Turning Green

The Search for Energy Efficiency Takes Us Back to the Sunny Side of the Road

Whereas Art Deco drew its aesthetic energy from the ornamental panels of the Art Nouveau tradition, and Modern Architecture propelled the rise of monolithic geometric forms (still the dominant style for many corporate headquarters), the burgeoning Sustainable Architecture movement might bring us back to the sunny side of the road (or hill, depending on your project site).

Scouring the Internet for examples of sustainable buildings, I came across the lists of top green building projects (updated annually) by the American Institute of Architecture's Committee on the Environment (AIA's COTE) and some of the projects selected by TIME as part of its Green Design 100 for 2009. (You can locate these projects and more in our catalog of case studies here.)

Many of these buildings make the most of the prevalent natural light, wind patterns, and climate conditions at the site. Chatwell school in Seaside, California (LEED Platinum), for example, uses "north-facing windows and clerestories" to "provide excellent daylighting, support the net-zero electrical goal, and improving student outcomes" (AIA/COTE). Similarly, World Headquarters for the International Fund for Animal Welfare in Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts, employs "practical, straightforward, low-tech, low-cost strategies for sustainable design such as siting, orientation, natural daylighting and ventilation, and high-efficiency mechanical systems" (AIA/COTE). Shanghai Tower, poised to become one of the tallest in China, incorporates a "spiraling design" to "[reduce] wind load, and the parapet collects rainwater, to be used for heating and cooling systems."

Since most architects now construct and study their projects digitally before breaking ground, they rely on not only architectural modeling software (like Autodesk Revit, Bentley Architecture, Vectorworks Architect, and Graphisoft ArchiCAD) but also energy analysis software (Autodesk Ecotect Analysis, Bentley Hevacomp, Bentley Tas, and IES).

The importance of local climate data is evident in the efforts software developers have made to acquire and incorporate macro and micro climate data into the analysis process. In November, at the Green Building Expo in Phoenix, Arizona, Autodesk announced it just added data from more than a million global weather stations into its Green Building Studio Web-based analysis software.

"Giving our users access to a huge data set of hourly, site-specific, and more relevant weather information represents a significant step forward," noted John Kennedy, senior manager, sustainable analysis products, for Autodesk AEC (architecture, engineering, and construction) solutions.

Though software developers have made significant advances in simplifying their energy-analysis products, many of these packages still present a barrier. IES, makers of IES <VE>, was therefore thrilled to learn that its software was voted "most architect friendly" in a survey involving 10 different simulation products.In an announcement, IES cites the survey result, which states, "The strength of IES VE lays in its user-friendly graphical user interface and its template driven approach. The tool offers default values and templates that facilitate quick entry and supports a progression in thermal performance analysis from getting quick answers in early design to detailed analysis in later design phases.”

As part of our efforts to compile relevant resources for learning these analysis software products, we identified and put together a list of software tutorials. Let us know if you can think of other sites and links we should include in it.

Wind Power Rules

 December 16, 2009, WASHINGTON, DC (Ecobuild USA 2009) - Before you strap on a windmill to your house to impress your neighbor with your eco friendliness, give Steven J. Strong, president of Solar Design Associates, a listen. Though a champion of renewable energy, Strong says homeowners attempts to harness wind power may result in folly. For one thing, to get into the laminar flow (away from ground effects and the resulting turbulence) that is required for constant spinning, wind turbine blades have to be over 100 feet tall. And don't even think of a vertical axis turbine - you can't get the ncessary height and putting them on the building will shake the building apart.

Don't try this at home: a wind turbine can shake a house apart.
 

More nuggets:

• Was once approached by a doubter who said "You haven't spent any time in Atalnta in August." Ironically, that would be a high yeild of solar energy when it is needed the most (peak air conditioning time).
• Before installation of a wind turbine, get a years worth of wind data
• Power provided by a wind turbine is a function of the 2nd power of the diameter and the 3rd power of wind speed
• It's a damn shame there is no wind farm off the shore of Massachusetts. It seems like the rich folk of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket have been successfull in fighting off an eyesore that is 12 miles offshore, no more than 3/16" between 2 fingers on an outstretched arm
• Contrast that with Denmark, which gets 30% of its energy after 10 years of starting a massive off shore wind farm. Ironically, it is also a tourist attraction. See Denmark Brings World's Largest Offshore Wind Farm Online.
• The noise from the machinery in utility size wind turbine, whose blades can be stretch over an entire ball field long, was drowned out by the clanging of hardware on a nearby flagpole.

Plant More Trees - What Could be Greener?

December 15, 2009, WASHINGTON, DC (Ecobuild USA 2009) - The race to get LEED certification may  have blinded us about a basic tenet of green building -- plant more trees. 

However, it is surprising to learn some of the common mistakes we are making while adding trees to our latest development.

• Plant 'em and forget them. There's no such thing as no-maintenance landscaping.
• Stuffing trees into a project. A 5 ft tree requires 60 cu ft of soil.  Root flare in a mature tree and roots barely below surface will damage sidewalks.

(courtesy bikexprt.com)
 

• Mistaking dirt for soil. Dirt is what you get on a job site, often very compacted. Architects should spec the soil and make sure it has some biology in it
• Underestimating costs. Though you can get trees for $210 from catalogs, don't forget to include soil removal and addition and watering. Tree cost is more like thousands of dollars.
• It's about the roots. Containered trees have a life of a couple of decades - compared to the same tree in the wild that survives 400 years. You can reduce the mortality by using a nursery that does root ball pruning, which generates a dense root ball, (In contrast with 90% of roots that are cut off without root ball pruning)
• Blindly following LEED requrieents to plant native species. Native species may thrive in biodiverse forest settings but special considerations abound in developments. In some cases, it may be better to plant an invasive species. Look for these characteristics"
  • ability to withstand stress and urban conditions
  • ability to withstand neglect
  • fibrous roots systems
  • dense foliage
  • can be planted at high density

Hot Shot Architects Can't Touch This

December 14, 2009, WASHINGTON, DC (Ecobuild USA 2009) - A speaker challenges his class of architects. "How many of you think you are on top of your game?"

Several raise their hands.

"How many can design a LEED Platinum building?" he says. Some hands come down.

"How many of you can do it without computers?"

A lot less hands stay up, no doubt confused as believing "top of your game" meant being versatile in the latest technology.

"...without calculators?"

That does it. No hands are left. But the speaker continues.

"Using materials only within a 150 mile radius of the building?"

"...and guarantee it will lasts 500 years?"

The speaker has just returned from a visit ot Oxford University, where he has been smitten by the work of builder/architects who have done so much with so little."Oxford is LEED Platinum times one hundred," says Steven Strong, president of Solar Power. 

"Something to keep in mind as you are filling out your LEED bingo cards."

image courtesy of LHWE.org
Oxford University: Could it be LEED Platinum --without computers, calculators, using only local materials?
 

Heard at Ecobuild 2009

 December 13, 2009, WASHINGTON, DC (Ecobuild USA 2009)

"In a development, you cut down all the trees and name the streets after them."

"Grandma comes before the Prius"
 (handicapped parking precedence over parking for electric/hybrid vehicles)

"You don't want to swim with the 3-eyed fishes"
 (water retention systems marketed  by developers but contain polluted runoff)

"You can get more LEED points with a bike rack than with a half million dollar renewable energy unit"

Sustainable Experts Poised to Reshape Autodesk University's Future

Ever wonder what the carbon footprint of a major tradeshow like Autodesk University (AU 2009) might be? This week, when I met Autodesk's sustainable design program manager Dawn Danby, I posed that question to her. I was expecting an evasive answer. To my surprise, she gave me a number: 8,000 metric tons.

In the previous years, at company-hosted press conferences and user events, Autodesk president and CEO Carl Bass had called attention to the rise of green house gas emission, putting the burden squarely on the building profession. ("The building sector accounts for almost half of all greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. annually," according to a U.S. Green Building Council announcement). Recent additions of green experts into Autodesk's corporate mix indicate the company is willing to practice what it preaches (not always the case with industry-leading corporations). The company's recruitment efforts netted Lynelle Cameron, director of sustainability (hired in 2007); Emma Stewart, senior program lead for Autodesk's sustainability initiative (hired in November 2008); and Dawn Danby, sustainable design program manager(hired in June 2008).

One of the results of the company's sustainable focus is a new corporate carbon accounting methodology, called C-FACT. "The approach calls for companies to reduce GHG emissions in line with global scientific and policy climate stabilization targets, and in proportion to companies’ relative contribution to the economy, measured by gross domestic product (GDP)," Autodesk explains. In other word, it calls for each company to do its own part in green house gas reduction according to its GDP contribution. This is a method Autodesk is developing; it hopes its rivals and partners alike will adopt it.

"For FY10 (February 2009-January 2010), the methodology points to the need for Autodesk to reduce its absolute emissions by 4.52% compared to our FY09 (February 2008-January 2009) baseline. This translates to 3,756 metric tons of GHG (green house gas)," the company outlines.

Some of the more tangible changes can be seen in the use of recycled nylon bags at AU, the use of compostable utensils during meal times, and the show catalogs printed on recycled post-consumer waste paper.

Perhaps more significantly, Autodesk launched AU Virtual this year, allowing those who cannot be onsite to attend the conference from the comfort of their own homes and offices, via a browser. The virtual event costs nothing (it costs $99 if you purchase AU Virtual Premiere, which gives you access to a number of live streaming sessions). The appeal of AU Virtual is evident in the stats. Estimated AU attendees onsite: 6,000; registered AU Virtual attendees: 16,000.

For a design software company like Autodesk, green initiatives are good not just for its corporate soul but also for its balance sheet. The company's acquisition of Green Building Studio and Ecotect turned it into a leader in the building energy analysis software market. With these two packages under its wings, Autodesk began working towards integrating many of the analysis features -- carbon count, energy use estimate, solar study, sun angle study, and LEED credit calculation, to name but a few -- into its leading architectural software Revit. (For resources on learning to use Ecotect, visit the software tutorial list here.)

"Last year, a number of our team members looked at six of Autodesk facilities around the world, including the ones in Toronto, California, UK, and Shanghai," said Danby. "We used some of our own technologies to do energy modeling."

Danby's team tested out the workflow of using a combination of Autodesk ImageModeler (to obtain the rough geometry of the facilities from photographs) and Green Building Studio (to conduct Web-based carbon calculation) to better understand the facilities.

"We did that to try to improve the facilities, but also to learn from working on our own buildings using our own technologies," said Danby.

One of the things Autodesk customers can personally do might be to choose to receive their software purchases and updates as downloads instead of shrink-wrapped packages. By Autodesk's estimate (using ISO 14044-compliant methods), the carbon footprint of a single copy of AutoCAD delivered totals up to 2.331 metric tons. By comparison, a download copy of AutoCAD comes up to only 0.461 metric ton. Some of the biggest contributor for the carbon-count increase in package software delivery comes from transportation, product assembly, and raw material extraction. (For a detailed breakdown, see this chart from Autodesk.)

"We can all individually do certain things within our control -- choosing whether to take a plastic bottle or not, choosing one kind of light instead of another. But the impact of the decisions that made during the design stage by engineers and architects are unbelievably powerful," Danby pointed out. "There's only so much a consumer can do afterwards. I would encourage designers to learn to wield their power more responsibly."

The Birth of a Sustainability Effort

On Sunday November 15, San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom strolled into the Concourse Exhibition Center, a 125,000 sq. ft. glass-and-steel structure resembling a giant greenhouse. He was expected to address the crowd at the eight annual Green Festival, which attracted an estimated "45,000 members of the Bioneers, Burning Man, Harmony Festival, and LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) community," according to the organizers.

After tarrying briefly before a baby clothing vendor (he is now the proud father of a two-month-old girl), the mayor took the stage. "Many San Franciscans aren't aware of what we're doing in their own city," he pointed out. "We have the most aggressive local climate action plan in the United States of America. It's not just a plan on paper. It's a plan that we've already demonstrated we have the capacity to deliver. We called to roll back our greenhouse gas emission by 20% below 1990 level by 2012. In essence, we have opted to go twice as far as the Kyoto protocol." (To learn more about San Francisco's climate plan, visit sfenvironment.org.)

Before him spread row after row of display tables and tradeshow booths, each boasting its own earth-friendly products: earrings and brooches made of dried palm seeds, placemats and purses made of bamboo strips, and Fair Trade-certified shirts and skirts from Uruguay and Guatemala, to name but a few.

Just beyond the exit between the restrooms and the organic food stands, somewhere outside in the parking lot stood a canvass tent, a junior pavilion in the shadow of the main one. That was the Green Building Pavilion, a prototype shelter equipped with photovoltaic panels, windmills, and solar-powered hydroponic displays.

That was the place where, over the course of three days, people would attend workshops and lectures on achieving sustainability and health through eco-friendly building supplies (by Ecohaus), economic returns and site construction logistics for solar power applications (by Sandbar Solar), and healthy interiors and simple architectural exteriors (by Ecostruction).

While the presence of solar equipment merchants and consultants didn't surprise anybody (the sunny side of the road consisted of Sun First! Solar, Real Goods Solar, groSolar, and Hybrid Light, LC), the booths occupied by the so-called socially responsible investors raised a few hopeful eyebrows and entrepreneurial heartbeats.

Cal Green Lending, for instance, described itself as "eco-friendly real estate financing." Vision Capital Investment Management reportedly focused on "socially and environmentally responsible investment management." They both competed with Urban Solutions, said to offer "comprehensive green services for small businesses."

Both eBay's Green Team and American Institute of Architects (AIA) are out in force. While the online auctioneer's staff encouraged shoppers to "be a force for good" by "turning oldies into goodies," AIA representatives urged builders to reduce carbon footprint.

The Festival began on November 13 and wrapped up on November 15. But after the tents are rolled up and stored away, after the booths are dismantled, the green consumers (comprising not just quaintessential dreadlocked, tie-dyed activists and eco-warriors but also conscientious beancounters in business suits) will continue to seek alternative means to live, work, and play.

The annual event gave me an opportunity to wade through a sea of fledging green businesses, to mentally and literally bookmark them in the festival catalog. The slim catalog (printed by a greenerprinter) offered a snapshot, a consolidated list of people and products relevent to sustainable living. But there are hundreds of thousands of new products and enterprises coming online everyday in the green frontier. Navigating through the thick of it to get to the handful you need won't be easy.

If, as the city's mayor has hinted, many San Franciscans don't know San Francisco's own climate action initiatives, then it's not too presumptuous to think many green ideas, technologies, products, and resources remain undiscovered.

To facilitate a free flow of green ideas, I'm joining the editorial team of TenLinks to create and maintain a sustainability index - modeled after the TenLinks.com directory. I'll be working with TenLinks founder, Roopinder Tara, to create a directory of the best and most useful sites for architects wishing to "turn green." I'll certainly draw inspiration from the socio-ecological concerns and goodwill I witnessed at the Green Festival  but I could use your help -- if you know of good green design websites, please let me know!

Reach me at kwong@tenlinks.com. 

I hope my contribution will in time outweigh my own personal carbon footprint.