAL COST PAYBACK ANALYSIS Norm Thompson Outfitters doesn't own their new energy efficient corporate headquarters in Hillsboro, Oregon. They lease it. Yet the company's environmental concerns influenced its design. And their rent and energy costs- Norm Thompson pays developer Trammell Crow higher lease payments to cover additional capital costs for energy efficient measures. During design of the two-story 54,000 SF headquarters, the University of Oregon's Director of Energy Studies Charles Brown analyzed 20 energy efficiency measures in four categories - glazing, reflective and insulation, lighting, and HVAC. Brown calculated incremental project costs, annual energy cost savings, and simple payback period for all 20 measures [concisely depicted in an accompanying table]. With rebates from Portland General Electric and tax credits from Oregon's Department of Energy, eight of the 20 measures yielded energy savings that pay for themselves in eight years or less - Norm Thompson's required payback period on incremental capital equipment outlays. The measures are low-emissive glazing with thermal breaks, T8 electronic/compact fluorescent lighting, occupancy sensors, daylighting and exterior shading, variable speed drives, fan-powered VAV, oversize ductwork, and an energy management control system (EMCS-OSS) and supply reset. - Building Design & Construction, June 1996, p. 52, by Hugh Cook. US WANTS BINDING AGREEMENT ON GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS The United States seeks a binding international agreement to reduce air pollution from burning fossil fuels that threatens to warm the global climate. The US intends to push July's United Nations conference on climate change in Geneva beyond the voluntary measures endorsed by the 1992 Rio de Janeiro treaty. Industrial countries there set a non binding goal of limiting greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2000. The Clinton Administration has no specific targets or timetables. Timothy E. Wirth, Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs, said the US wants flexibility to allow every country to meet the new targets in whatever way seems best to each government. The Administration intends to promote market-based approaches like pollution permit trading. The Geneva talks are a prelude to a Tokyo conference late next year where the Rio de Janeiro treaty signers will set forth the next steps toward heading off worldwide climate change. - The New York Times, July 17, 1996, p. A6, by John H. Cushman, Jr. and The Christian Science Monitor, July 19, 1996, p. 6, by Cathryn Prince. BENCHMARK IN SUSTAINABLE DESIGN Matsuzaki Wright Architects designed the University of British Columbia's new C.K. Choi Institute of Asian Research to be a "benchmark in sustainable design." A series of swooping metal roofs supporting photovoltaic panels dominate the 30,000 square-foot building in Vancouver. Five atria below the curved roofs create a stack effect for natural ventilation. The atria, operable windows, and narrow floor plan bring in daylight, reducing the need for artificial lighting. About 50 percent of the building's materials are salvaged, including heavy timbers from an Armouries building demolished nearby and red brick used for cladding. Composting toilets save 1,500 gallons of potable water per day and allow the Institute to be completely disconnected from the campus sewage system. - Canadian Architect, July 1996, p. 17, by Bronwen Ledger. ALLIANCE LISTS GOOD WOOD ON WEB SITE The Good Wood Alliance is an association of woodworkers, foresters, and conservationists that encourages forest conservation through responsible wood use. Visitors to the their new web site ENVIRONMENTAL LEARNING CENTRE'S NATURAL HARMONY The Kitchener-Waterloo YMCA Environmental Learning Centre stands on a 70-acresite near rural Ontario's Paradise Lake. Architect Charles Simon designed the building to house sleeping space for about 40 people, a resource center, a seminar room, and a large greenhouse demonstrating a biological water purification plant. The building is completely off the electrical grid – its power comes from a wind turbine, photovoltaic solar panels, and exercise bicycles that students pedal to power radio and televisions. Most of its structural elements and cladding are salvaged wood. For its structural elements, builders reclaimed huge first growth timbers from a demolished factory nearby and sawed them to size on site. They sheathed the frame with used concrete form work. Local Mennonites disassembled old buildings on site and milled material from them into shiplap cladding. - Canadian Architect, July 1996, p. 14, by Bronwen Ledger. COMPACT FLUORESCENT LAMPS Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) use a quarter of the energy of incandescents, produce less thermal energy, and cut lamp changes to about once a decade. They also save homeowners money - a typical 18-watt CFL saves $40 in electricity and $5 to $10 in replacement lamps over its lifetime. CFLs have come a long way since their 1980s introduction. Now consumers can buy CFLs with dimmer switches, portable dimmer rings, and harp extenders for the oddly shaped lamps. Screw-in adapters now make sockets ready for CFLs. CFLs have either magnetic or electronic ballasts that regulate the amount of current going to the lamp. Good buys for magnetic ballast lamps include General Electric's Compax FLB15/TL and Panasonic's Light Capsule. High-rated electronic ballast lamps include Osram's Dulux and Panasonic's Twin Light Capsule. - E Magazine, July/August 1996, p. 44, by Tracey Rembert. |