Green Building Elements

Editor’s note: You might expect a post about an event called NEOCON to appear on Red, Green & Blue, but, as our friends at GreenBuildingTalk point out, NEOCON is a trade show for interior furnishings (with no particular ideological leanings, we’re guessing). The show took place in GBT’s hometown of Chicago, so they got a first-hand look at NEOCON’s green offerings. This post was originally published on Tuesday, June 17, 2008.

The National Exposition of Contract Interior Furnishings (NEOCON) was held this past week in Chicago, and GreenBuildingTalk was there to check out the unique combination of over 1,200 residential and commercial showrooms and exhibits. With our goal of discovering new green products, Josh and I made our way through the maze of office furniture, flooring, wallcoverings, and hundreds of chairs.

Amidst the legions of chairs, our first discovery was RealForm Technology’s plant-based polyurethane foams, products used for seating applications. The polyurethane foams contain 20% bio-based content, and the company’s laboratory trials have achieved even higher Bio-Polyol substitution, foams capable of being molded for any type of furniture, including sofas. RealForm’s Realbio foam product is leading the way in eco-friendly furniture foam, and is one to keep an eye on.

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Off the Grid Homes combines beautiful images with technical information for sustainable homes.

The book by architect Lori Ryker is less of a manual for systems to be used in off the grid homes (though it does include good information about the systems and strategies that are used in sustainable off the grid living) and more of a showcase of state of the art homes at the intersection of appealing architecture and high sustainability.

For many, the phrase “off the grid home” brings associations of a rudimentary, hand-built, rustic cabin. It usually suggests a rough hewn character and images of anything other than refinement and elegance. But that image is far from the case in examples presented in this book.

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Tuesday, April 22 is Earth Day, and we thought that a couple special posts would be appropriate on this date.  Building has an enormous impact on the Earth, and green building offers the opportunity to lessen or eliminate many of those effects. Today, in a series of articles titled Elements of Building, we take a look at how Water, Energy and Materials each factor in to building operation and building design.

In addition to discussing green building, let us also take this opportunity to remind you of all the other Green Options blogs in the network and invite you to take a minute to look at some of the other writers and their Earth Day thoughts:
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On Tuesday, April 22, the Sundance Channel will present as part of their The Green series “The Greening of Southie,” a documentary on the construction of Boston’s first green residential building, the Macallan, which is seeking a LEED gold rating. If the idea of watching a documentary on the construction of a condo building doesn’t sound too exciting to you, I cannot recommend this film enough to anyone who is or wants to be a part of green building. It presents the challenges and excitement of building green with equal measures of idealism and cynicism, juxtaposing the suits who see the project as ideas and paper with the laborers who actually have to put the building together. As the project grows, the two come closer to understanding the other side.

Fittingly, the film begins with a group of incredulous workers in hard hats listening to a project manager describe what a green building is. It turns out he doesn’t exactly know himself. “What does it give you?,” “what’s the point?” they ask. “I can’t answer that exactly,” he responds. But the skeptical laborers make jokes, dismissing the whole idea. After the manager explains that the condos will have “double flush” toilets, one man jokes, “I use that a lot - that system. One never seems to do the job.” Read the rest of this entry »

Solar Power in Building Design by Peter Gevorkian is subtitled “The Engineer’s Complete Design Resource,” and it is certainly an apt description of this extensive volume.

The book goes far beyond what a casual reader interested in solar power would need to know, but there is a wealth of good information inside, and it is likely to be useful for a wide range of readers who have more than just a casual interest in solar power. It is largely concentrated on electrical generation strategies with solar power, although the final chapter of the book deals with passive solar heating technologies.

This book is more than just an engineering technical manual. In addition to being a resource for engineers and architects, building managers, owners (and here I’m thinking more of commercial building manager and operators rather than the average homeowner), and other non-technical readers will find a wealth of information about current energy programs such as the California Solar Initiative Program and about the economics of solar power systems–aspects that play a major role in determining whether or not to install a solar power system.

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Building with Awareness is an interesting package loaded with information. It is a DVD with an accompanying book (or a book that comes with a DVD included, depending upon how you look at it). The two nicely complement one another in a fairly unique way. The story contained in the DVD documents the construction of the author’s own small (800 sq. ft.) home built in Albuquerque, NM. The book goes into more detail about the solutions and approaches that are taken in the construction of this home. Together, it is a very instructive combination which showcases a number of sustainable construction methods used in this project.

The book does not try to be all things to all people. It documents a specific project and shows how specific procedures were used in it. Everything, from preparing the subgrade and the foundations, to installing the roofing and finishing the walls, is covered. The extensive nature of the coverage is useful not only in demonstrating how to execute the various parts of the construction, but also how the parts work together and complement one another.

However, while it shows how these methods and materials were used, it does not go into such sufficient detail that it should be taken as a how-to or a do-it-yourself guide, at least, not without some additional information. The book does contain reference points that show where in the DVD they are discussing a particular material, technique or decision. This allows the reader to readily turn to the video presentation and match it with the information presented in the book. Reading about a type of construction and then seeing how it is demonstrated is a useful conjunction of two different forms of presentation. Read the rest of this entry »

The greenness of a building element isn’t always clearly defined. Garbage disposals are one example. Florida Green Building Coalition gives points in their new home plan for not installing one (See Section 2). Others say, in comparison to landfilling your banana peels, a bit of power and water is an efficient way to deal with non-meat food wastes. However, it seems that those ‘bits’ of power and water do add up:

“Hilton San Francisco, the largest hotel on the West Coast, removed all of its garbage disposal units in 2002, and Jo Licata, community projects manager, says it has made a big difference in mechanical and water expense.” (SF Chronicle)

So what are the alternatives? Can a single user without the ability to compost in the traditional pile way still do the ultimate recycling - turn food waste back into food?

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I’m not a huge fan of paper magazines. They’re hard to recycle in my area (they’re no good for sheet mulching), and generally I want more in-depth discussion of a particular subject than a monthly can spare.

But I might make an exception for one that is new to me, GreenBuilder. I’m impressed. Not only by the coverage, which actually explains concepts for an ordinary thinking person instead of that annoying bizspeak that many industry mags fall into, the vocabulary that doesn’t inform you at all. Read the rest of this entry »

In a city known for its famous writers, San Francisco got another taste of literary excellence. Sure we have the likes of beat writers such as Jack Kerouac and notable romance writers like Danielle Steel but last night the City got a taste of Green writing. To some, local Green hero Eric Corey Freed represents only the Organic Architect but now he’s become a literary giant with the book release party for another in the “Dummies” series – yes, now the world can read “Green Building & Remodeling for Dummies.” The book, with its typical rough overview, offers the wry wit combined with the informative Green building info that makes Mr. Freed so notable in the Bay Area.

The book party setting, the dark and claustrophobic Temple bar didn’t exactly fit the image of the typical literary signing venue. Maybe next time it could be an indie literary hangout or (gasp) even a large chain bookstore. The snacks, although heavily grazed on, certainly lacked the organic flavor. But we didn’t come for the snacks, we got somewhat of a giddy delight just to have Señor Freed autograph our soon to be valuable first edition. (EBay in a few years anyone?)

Finally, we were especially proud ourselves upon entering the downstairs part of the venue because as several people mentioned the Ford modeling agency had a model type party at the exact same time in the upper part of the club. Long leggy models or Green architects? Who do you think we are?

The World at Home: A Household Guide to Building was produced by the Citizens Environmental Coalition, a non-profit environmental advocacy group based in Albany, NY. This is something between a book review and a website review, because this book is actually a 100 page PDF that is free for download. It is filled with good information about greening your house, particularly for remodeling or new construction. While it is full of good information, it is not overwhelmingly detailed or complicated. It is a well-balanced guide that covers its material with sufficient detail, but at the same time without becoming overly technical.

The guide is timely and up to date. (This is actually a recently revised second edition of the guide. The first edition was produced in 2004.) In discussing various materials or approaches to construction, the guide is very comprehensive in trying to include as many things as possible. Both the positives and the negatives behind each choice are addressed, and while the information is not exhaustive, it is an excellent starting point.

“This guide is meant to enable you to compare building materials and make your own educated choices to affordably seek out safer, more sustainable products. It is also meant to help you evaluate the larger life cycle implications of all the products that you buy and use.”

A section on “Talking with your Designer and Contractor about Building Green” is one of a number of sections that is excerpted on the website as well. This section approaches the beginning of a project in much the same way that I would: by asking questions. This helps to direct in figuring out your particular green goals and determining what is most important for you in terms of Energy and Water, materials and Toxins, and Space Use, Appearance and Purpose. It also addresses the (unfortunately all-too-frequent) view of green building as an add-on or a commodity, rather than as a fundamental and integral part of any building project.

“Don’t start by asking yourself: “Do I want a green building?” This inadvertently suggests that you can treat sustainability as an add-on process. If sustainability is the real deal (and it is!) it needs to be a part of every project in some way and it should be as natural to all of us as breathing. The rest of the green building guide will give you a great starting place for talking more with professionals about your building choices.”

The book is divided into sections. A preliminary section talks about “What We’re Up Against” and lays out the issues surrounding a number of materials and chemicals found in construction and discusses them both in terms of the problems they can cause and the possible alternatives that can be used.

The main focus of the book though is construction. Here the sections address issues to be considered “Before You Build” including site issues and the size of the building, renewable energy options, the selection of building materials, and the aforementioned “Talking with your Designer and Contractor about Building Green.” “Time to Build” addresses green aspects of a range of building materials and helps with some guidance for making good green choices for material selections. Materials from the basement to the roof are presented along with information about the various options in each case. A small third section deals with “Building Outside” and covers outdoor decks and landscaping issues.

The book also contains a number of resources for finding suppliers, further information, and professional advice, but is specific to the state of New York in most instances. Though there is some regionalism in the guide, it is so full of good information that it is worthwhile no matter where you live.

If you aren’t inclined to read an entire book like this online, this is one instance where printing out an online document makes good sense. This is a manual that I am going to refer to again in the future. More importantly, I am going to recommend to clients and friends who are interested in building or expanding their homes that they read this book.