GreenClips.68 03.26.97 DECONSTRUCTING PAYS IN ONTARIO In Canada's Ontario province, disposing of a 30-yard bin of construction and demolition waste costs $550 Cdn. High disposal costs there make deconstructing buildings and salvaging their materials for reuse economically viable. Vince Catalli of by dEsign consultants carefully recorded the deconstruction of a four-story house, a two-story barn, and a small garage in Ottawa. Deconstructing the buildings at $27,000 Cdn probably cost slightly less than demolishing them. With deconstruction the primary constraint is time, say Catalli and demolition contractor Doug Goode. A contractor can demolish a building in a few days, but deconstructing it can take several weeks. The need to transport and store salvaged materials off site can be another constraint. Space on site and permission to sell materials there help. Now Catalli is working with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation to design buildings that are easier to deconstruct. For a copy of Catalli's Housing Deconstruction Project report available in June 1997, email vcatalli@cyberus.ca. — Environmental Building News, March 1997, p. 3. ST. PAUL PLANTS RIVER FRONT Grain elevators, rail yards, factories, paving, rubble, and toxic soil have lined the stretch of Mississippi River that winds through downtown St. Paul, Minnesota for a long time. But since 1995 more than 2,500 Greening the Great River Park volunteers have planted 9,500 native trees and shrubs, more than 1,500 wildflowers, and two acres of native prairie along a three-mile stretch of the river. "The real innovation in our project is doing ecological restoration in an urban area that crosses political and private property boundaries," says Greening the Great River Park's executive director Rob Buffler. "We realized early on that if we really wanted to restore the natural beauty of this river valley we'd have to work with property owners and plant on private lands." Eighty percent of the 1,200-acre river front is privately owned. A studio class at the University of Minnesota Landscape Studies Center designed an overall planting framework divided into 17 parcels. A volunteer design team including a landscape architect, a community representative, and an ecologist drafts a planting plan for each parcel and reviews it with its owner. And the state's Reinvest in Minnesota program funds the plant purchases. Restoring the river valley not only enhances the habitat for migrating birds and other wildlife, but its open space improves the standard of living and property values for St. Paul's residents. — Architecture Minnesota, March/April 1997, p. 17, by Camille LeFevre. SUPPLY AND DEMAND FOR CERTIFIED WOOD Until Home Depot discontinued it last August, the largest do-it-yourself retailer offered certified wood shelving harvested and manufactured by Collins Pine Company of Chester, California. The splintering of Home Depot and Collins Pine exposes the challenges between large retailers who demand a high volume of stock and small certifiers whose supply is intrinsically limited. Collins Pine couldn't meet the inventory needs of the fast-growing Home Depot chain. And since the shelving was not a best selling item at Home Depot, the retailer grew increasingly impatient keeping dual inventories and segregated streams of supply and distribution for certified and non-certified wood products. The big problem for certified suppliers like Collins Pine or Menominee Tribal Enterprises of Neopit, Wisconsin is that "demand is either too small or too large," says industry analyst Catherine Mater of Mater Engineering. The small market is too expensive to service and the large market is often impossible to satisfy. There may be better supply and demand matches between small certifiers and value-added products like Sampson flooring or Thos. Moser Furniture. — Understory, Fall/Winter 1997, p.1, by Scott Landis. TRANE CHILLER AWARDED GREEN SEAL The Trane Company's EarthWise CenTraVac chiller is the first commercial building chiller to receive the Green Seal of approval. The independent, nonprofit organization Green Seal recently certified the air conditioning equipment because it reduces ozone depletion and conserves energy. Although it uses the ozone-depleting R-123 refrigerant, the chiller's low refrigerant loss and energy efficiency offset concern about the HCFC refrigerant. The chiller loses only 0.5 percent of its charge annually and its multiple stage compressor with three impellers refrigerates with high efficiency. Trane makes the EarthWise CenTraVac in 300- to 1,400-ton capacities. For more information, call The Trane Company, 608.787.3084. — In Business, January/February 1997, p. 9, and Environmental Building News, February 1997, p.1, and March 1997, p.7. ENERGY EFFICIENCY CAN CUT LOSSES The global insurance industry faces great financial risk from extreme weather events — windstorms, drought, and floods — that might arise from global climate change. Natural disasters cost insurers $9 billion last year, $14 billion the year before. Encouraging energy efficiency is a promising strategy for insurers since its consumption is the largest contributor to global climate change, says Evan Mills, an economist, engineer, and policy analyst at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. But many energy efficient technologies also have the potential to reduce ordinary insured losses involving property, health, or liability. Around 1980 Hanover Insurance Company offered ten percent premium reductions to energy efficient or solar homes since by firing less their heating systems present less hazard than conventional ones. To reduce professional liability claims, a major insurer is also considering ten percent premium credits to design and engineering firms that practice commissioning, quality control measures that can also improve energy efficiency. For more information, email emills@lbl.gov. — Reinsurance, March 1997, p. 24, by Evan Mills. BUILDING WITH GRAIN Agriboard Industries uses agricultural by-products to make a structural insulated panel system for exterior walls, roofs, and floors — residential or commercial. The company makes Agriboard from residual wheat or other cereal straw fibers. Its Agriboard panels consist of one or two 3-5/8 inch layers of Agriboard core laminated between two skins of oriented strand board. The panels come in sizes up to 9x16 feet. With Agriboard cores instead of 2x4 wood studs, the panels use 65 percent less lumber than conventional house construction, says Agriboard co-founder Bill Thompson. R-values for the Agriboard panels are R28 for walls, R39 for roof assemblies. The National Association of Home Builders Research Foundation found the load bearing capacity of Agriboard panels is three to five times the strength the Uniform Building Code requires. For more information, email agriboard@lisco.com. — In Business, January/February 1997, p. 14, by Grant Faulkner, and Agriboard product literature.