GreenClips.65 02.12.97 SELF-SUSTAINING ECO CENTRE The new 1,400 square meter Eco Centre headquarters of the environmental organization South Tyneside Groundwork Trust in Tyne & Wear, UK is nearly self-sustaining. The building's most impressive feature is an 80 kW wind turbine that supplies the building's power and exports electricity. A ground source heat pump heats and cools the two-story headquarters. Compost toilets use only a pint of recycled rainwater per flush. Architect Carole Townsend specified window frames and reveals from sustainable timber sources and treated with Borex, a nontoxic preservative. And Cheshire Heritage provided reclaimed bricks, cleaned and palleted. But the design team struggled to find recycled aluminum for the roof, eventually getting the 2.5 metric tons of roofing they needed from British Alcan. At first Alcan wanted Groundwork to fund an entire production run of 50 metric tons, but by marketing the roofing as reclaimed Alcan easily sold the remainder of the run to customers willing to pay a small premium for recycled products. — Building Services Journal, December 1996, p. 14, by Roderic Bunn and Paul Ruyssevelt. PHENIX BIOCOMPOSITES EXPANDS The maker of the well-known Environ product is expanding to produce a new substrate material similar to medium-density fiberboard (MDF). Since 1994, Phenix Biocomposites, Inc. has offered Environ, a decorative surface material used instead of wood or stone for store fixtures, countertops, furniture, and signs. Made of recycled newsprint and soybeans, Environ uses a patented plant protein resin as a bonding agent instead of typical formaldehyde agents. The high-density material is 55 percent harder than northern red oak and its cost compares with conventional hardwood. Environ resembles stone or marble in ten different tones from brilliant azure to gray granite. Phenix is now building a second plant in St. Peter, Minnesota to produce Environ and its new MDF-like material. Made of wheat straw and soy stock grown by state co-op farmers, the material will be structurally stronger than Environ. — In Business, November/December 1996, p. 14, by Mary Kittel. POST-OCCUPANCY LESSONS Anglia Polytechnic University monitored heating, cooling, and lighting systems at its Learning Resource Center in Chelmsford, UK from July 1995 to July 1996. The university's Building Performance Research Unit undertook the post-occupancy evaluation (POE) as part of the European Union's Thermie program and PROBE, a research project managed by Building Services Journal. The POE identified these design lessons. Low-energy design: The university's natural ventilation approach saves energy. The building uses two-thirds less energy than an air conditioned design. Procurement: In some instances, cost considerations overruled the design integrity. As a post-tender cost saving measure, the design-build contractor switched conference room glazing from triple to double, but failed to adjust the heat emitter size accordingly. Thermal performance: Improper commissioning of the night cooling system contributed to excessive top floor temperatures in the first two summers. And solar shading above the windows on the south and southwest facades could have alleviated excess solar gains. Daylighting: Designers should have reconsidered the twin light shelves when they changed the ceiling from a flat to a waffle slab. The shelves are ineffective since the reflected light dies in the waffle's coffers instead of reflecting to the interior space. Lighting control: The design-build contractor changed the specified lighting control system without review by the mechanical and engineering consultant. The system as installed has suffered from continual problems. — Building Services Journal, December 1996, p. 27, by Robert Cohen, Adrian Leaman, Darren Robinson, and Mark Standeven, and The Architects' Journal, January 9, 1997, p. 40, by Barrie Evans. RESOURCES FOR GREEN CHOICES Green Seal's Environmental Partners Program publishes Choose Green Report each month to help businesses select environmentally responsible products like copy paper and general purpose cleaners. The December 1996 Choose Green Report reviews the environmental impact of wallboard, fiberboard, and flooring. Product charts for each material discuss water and energy efficiency, air and water pollution, durability, and allergenic exposures, and give manufacturer contact information. For more information call Green Seal, 202.331.7337, or visit its web site, http://www.greenseal.org. And the nonprofit Energy-Efficient Procurement Collaborative Inc. in Albany, New York has published a new directory identifying 27 organizations that compare the energy and environmental performance of building equipment. Its Data Sources Directory for Purchasing Officials: Energy-Efficient and Environmentally Preferred Products is available from the New York State Energy Research Development Authority for $10. Call 518.862.1090. — Building Design & Construction, February 1997, p. 10, and Green Seal's press release, December 2, 1996. RECYCLED COURT SURFACE Experimental flooring made from recycled athletic shoes and rubber tires is in play on the basketball court at suburban Seattle's Puget Sound Christian College. And three National Basketball Association teams have stopped in to check it out. The environmental technology company Satech developed the flooring in Kirkland, Washington with backing from the Clean Washington Center, a state agency that promotes recycling projects. Satech's president Tom Vaux says the surface helps stress-related sports injuries. And he says computer models and biochemical testing at the University of Michigan show the floors can increase jumping height and running speed. The product costs about $40 per square foot compared with $10 to 12.50 for hardwood. — Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce, January 30, 1997.