GreenClips.77 07.30.97 EBLE'S PRISMA BALANCES BUDGET AND ENVIRONMENT Joachim Eble, one of Germany's leading ecologically conscious architects, has designed Prisma, a mixed-use commercial development in Nuremberg similar to his Oko-haus in Frankfurt am Main. Ecologically committed clients initiated the prototype Oko-haus. But for Prisma, Eble's ecological and energy-saving principles faced a more skeptical lay public. The Nuremberg city council hopes Prisma's 61 flats, 32 office units, nine shops, cafe, kindergarten, and 15,000 square-meter greenhouse lobby on a city-owned site will revitalize the surrounding run-down district. In a cautious economic climate, the city council sees Prisma as an investment risk that will not be profitable for some years and has closely monitored the development budget. It opted, for example, not to flush the toilets with rainwater, the capital cost of extra plumbing outweighing its advantages. Sidestepping the capital and servicing costs of air-conditioning equipment, Eble modified the microclimate by insulating generously, using the structure's heat storage capacity, orienting the building appropriately, shading it, ventilating naturally, regulating humidity botanically, and oxygenating and cleaning its air. Once threatened by the budget axe, the south-facing green foyer has a hydraulic mechanism that centrally or locally opens its glass roof for summer ventilation and operates roller blinds for shading. All together, Prisma's energy and construction systems save over 8,000 liters of fuel oil per heating season. Rainwater collected in a courtyard garden pond flows into a basement cistern that feeds the greenhouse pond, six water walls that grace and cool the foyer, and the landscape irrigation system on roofs, balconies, and terraces. — The Architectural Review, July 1997, p. 50, by Layla Dawson. TRADING PLACES Seattle environmental consultant Gene Mullins has devised software called the Proximate Commute Mapper to help employers and employees identify job swaps that shorten commutes. With funding from the state Transportation Department and review of the University of Washington's State Transportation Center, Mullins has conducted a trial of his job-swapping scheme with 500 Key Bank employees in 30 branch banks. Only 17 percent of those in an initial 14-branch study worked at the branch nearest their homes. Mullins mapped how far the workers lived from their branch and other branches, showed them how much their commuting cost them and the environment, and suggested mutually advantageous moves. Eighty-five employees volunteered to swap jobs for a shorter commute. After two years, the average commute for all workers at the 30 branches had dropped 17 percent. At one Tacoma branch, it fell 69 percent. Participating workers cut their average round-trip commute from 43 to 17 miles, each saving an average of $2,626 and 216 commuting hours annually. Each emits 5,940 fewer pounds of carbon dioxide and 587 fewer pounds of hydrocarbons per year. Mullins' work won a national prize from the Environmental Protection Agency, but businesses aren't beating a path to his door because "the rate of return is not explicit." And, continues EPA Transportation Partners program coordinator Paula Van Lare, "it's nobody's job to think about how people get to work." — Technology Review, July 1997, p. 16, by Eric Scigliano. LEFT HAND, MEET RIGHT HAND GSA, meet EPA. The US General Services Administration has for the first time on a major project considered target emissions and environmental assessment for building materials instead of only technical and price considerations. As a result of efforts on the Environmental Protection Agency's new 200,000 square-foot office in Washington's Ronald Reagan Federal Building, the GSA plans to make a similar process available to other federal agencies. Gruzen Samton wrote the environmental specifications for the EPA interior. Its furniture selection criteria, for example, require tests for formaldehyde, total aldehydes, total volatile organic compounds, and particulate to ensure minimal VOC off-gassing. Besides indoor air quality, the EPA offices will demonstrate the agency's energy conservation program Green Lights by using energy-saving indirect-direct pendant light fixtures with electronic ballasts and by lighting work surfaces with adjustable task lamps. Other environmentally responsible elements that challenge federal construction orthodoxy include operable windows, low-flow toilets, and advanced mechanical systems. — Building Operating Management, July 1997, p. 49, by Rita Tatum, and Architectural Record, July 1997, p. 25, by Lee Mitgang. RECOVERING CCA TREATED WOOD Dimensional lumber pressure treated with chromated copper arsenate lasts longer in contact with the ground and moist environments. But once CCA treated, the wood is difficult to recover for other uses. Now researchers at the US Department of Agriculture's Forest Products Lab in Madison, Wisconsin and at Michigan State University labs are studying how makers of engineered wood products like fiberboard or particleboard might use CCA treated wood waste. They face several obstacles. Processing CCA wood waste generates particle emissions and organic vapors that jeopardize worker health. And most bonding agents are not compatible with CCA treated materials, so engineered boards made of CCA particles don't have the strength or durability of conventional boards. The researchers think cement-based composites may be a better fit for CCA wood, though the composites aren't established in the marketplace. In cement composites the wood particles act like a filler that makes the material lighter weight. Meanwhile, researchers have also shown the possibilities of recovering CCA and related preservatives by distillation, solvent extraction, or extrusion methods. — BioCycle, July 1997, p. 34, by J.M.G. SIDING WITH THE ENVIRONMENT Selecting residential or commercial siding involves balancing complex environmental considerations — resource concerns, life-cycle pollution, paint maintenance, and durability — with other factors like price, ease of installation, and aesthetics. Red cedar, redwood, and cypress are among the more durable siding materials but often come from old-growth trees. Other choices like vinyl and synthetic stucco generate toxins in manufacture and disposal. Wood from well-managed certified forests is an appealing choice but needs frequent recoating with paint or stain. Portland cement, sand, wood fiber, and clay components make the fiber-cement siding now entering the market a durable and low-maintenance choice and, as their price drops, often the best option. — Environmental Building News, July/August 1997, p. 1, by Alex Wilson and Nadav Malin.