______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: greenbuilding-digest V1 #208
Author: greenbuilding@crest.org at INTERNET
Date: 3/25/97 2:44 AM
greenbuilding-digest Tuesday, March 25 1997 Volume 01 : Number 208
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Date: Mon, 24 Mar 1997 07:10:29 -0500 (EST)
From: Leggsoid@aol.com
Subject: Re: GBlist: New Office Building precedents - example
The Society for the Protection of NH Forests in Concord, NH USA owns and
operates a 7,000 sf passive solar office building. It was built in 1980 at a
cost of $550,000. It's heavy timber frame is made from glu-lam lumber from
local red spruce, stud walls of rough native hemlock, paneling and trim from
local pine and hardwoods. The building was originally tested and shown to
receive up to 80% of it's heat from solar and use 75% less electricity than
typical office buildings its size (would be interesting to run through that
analysis again 16 years later.) A newly installed woodchip- gasifier
provides hot water to radiant baseboard as backup heat for that building and
primary heat to a new 5,000 sf addition (not solar due to site constraints)
and a 2,000 sf 100 year old farmhouse (renovated into additional office space
and living quarters.)
Many technologies are incorporated including:
- -direct gain lobby with slate / concrete floor
- -eutectic salts in ceilings
- -double envelope conference room
- -"Kalwall" water tubes
- -mirrored blinds (to direct heat into salt bags)
- -fan assisted envelope in main space
- -high efficiency lighting (with occupancy sensors)
- -daylight dimming control
- -greywater recycling system
- -solar cooling via thermosiphon (no central A/C)
etc...
The building has won several awards for innovative design, appeared in
several publications, and is still visited by hundreds of people per year.
It is open for tours during business hours. More info is posted on our web
site (I think.)
Paul Leveille
Society for the Protection of NH Forests
54 Portsmouth St
Concord, NH 03301 (USA)
603-224-9047 x 309 (voice mail)
603-228-0423 (fax)
leggsoid@aol.com (E-mail)
http://www.spnhf.org
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Date: Mon, 24 Mar 1997 08:11:26 +0000
From: "McCune" <McCune@Twinoaks.org>
Subject: GBlist: environmentally-sound diesel fuel/office tower
Jorg Ostrowski wrote:
>Further to the attached note, does anyone know whether it is
>possible to convert a diesel generator to an environmentally-sound
>fuel. The application is a 50 story office structure that uses its
>emergency generator 50 hours a year for the city's peak shaving
>requirements.It would be interesting to see any possibility of using
>this paid-for but seldomly used generator as a co-genset for
>electrical and heating requirements, and possibly export of power.
>Any constructive suggestions and references welcomed.
These sites may be helpful:
http://www.ag.uiuc.edu/~nbb/
http://www.bae.uga.edu/outreach/biodiesel/biod.html
- -------------------------------
540-894-5126 Twin Oaks
mccune@twinoaks.org
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------------------------------
Date: Mon, 24 Mar 97 10:10 PST
From: "Mike O'Brien" <obrien@hevanet.com>
Subject: GBlist: Wool Carpets and Moths
Hello, All--
Somebody asked for the reference to my comment about moths getting into the
wool carpet at the Audubon building, but I can't find the message.
Anyway, as is so often the case, my reference was that sterling (emerald?)
journal, Environmental Building News, Volume 5, Number 6. The information
source at Audubon is Kenneth Hamilton, khamilton@audubon.org or
(212)979-3000.
Mike
O'Brien & Associates
Environmental Building Consultants
Portland General Electric Earth Smart program
obrien@hevanet.com
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Date: Mon, 24 Mar 1997 17:46:49 -0600
From: John Bower <healthy@bloomington.in.us>
Subject: GBlist: Dead and buried
I saw the following in U.S. News & World Report (March 3, 1997, page
14).
"Patent of the week
No. 5,592,723. A burial coffin arrangement including a ceremonial casket
that can be used a number of times and that is provided with decorative
material. It can be placed over a disposable inner casket that is made
from a material not detrimental to the environment."
I thought the idea of a reusable coffin offered a sustainable idea, but
am wondering if there aren't even more environmentally responsible ways
for disposing of ourselves. Perhaps as foodanimal or human (Some of you
might remember a movie about 25 years ago called Soylent Green)or as
fertilizer. Burying seems kind of a waste. If you plan to be cremated,
how about specifying that your ashes be recycled to your organic garden?
Food for thought so to speak. Hope I haven't been too morbid.
- --
John Bower, The Healthy House Institute
http://www.hhinst.com/ email: healthy@bloomington.in.us
430 N. Sewell Road, Bloomington, IN 47408
Phone/fax 812-332-5073
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------------------------------
Date: Mon, 24 Mar 1997 18:35:36 -5000
From: darons@payette.com
Subject: Re: GBlist: Dead and buried
The biblical phrase "and he was gathered upon his forefathers" comes
from the ancient burial practice in which the decease was placed in a
family crypt. This crypt was often carved out of a cliff wall or
cave. The deceased (up to 3 or 4 of them) was place on a stone slab,
and the crypt door was sealed for a year. On the anniversary of the
death, family members would return and gather up the bones (all that
was remaining) of the corpse, and pile these into a communal box of
bones which didn't need to be very large at all... No ornament
required, and no fuel either!
- ->I saw the following in U.S. News & World Report (March 3, 1997, page
- ->14).
- ->
- ->"Patent of the week
- ->No. 5,592,723. A burial coffin arrangement including a ceremonial casket
- ->that can be used a number of times and that is provided with decorative
- ->material. It can be placed over a disposable inner casket that is made
- ->from a material not detrimental to the environment."
- ->
- ->I thought the idea of a reusable coffin offered a sustainable idea, but
- ->am wondering if there aren't even more environmentally responsible ways
- ->for disposing of ourselves. Perhaps as food=97animal or human (Some of yo=
u
- ->might remember a movie about 25 years ago called Soylent Green)=97or as
- ->fertilizer. Burying seems kind of a waste. If you plan to be cremated,
- ->how about specifying that your ashes be recycled to your organic garden?
- ->
- ->Food for thought so to speak. Hope I haven't been too morbid.
- ->--
- ->John Bower, The Healthy House Institute
- ->http://www.hhinst.com/ email: healthy@bloomington.in.us
- ->430 N. Sewell Road, Bloomington, IN 47408
- ->Phone/fax 812-332-5073
- ->__________________________________________________________________
- ->This greenbuilding dialogue is sponsored by Oikos (www.oikos.com)
- ->and Environmental Building News (www.ebuild.com). For instructions
- ->send e-mail to greenbuilding-request@crest.org.
- ->__________________________________________________________________
- ->**********************
Daniel Arons
Architect
Payette Associates, Inc
(617)342-8201 ext. 324
darons@payette.com
__________________________________________________________________
This greenbuilding dialogue is sponsored by Oikos (www.oikos.com)
and Environmental Building News (www.ebuild.com). For instructions
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------------------------------
Date: Mon, 24 Mar 1997 20:17:25 -0500
From: brucecol@crocker.com (Bruce Coldham)
Subject: GBlist: Bio-waste Blocks
Robert,
you wrote-
>I challenge Bruce or anyone to suggest a wall system which provides
>equivalent thermal and structural performance while maintaining a lower
>environmental impact in terms of embodied energy, manufacturing emissions,
>toxicity, and non-reusable waste generated.
Your right to challenge me, because I did have the impression of bales
rather than blocks ... and I have not read the CMHC "proof-of-concept"
document to which you refer.
However, if the concept of 'Bio-Blocks' is to lock up waste in blocks, it
troubles me to the extent that that waste is a random aggregation of
material including plastics, and wood fiber. Separating the waste will get
us a wall system that is better by the standards you cite above - I am
thinking simply of a wood framed wall with blown in cellulose sourced from
the waste stream. The embodied energy should be lower (because it doesn't
have any plastic) and it thermal performance should be better for the same
reason.
I appreciate that we trying to improve upon the landfill as a destination
for waste (it is a "destination" rather than a stop along the way and
that's clearly a big problem) ... but sorting the waste stream- even
rudimentarily - will give us a better Bio-Block I think.
Have I missed the point again? I often do,
Bruce Coldham
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------------------------------
Date: Mon, 24 Mar 1997 21:15:44 -0600
From: dekay@arch.wustl.edu (Mark DeKay)
Subject: Re: GBlist: Modifying a buildings environment
>Questions that I have concern the potential to effectively model a
>buildings exterior climatic zone and its effect on a buildings interior
>environment -specifically what existing research and tools are out there
>and how they can be integrated with existing tools for modelling the
>interior environment?
>
>
>John
>TERRAIN E.D.S.
>terrain@seaside.net
- ------------------------------------
John:
I have two possible leads for you.
FIRST
One is Ed Arens at UC Berkely, who has done both quantitative and emperical
modelling(wind tunnel) studies of outdoor environements, particulalry
dealing with the effects of winds.
See:
http://www.ced.berkeley.edu/iurd/pubs/iurdpubs.html
WP-627
$6.00
Urban Form and Climate: Case Study, Toronto.
Peter Bosselmann, Edward Arens, et al
12/01/94; 30 pages
This paper describes a joint urban design study by the Berkeley
Environmental Stimulation Laboratory at the University of California at
Berkeley and the Centre for Landscape Research at the University of
Toronto. The study analyzed the effect of future development in Toronto's
Central Area on street-level conditions of sun, wind, and thermal comfort.
It originated in response both to public concern about the quality of the
downtown environment and to implementation measures adopted by the Toronto
city council in May 1993. The research presented in this article examines
the shadowing produced by downtown buildings and recommends procedures and
standards for preserving sunlight on Toronto's downtown sidewalks and open
spaces. Second, this study considers the effects of buildings on wind
conditions at street level. Third, the study evaluates the combined effects
of sun and wind conditions on pedestrian comfort. Rather than focusing on
just the effects of individual buildings, this research evaluates the
cumulative effects of area-wide development.
I think this publication is available on-line soemwhere at the U of Toronto
site, but I do not have the URL.
SECOND:
Brown, Robert D and Terr J. Gillespie, Microclimatic Landscape Design,
creating thermal comfort and energy efficiency. New York: John Wiley, 1995.
This book has some discussion of the quantitative modelling of outdoor
space. The author has also developed some simplified programs, although the
details are not published in the book. It is a good introduction to the
subject. The conclusions are that wind and radiation are really the only
two comfort variables over which the designer has control, excepting
evaporative cooling in some cases. They argue that outdoor thermal storage
is insignificant, in relation to the impacts of sun and wind.
OK a couple more:
The classic text is:
Geiger, R. 1965. The Climate Near the Ground, Cambridge: Harvard U Press,
611pp.
another useful text, although hard to find is:
Lowry, William P., 1988 Atmospheric Ecology for Designers and Plannners,
Pevive Pub: McMinnville, OR, 435 pp.
Good Luck
Mark DeKay
Assistant Professor of Architecture
School of Architecture
Washington University
One Brookings Drive
campus box 1079
St. Louis, MO 63130 USA
dekay@arch.wustl.edu
Office: 201 Givens Hall
314.935.6282, 314.935.8520 (fax)
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This greenbuilding dialogue is sponsored by Oikos (www.oikos.com)
and Environmental Building News (www.ebuild.com). For instructions
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__________________________________________________________________
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 24 Feb 1997 21:30:33 -0700
From: Ron Sutcliffe <compost@concentric.net>
Subject: Re: GBlist: Re: sunspace design
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RCMathis1@aol.com wrote:
> And who's writing the next solar design textbook?
>
I have started a network of folks who are interested in a group project
on an new generation solar design book. Please contact me if you are
interested in helping.
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________________________________________________________________________
Ron Sutcliffe Research assistant
Solar Systems Engineering Appropriate Rural Technology
Association
HC 60 Box 137 Composting Toilets, Greywater Treatment,
Quemado, NM 87829 USA Drinking water Pasteurization
505 773 4895 email compost@concentric.net
Webpage http://www.concentric.net/~compost
________________________________________________________________________
- --------------522823504961--
__________________________________________________________________
This greenbuilding dialogue is sponsored by Oikos (www.oikos.com)
and Environmental Building News (www.ebuild.com). For instructions
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------------------------------
Date: Mon, 24 Feb 1997 20:59:41 -0700
From: Ron Sutcliffe <compost@concentric.net>
Subject: GBlist: Workshop Announcement
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The Black Range Natural Builder's Colloquium is an affordable weeklong
event happening this June in Southern New Mexico. For more information
visit website http://www.concentric.net/~compost/workshop.htm , or
email blackrange@zianet.com
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________________________________________________________________________
Ron Sutcliffe Research assistant
Solar Systems Engineering Appropriate Rural Technology
Association
HC 60 Box 137 Composting Toilets, Greywater Treatment,
Quemado, NM 87829 USA Drinking water Pasteurization
505 773 4895 email compost@concentric.net
Webpage http://www.concentric.net/~compost
________________________________________________________________________
- --------------4EE5B773204--
__________________________________________________________________
This greenbuilding dialogue is sponsored by Oikos (www.oikos.com)
and Environmental Building News (www.ebuild.com). For instructions
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__________________________________________________________________
------------------------------
End of greenbuilding-digest V1 #208
***********************************
__________________________________________________________________
This greenbuilding dialogue is sponsored by Oikos (www.oikos.com)
and Environmental Building News (www.ebuild.com). For instructions
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