The 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing are supposed to be the greenest yet. There has been some coverage on television, and despite all the attempts to clean things up beforehand and to limit especially the air pollution during the games, pictures from the city show it still in many ways to be a smoggy, grimy place. It’s not wholly bad, however. The buildings constructed for some of the competitions are architecturally striking, and they seem to be a functional success, as well. But how do they stack up as green buildings?

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But there is ample evidence that consumers are now driving a change in the market. The USGBC website has printed a report by CoStar Group which has found “that sustainable “green” buildings outperform their peer non-green assets in key areas such as occupancy, sale price and rental rates, sometimes by wide margins…. The results indicate a broader demand by property investors and tenants for buildings that have earned either LEED® certification or the Energy Star® label and strengthen the “business case” for green buildings, which proponents have increasingly cast as financially sound investments.” The report goes on to cite “constricted supply” as one reason for the premium prices associated with sustainable buildings, and many other experts have been making the case lately that consumers either cannot find the kind of sustainable housing that they are looking for, or cannot identify what makes a property sustainable.

Fortunately, The Cascadia Region Green Building Council and the Commercial Brokers Association (CBA) are about to provide a bridge between designers and consumers in the form of a new professional certification, Certified Green Broker®. Jason McLennan, CEO of Cascadia, says, “It is often the brokers and finance professionals, not the architects and builders, who directly interface with the end user: the owner, landlord, and/or tenant. Therefore they have great influence on how owners and users may perceive the affordability and overall value of green buildings.”

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UK Supermarket goes green growing tomatoes for power.
Photograph: Martin Argles

Photo courtesy of Rolf van Melis.

Blade Runner

(The interspersed quotes in this article are taken from the Architecture 2030 "Think You’re Making a Difference?" page.)

Architecture 2030 is a foundation established by architect Ed Mazria in 2002. Mazria famously created the pie chart graph (see illustration) showing that buildings represent 48% of the total energy used in this country. As the largest single segment of energy use, responsible for nearly half of all energy use in the country, buildings need to have more attention paid to them. Architecture 2030 is dedicated to reducing all fossil-fuel, greenhouse-gas-emitting energy use for buildings by 2030, with an immediate 50% reduction (as compared to the typical energy use for particular building types), and phased increases in the reduction percentage until the 100% target is reached in 2030.

Buildings are responsible for more of an impact on the environment than cars or other elements of energy use because they last so long. As you drive around cities in the country, almost all of the vehicles on the road were built within the last 20 years. But the majority of the buildings are at least that old, and many are decades older. Buildings last a long time. They need to be substantial in order to accomplish their purposes. This makes them long-lasting, but they also are slow to adopt new, more efficient technologies. Replacing them is also incredibly expensive and extremely material and energy-intensive. So making sure that our buildings are built efficiently and with an eye to the future is crucial.

For building operations, carbon offsets are one way many people are looking to reduce the impact of their energy use. And while those steps can help to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide, the scale of even large scale efforts dwindles to near insignificance when compared to the amount of carbon that building energy use puts into the atmosphere.

"Home Depot is funding the planting of 300,000 trees in cities across the US to help absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions…

The CO2 emissions from only one medium-sized (500 MW) coal-fired power plant, in just 10 days of operation, will negate this entire effort."

Conservation steps can be helpful. Cutting your lighting energy usage by switching from incandescents to compact fluorescents is a step that many sources strongly advocate. (I’ve even mentioned it once or twice myself.) The energy savings are dramatic, and can cut energy use by more than half. Multiplied across millions of households, this amounts to a huge energy total, but lighting is just a portion of total building energy use.

"If every household in the US changed a 60-watt incandescent light bulb to a compact fluorescent…

The CO2 emissions from just two medium-sized coal-fired power plants each year would negate this entire effort."

Lighting energy reduction is a good first step, but there needs to be more done to build on these improvements. In addition to having all buildings be built to neutral GHG-emissions standards by 2030, they are also calling for an equal amount of existing building area to be renovated to matching levels of efficiency. Many steps are being taken presently to increase the efficiency of existing homes and buildings, but often, these steps are just doing less-bad than they are turning things around to the point of doing good. These are positive steps, certainly. But we need to continue to press for further improvements still.

"Wal-Mart is investing a half billion dollars to reduce the energy consumption and CO2 emissions of their existing buildings by 20% over the next seven years. If every Wal-Mart Supercenter met this target…

The CO2 emissions from only one medium-sized coal-fired power plant, in just one month of operation each year, would negate this entire effort."

Even if all of Architecture 2030’s goals are met, there will still be billions of square feet of buildings that have not been renovated by 2030 that will still be needing fossil-fueled energy supplies for their operation. Joshua Hill’s recent article noted the latest imperative from Architecture 2030 which calls for the elimination of coal as the "silver bullet" necessary to stop global warming. In 20 years, it is possible to begin to make significant changes in our energy infrastructure, so that renewable power sources represent an increasing portion of the energy being generated. Those developments, combined with increasing the energy efficiency of the buildings we are building, can help turn our energy profile to one that does not put such a carbon burden on the environment.

Image source: Architecture 2030

Ryan has held past positions with the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone, the Fund for the City of New York and Atlantic Bank of New York. He holds a B.A. in Architecture from Washington University in St. Louis and a MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business. Ryan is a member of the board of directors of the non-profit Housing Association of Northern California, and the Community Advisory Committee of Center for Elders Independence and Aging Services of California’s Chief Executives of Multi-Asset organizations.

Satellite Housing is making the move to green building with their new project, the 80-unit University Avenue Senior Housing facility. With a rooftop full of solar panels, the property becomes the second such Satellite Housing facility to go solar. In our interview, he talks about organizations move to green housing.

Daylighting is a key to the building's design. The building is organized around a central atrium that makes the building incredibly open. All regularly occupied spaces in the building have views to the outside, and more than 75 percent of the "work spaces where critical tasks are performed" are naturally lit. The building supplements the skylights with heliostats, sun-tracking mirrors, which bring more daylight into the building throughout the day, especially in the winter when the sun is lower in the sky. A "chandelier" of mirrored panels is both a sculptural installation in the atrium and a functional element to diffuse sunlight throughout the building. The atrium also has a number of balconies with extensive plantings which project into the space at various levels, creating pleasant spaces with an almost outdoors feel.

Indoor air quality is also an important element in this building. Almost a third of the building is behind a two-layer window system that creates a thermal buffer between the building and the exterior, much like a very deep storm window. In summer, this space is ventilated to keep solar gain from building heat inside the building, while in winter this heat is captured and helps keep the building warm. Storage rooms for chemicals have a separate ventilation system, so that any fumes are not intermingled with building air. There are also operable windows on every floor, along with sensors that shut down the building HVAC to those spaces when the windows are open.All of these features do more than just make a pretty building. Natural lighting shows up on a balance sheet in the form of lower electrical bills for lighting. But outdoor views don't translate so immediately to a financial benefit, though there can be attempts to measure how it helps. A green building also makes a positive contribution to the wellbeing of its inhabitants.

The greening process in our design makes good sense all around. First, it offers direct operating savings. There is also a growing body of evidence that supports the theory that high-performance buildings are beneficial to employee health and productivity. While these costs and benefits are still in development, the potential for savings is significant. One report indicates that annual personnel costs vary from $300 to $500 per square foot. Therefore, a 1% increase in efficiency could be worth $3 to $5 per square foot. For Genzyme, this could average $1,040,000 per year in personnel efficiency alone. (USGBC)

Being in a LEED Platinum building has had positive benefits for Genzyme. Since moving into the building, the company has performed a number of studies and surveys of its employees to investigate this. Genzyme has found that their employees who work in the Genzyme Center had a 5% lower sick time rate than employees in their other Masachusetts facilities. That's the kind of real benefit that business types like to see to justify the added investment in building a green building. A more recent survey about the productivity of employees who work in the building found very positive impressions overall from the people who regularly work in the building.

"88% said having direct views and access to the interior gardens improved their sense of well being." "72% said they feel more alert and productive as a result of the lighting features in the building" "58% said having the ability to control the temperature of their workspace improved the quality of their work environment"

Genzyme is not taking this as a once-and-done PR step. Other facilities that Genzyme is creating are also following LEED (though not necessarily all to Platinum level). Rick Mattila, Genzyme Director of Environmental Affairs, told me "[W]e are seeking LEED certification for a fit-out of office space in a building adjacent to Genzyme Center in Cambridge. We did not construct this building. We simply leased it and converted it for our use. We have tried to apply what we have learned in constructing Genzyme Center to all facilities projects." This is the kind of lesson that LEED tries to pass along. The benefits of building greener are wide ranging. A green building is better for both the building owner, who gains financial benefits from the improved efficiencies, and for the building's inhabitants, who are happier and healthier and more productive.

The Genzyme Center building has received numerous awards, including an AIA/COTE Top Ten Green Project in 2004, and a RIBA Worldwide Award in 2005.

Building Information:Size: 344,000 sq ftLocation: Cambridge MALead design: Behnisch, Behnisch & Partner Architect, Venice CA. LEED-NC 2.0 Commercial Office, Platinum Rating

Sources:USGBC LEED Case StudyGenzyme Center Virtual Tour

Thanks to Jasmine Chng for providing Genzyme contacts and information

Starting with the idea of creating a conventional community with a green twist, the Corbetts set to work transforming 70 acres in Davis into a livable green community that was good for the people, good for the earth. By lining the carefully planned east-west streets with southern-facing houses for maximum solar exposure, they enabled the Village Homes residents to acquire between 50-75 percent of their heating needs from the free (and endless!) source of the sun.

By 1982, the 70-acre Village Homes broke ground with the completion of a livable model now emulated and envied by developers and home dwellers the world over. With the narrow, curved east west streets, truncated to allow pedestrian use of the centralized community green space, the Corbetts specifically designed Village Homes to encourage transportation by foot and bike rather than by car. Designing a community to focus on the people rather than the vehicles, they opened up the development structure to allow neighborhood interaction. Another cool perk: With narrower streets containing less asphalt and more trees, the Corbetts unwittingly designed a community that is known to be 10-15 degrees cooler than surrounding neighborhoods in the hot summer months!

Other benefits include voluntary weekly potlucks, neighborhood work parties, edible landscaping, a lower cost of living. centralized play areas for children, a solar heated community center and swimming pool, two vineyards, an orchard, and two large common gardening areas.

To own a house in Village Homes is highly coveted by all familiar with the efficacy of the Corbetts’ designs. As one resident puts it, “A community is more than a physical location. It's a feeling of kinship. Living at Village Homes has enhanced our lives in many ways. I guess I could say I'm looking forward to growing old here." For more information on Village Homes or the Corbetts’ books on green development design, please visit http://www.villagehomesdavis.org/

Moderngreenliving.com is a tool to help you find green professionals in your area. Whether you're looking for an architect or builder to help you get your new eco-friendly home off the ground, or if you're looking to find a contractor or interior designer who is familiar with green materials in renovating or redecorating, this is a good place to start.

Modern Green Living also includes listings of realtors and has a database of green apartments, condos and residential communities currently available in the U.S. and Canada. The database is continually expanding with the new professionals and green residences being added regularly.

Founder Josh Dorfman says “We’re making it easy and attractive for homeowners or renters to make better choices for the planet." Dorfman already practices that mantra with is Brooklyn, NY based sustainable furnishing company, Vivavi.

Living in a green home can translate to savings on utility bills because the structure is built to use resources like energy and water more efficiently. It also means that healthier and more sustainable materials are used in the process, such as Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified wood and low VOC paints.

Those of you familiar with the term ‘ecovillage’ may now be picturing some form of a rural, off-grid community with a bunch of old hippies who grow their own food and sing songs around campfires. But, as Dan states, “You don't have to live twenty miles down a remote dirt road to live in harmony with people and natural systems. Nor to make an enormous difference to a lot of people, by visibility and community activities.”

Starting with the goal of creating an environment conducive to constructive social energy, Dan bought a courtyard and its surrounding fixer-upper houses in the gritty paradox of West Oakland urban hostility.

He often gathered work parties together to help remodel the urban pair of houses with low voc-paints, earth plasters, reclaimed and sustainably forested wood, tubular skylights to emphasize daylight, and a greywater system hooked up to feed the courtyard plants with clean used water from the washing machine and fed through various purifying wetland plants outside the house. The latest green addition is a salvaged hot tub, soon-to-be powered by solar energy and contributing to the greywater plant-feeding system.

As well as promoting non-toxic sustainable practices between the houses, having a respectful relationship with the community and recognizing everyone as a part of the social ecosystem is a huge part of what keeps the Oakland Ecovillage alive and thriving. As Dan said in our conversation today, “The environmental impact is only one aspect of the larger vision. There are lots of people helping to recreate Oakland as a greener city, from green collar jobs to addressing larger issues of socio-economic inequality.”

If you’re interested in learning more about the Oakland Ecovillage or its sister rural ecovillage-in-the-making in Laytonville, check out
www.611ecovillage.com