Green ArchiTEXT

'Living' buildings could inhale city carbon emissions | CNN

London (CNN) -- What if buildings had lungs that could absorb carbon emissions from the city and convert them into something useful? What if they had skin that could control their temperature without the need for radiators or air-conditioning? What if buildings could come "alive?"

Science fiction?

"Not as such," claims Dr Rachel Armstrong, senior TED fellow and co-director of Avatar, a research group exploring the potential of advanced technologies in architecture. "Over the next 40 years, 'living' buildings -- biologically programmed to extract carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere -- could fill our cities."

Armstrong works on the cutting edge of "synthetic biology," a relatively new science devoted to the manufacture of life-like matter from synthesized chemicals, and is something of an evangelist for the discipline. READ MORE >>

via www.cnn.com

How to Cut Buildings' Energy Use Without Expensive Renovations | GOOD

By Sarah Laskow

Building engineers are like doctors who treat structures instead of humans: they monitor a buildings' vital functions, diagnose problems, and figure out how to remedy them. They’re responsible for heating, cooling, electricity, and water systems, and everything else most people take for granted in their daily lives. In the past decade or so, buildings have been wired to report their symptoms to engineers, but they don’t always share the most relevant information about what’s ailing them.

In an energy efficiency pilot program, Microsoft set out to change that. The company concluded that streamlining communication between its buildings and engineers, it could significantly reduce energy use. In a report [PDF] co-authored with Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and the management company Accenture, found that Microsoft can save as much as $1 million in a year and pay back its investment within 18 months. Similar programs have found that, on average, companies can cut energy use by 10 percent and in some cases by as much as a third. 

The findings are significant because they signal that investing in physical retrofits of its buildings isn't necessary for major energy savings. For the experiment, Microsoft installed software that collected data on its buildings’ vital signs and told building engineers about the most pressing problems. The software helps engineers prioritize before they have to wade through gigabytes of complaint report forms, and identifies problems that engineers might have missed. READ MORE >>

via www.good.is

Solar Decathlon Homes Showcase New Technologies | EcoHome Magazine

By Jennifer Goodman

This year’s Solar Decathlon student design competition showed off new technologies and unique innovations in many areas, including alternative energy, passive heating and cooling, and water conservation and reclamation.

Sponsored by the Department of Energy, the biennial Decathlon is a program that challenges collegiate teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient, and attractive.

From Sept. 23 to Oct. 2, 19 teams and their solar-powered houses competed in 10 categories (each worth 100 points) that included engineering, hot-water generation, affordability (a new category this year), market appeal, energy balance, and architecture.

This year’s winner, the University of Maryland’s WaterShed house, was inspired by the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. The nearly 900-square-foot home is made of two rectangular sheds that form a split butterfly roofline which maximizes solar-energy generation and collects rainwater along a central axis. The two sheds are connected by a third, smaller module that houses the bathroom. Rainwater collected from the roof via the central axis mixes with the house’s greywater from the shower, clothes washer, and dishwasher, in constructed wetlands located under the bathroom and along the decks. READ MORE >>

via www.ecohomemagazine.com

Mithun Unveils its Design of the Early Learning Village for New Orleans’ Louisiana Children’s Museum

A new model for museum design, the project locates a children’s museum with social, educational and medical services for children and their families while forging a strong connection to the Louisiana landscape.

Seattle-based Mithun is collaborating with New Orleans-based Waggonner & Ball Architects on the design of the Louisiana Children’s Museum’s Early Learning Village, New Orleans, LA. The 92,000-square-foot facility will feature three buildings set among existing oaks on 11-acres in historic City Park. The project co-locates centers for early childhood research, parenting, childcare, literacy and social services with a museum to better serve children and their families.  
 
Plans were underway in 2005 for a major rehabilitation and upgrade of the 25-year old museum when Hurricane Katrina struck.  Following the devastation, the museum adapted its mission to respond to the changing needs of the recovering community.

The design team built upon the innovative concept of co-mingling multiple partners within a new, non-profit institution created by the Louisiana Children’s Museum. On-site partners include the Tulane Institute of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health, Tulane Medical School, Tulane Hospital for Children, the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, Louisiana State University Agricultural Center and the John Besh Foundation.

“Helping children to visualize a positive future in New Orleans is an important part of our mission,” says Julia Bland, Executive Director, Louisiana Children’s Museum: Early Learning Village. “In a place that has experienced so much in the way of natural disasters – from Katrina to the recent oil spill to Mississippi River flooding – this offers hope for children and a way to understand the deep connection we have to the water and the land. It also demonstrates how we can participate in the process to restore, rebuild and revitalize our community.”
 
When the facility opens in 2014, it will feature three, glass-and-zinc-clad buildings linked by a series of courtyards that correspond to three different Louisianan landscapes: chenier’s (natural sand levies), batture lands (Mississippi tidal flats) and canebrakes (dense bamboo groves). Children will explore along outdoor bridges that pass though the tree canopy and over water to a classroom floating on the lagoon.
 
Mithun employs the energy, water and bio-climatic strategies for the Early Learning Village that won them a spot at the top of Architect Magazine’s Top Ten List of Sustainable Firms in 2011. As designed, the project will achieve LEED Platinum, Sustainable Sites Initiative and Net-Zero Energy goals. Sustainable strategies include photovoltaic panels on the roof, skylights for naturally lit interior circulation and a ground source heat-pump. Elevating the structures allows periodic immersion of portions of the site, and along with the restoration of the lagoon habitat, increases floodwater storage capacity.
 
“The Children's Museum is about connections: connecting knowledge with experiences, the indoors with outdoors and the urban environment with nature," says Richard Franko AIA, Partner, Mithun. "Making these connections through an immersive and experiential environment results in a deeper educational experience. Our goal is to create an experience that is fun and engaging for children, makes a connection to the pre-development Louisiana landscapes and is true to the spirit of New Orleans."

Design Highlights

• The design weaves land, water and buildings into an experiential sequence that moves through groves of mature live oaks across water and into three courtyards that evoke three vanishing landscape ecologies of Louisiana.
• The three building volumes are sited to protect existing live oaks, creating “shaded” facades and courtyards.
• The children’s path crosses water onto porches, under canopies, through dense native bamboo, and up into outdoor bridges−engaging the upper canopy of the Live Oaks with changing views of the neighboring lagoon.
• Building structure is elevated for flood resistance and supported by an exterior wall “super truss”, reducing piles, with a 60’ width for daylighting.
• The sectional parti is inspired by the dappled light and views of the under-canopy experience of the Live Oaks, with low continuous clear vision glass and a “canopy” of contrapuntally punctured zinc walls and roof.
• The project is designed to achieve LEED Platinum, Sustainable SITES pilot project and net zero energy goals.

Introducing MESH Cities: Reinventing the Future of the City

This new website just launched: exploring the future of cities while providing an online repository for up-to-date information and discussions on the evolution of MESH (Mobile, Efficient, Subtle, Heuristics) cities. As Editor Robert Ouellette explains:

“The site explores the planning, development, and use of intelligent cities. It also offers users the tools to track the way public spaces are changing as a result of the trend towards ubiquitous computing.

MESH Cities are not just smart cities. MESH Cities go beyond the management of infrastructure to the heart of what makes cities worthwhile—their livability. Metaphorically, MESH Cities are the offspring of an improbable marriage between Jane Jacobs and pervasive city computing.”

Take a look at MESH Cities.

 

New Software Could Help Engineers Create Greener Products

By Sarah Laskow

The greenest product is the one that’s never produced, never sold, never thrown away. But for companies that design and produce the reams of stuff that stock the shelves at Walmart, Best Buy, and your local eco-friendly boutique, closing up shop isn’t an option. Going green rally means going greener by designing products that use fewer resources or less carbon-intensive materials. 

To create a greener product, though, a company first has to figure out how green its product is to begin with. Until recently, the best way to obtain that information has been to commission a life-cycle assessment, a procedure that can take months and costs tens of thousands of dollars. But now, software companies that support product designers are offering tools to create quick-and-dirty life-cycle assessment for products, even while they’re in the design and innovation phase. If engineers make a change to a product’s design, they don’t have to make an effort to understand its environmental impact. They can just glance over to a corner of the screen.  These estimates aren’t perfect, but they have the potential to help companies shrink the carbon footprint of their products. READ MORE >>

via www.good.is

Should Net Zero be today’s goal?

By Stephen Carpenter

Net Zero is the latest buzzword around the green building industry. The implication is that we should strive for buildings that consume only as much energy as they generate on site. The Living Building Challenge has set this target and the 2030 Challenge aims for zero carbon emissions from buildings by 2030. But is this the right end goal? While achieving net zero is laudable, in the Canadian climate it may be a technically unrealistic target or, at best, financially impractical, because of the significant capital investment required in on-site renewable energy generation.

Energy Use in Today’s Buildings

So if net zero is not a realistic target, what should today’s goal be? To answer this question, we must first look at where conventional and green buildings are today. Currently the average Canadian commercial/institutional building uses close to 400 ekWh/m2 [1440MJ/m2] on an annual basis. Schools, offices and MURBs are on the low side of this number and hospitals, sports facilities, and retail centres are on the high side.
Looking back at its 100 LEED certified projects, Enermodal Engineering discovered that the actual energy use of the monitored projects is 45% less than the Canadian average, or just over 200 ekWh/m2. For the most part, these savings were achieved by focusing on a few critical areas: airtight envelope, efficient lighting, and high performance mechanical equipment – including ventilation heat recovery.

A Realistic Goal

So if net zero isn’t realistic based on where conventional and most green buildings are today, then what is? We believe a realistic and cost effective target is 100kWh/m2 [360MJ/m2]. There are three reasons why this is a better goal: READ MORE >>

via www.sabmagazine.com

International Living Future Institute Adds Net Zero Energy Building Certification

As the need for energy-resiliency increases globally, the Institute responds with a program to verify that 100 percent of a building’s energy needs are supplied by on-site renewable sources.

TORONTO, Ont. — Oct. 04, 2011 —  In an effort to advance far-reaching strategies for energy efficiency  and fossil fuel independence in new and operational buildings, the International Living Future Institute unveiled today the Net Zero Energy Building Certification program.

“In the next two decades, we are looking at the disappearance of cheap oil, a scarcity of finite resources, the continual decay of our infrastructure and a ballooning planetary population that will compel us to adjust to new ways of building and being,” says Jason F. McLennan, CEO of the Institute. “We see Net Zero Energy Building Certification as a way to galvanize and recognize widespread efforts to eliminate fossil fuel use and to conserve energy. We also hope that those who seek this sustainable path --- and who are successful -- will capitalize on the possibilities and consider expanding their scope to achieve full Living Building Challenge certification in the future.”

The Net Zero Energy Certification program is the first of its kind and will likely capture the attention of projects around the globe seeking to be free of fossil fuels and carbon emissions. Projects may register from anywhere in the world and nearly any project is eligible for consideration. Renewable energy is defined as passive solar, photovoltaics, wind turbines, solar thermal, direct geothermal , water-powered microturbines, or fuel cells powered by hydrogen generated from renewably-powered electrolysis.

“Third party verification of far reaching goals like net zero energy is critically important to their uptake. Certification and the independent audits we provide are proof that environmental claims are real” says McLennan.

Find out more about the certification program and how to get started by visiting www.living-future.org/netzero.

Passive House Gets Active for New Orleans | ED+C Magazine

The Low Cost, Low Energy House project by sustainable.TO won the latest DesignByMany challenge: “Passive House for New Orleans.” The challenge asked professionals and students in the architectural, engineering and construction community to submit a proposal for a passive house in New Orleans that addresses the need for affordable, sustainable home design in neighborhoods that are still recovering from Hurricane Katrina.

“The Low Cost, Low Energy House, is an incredibly thoughtful and viable response to the goals of this challenge,” said David Fano, partner, CASE. “With the knowledge of participants from across the globe coming together to tackle this challenge through great submissions like Low Cost, Low Energy House, the hope is that design professionals will walk away with new ideas that can help move the industry forward and inform future building projects in a positive way.”

Low Cost, Low Energy House sensitively combines the rigors of the passive house standard with a contemporary reimagining of the shotgun typology. Using an elegant linear organization, both passive and active environmental systems are deeply integrated with program, circulation and the building enclosure. The simple building shape lends itself to the demands of airtight, thermal-bridge free construction through the opportunity for more cost-effective, higher-quality prefabrication. READ MORE >>

via www.edcmag.com

Deep Savings in Existing Buildings Summit | Path to Zero Energy Buildings

The New Buildings Institute (NBI) recently hosted the 2011 Deep Savings in Existing Buildings Summit, gathering more than 80 innovative thinkers on energy savings and the built environment. Held in Boulder, Colorado, the three-day event was organized as part of NBI’s ongoing work to facilitate wide adoption of deep energy savings across existing U.S. commercial building stock—roughly 71.6 billion square feet of space.

The Work

To meet national goals for reduced energy use and climate impact, it is imperative that much of our existing building stock be significantly upgraded over the next two decades. While 50% or greater savings has been demonstrated, this level of savings isn’t the prevailing trend. There is a higher need to go beyond individual efficiency measures with relatively short payback periods (frequently two to three years) and to strategize how to bring replicable system upgrades to existing buildings with deeper, more long-term solutions.

NBI’s existing buildings work, supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Kresge Foundation, seeks to drive the market for energy efficiency through development of key tools and informational resources. We have been expanding a set of deep savings case studies (view the 11 Deep Energy Savings case studies and Getting to 50 Database) and optimizing two simple and intuitive tools (First View and Multi-Measure) for building designers, owners, operators and others to provide a better understanding of current energy performance and potential solutions. Additionally, we have supported Preservation Green Lab’s work to research and characterize the prototypical building types, or “typologies,” that represent significant numbers of existing buildings. READ MORE >>

See our Summit “Snapshot” for a preliminary list of takeaways and brief working group summaries from the event.

via www.newbuildings.org