Green Building Elements

This post, like the masses of crowds, makes its way inside the just opened Academy of Sciences Museum. And why not as the Museum just became the largest LEED Platinum building in the world as well as the world’s most sustainable museum building. Take that Louvre.

As a Green building, the designers highlighted the new qualities but the also the previously used materials. What could be more famous then the seahorse railing and the colorful original tiles that surround the old favorite alligator swamp exhibit? Both the unique decorations are back. Okay, we’ll get to the bigger stuff.

One of the biggest challenges for this building was to optimize the natural light from the 200 some odd roof skylights to reach the living rainforest and coral reef. Unfortunately no LEED for Aquariums exists so the designers had balance radical ideas with practicality because they could take a chance that the wildlife wouldn’t survive.

The new aquariums displays contain twice as much water as the original, however they use less potable water because of filtration and recycling systems that purify water piped in from the Pacific Ocean. They purify the nitrate wastes using natural systems, ensuring that aquarium water can be recycled and reused. We also liked that they used 50% recycled content for the aquarium’s concrete.

Of course, everything can’t be perfectly green in a building. We cornered Water Planet designer Tom Hennes who (together with Urban A&O) designed the exhibit’s innovative wall treatments, about things that he would have liked to changed in regard to making the aquariums more green he said,  “It’s hard to live without fiberglass.”

Even with the fiberglass we’re happy to be living with the fishes in this extraordinary green icon.

Showering is one of the major uses of domestic water. Showering is responsible for roughly 18% of indoor water use. But with a new kind of shower system invented in Australia, showering could, according to the manufacturer, use 4 times less water and save up to 87% of the energy used in typical showering.

Australia has been suffering through a drought for the last several years. Since 2003, most of Australia has been experiencing the most severe drought conditions on record. And Australia is the driest populated continent, which further exacerbates water issues there. So it’s not surprising that a super-efficient shower would come from Australia.

According to the Quench Showers brochure, “If we focus on Australia’s water position we are at crisis point. Being aware of this is a start, but more importantly, we all need to understand the crisis and take immediate action if we are going to influence change. Without changing the way we consume and manage our water usage in our day-to-day activity, this crisis will become a widespread catastrophe!”

So how does the Quench shower save so much water and energy?
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A family in Australia has created their own tiny wetland as a part of a household grey water system.  It is a fairly large DIY project, but, as the article demonstrates, not an overwhelming project.  The writer even enlisted his young children to help in the construction.

Black water is toilet waste and other water that requires more substantial treatment.  Grey water is non-sewer waste water from washing clothes and showers and the like.  Although in most homes, both black water and grey water go into the sewer system and are handled in water treatment plants with the same processing, grey water really requires much less treatment. It is possible to find other uses for grey water, including using the water for toilet flushing or for irrigation. Read the rest of this entry »

Already a leader in water and energy conservation in bathroom fixtures, Hansgrohe is preparing to bring to the United States the Pontos Aquacycle grey water system.  Currently available in Europe, the Pontos Aquacycle is a compact and efficient way to convert bath and shower water into clean, filtered water for use in toilets, washing machines, interior cleaning, and exterior watering.  The Pontos Aquacycle ranges in size from a cabinet shaped basic model, cleaning roughly 237 gallons of water a day, to large, hotel use models that clean 3,300 gallons a day.

Silent and odor-free, the Pontos Aquacycle uses a four chamber system to filter the bath or shower water into clean, usable water: two main recycling chambers, a sediment disposal chamber, and a UV-sterilization chmaber.   No date has been set for the US release of the Pontos Aquacycle, but I’ve been told that Hansgrohe is targeting 2009. Read the rest of this entry »

With new owners set to move into the the LEED light Arterra we throughout that we’d pay a visit to San Fran’s newest LEED certified condo. Arriving on bikes, we discovered that no bike racks exist for those wishing to inspect the demo models. Thus we had to pull out bikes into into the sales office. Walking though the corridors to the demo unit, we couldn’t help but smell the VOCs rising though the air. Kind of disappointing for a LEED-NC building.

Once we arrived at the demo unit, we felt sad to see granite countertops in both the 1 and 2 bedroom units. We asked the salesperson about the “Green” aspects of the condo and he didn’t know much about the Green aspects but he thought that most of the Green attributes (aka LEED points) weren’t located in the condos but we more part of the overall building. Give that man an organic cigar as most of the LEED points came about in the low hanging fruit (landscape, location and other interior elements) as the green aspects hardly appear in the living spaces. We noticed the dual flush toilets and triple pained windows but aside from that we didn’t note many green offerings.

With buyers scheduled to move in today or tomorrow, hopefully they don’t believe that they are moving into the greenest of the green condos. We’ve heard that the Arterra folks don’t really care about the whole LEED system other than using it as a marketing ploy. Too bad, as the sales figures for the Arterra sit at around 54% sold. Maybe people see it the Arterra for what it is, a very light Green housing option with a favorable price tag.

A few weeks ago I offered my thoughts on green kitchens on a budget.  Today, I want to focus on making your new kitchen as green as possible, without regard for cost.  Remember, often the greenest options is to keep your current kitchen; many choose to repaint their cabinets with non-VOC paint or to tackle DIY cabinet projects.  This article is for those building a whole new kitchen or are remodeling from the ground up.  It’s up to you to determine the balance between what is the most green and what is the most practical for your project.

The three categories that determine a product’s green-ness are health, sustainability, and energy.  Health takes into account the product’s offgassing of VOCs, or volatile organic compounds, especially urea-formaldehyde.  In order to even consider something as green, it must contain very low to no VOCs.  Sustainability looks at the life cycle of the materials used not just in the final product but in the manufacturing process as well.  Products that are made from recycled materials or renewable resources fall into this category, as well as products whose manufacturing process embraces sustainability.  Energy includes the water and energy usage of products such as plumbing fixtures and appliances, as well as the product’s embodied energy, which takes into account the energy used to produce and deliver the product. Read the rest of this entry »

Editor’s note: Green building and resource conservation doesn’t have to involve the latest technology or high prices. Our friends at GreenBuildingTalk take a look at one of the humblest of water-saving devices — the faucet aerator — and show how this low-tech option is a good bet for homeowners looking to conserve water… and lower their bills. This post was originally published on Sunday, June 1, 2008.

About a decade ago, water conserving faucets and low-flow showerheads were the bane of contractors and homeowners alike. But over time, trial and error has led to better product design, education and installation. If your kitchen or bathroom faucet is fairly new, it will probably have an aerator in it. New faucets today typically have 2.2 gallons per minute (gpm) aerators, whereas conventional faucets typically use 4 gpm. If your faucets are more than ten years old, odds are they’re water hogs. Aerators provide a low-tech solution that not only make the flow more forceful, but provide more effective wetting and rinsing. Consider installing an aerator with a lower flow, such as 1.5, 1.0, or the lowest option available to date: .5 gpm.

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Editor’s note: Just like our friends at Low Impact Living, we’ve got passion for saving water… so we were very happy to see this post about a new technology for homeowners interested in doing just that! LIL writer Jason Pelletier originally published this post on Wednesday, May 28, 2008.

I’m often pleasantly surprised at how much interest and passion you (our visitors) display for water-saving technologies. Renewable energy is sexy, and eco-friendly cars are top-of-mind for most people these days, but graywater systems? Rain barrels? Rain gardens? Even water-conserving toilets and showerheads? They’re pretty hot too … I for one am thrilled, for not only have I spent a good part of my career designing stormwater treatment systems but I believe that water shortages are a pretty pressing and difficult environmental challenge that doesn’t get enough attention in these days of $4 gasoline and global warming.

The beauty of any of these water-saving technologies is that a) they achieve multiple benefits, saving water while reducing wastewater or stormwater runoff and b) you can see the results right at home. It’s pretty satisfying to open the valve on a rain barrel, see the water flow out and know that you reduced pollution downstream and also prevented water from being siphoned from lakes or rivers tens or hundreds of miles away.

There are some challenges, though. In order to really make a dent in your runoff, you might have to use ten or more rain barrels – not so great if you don’t have space or your downspouts are on the visible side of your house (or if you’re not Ed Begley Jr and just don’t care!). Cisterns give you more capacity, but you’re talking about a real construction project with some possible permitting hurdles.

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Remodeling a kitchen is an expensive process, and those who seek environmentally friendly products but are operating under a tight budget may feel they can’t afford to go green. Fortunately, the opposite is true. While there are many excellent choices for those for whom money is no object, some lesser known and much less expensive options offer the same environmental benefits. With a little knowledge and research, remodeling green can be easy and within your budget.

When seeking green kitchen cabinets, countertops, and flooring, the three areas to consider are materials, emissions, and whether it is a regional product. Each of these can have environmental advantages, and while finding products that qualify in multiple areas is certainly possible, some seek a kitchen with all recycled products or one with the minimum of harmful emissions. It is up to you to determine which area of green is most important to you. Read the rest of this entry »

Usually when we are talking about plumbing fixtures for green building we are dealing with something that conserves water. But some plumbing devices can contribute to energy savings, as well.

When you are in the shower, the hot water from the shower strikes your body and transfers some heat before it falls away. But most of the heat in that water simply goes down the drain. Reportedly, 80 to 90 percent of the energy used to heat water for the shower is lost down the drain.

A drain water heat recovery unit (DWHR) transfers heat from water running down the drain to cold water going to the water heater. This preheats the water so that the heater is starting with warmer water, and thus needs less energy. A DWHR unit can save as much as 25-30% of the energy used for water heating, and payback periods range from 3 to 7 years, depending on use patterns.
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