Green Building Elements

Home Construction’s Dirty Secret: 8,000 lbs of Waste Per 2,000 Square Foot House

Joel Bittle — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:35:23 +0000

How carelessness on the job site leads to overflowing landfills, with tips on how to reduce construction waste

If you feel like you are doing your part for the environment by taking your box of recycling to the curb, consider how much went to waste in the construction of your house. According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) study, an estimated 8,000 lbs of waste is created from the construction of a 2,000 square foot home. The majority of the 8,000 is wood, cardboard, and drywall. Almost all of that waste ends up in landfills. More than one green builder I’ve met first looked into green building after growing increasingly disgusted at the tons of debris carried away on a construction site. Much of the debris was either unnecessary material or material that could be salvaged or recycled. The problem can be solved by streamlining the material coming into the construction site and better managing how the waste is separated and where it ends up.

A focus on waste reduction comes with three major benefits:

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The Green Community Exhibit at the National Building Museum is Educational and Innovative

Lucille Chi — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 18:53:29 +0000

In full bloom at the National Building Museum this year, is a Green Community exhibition. The interactive show shares detailed information on how the “health of our communities, our planet, and ourselves depend on how we plan, design, and construct the world between our buildings. Green Community explores the origins of our precarious ecological situation and introduces communities large and small where citizens, political leaders, planning and design professionals, developers, and government agencies are working together for a more sustainable future.”

The exhibit poses the question “What makes a community green?” and answers by stating “A green community conserves its land, offers multiple options for transportation, provides open space for recreation and cultivation, and uses its natural and cultural resources wisely.”

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Green Building Resources To Get You Off To A Great Start in 2009

Reenita Malhotra — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 21:22:11 +0000

Happy New Year!

Here we are officially at the start of what promises to be a year of taking steps towards the sustainable lifestyle that will positively impact us over the long term. What better time than now to think about how you can plan your green building efforts over the course of this year.

As always, the writers of Green Building Elements are here to guide you with all of the wonderful green resources that we here about everyday.

If you have not already read 2009 Green Home Resolutions, I suggest that you do with further ado. Joel offers some great tips for simple, inexpensive (or free) ways to green your life starting today. And Dawn’s post about Tax Credits available in 2009 provides a guideline of the energy efficiency tax credits included in last year’s economic bailout.

Beyond this, here are my favorite Green Building resources that our writers have written about in the last year:

1. New Green Building 101 E-book

Keith wrote a great post about Green Building 101: A Basic Guide to Building and Remodeling Sustainably. Green Building 101 makes for an easy intro for anyone not familiar with the green building process. Authored by our very own Dawn Killough, the book is broken down into categories such as energy efficiency, building materials, and construction procedures. Anyone familiar with the LEED system or Green Point Rated certification programs will be knowledgeable with these topics.

Click here for the full story.

2. AIA Launches “GreenStep” Video Series

Dawn also told us about a wonderful online video series launched by the American Institute of Architects (AIA). The series presents short episodes on several green building topics. It is meant for those planning new buildings or the renovation of existing buildings, and shows how architects can help clients address their green concerns.

Click here for the full story.

3. Off the Grid Homes - Case Studies for Sustainable Living

Philip reviewed a wonderful book entitled Off the Grid Homes written by architect Lori Ryker. The book 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.

Click here for the full story.

4. Green Building Resource Guide

Finally, for the architects and designers out there, don’t miss the Green Building Resource Guide, a database of over 600 green building materials and products selected specifically for their usefulness to the design and building professions. The Green Building Resource Guide is designed around four user interfaces familiar to architects: Site Plan, Elevation, Floor Plan, and Section.

2009 Green Home Resolutions

Joel Bittle — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 18:43:47 +0000

2008 was the year that saw elements of green building become mainstream and increased interest in green technologies. But for those of us who are not building a new house or who don’t keep up with all the new technologies, there are many simple, inexpensive (or free) ways to green your life that you can do right now. The result will be a more energy efficient, healthier, and more sustainable environment for you and your children. Do yourself and you family a favor, take one or more of the following resolutions to go green:

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Tax Credits Available in 2009

Dawn Killough — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 16:27:50 +0000

As was previously reported on Green Building Elements, Congress was contemplating how to include the continuation of energy efficiency tax credits in the “economic bailout.” Well, they did it, and even managed to increase some of the incentives.

Here is a brief run-down of the credits available in 2009:

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Green Building Elements: Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs)

Joel Bittle — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 02:43:25 +0000

Fast becoming staples of the green building industry are pre-assembled structural insulated panels, or SIPs, which replace conventional framing and offer greater energy efficiency, reduced lumber usage, and quicker construction. SIPs are polystyrene foam sandwiched between oriented strand boards that provide structural framing, insulation, and exterior sheathing in one piece. They can be used as floors, walls, and roofs and provide much greater energy efficiency than insulation in stud walls with an R-value improvement of 15% to 40%. The oriented strand boards are made from wood of fast growing trees and emit very low levels of urea-formaldehyde. The polystyrene foam can also consist of recycled content.

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Mandatory Energy Audits?

Dawn Killough — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 20:24:22 +0000

Governor Ted Kulongoski of Oregon is proposing a program that would require all buildings sold in the state to be tested and rated for energy efficiency. The plan would take effect in 2011 for houses and 2012 for commercial buildings.

“With escalating energy prices, a homeowner or small business person has a right to know the energy performance of a home or building they invest in,” reads a draft of the bill provided by the governor’s office. This quote points out the positive aspects of such a program. It would provide incentives for new buildings to be built more efficiently, as they would qualify for special funding programs and would be more attractive to potential buyers.

There are some problems with the plan, however.

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A Green Nights Sleep at Cavallo Point Lodge and Spa

Keith Rockmael — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 16:47:06 +0000

Sometimes being green means taking on the “less is more” philosophy. Such would be the case with the Cavallo Lodge over in Sausalito. For the recently opened lodge, about half of the current lodge rooms they converted from the previous officers quarters, military barracks and the like. But don’t think of this place like Full Metal Jacket but rather Organic Cotton Robe.

We visited there a few months ago for the Going Green conference but we didn’t get a chance to survey the property much. This time, we got to stay over and even check out the spa. (Life is tough) The lodge, waiting for LEED Silver certification, offers new rooms and the classic ones. Even though the new ones offer radiant heating and the hot water comes via tankless water heaters, which reduce the energy consumed by those dinosaur era traditional water heaters. They installed photo-voltaic panels on 12 of the 14 new buildings’ south-facing, standing seam metal roofs which produce about 75 percent of the electricity necessary to run the buildings.

We cozied up in one of the existing building rooms which offer more charm (like the tine roof ceilings and the detailed antique radiator). By reusing the existing buildings, they already considered their carbon footprint. We can only be impressed by the fact that the brains and money behind the lodge used nearly 100% of the building shells and retained or repurposed roughly 75% of the building cores. We applaud these efforts as they not only extend the life cycle of existing building stock, conserve resources, and reduce waste but it also retains cultural and historical resources.

Although we couldn’t see the insulation we knew that they used blue jean insulation in the contemporary lodging and a portion in the Healing Arts Center. Speaking of the Spa, they constructed the floors and ceilings from rapidly renewable materials such as bamboo, wool or cork. Besides green building attributes they offer creativity by repurposing plastic dry cleaning bags (that come off site) for spa guests to take home their wet bathing suits.

Almost no other plastic can be seen on property and the staff couldn’t be nicer (as well as pretty well informed about the green aspects. Now if they could only get rid of the few incandescent bulbs (in the spa and the lodge) then we would be that much more pleased.

Photo by Kodiak Greenwood

How the Recession Means More Green Buildings (and Why That’s Good for the Economy)

Joel Bittle — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 13:46:14 +0000

Can a bad economy save the planet?

Let’s be honest, construction companies and home builders are facing terrible times. New building construction has ground to a halt and the subprime mortgage fiasco resulted in plummeting home values, leaving many builders with homes that were worth less than the cost of construction. The longer the recession - some say through 2010, some say longer - the more companies will have to lay off employees or go under altogether. There’s not much of a silver lining to this dark cloud, but one good thing looks to come out of it. The green building market, which had been slowly increasing its share of the overall construction market prior to the market slowdown, is poised to provide a much needed spark in the construction market through a new public works program proposed by Barack Obama that will include a focus on energy efficiency in buildings. With a national movement toward green building practices, there is a very real possibility that once the current recession is over, the majority of new commercial buildings and houses will be much more energy efficient, sustainable, and healthier than current building standards.

An Opportunity for Change

For those with long term vision, a market slowdown can be good for an industry. It is an opportunity for a reevaluation of business practices. When things are going well, there’s no incentive to change, even if those changes can mean greater energy efficiency and more of a focus on sustainability and health. But a slowdown gives companies not only the time to research new innovations but the financial incentive to seek new revenue streams. Consumer behavior is trending green, with 73% saying they would pay more for products that are better for the environment and 89% saying they’d pay more for products that will reduce heating and cooling costs, according to a survey done by the Opinion Research Corporation.

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Japan Opens Environmentally Friendly Ice-Free Skating Rink

Jerry James Stone — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 18:08:07 +0000

This story contains additional media. Click here to view the media.

A unit of Mitsubishi Plastics Inc. is providing panels for artificial skating rinks that require absolutely no ice.

The petro-based resin panels are made in Spain, measuring 1.965 meters by 0.965 meter, and are available for both domestic ice skating and hockey rinks. Um…one ice skating rink, please. Hold the ice.

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