Green Options » sustainable building

Bank of America: Greenwash Watch

Sarah Lozanova — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:52:33 +0000

As the largest consumer and small business bank, BofA (NYSE: BAC) can have a major positive or negative impact on the environment. Since March, 2007, the bank has taken on a $20 billion initiative to “encourage environmentally friendly business activity” over the next decade. Applauded by some and criticized by others, just how green is this bank?

Crystalline Tower Office Building in Manhattan

BofA’s new 2.1 million square foot, 54 story tower is being heralded as the world’s greenest skyscraper. This $1 billion glass, steel, and aluminum skyscraper will use significantly less water and energy, while providing a healthy indoor environment.

It features a passive solar design, the use of recycled and renewable materials, and work stations with individual climate controls. Natural elements include the use of rain water and a green roof reduces energy use for heating and cooling. A graywater system will reuse waste water from sinks to flush toilets. A 4.6 megawatt cogeneration plant will generate heat and electricity.

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Bad News For Green Builders? Not So Fast

mcmilker — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 12:31:12 +0000

The collapsing housing market has wreaked havoc in a variety of industries. Everyone from realtors, to mortgage bankers to builders has seen lay-offs and steeply declining sales. The savviest of the group have realigned their businesses to go after the new markets a recession creates or focused on smaller, still growing niche markets.

For builders who thought going green was the answer there’s some bad news. While the hype surrounding green building features would make one think this trend would last forever, a recent study by the New York Times reveals some holes in this theory.

Ninety-three percent of all home buyers, both nationally and in the New York metro area, are not willing to pay more for green or energy efficient features when building a home, according to a recent independent study commissioned by The New York Times Customer Insight Group.
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Alliance Between USGBC and AIA

Philip Proefrock — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 16:02:06 +0000

There has been a lot of news out of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) in the last few weeks, including the draft version of the new LEED standard. But an alliance between the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and USGBC will help bring green building even further into the mainstream.

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Grand Rapids Has the First LEED Museum

Philip Proefrock — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 14:13:15 +0000

Grand Rapids, Michigan is one of the greenest cities in the country, at least if you go by the number of LEED certified buildings it has. And now it adds to its distinction with the first LEED Gold certified art museum in the country.

Grand Rapids is tied with Pittsburgh and Washington at #5 on a list of cities with the most LEED certified buildings, surpassing even cities such as Chicago, San Francisco, New York. Grand Rapids also has embraced renewable energy for the city. A strong regional commitment to green building and support from philanthropist Peter Wege (who serves on the board of the designerly office furniture manufacturer Steelcase as well as the Grand Rapids Art Museum’s board) has helped Grand Rapids But Grand Rapids’ latest claim to green fame is that it is now the home to the first new construction LEED-certified art museum in the country.

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Welcome…

ecocitymedia — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 22:16:15 +0000

Thank you thank you thank you to Greenoptions and all of the great minds behind it for offering this platform. In this journal we will follow Ecocities - the projects happening around the world and the humans that make them happen.

We’ll start with today’s posts, but if you would like to see the full range of stories, people and multimedia we have gathered around the Ecocity topic, visit the main site at www. ecocitymedia.org.

Be well!

The Calendar of Green Building Events

Philip Proefrock — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 15:11:16 +0000

Increasing numbers of home builders and home remodeling programs across the country are embracing green building and sustainable design. Some programs are specifically focused on green building while others are including it as a part of the wider event program. In either case, these events can be an excellent (though sometimes overwhelming) source of information for home owners as well as building professionals.

In communities like Plano, Texas and Santa Monica, California events are sponsored by the local government and are free and open to the public. Other events, like the US Green Building Council’s Greenbuild, are aimed towards building professionals. A green building conference can be a place where homeowners and building managers can learn more about particular technologies and how they might be useful for their particular circumstances.

We have started collecting a list of these programs in the Calendar of Green Building Events (which can be found in the sidebar to the right) here on the Green Building Elements page. We are trying to make this as useful a resource as possible, and welcome announcements about any related green building event (see our About page for more information about contacting us) for inclusion on this list. We aren’t going to write about every press release for every event, but hopefully, as the list grows, more and more of you will be able to find local events available to you.

Image source: Environmental Design + Construction Magazine

Green Building Tour: FCNL Building

Philip Proefrock — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 11:25:02 +0000

Although there is a growing push for incresing sustainability for buildings, our nation’s capital is lagging behind other cities when it comes to green buildings. Though there are over 600 LEED certified buildings nationwide, only 6 of them are in Washington DC.

The Friends Committee on National Legislation is a Quaker lobbying group in Washington DC. Their building is the first "green" building on Capitol Hill. The building received bipartisan congressional recognition at an event last week. They are anticipating LEED certification (which normally takes a few months after the building is substantially completed), and the building has already received other accolades, including the Washington Chapter of the American Institute of Architects awarding a presidential Citation for Sustainable Design.
The building features a vegetated roof planted with sedum, energy efficient windows, bamboo flooring and other sustainably harvested woods, and a list of other LEED checklist items. It also utilizes a ground-source heat pump despite the fact that it is situated in an urban neighborhood with neighboring buildings. Ten 350 foot deep wells are used to circulate a non-fluorocarbon fluid to maintain a 55 degree temperature for the heating and cooling system.
The most striking element is the light scoop. A south facing window on the roof and a curved, reflective ceiling direct sunlight down through the elevator lobbies to bring natural daylight to all floors of the building. There’s even a cool QuickTime 360-degree "virtual tour" inside the light scoop that gives you a good sense of how the light scoop illuminates the building.

"FCNL’s building conserves electricity by maximizing the use of natural light through the use of a light scoop. The light scoop consists of rooftop windows that scoop daylight into the central core of the building; the light is then conveyed to the second and first levels below by glass flooring in the elevator lobbies. In addition to conserving electricity, this use of natural light makes FCNL a more pleasant place to work, as natural light has been shown to have healthful benefits."

This project also maintains the character of its neighborhood by preserving and re-using portions of two Civil War-era buildings, rather than demolishing them to build new construction. The architect’s statement speaks of an intent to "…restore exterior fabric of two historic townhouse buildings, while renovating and expanding the interiors to meet modern office standards and incorporate sustainable design technologies."

Building Information:
Size: 12,000 sq. ft.

Location: Washington DC

Architect: Burt Hill

General Contractor: Kfoury Construction Group
via: Archinect and AIArchitect

Compete in the EPA Lifecycle Building Challenge

John-Paul Maxfield — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 11:12:00 +0000

The Lifecycle Building Challenge is a web-based competition sponsored by EPA and its partners.

Lifecycle building is the design of building materials, components, information systems and management practices that anticipate future use. Lifecycle design facilitates a building’s eventual disassembly or adaptation (instead of demolition) for maximum materials recovery.

EPA and its partners are seeking lifecycle designs from professionals—architects, designers, manufacturers, builders, deconstruction experts, reuse professionals, engineers, etc.—and students in the following categories:

Project – an entire building;
Component – a single building assembly or connector; and
Service – a tool, system, practice or method

Click here to register.

Global Green USA Job Announcement-Senior Project Manager

John-Paul Maxfield — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 11:47:00 +0000

Global Green USA, a national non-profit environmental organization is seeking a Senior Project Manager in New Orleans for our Louisiana Green Schools project. This position is a full-time, exempt employee position that includes full benefits. It is a 2-year position with the possibility of extension dependent on funding.

Project Description

Global Green USA has just launched an effort to assist New Orleans and Southern Louisiana with incorporating sustainable design principles in school reconstruction. The three main components of this project are:

1) developing and implementing a green schools policy for the state of Louisiana;

2) seeding sustainable design principles in five existing schools in and around Orleans Parish and providing technical assistance with a primary focus on energy efficiency, solar power and indoor air quality issues and

3) establishing two green “showcase schools” in New Orleans.

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Ice Stone Earns Cradle to Cradle Silver Certification

John-Paul Maxfield — Sat, 18 Nov 2006 18:12:00 +0000

IceStone, a fast growing Brooklyn-based company that turns post-consumer recycled glass into highly durable countertops and surfaces, has achieved the most prestigious milestone in the green building world. After a year of analysis and testing, IceStone has earned the Cradle to Cradle™ Silver certification for advanced design of environmentally friendly products.

IceStone is the first and only durable surfaces company to earn this coveted recognition.

Certification is conducted by McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry, a Virginia-based firm founded by the authors of the ground-breaking book "Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things." The book outlines how industry can be transformed, through ecologically intelligent design, to be both commercially and environmentally beneficial.

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Northfield Stapleton Becomes First Green-Certified Main Street Town Center In The Country

John-Paul Maxfield — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 10:39:00 +0000

Main Street at Northfield Stapleton has received the prestigious LEED-CS Silver Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). LEED is the Council’s government-recognized, premier sustainability rating system in the building industry. Northfield Stapleton was awarded Silver Certification for its outstanding commitment to sustainable practices, including high-energy efficiency, selection of building materials and advanced construction techniques, and ongoing commitment to water management and indoor environmental quality. The award is based on a point system for achieving levels of sustainability.

The Main Street Town Center, which opened on October 26, becomes the first main street shopping center to receive LEED-CS Silver Certification in the United States.

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Tech Block- A More Sustainable Alternative For Building Exterior Walls

John-Paul Maxfield — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 11:00:00 +0000

The Tech Block Wall System is a new sustainable method for building exterior walls for residential or commercial buildings. Tech Block’s are manufactured using a safe, clean, non-toxic, non-polluting process, and the blocks are environmentally friendly in the following ways:

The main ingredient of the blocks, polystyrene foam beads, takes decades to degrade when buried. They use polystyrene that is a waste by-product from the manufacture of other products. By recycling this material, they help to save valuable landfill space.
The 47.5 R-value of Tech Block will help to reduce heating and cooling costs for the life of the structure.

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Green Sandwich Technologies- Structural Concrete and Bio-mass Insulating Panels

John-Paul Maxfield — Sat, 14 Oct 2006 14:08:00 +0000

Green Sandwhich Technologies offers structural concrete panels that are ideal for residential and commercial building in urban and suburban areas. These foam panels make for fast installs, have higher wind and flood tolerance than conventional building methods, and offer superior temperature and sound insulation. They can be covered with "G-crete" (a mixture of Portland cement, fly ash and propylene fibers) or they can also be covered with Earthskin™, a skin option made of 80% earth mixed with concrete and other strengtheners. These panels can be delivered on site for smaller construction jobs, or manufactured locally for large production jobs.

Green Sandwich Panels contain approximately 60% recycled/reclaimed materials by volume, 40% by weight. All waste is 100% recyclable. The Green Sandwich Building System can also incorporate 100% locally-harvested bio-mass (Including orchard trimmings, road-side weed growth, straw and stalk mowings) to replace the EPS foam core.

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World Trade Center Going for LEED Gold

John-Paul Maxfield — Sat, 07 Oct 2006 12:09:00 +0000

The rebuilding of the World Trade Center is in many ways a memorial to those who lost their lives in the 2001 September 11 attacks and it is a tribute that these buildings will also be built to the highest green building standards. N.Y. Governor George Pataki announced that the Freedom Tower, World Trade Center Office Towers 2, 3, and 4, as well as the World Trade Center Memorial and Memorial Museum will all be designed to achieve the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED Gold certification requirements.

This groundbreaking announcement was made five years after the devastating attacks and includes an entire package of energy and environmental measures that will be incorporated into the design of the World Trade Center redevelopment. Plans for the Freedom Tower and other facilities at the World Trade Center site will feature state-of-the-art energy technologies to better protect environmental resources, utilize renewable energy sources, and maximize energy efficiency.

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Habitat ReUse Center Deconstruction Program

John-Paul Maxfield — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 12:20:00 +0000

The Habitat ReUse Center Deconstruction Program salvages good and usable building materials from residential homes that are being demolished. At a competitive fee, their staff and volunteer "Decon Crew" will come on site and perform strip outs. This reduces the disposal of materials into the landfill. It provides materials for renovation and other small scale construction projects to be sold at the Habit ReStore.

How the ReStore Deconstruction Process Works:

The property owner or their representative(s) contacts the ReStore.
Once they establish that there is a product or material appropriate for salvage by the ReStore, a time is set for the Deconstruction manager to meet with the property owner representative(s) and do a walk through of the site.
Once an agreement is made with the property representative(s) as to availability, materials and a time-line, the Deconstruction manager will schedule a volunteer crew to begin its work of deconstruction.

Click here to donate and to learn more.