GreenClips.84 11.19.97 VENTILATING NATURALLY WITH TECHNOLOGY New technologies are breaking down historical barriers to natural ventilation. So says NatVent, a task force of Central and Northern European research bodies set up and coordinated by the UK's Building Research Establishment. Natural ventilation, the project group found, costs less to install, takes less non-rentable space, and costs 20 to 30 percent less to operate than mechanical systems. But NatVent found four major technical difficulties — controlling noise and dirt pollution, adjusting to variable weather, integrating natural and mechanical systems, and recovering heat from waste air. NatVent has identified solutions to each of these problems. Taking in air above the first floor instead of at the street drops noise and dirt pollution by 50 percent. And taking air on a side of the building away from traffic and noise drops it below 33 percent. TNO, the Dutch equivalent of BRE, has a simple patented product that increases or decreases air intake size depending on the weather. Electronics can link this to ventilation demanded by carbon dioxide or temperature levels in the building. Electronics can also coordinate natural ventilation of one part of a building and mechanical ventilation of another from the same weather and demand data. The Norwegians are improving heat recovery devices to work with slow moving, low pressure natural ventilation. BRE is now gathering these and other innovations and building simple-to-use design tools to help developers and their architects and engineers make early decisions about natural ventilation. The products should be on the market by June 1998 when BRE plans to publish a design guide. For more information, email BRE's Earle Perera, pererae@bre.co.uk. — Building for a Future, Autumn 1997, p. 24. ECO-ENTERPRISE IN INNER CITY MINNEAPOLIS The Green Institute in Minneapolis plans to break ground next spring on the $5 million Phillips Eco-Enterprise Center that it hopes will attract 20 innovative environmental companies to an inner city neighborhood with 18 percent unemployment. Initially the institute wanted to develop an eco-industrial park on its site where tenants would exchange waste energy and materials from their industrial processes in a closed industrial loop. But bringing together the right mix of tenants in only 64,00O SF just wasn't feasible. Instead, the institute will facilitate waste exchanges among existing companies in the region, between these companies and new PEEC tenants, and within the PEEC itself if possible. By September, 45 existing manufacturers and industrial businesses near the proposed PEEC had responded to the institute's request to identify their raw material and energy inputs and their waste and energy by-products. Duluth-based LHB Engineers & Architects designed the PEEC with renewable energy systems including a 10-kW Jacobs wind turbine donated by Minnesota entrepreneur William Norris. The Phillips Eco-Enterprise Center is the Green Institute's most ambitious project yet. Its first was the ReUse Center, a 26,000 SF store that sells salvaged, reusable building materials. For more information, call Corey Brinkema or Michael Krause at the Green Institute, 612.874.1148. — In Business, September-October 1997, p. 23. STOCKHOLM ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE PARK The Anglo-Swedish developer Windborne International has teamed with Skanska, Sweden's largest construction company, to build what they claim will be the world's first science park aimed at stimulating research on environmentally friendly technology. When completed in 2005, the £250 million Stockholm Environmental Science Park will likely house and employ more than 7,000 people in what the developers describe as a "unique environmental suburb" on the outskirts of Stockholm. Work on the first phase of the park is due to begin next year. Among the leading Swedish industrial companies and universities backing the project is appliance-maker Electrolux. "It has the potential to create a unique forum for industry, academic institutions, governmental agencies and financial institutions to collaborate on sustainable development and technology," says its vice president of environmental affairs Per Grunewald. Initially, the park will focus on research into sustainable power, waste management, and water treatment. But the developers say it could also provide an opportunity to demonstrate the latest green construction techniques. — Financial Times, November 18, 1997, by Tim Burt. TWO SCHOOLS TAKE ON SOUTH FLORIDA CLIMATE In the Florida Keys town of Tavernier, the passively cooled and naturally lighted Montessori Island School has a monthly electric bill of less than $1 per child. It may be the first Florida school built without air-conditioning in three decades. The design-build firm Jersey Devil used radiant barriers in the external walls, roof and eave vents, and time-tested techniques like facing the building toward the prevailing southeastern trade winds and placing more windows windward than leeward. Pulling hot air under a second-phase building will cool the air before it circulates through the building's central corridor. And Perkins & Will has transformed North Fort Myers High School, a magnet school for math, science, and environmental studies, by adding new buildings and renovating others. The outdoor covered walkways that connect classroom buildings shield students from the sometimes fierce sun but let natural light into the classrooms. The media center's clerestory windows infuse it with light. A preserved wetlands next to the parking lot serves as a study area and a reminder of South Florida's once-plentiful swamplands. The school has an environmental science yard and an experimental garden for exploring native plants, xeriscape (desert landscape), and other ecological studies. — Architectural Record, October 1997, pp. 114 and 118, by Beth Dunlop. LENDERS OFFER ENERGY-EFFICIENT HOME FINANCE Consumers can get a better deal on home financing if they're willing to upgrade the home's energy efficiency. Countrywide Home Loans, one of the biggest home loan institutions in the US, has issued 400 energy-efficient mortgages since a year ago when it introduced an energy-efficient financing line that also includes home equity lines of credit, home improvement loans, and second trust deeds. The new energy-efficient mortgages are already about 0.5 percent of Norwest Mortgage's business. And Chase Manhattan issued $10 million worth in their first year there. Here's how the green loans work. Improving home energy efficiency reduces utility bills, leaving the homeowner more disposable income. So the government-financed loan policy entitles buyers to a mortgage loan that's five percent or $8,000 higher than usual while the down payment, purchase price, and qualifying procedures stay the same. Utilities savings more than offset the slightly higher monthly mortgage bill. The US government's Housing and Urban Development department and Department of Energy rolled out the mortgage program nationwide in 1995. The DOE estimates the number of energy-efficient mortgages issued in 1997 swelled by 50 percent to 7,000. — Tomorrow, November-December 1997, p. 52, by Ann Goodman. GREEN GROCER BUILDS NEW HEADQUARTERS Erickson's Diversified Corporation built its new headquarters on the St. Croix River in Hudson, Wisconsin with environmental health in mind. Operator of 17 grocery stores and pharmacies throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin, the employee-owned company added environmental concerns to its mission statement in 1992. And Boarman Kroos Pfister Vogel & Associates delivered the latest in green design for Erickson's new two-story, 28,000 SF office building. Among the building's many environmentally friendly materials, the architects chose zinc for exterior accents because it lasts up to 100 years and is recyclable. Large windows generously spaced throughout the building reduce the need for artificial light. And lights dim automatically to complement sunlight. In mild weather, operable windows reduce the need for air conditioning and improve indoor air circulation. Carbon dioxide sensors monitor closed areas like conference and training rooms and start a ventilator when levels rise. — Architecture Minnesota, November-December 1997, p. 39, by Eric Kudalis.