GreenClips.130 10.20.99

EFFICIENT VENTILATION CUTS ENERGY USE AT UK CAMPUS
At Nottingham University's new Jubilee Campus, an efficient mechanical ventilation system that circulates 100 percent fresh air has trimmed pressure drops to a fifth of normal levels, resulting in dramatic savings in fan power. Architects Michael Hopkins & Partners, with structural and services engineering by Ove Arup & Partners designed six of the campus's eight buildings. Arup's experience with other projects suggested that a low-pressure mechanical system tied to heat recovery would give better energy performance than natural ventilation. Arup's design introduces air directly  into roof-mounted air handling units (AHUs), then blows it through vertical shafts into floor voids and on into occupied spaces via low pressure floor diffusers. Exhaust air leaves through the corridor extract path, then rises through the stairwell, returning to the AHUs for heat recovery or evaporative cooling. Strategies to cut pressure losses include: extra large air paths; a sophisticated sequence of bypassing the plant when it is not required; and the use of a balanced flue boiler in the air chamber instead of a heating coil. Revolving steel cowls sit on top of the stairwells above the AHUs, using suction power created by wind to extract exhaust air. Although the cowls save less than 1 percent of fan energy, the system's overall success is clear from the pressure drop figures. While a typical system might handle 1200 Pa to 1600 Pa, depending on the season, here the fans deal with from 280 Pa to 340 Pa. - Building Services Journal, Aug '99, p 24, by Jason Palmer.

SCANDINAVIAN HOTEL CHAIN OPENS SECOND ECO-HOTEL
Following Scandic Hotels' introduction of its 97 percent recyclable hotel room in 1995 and the opening of its first eco-hotel-the Oslo Sjolyst-in 1997, the company has opened a second eco-hotel in Oslo. The new Byporten Oslo hotel has an energy management system that is integrated into the front office and the in-room TVs. Rooms not in use are kept at 17.5 degrees C [63.5 degrees F]. When a guest checks in, the front office system signals the energy management system to increase the temperature to 20 degrees C [68 degrees F]. Guests can use the TV to override the system. Scandic expects this feature to reduce total energy use by 30 percent. Scandic is also reducing the overall weight and amount of material used for its rooms. [The company is retrofitting about 2,000 hotel rooms per year, using wooden floors, wool and cotton textiles, and a minimum of chrome or other metal parts. Since 1997, retrofitted rooms have reduced use of plastic by 90 tons and metal by 15 tons.] These efforts show that Scandic views ecological sustainability not as a cost to the company but as a source of profits and competitive advantage - Green Hotelier, Oct '99, p 25 and Scandic web site.  [More: <http://www.scandic-hotels.com/br/30/30index.html>]

BALTIMORE OFFICE EMPHASIZES GREEN DESIGN
Natural light, recycling and other green elements were top priorities for the new offices of Brann Blau, a division of Snyder Communications Inc. Located in a downtown Baltimore office tower and designed by Greenwell Goetz Architects of Washington, DC, the 17,000-square-foot space has interior conference rooms with "storefront-like windows on the outside walls, so occupants can still see the views beyond the corridor and natural light can pass directly into the rooms," says Greenwell Goetz's Joseph Hittinger. "Private offices on the perimeter walls have large clerestory windows and  side lights, which also allow the light to pass into the interior office space." During demolition, steel studs, the ceiling grid and ductwork were recycled. Variable air volume boxes, exhaust fans and insta-hot water heaters were reused. Damaged ceiling tiles were recycled through Armstrong's tile  reclamation program, and old carpet was sent to DuPont's reclamation center. These and other green initiatives had a negligible effect on the project budget, says Hittinger. "Many times companies want to do as much as they can for the environment and their employees. Their greatest fears are that it will cost more money and delay the project. This job was a shining example of give and take from all team members to do the best job possible." -  Interiors & Sources (IS), Sep '99, by Diane Wintroub Calmenson.  [Full text: <http://www.isdesignet.com/Magazine/Sept'99/snyder.html>] [For more information email Lewis Goetz: <lgoetz@gga.com>]

CANADA'S ENERGY EFFICIENCY AWARDS ANNOUNCED
Natural Resources Canada and the Office of Energy Efficiency have announced the winners of Canada's first National Energy Efficiency Awards. Fifteen awards were issued, recognizing Canadians who show innovation and leadership in developing energy-saving technologies and strategies. The winner of the Commercial Building Projects category is the Yukon Energy Corporate Office in Whitehorse [Yukon Territory], by Florian Maurer and Antonio Zedda of Maurer Kobayashi Architects Ltd. of Whitehorse. It is the first building in Canada's far north built to C-2000 standards [which promote energy efficiency and environmental responsibility in commercial construction]. The Student Competition award went to Vince Covatta, Anthony Grisolia and Anthony Staniscia of Ryerson Polytechnic University for their Urban Retreat, a high-density residential building. The winner of the Residential category is the Dumont Residence in Saskatoon [Saskatchewan], designed by Dr. Robert Dumont. The house incorporates high levels of insulation, passive solar exploitation, ventilation heat recovery, and active solar heating for domestic hot water and partial space heating. - Canadian Architect, Sep '99, p 7.  [More: <http://eeb-dee.rncan.gc.ca/conference/oee_winner_e.htm>]

PRACTICAL MEASURES REDUCE VIRGINIA HOME'S IMPACT
Cathleen McCoy and Nicholas Shaw's new 4,000-square-foot residence, built on 60 rural acres in western Virginia, shows that a house can be energy efficient and environmentally sensitive while remaining comfortable and attractive. Architects Page Stephenson Carter and Jim Burton of Berryville, Virginia designed the passive solar house, which features south-facing expanses of glass to capture daylight. Heat from the winter sun is absorbed by a stone fireplace wall, a stretch of concrete flooring, and kitchen counters made of fireslate, the black composite material used for tabletops in high school science labs. A house doesn't have to "scream solar," Carter says. It can have "solar parts like a lineup of French doors facing south." Structural insulated panels made of rigid oriented strandboard sandwiched around a foam core save energy by allowing less air infiltration than stick construction that uses studs and insulation batts. The air conditioning bill for June through September was $300, half of what it would be for a comparably sized conventional house. Other green features include a copper chain attached to the overhanging eaves that captures rainwater for garden irrigation, and a fireplace built of stones salvaged from a nearby 18th-century house that had been demolished. "It's about deciding not to use more than your share," McCoy says. "We try to do our part." - The Washington Post, 21 Oct '99, p T12, by Patricia Dane Rogers. [For more information email Jim Burton <jim@carterburton.com>]

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