GreenClips.111 01.13.99 UT-HOUSTON BUILDING WINS AWARD The Nursing and Biomedical Sciences Building at the University of Texas at Houston, a 250,000-square-foot building consisting of classroom, seminar, office and student support facilities, has won a 1998 Award of Excellence from Canadian Architect magazine. The adaptability of the design by Patkau Architects and Ove Arup contributes to the building's sustainability. Its clear-span structure, modular partitioning system, and accessible floor plenums allow plan reconfiguration and servicing without environmentally damaging demolition. Horizontal louvers surround the building, shading it during the day and dispersing daylight into the interior. A large architectural parasol of photovoltaic collectors shades the roof of the building from intense sun and collects rainwater. Peter Busby, principal of Busby and Associates Architects and one of this year's judges, called it "the most sophisticated environmental design solution submitted... this year" and "an excellent piece of urban design," though he voices some concern over the structure's use of mechanical louvers to overcome its less than perfect east- west orientation. Howard Davies, founder of Atelier Big City and another of this year's judges, complimented the building's elegant form, a quality often sacrificed for "an overly simplistic sense of ecological necessity." - Canadian Architect, Dec 98, p 18. CONCRETE CLEANER WITH FLY ASH Experts on global warming link 7 percent of the world's carbon dioxide emissions to the production of portland cement, a component of concrete. P. Kumar Mehta, a professor emeritus of civil engineering at the University of California at Berkeley, suggests fly ash as a clean substitute. Mehta says that replacing up to 60 percent of the portland cement with fly ash, along with a superplasticizer, achieves excellent strength and durability in a concrete mix. Presently, conventional construction codes allow only 15 percent because fly ash, a derivative of heated impurities in coal, may lessen concrete's initial strength gain. But F. Macgregor Miller, senior principal process scientist at Construction Technologies Laboratory Inc. in Skokie, Illinois says that after 28 days concrete with fly ash usually bonds with more strength than normal concrete. Today only 10 percent of the 60 million tons of fly ash annually produced in the US is used in concrete. [For more information, email P. Kumar Mehta <mehta@ce.berkeley.edu>.] - ENR, 21 Dec 98, p 13, by David B. Rosenbaum. MORE COMMUNICATION, LESS HVAC Architects and engineers can work together to downsize heating and cooling plants for energy and equipment savings. To avoid blame for insufficient cooling, engineers routinely introduce safety factors of 20 to 100 percent, an amount of installed cooling capacity above the anticipated load. The anticipated loads, though, already contain their own safety factors, which can result in systems overdesigned by 100 percent or more. Higher capacity cooling systems cost more to buy, install, and run, and the equipment takes up more space. If the engineer knows that the architect and the owner want an efficient system instead of one that absolutely guarantees occupant comfort, all parties can contribute to a responsible design. Architects can help to lower loads by reducing solar gain, using thermal mass, and providing accurate occupancy and plug load estimates. - Architectural Record, Dec 98, p 131, by David Houghton. BGE'S BUILDWI$E TO SPUR EFFICIENT HOMES Baltimore Gas and Electric Company is introducing BuildWi$e, an energy conservation program endorsed by the Home Builders Association of Maryland that encourages construction companies to build energy efficient homes. The program stems from BGE's expired EnergyWi$e campaign which offered rebates to builders who followed BGE guidelines. While the rebates will no longer be available in BuildWi$e, the program offers a marketing advantage to builders, and buyers get energy-efficient homes that are less expensive to run, says John Kortecamp, executive vice president of the homebuilders association. Unlike EnergyWi$e, BuildWi$e requires a recycling center in each home. BGE hopes to find a lender to offer lower down payments on mortgages for BuildWi$e homes. [For more information, visit the BGE web site <http://www.bge.com>]. - The Baltimore Sun, 20 Dec 98, by Robert Nusgart. RAMMED EARTH UNITES NATURE AND ARCHITECTURE The rammed earth walls of the Palmer-Rose house, a 2800-square-foot residence in the Tucson, Arizona suburbs, literally integrate the land into the architecture. Searching for local building materials in the Sonoran desert and a pragmatic approach to housebuilding, architect Rick Joy explored earth as a legitimate option. He found that rammed earth walls, cast from a mixture of sand, aggregate, and small amounts of cement and iron oxide pigment, provide interesting contrasts between fabrication and raw matter. The material also gave Joy an effective solution to the desert's extreme temperatures. Heat absorbed by the walls during the day radiates into the interior at night. By day, steel cooler boxes (low-cost versions of mechanical air-conditioning that work on the principle of evaporative cooling) blow cool air onto the earthen walls to prevent heat gain. - Architecture, Dec 98, p 90, by Joseph Giovannini. WHY BUY RECYCLED OFFICE FURNITURE? The Business Products Industry Association, a trade group of office furniture makers, has developed a 12-page brochure to inform companies about the advantages of buying recycled furniture. The booklet titled Recycled Office Furniture: Good for the Environment, Good for Your Business lists cost and design benefits and addresses some common misconceptions. [Replacing worn or outdated fabrics, says the booklet, enables refurbished furniture to return to the marketplace, saving customers 30 to 50 percent over new products.] For more information, email BPIA <info@bpia.org> or visit its web site <http://www.recyclefurn.org>. - The Green Business Letter, Jan 99, p 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GreenClips is free of charge thanks to these sponsors - EPA'S ENVIRONMENTALLY-PREFERABLE PURCHASING PROGRAM Working to make the environment a consideration in federal purchasing. http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/epp INTERFACE, INC. More than a carpet company. Much more. http://www.ifsia.com THE SMART GROWTH NETWORK Metropolitan development that serves economy, community, and the environment. http://www.smartgrowth.org WSU ENERGY PROGRAM http://www.energy.wsu.edu Providing objective research, information and solutions. Washington State University Cooperative Extension Energy Program in Olympia, Washington. To subscribe to GreenClips and/or other mailing lists related to energy and the environment, go to <http://listserv.energy.wsu.edu/guest/RemoteAvailableLists>. ENVIRONDESIGN3 http://www.isdesignet.com EnvironDesign3, slated for April 29 to May 1, 1999 in Baltimore, MD, is the premier conference on sustainable design and building practices for designers and architects. Workshops provide endless learning opportunities and concrete solutions to many of the practical challenges faced when exploring sustainable design issues. Keynotes include presentations by "Ishmael" author Daniel Quinn, architect Bill McDonough, the World Resource Institute's Allen Hammond, David Pearson, founder of the Ecological Design Association and David Gottfried, president of Gottfried Technology. Visit with manufacturers in the Product Learning Center to learn more about their environmental products and initiatives. In three short days, you will be exposed to a multitude of new ideas, break-through research and passionate encouragement that will change your life, change your aspirations, change your career . . . forever. Produced by Interiors & Sources magazine; co-hosted by the US Green Building Council. Call 561 627 3393 or visit <http://www.isdesignet.com>. US DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY http://www.eren.doe.gov/buildings Schools that spend less on energy have more to spend on education. A February 9 teleconference, "Energy Smart Solutions for America's Schools," will explain how geothermal heat pumps can save schools up to 35 percent annually on utility bills and improve the learning environment. The teleconference is sponsored by the US Department of Energy's Office of Building Technology, State and Community Programs (BTS) and its Energy Smart Schools Partnership, in cooperation with the Geothermal Heat Pump Consortium. Future teleconferences will focus on the successful financing and execution of school energy efficiency projects. BTS programs also include the DOE/National Building Museum lecture series. At 12:30 p.m. on January 27, the topic is Improving Energy Efficiency and Indoor Air Quality in Homes. More information on BTS' efficient building programs is available on DOE's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network web site <http://www.eren.doe.gov/buildings> or by calling 800 DOE 3732 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ABOUT THE PUBLISHER Architectural researcher and environmental consultant Chris Hammer of Sustainable Design Resources publishes GreenClips in San Francisco. Ms. Hammer helps planners, developers, building owners, designers, builders, and facility managers practice sustainable planning, development, building design, construction, and operation. GreenClips is written by Chris Hammer and Chris Jervey. To CONTACT THE PUBLISHER Email GreenClips@aol.com or call 415.928.7941. BACK ISSUES Two Internet sites host GreenClips archives for reference and research: http://solstice.crest.org/sustainable/greenclips-info.html (keyword search) http://www.greendesign.net/greenclips (browse contents) REDISTRIBUTION Please do not redistribute or post copies of GreenClips regularly. Encourage readers who receive GreenClips from you to subscribe directly. Continuing sponsorship depends on accurate reader counts. 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