|
GreenClips.118 04.21.99
HABITAT HOUSE USES CERTIFIED WOOD, OVE
TECHNIQUES
A 1,040-square-foot Habitat for Humanity house in Beaverton,
Oregon sponsored by the Certified Forest Products Council
and talk-show host Oprah Winfrey is the first in the US to
use certified forest products with advanced wood framing
techniques. Without compromising structural integrity, the
Optimum Value Engineering framing techniques developed by
the National Association of Home Builders research lab
reduce the amount of lumber required and, by increasing
insulation area, improve thermal performance. The single
largest efficiency gain of the OVE techniques comes from
placing floor joists, wall studs, and roof rafters on
24-inch centers, rather than the 16-inch layout common in
North America. The 24-inch layout also takes better
advantage of the structural properties of other building
components like plywood which is engineered for a 24-inch
span. Further efficiency gains come from advanced techniques
for partition backing, nail backing, and corners. The OVE
techniques complied with the local building codes and have
the active endorsement of the Washington County building
department. - Understory, Winter 99, p 6, by Jeff X.
Wartelle. [Full text:
<http://www.greendesign.net/understory/winter99/index.html>] [More
on the house: email
<jeffx@certifiedwood.org>] [More on OVE:
<http://www.nahbrc.org/path/tech/abstracts/designab1.html>]
ANALYZING WATER COSTS KEY TO CONSERVATION
Justifying water conservation measures beyond low-flow specs
requires a systematic cost analysis that considers more than
just water-use charges. To make a case for water-saving
measures like waterless urinals and gray-water reuse,
commercial building designers should also factor in system
development charges and sewer-system charges. System
development charges are one-time fees water utilities charge
for each new water service; a new 4-inch meter and service
to a large office building can run over $20,000. Water-use
charges are based on meter size and on monthly and seasonal
use. Sewer-system charges also depend on the amount of water
used. But sewer charges, $3.12 per 100 cubic feet in
Portland, Oregon for example, dwarf the city's water-use
rates of $0.92 per 100 cubic feet. That makes Portland's
total commercial water charge $4.04 per 100 cubic feet, with
sewer charges 77 percent of the fee. Recognizing that billed
water charges in this case are four times the rate for
actual water use can help make economic sense of
water-saving measures. - Consulting-Specifying Engineer, Mar
99, p 65, by Jerry M. Yudelson and Steffen U. Brocks.
[More on water costs: email Jerry Yudelson
<jmy@glumac.com>]
TRANSIT VILLAGES COME TO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Developers in Los Angeles are building the area's first
transit villages which cluster homes, stores, and social
services around rail stations. Though transit villages
already exist in the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, and
elsewhere, they're still a novelty and a financial dare in
car-crazy Southern California. Hollywood & Highland, a
$385-million entertainment and shopping center in Hollywood,
incorporates a Metro Rail station. And residents of Village
Green, a 300-unit housing development in Sylmar, will by
September be able to walk a few hundred feet from their
front doors to a Metrolink station. "Everybody told me,"
recalls Village Green's builder Avi Brosh of Agoura
Hills-based Braemar Urban Development, "'Who the hell wants
to live next to train tracks?' I said, 'Gosh, that's the
point, isn't it?'." Yet while several Bay Area transit
developments combine housing with shops, clinics, and
day-care centers, the Village Green project offers only
housing. Urban planners and environmentalists see rail
systems as engines for transforming neighborhoods into
pedestrian-oriented places where people can perform most of
their daily routines - shopping, going to work, seeing the
doctor - on foot. - Los Angeles Times, 20 Apr 99, by Morris
Newman.
SWEDISH SCHOOL USES ON-SITE WATER SYSTEM
A new addition to Ostratornskolan designed by White
Arkiteker collects rainwater for flushing toilets and
ecologically treats wastewater on site. Though not a
technical breakthrough, this school in Lund, Sweden shows
that on-site water systems can be practical, affordable, and
brought into mainstream use. Water for flushing toilets is
collected on the roof and sent to a pair of 9-cubic-meter
tanks in the cellar. The toilets have two compartments, one
for urine and one for feces. Urine is flushed with 0.2
liters of water to another pair of 9-cubic-meter tanks
buried underground. Feces are flushed with 4 liters of water
to a device that separates solids from liquid
effluent. This black-water liquid is routed through a
100-square-meter root zone, a 0.8-meter-thick layer of earth
on a watertight base, where vegetation and micro-organisms
in the soil filter and purify it. The water then passes
though a water cascade to oxygenate it and settles in a
man-made marsh for evaporation. A local farmer uses
the urine and processed fecal compost as fertilizer. The
system displaces 324,000 liters of clean water per year. It
cost about $150,000 CAD, and its installation didn't delay
construction. - Advanced Buildings Newsletter, Feb
99, p 5, by Rich Janecky. [More on the system: email
Karin Landstrom <karin.landstrom@white.se>]
SENSITIVE SITES: TO BUILD OR NOT TO BUILD?
Because much of the desirable land in the US and other
developed countries is already taken, architects are
designing homes for sites no one would have dreamed of
building on 20 years ago. Designers increasingly face not
only challenging soil conditions, but also ecologically
sensitive sites with wetlands or rare indigenous wildlife
and vegetation that require minimal impact on the terrain.
Architect David Kriegel has limited runoff from the site of
a house he's designed next to wetlands in North Haven, New
York. A rush of fresh water from the site would affect area
salinity levels, harming the wildlife and vegetation.
"Sometimes I think architects should refuse to design homes
for these fragile sites," says architect Gail Lindsey of
Wake Forest, North Carolina. "But then I realize that at
least when we are involved in these projects, it's in an
educated and informed manner. As architects, we can make
informed decisions and preserve what is there." Though less
critical, the owners of a gently sloping Michigan site
wanted their new home to respect and disturb as little as
possible, so Wheeler Kearns Architects in Chicago mounted it
on pilotis [piles]. "Raising the house," explains
architect Mark Weber, " allows the existing topography to
run underneath and leaves the watershed undisturbed." -
Architectural Record, Apr 99, p 153, by Elaine Martin
Petrowski.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . .
GreenClips is free of charge thanks to individual members
and 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.interfaceinc.com
WSU ENERGY PROGRAM
http://www.energy.wsu.edu Manufacturing Leaders
Conference. May 19-20, 1999 in Portland, Oregon. Call
800 872 3568 or visit
<http://www.energy.wsu.edu/conf/industry/>.
US DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
http://www.eren.doe.gov/buildings Did you know that
roughly 100,000 schools in the US spend $6 billion a year
on energy? The US Department of Energy's EnergySmart
Schools Initiative can help reduce those bills by 25
percent or more by making school heating and cooling
systems more energy efficient. Managed by DOE's Office of
Building Technology, State and Community Programs
(BTS), EnergySmart Schools is also improving the
learning environment of classrooms and other school
facilities through daylighting, better temperature
control, and improved indoor air quality. This means
classrooms will be more comfortable, providing a better
learning environment for our kids. And the energy
savings can go back to the schools to pay for more
teachers, books, and computers. For more information
on BTS' efficient building programs, please see DOE's
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network website
<http://www.eren.doe.gov/buildings> or call 800
363 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 James
Richert.
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.
To SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE Subscribe, unsubscribe, or
change your address at this web
site: http://listserv.energy.wsu.edu/guest/RemoteListSummary/GreenClips
You can also do this by email following these
instructions: Address an email message to
<GreenClips-request@listserv.energy.wsu.edu>. In
the body of the message (not the subject line) type
either: subscribe <your internet email
address> unsubscribe <your internet email
address>
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . .
Copyright 1999 Sustainable Design Resources. All rights
reserved. Republishing GreenClips in print or on a web
site, in whole or in part, or commercial distribution in any
form requires advance permission of the publisher.
|