GreenClips.66 02.26.97 BUILDING A BETTER KITSAP The Home Builder's Association (HBA) of Kitsap County near Seattle, Washington has launched a builder-initiated rating system to reward environmentally responsible design and construction. Using a lengthy checklist, builders participating in the Build a Better Kitsap program will self-certify their homes with a one-, two-, or three-star rating. The program awards points for 85 environmentally friendly measures in eight categories — Codes, Proper Site Treatment, Reduce|Reuse|Recycle, Resource-Efficient Products, Energy Efficiency, Good Air Quality and Health, Proper Hazardous Waste Management, and Environmentally Responsible Home Ownership. The point total determines the home's rating. The measures required for a three-star rating will add to the cost of a home, but one- and two-star ratings will not likely increase sale price. The HBA geared its program toward products now available in Kitsap County. Builders pay an annual $50 fee to participate and a like fee for every home or remodeling project they want to include in the Build a Better Kitsap program. — The Bremerton Sun, February 6, 1997, p. D1, by Mark Walker, and an HBA press release. ARE OFFICES OVER-POWERED? Today's de facto design standard for office building electrical demand — five to six watts per square foot — may be twice what's needed and may soon be as much as four times too high. Designs as low as one watt per square foot are now possible for committed clients and are in place at the National Audubon Society headquarters and the Natural Resource Defense Council's offices, both in New York City. Overdesigning for power increases the system's installation and operating costs. And since designers base cooling assumptions on the power requirements, overdesigning also increases the size of air conditioning systems. Though owners and designers often assume office power use will increase, the density of office devices has probably peaked. Power use by office equipment will remain stable or decrease as many units consolidate to single, multi-functional ones and become more energy efficient under the EPA's voluntary Energy Star Program. Increasing use of laptop computers will also continue to lower peak loads significantly. — Architectural Record, February 1997, p. 175. THE BIG GREEN APPLE New York City's new South Jamaica Library is a demonstration project for a new high-performance building design, construction, and operation program. The city's Department of Design & Construction (DDC) oversees $800 million in new construction and renovation each year. The DDC hopes the project will serve as a model for other municipalities and public entities around the country. "With the library, we're trying to show that they can improve the quality of the interior environment while at the same time create savings for the client agency," says Hillary Brown, the DDC's assistant commissioner of architecture and engineering. To reduce energy use, the $2.1 million library will use daylighting, solar heating, thermal storage, and shading. And The Stein Partnership selected an efficient structural system to reduce steel use by 20 percent and specified locally manufactured wood and stone to reduce transportation energy. Construction should be complete in the spring of 1999. — AIArchitect, February 1997, p. 23, by Eric Adams. NARROWER STUDS SAVE WOOD A two-by-four wood stud hasn't been 2x4 since the early days of wood framing. And now one mill is shaving their size again to conserve wood and offer a less expensive product. Idaho Forest Industries sawmill in Coeur d'Alene began producing 1 1/4-inch wide 2x4 and 2x6 studs two years ago. Milling studs at 1 1/4 inch instead of 1 1/2 inch, say University of Idaho researchers, increases the yield by about 18 percent. What about strength? The narrower 2x4s that Idaho Forest Industries produces are SRB (stress-related boards) #2-grade studs and are stronger in allowable axial compressive load than stud-grade 2x4s in the standard width. Some building officials won't accept the narrower studs for exterior load-bearing walls since the Uniform Building Code doesn't recognize them, says Idaho Forest Industries' Jim Scharnhorst, but the SRB#2 grading satisfies most officials. The mill wholesales the narrower studs at $30 per thousand board feet less than standard studs. For more information, call Jim Scharnhorst, 208.765.1414. — Environmental Building News, February 1997, p.4. DEWEES ISLAND SUSTAINABLE — PROFITABLE, TOO Developer John Knott, Jr. has sold 60 of his 137 lots and watched 20 homes go up on Dewees Island, off the South Carolina Coast. So Knott expects the project he transformed in 1991 to a model of sustainable development to be financially sustainable, too — investors' final profits for Dewees may double original expectations. Sixty-five percent of the 1,200-acre island is a permanently protected wildlife refuge. Architectural and Environmental Design Guidelines for the island's development cover existing and native plant materials, pervious surfaces, vehicles, water, fertilizers and pesticides, building size and materials, and waste reduction. For more information email dewees_info@sc.net. — Environmental Building News, February 1997, p. 5. REXUSE EXHIBIT CONTINUES TOUR A curated exhibit of more than 200 well-designed everyday products made from recycled and reused materials continues its North American tour this year. The Arango Design Foundation calls its show The Ninth Arango International Design Exhibition: reXuse — Good Everyday Design from Reused and Recycled Materials. Among the refuse the designers have transformed are used CDs, fallen leaves, industrial waste from cotton and lumber mills, and remnants from clothing factories. The exhibit features Francesco Armato's Chicca Lamps and Colin Reedy's Deck Chair, both made of recycled plastic. Interdecor's Olio Stacking Chair is there with its seat and back made of 100 percent recycled paper formed with thermo-setting resins by heat and pressure. So is Erez Steinberger's Studio eg furniture system manufactured from recycled and recovered wood and paper. The exhibit also includes handbags made from old inner tubes, stationery from obsolete maps, and fabric woven from soda bottles. The Montreal Design Center of the University of Quebec at Montreal hosts the exhibit from February 19 to April 6, the California College of Arts and Crafts in San Francisco from September 8 to October 31. Seattle dates are unconfirmed. A concurrent European tour will begin April 8 at the Design Center in Stuttgart, Germany. For more information email curator Judith Arango, jbharango@aol.com. — Domus, January 1997, p. 84, by Judith Arango, and an Arango Design Foundation press release.