gb&d Issue 37: January/February 2016

G R E E N B U I L D I N G & D E S I G N J A N U A R Y+ F E B R U A R Y 2 0 16

The Buildings & Energy Issue Mitsubishi Electric Cooling & Heating Revolutionizes the HVAC Industry and Saves Millions Science + Sustainability: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is Using Good R&D to Improve Our Built Environment

TYPOLOGY: KITCHENS + BATHS WITH A SUSTAINABLE TWIST

IN CONVERSATION: BAIN & COMPANY’S MATT ABBOTT ON THE BUSINESS OF ENERGY

“No-worry� flood protection for commercial construction projects

Flooding can destroy homes and businesses in an instant.

Extreme weather, sea level rise and other effects of climate change have put many communities at high risk to flooding. The frequency and cost of floods in recent years demand smart flood protection solutions.

UP FRONT

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UP FRONT

19 years of vegetated roof experience... brought to life in one app.

American Hydrotech introduces the Garden Roof® Planning Guide iPad® app, a first-of-its-kind digital brochure that helps design professionals take a vegetated roof from initial concept to completion.

Packed with photography, technical information and videos, design professionals can explore assembly options and components, growing media and vegetation, and learn about topics such as design considerations, economic and sustainable benefits, installation and maintenance, and much more.

Download your copy today at hydrotechusa.com/GRPG

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American Hydrotech, Inc. 303 East Ohio | Chicago, IL 60611 | 800.877.6125 | www.hydrotechusa.com january 2016 trademark of American Hydrotech, Inc. © 2015 Garden Roof is a registered –february

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GREEN BUILDING & DESIGN

In This Issue January+February 2016 Volume 7, Issue 37

32 25

PHOTO: CHAS METIVIER

Typology: Kitchens & Baths Explore the work of three designers who, with a keen eye for detail, incorporate an eco-conscious philosophy directly into their projects

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50

62

100

Featuring American Hydrotech, USGBC, DC Water, The Institute for Transportation and Development, and Flood Panel

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is changing the built environment with good R&D

Mitsubishi Electric Cooling & Heating Revolutionizes HVAC and Saves Millions in Energy Costs

How the urban farming team at Boston’s Green City Growers brought more than 4,000 pounds of fresh, organic produce to Red Sox Nation

Trendsetters

The Science of Sustainability

Less Guts, More Glory

Green Space: Fenway Farms

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GREEN BUILDING & DESIGN

Table of Contents January+February 2016 Volume 7, Issue 37

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13

In Conversation Matt Abbott

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Editor’s Picks Curated by gb&d staff

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Product Spotlight The Silo Helmet

18

Event Recap The Women in Sustainability Leadership Awards

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Defined Design The SU+RE House

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Event Preview Design & Construction Week 2016

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Punch List

Spaces 74

Modern Redux

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Opposing Stiles The winner of the Solar Decathlon’s Fan Favorite award, the STILE House blends cultural styles and so much more

A mid-century Eichler home in Palo Alto looks to biophilia and brings the outside in with a 21st- century update

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There’s an App For That

94 Sustainable Stay

The Westin Georgetown

A Canadian telecommunications company sets the standard for sustainability via new technology

98 On the Boards

Recycling and Energy

Recovery Facility

88 The School of

Sustainability

How a net-zero elementary school is helping the environment, saving money, and teaching its students the power of green

100 Green Space

Fenway Farms 103 On the Spot

Matt Abbott

PHOTOS: MARIKO REED (LEFT); COURTESY OF MITSUBISHI (FACING PAGE)

Up Front

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UP FRONT

The sustainable renovation of the David Whitney Building, a historic structure in downtown Detroit, is the subject of this issue’s energy feature on Mitsubishi Electric.

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GREEN BUILDING & DESIGN

Editor’s Note Chris Howe

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Both companies have also admitted to a dirty secret in the green building industry: much of its great work falls in high-end, new construction when the truth of the matter is that existing buildings outnumber new buildings by more than 100 to 1. If the US is going to lower its greenhouse gas emissions, the greening of existing buildings has to be included, too. We hope this issue is both educational and inspiring to the sustainability community as we work together to find ways to bring sustainable practices to not just the buildings of the future, but the buildings of now.

Sincerely,

Chris Howe, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief

ON THE COVER Detroit’s David Whitney Building, built in 1915 in the Neo-Renaissance style by legendary architectural firm Daniel H. Burnham & Co., was recently retrofitted with more than 600 tons of Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) technology, but the 19-story skyscraper’s historic character was of course, preserved.

PHOTO: COURTESY OF MITSUBISHI (BOTTOM RIGHT)

This industry is marked by goals for the future: we want to be net zero by 2030 and carbon neutral by 2050. But how, exactly, will these goals be reached? Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the subject of one of our two features on buildings and energy, p. 50, is certainly working on it. As Nora Wang, a senior engineer and associate program manager for building efficiency at PNNL says, “We are painting a picture of what buildings could like in 100 years to figure out the process of how to get there.” That picture involves energy, water, construction techniques, economics, health, safety, regulations, and more. It also involves the interconnectivity of buildings, and the ability for them to transact their utility services and ecological functions and even work as batteries themselves.

It’s pretty amazing stuff. And the company isn’t just looking to the far future, either. A recent initiative in Detroit to replace 65,000 broken streetlights with high-efficiency LEDs, completed with the help of PNNL, will save the city an estimated $2.94 million annually in electricity costs and 45.6 million kilowatt-hours in energy—not to mention, it’s leading to the removal of more than 40,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

And if any company is making strides in the intersection of saving energy and millions of dollars, it’s Mitsubishi Electric Cooling & Heating, the subject of this issue’s cover feature (p. 62). The company is at the forefront of a revolution in HVAC technology that’s leading to dramatic energy and cost savings to improved thermal control and increased occupant comfort. Mitsubishi Electric’s Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) zoning technology—an energy-efficient, ductless cooling and heating system—took the original estimate of a $6.8 million water source heat pump system down to $5 million with the company’s new VRF system in the renovation of Detroit’s historic David Whitney Building. Plus, the system is now reporting an average of 10% lower energy costs annually.

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GREEN BUILDING & DESIGN

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GREEN BUILDING & DESIGN

Editor’s Note Laura Heidenreich

This issue highlights some truly amazing work in terms of built environment innovations that are literally changing the world—we’re lucky to have a myriad of brilliant people working in this industry to better our planet for the world of tomorrow. But, as highlighted starting on p. 38, the U.S. Green Building Council is asking how we can guide our nation’s youth toward a similar career trajectory and interest young people in answering the “call” of sustainability so the mission can continue for years to come. More specifically, they’re looking to inspire young girls—those who could soon suffer from the “confidence gap” that often hits at around age 13—to take up STEM-related interests that often fall to the wayside around that time via the organization’s new mentorship program, Bringing Up Girls.

At the USGBC’s Women in Green Power Breakfast at Greenbuild (also highlighted on p. 38) a few months ago, I sat at the same table as one of the Girl Scouts enrolled in the program and was

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thrilled to see her face light up as she talked about the project she worked on to bring sustainability to her community.

As USGBC senior vice president Kimberly Lewis told gb&d managing editor Amanda Koellner with regards to the inspiration behind the launch of the Women in Green Power Breakfast, “I realized we’ve had a few deaths of legacy leaders and that we need to have succession planning and a connection between generations.

What I was hearing from our emerging professionals and our student leaders is that there are these great global leaders that they see on the stage at Greenbuild and whose books they read and whose blogs and articles they follow, but that they don’t ever have time to connect with.”

So, while you soak up the wealth of information on new technology in the built environment as highlighted in this issue’s features, I ask you to also think about whom you might be able to steer toward a career in sustainability or a young person already working in this sphere who might be hungry for a mentor but too afraid to ask. This industry isn’t an easy one, but it’s one of those most vital to our future, and who will shape the future if not the world’s youth?

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Green Building & Design gbdmagazine.com EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Christopher Howe chris@gbdmagazine.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

Laura Heidenreich laura@gbdmagazine.com MANAGING EDITOR

Amanda Koellner amanda@gbdmagazine.com ART DIRECTOR

Ravi Sathia ravi@gbdmagazine.com CLIENT SERVICES DIRECTOR

Krystle Blume krystle@gbdmagazine.com ACCOUNT MANAGERS

Colleen Kelley, Paige Moomey, Brianna Wynsma CONTRIBUTORS

Brian Barth, Vincent Caruso, Kristofer Lenz, Jeff Link, Rebecca Pogson, Emily Torem, Maura Welch DESIGN INTERN

Michael Curiel MAIL

Green Building & Design 1765 N. Elston Ave. Suite 202B Chicago, IL 60642 The Green Building & Design logo is a registered trademark of Green Advocacy Partners, LLC

Sincerely,

Laura Heidenreich, Associate Publisher

Green Building & Design (gb&d) magazine is printed in the United States using only soy-based inks. Please recycle this magazine. The magazine is also available in digital formats for free on the Apple App Store and Google Play (tablet and mobile) or at issuu.com/greenbuildingdesign.

Green Building & Design is a certified B Corp.

B Corp is to business what Fair Trade certification is to coffee or USDA Organic certification is to milk. B Corps are certified by the nonprofit BLab to meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency.

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GREEN BUILDING & DESIGN

Up Front Typology Trendsetters Features Spaces Punch List

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13 In Conversation

Matt Abbott

15 Editor’s Picks

Curated by gb&d staff

16 Product Spotlight The Silo Helmet

18 Event Recap

The Women in Sustainability Leadership Awards

22 Defined Design

The SU+RE House

24 Event Preview

Design & Construction Week 2016

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UP FRONT

PVB To make ethos®, we were the first to harness the potential of PVB from recycled windshields and safety glass over 10 years ago. A high-performance alternative to traditional carpet backing materials, ethos is time-tested and maintains durability for decades using responsibly sourced, recycled materials.

[Stands up to subfloor conditions of 15 lbs MVER, 98% RH and 11.0 pH. Passes 10,000 impact moisture penetration testing.]

TIME-TESTED INNOVATION FOR THE FUTURE OF FLOORING

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UP FRONT

In Conversation Matt Abbott

IN CONVERSATION with Matt Abbott

By Brian Barth

As a partner in Bain & Company’s utilities and alternative energy practice, Matt Abbott has taken a deep dive into the guts of the modern day energy industry and come back with a few kernels of wisdom about what makes it tick—and what will make it both environmentally friendly and profitable, in the future. In his consulting work with utilities and other energy related service providers, both in the US and abroad, he says there is one perennial challenge: “It’s really, really hard to quantify the value of an electron.”

It may seem like a silly existential question, but it has very real world applications in terms of sustainability, says Abbott. “How valuable is it to you that your TV is on, that your toaster is on, that your microwave is on, etc.? It’s pretty valuable, but hard to quantify exactly.” Quantifying that value, in its innumerable facets and subtle dimensions, is a big part of Abbott’s role at Bain & Company, however, all in an effort to more quickly and deftly leverage the market toward more widespread adoption of renewable energy. Given the broad social mandate to reduce fossil fuel conception, new concepts of energy valuation are emerging, sparking a shift by utilities from selling energy to selling efficiency as their product.

Along with that shift comes a much greater emphasis on communication between energy providers and consumers, which is one of Bain’s areas of expertise. He says that utilities are going to great lengths to get people to improve their energy consumption habits, “almost pulling on different heartstrings if you will.” gb&d

PART 1 ENGINEERING THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT gb&d: You have rare combination of expertise: a degree in mechanical engineering and an MBA. How did that come about?

Abbott: I’m from Michigan, and I grew up absolutely loving cars. So I studied engineering at the University of Michigan and had every intention of going into the auto industry in Detroit. I recall from one of my first interviews with a senior engineer at one of the automotive companies telling him that, ‘while the business side is sort of interesting, there is no way that I will ever leave the technical side.’ I didn’t mean that to be a lie, but it didn’t end up coming true. gb&d: What sparked the switch?

Abbott: I had a strong desire to be involved with bigger decisions and broader influence, which planted the seed early on that I should complement my engineering background with strong business acumen. I also realized that I just didn’t believe in the direction that the automakers were heading in Detroit at that time—this was in the mid1990s. From an environmental perspective, I didn’t believe in the perspective of zero sum game as it pertains to sales growth of more vehicles versus fuel efficiency. I felt that the auto industry wasn’t making the right trade-offs, and here we are 20 years later, and it’s just amazing how that has changed.

PHOTO: COURTESY OF BAIN & COMPANY

gb&d: Were there particular mentors who influenced your thinking at that time?

To read more about how companies like PNNL and Mitsubishi Electric are changing the energy game, turn to page 50.

Abbott: After pulling the ripcord on engineering, I moved to California to pursue my MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA and was lucky enough to have a fantastic professor who taught a course on business and the environment. He was really, really passionate, and so that kind of kept the fire burning. I’ve always had a desire to strike The conversation continues on p. 17

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Editor’s Picks Curated by gb&d staff

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PRODUCT ECHOPANEL ACOUSTICS

SOCIAL ENTERPRISE BETTER SHELTER

ORGANIZATION MAKE IT RIGHT

PROJECT SOL-LUX ALPHA

PROGRAM BRINGING UP GIRLS

BOOK NEW ECO HOMES: NEW IDEAS FOR SUSTAINABLE LIVING

(pictured above) Kirei’s beautifully designed new acoustic panels and tiles absorb unwanted noise while adding a pop of colorful flair to any space.

Made from recycled PET plastic bottles and environmentally friendly dyes, they’re also 100% recyclable. kireiusa.com/ echopanel-acoustics

Conflict and natural disasters displace millions, and Better Shelter develops and provides innovative housing solutions for those affected. The simple structures feature roofs with ventilation and a solar panel that can charge a cell phone and also generates enough power for four hours of LED light. bettershelter.org

We’ve long been a fan of Brad Pitt’s nonprofit, but it deserves a new nod considering the first three Cradle-to-Cradle-inspired LEED Platinum homes (of 20 planned) were recently delivered to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, addressing a serious housing shortage for the reservation’s more than 6,000 people. makeitright.org

This upcoming project will be the first Passive House apartment complex in San Francisco, and it’s set to be net-positive to boot.

Off The Grid Design LLC, The Klein Family Trust, RG Architecture, and more are bringing this ultra energy efficient complex to life, which will also serve as a microgrid, powering itself even if the main power grid goes down. honestbuildings.com

Taking noble strides to bridge the gender gap in the field of sustainability, the USGBC recently launched a mentorship program in partnership with the Girl Scouts to help young girls gain confidence in STEM-related subjects.

Turn to p. 38 to learn more from the program’s founders and directors. usgbc.org

Written by Manel Gutierrez and published by HarperCollins, this collection of the latest innovations in sustainable architecture features 35 diverse homes and explores various aspects of modern eco-design with pages and pages of beautiful photography. harpercollins.com

january–february 2016

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PHOTO: ECHOPANEL ACOUSTICS BY KIREI, LLC

Project Name: Redwood Square Apartment Leasing Office Designed By: Beverly Liu Interior Design

UP FRONT

Officially Officially Supported Supported by: by:

50+ 50+

Top TopLevel LevelSpeakers Speakers

22 22

CPE CPEAccredited Accredited Training TrainingWorkshops Workshops

NEW NEW YORK YORK BUILD BUILD 2016 2016

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Conference Conference Presentations Presentations

www.new www.new yorkbuildexpo.com yorkbuildexpo.com

THE THELEADING LEADINGCONSTRUCTION CONSTRUCTIONEXPO EXPOFOR FORNEW NEWYORK YORK SOME SOMEOF OFOUR OURTOP TOPLEVEL LEVELSPEAKERS SPEAKERSINCLUDE: INCLUDE: Steven Plate, Deputy Deputy Chief Chief of of Capital Capital Planning Planning Steven Plate,

Division Division of of Building Building Standards Standards and and Codes Codes

Dr.Dr. FenioSky FenioSky Pena-Mora, Pena-Mora, Commissioner, Commissioner, New New York York City City Department Department of of Design Design and and Construction Construction

keith keith loDge, loDge, Director Director of of Human Human Resources, Resources, Structure Structure Tone Tone kenken BiBeraj, BiBeraj, Chairman, Chairman, Manhattan Manhattan Chamber Chamber of of Commerce Commerce jolie jolie MilStein, MilStein, President President and and Chief Chief Executive, Executive, New New

ronalD ronalD PieSter, PieSter, Director Director of of Codes, Codes, Department Department

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of of State, State, Office Office of of Planning Planning and and Development Development - -

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AND ANDMANY MANYMORE MORE

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Product Spotlight The Silo Helmet

By Amanda Koellner

Cyclists know that they’re doing their part to ease up on mother nature by opting for a self-propelled two wheels instead of a gas-guzzling four, but never before have they been able to take that environmentalism one step further by wearing a truly eco-conscious helmet. Enter the Silo.

Created by bike accessory company Giro, it features a new helmet liner based around Expanded Polyactic Acid (E-PLA), a “biofoam” derived from corn with the potential to be crafted from grasses or other plant-based materials vs. the traditional

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petroleum-based foam found cushioning most helmets. On top of this revolutionary material swap, the helmet can also be disassembled at the end of its lifecycle for both recycling and composting. We chatted with Chris Pietrzak, Giro’s director of advanced concepts, to learn more about the Silo Helmet—available online and in REI stores this month. gb&d: Where did the inspiration for the Silo helmet come from?

Pietrzak: The Silo was inspired by our desire to be mindful of our impact on the planet and its resources, and to find new ways to lead the industry in head protection. gb&d: Why do you think other helmet companies haven’t switched to making their helmet liners with E-PLA?

Pietrzak: It is a relatively new material, and with any new material there is a significant investment required to develop, test, and scale it for production. E-PLA also requires changes to the manufacturing process, which adds to the cost and complexity of the project. As a brand with a leading legacy of innovation in head protection, we thrive on the challenge and the opportunity to change the paradigm for helmets. gb&d: I understand that, on top of the E-PLA switch, the helmet has a plastic shell and bamboo fiber webbing. How are these

ABOVE The Silo offers a revolution in bike helmets with a new liner derived from corn and the ability to disassemble the helmet for recycling and composting once it’s no longer wearable.

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PHOTOS: COURTESY OF GIRO

This innovative new helmet from Giro is the greenest way to protect your head

UP FRONT

The Silo Helmet is the first of its kind and part of what the people at Giro believe will be a shift in helmet design.

IN CONVERSATION with Matt Abbott Continued from p. 13

the right balance between smart economic decisions and smart environmental decisions, which I didn’t find the first time I went into the workforce. gb&d: You’ve been at Bain for more than 8 years now, so I take it that the passion for connecting economics with concern for the environment is something you did find among your colleagues there?

materials are more sustainable?

Pietrzak: The shell is made from ABS plastic and is designed to allow disassembly from the liner for recycling, and the bamboo fiber webbing will degrade in an industrial compost. gb&d: This is probably the only helmet on the market that you can disassemble and recycle/compost, right? Do you think this will be something we see more, both with biking products and beyond?

Pietrzak: The Silo is the first of its kind.

We believe that Giro is part of a growing movement that seeks to reduce impact on our planet, and we hope that it is the start of a shift in helmet design. gb&d: Does the Silo have the same lifespan as other helmets made with Styrofoam and other traditional materials?

Pietrzak: Yes, the Silo meets the same standards as traditional helmets with EPS foam liners, and offers the same potential lifespan. And FYI, most cycling helmets use EPS “expanded polystyrene” foam liner, which is not the same material as Styrofoam. Styrofoam is an extruded polystyrene, which has different properties than EPS. gb&d: So is the goal, then, for Giro to phase out EPS foam altogether? What other environmental initiatives are happening at Giro?

Pietrzak: There are no immediate plans to phase out EPS, but we are looking for opportunities to use E-PLA in place of EPS and to develop other materials that can reduce impact to the environment. Three years ago, we radically changed our product packaging to maximize paper yield by minimizing cut-off waste, moved to the use of soy inks, and developed packaging that is 100% post-consumer recycled content. gb&d gb&d

Abbott: That’s absolutely true. Admittedly when I ended up at Bain, I didn’t know that within the company, there was already a burgeoning set of experts who were super smart, hard working, and with whom I shared a lot of common beliefs. The nice thing is that they are located around the world, working in very different economic environments and different regulatory regimes. We get to learn a lot from each other, which has been invaluable.

PART 2 NEW NORMS IN THE BUSINESS OF ENERGY gb&d: I imagine that it’s very gratifying to work as a consultant to so many different companies, because you get to contribute to so many different aspects of green technology and infrastructure. What are the areas of greatest emphasis for your clients currently?

Abbott: You’re right, there is a tremendous breadth in the work that Bain does, working across the value chain with a number of different players. With the traditional utility companies in the US, for example, the firm is helping them rethink their generation portfolio as the winds change and shift more towards renewables. We help them think about the investments that they need to make very far into the future around their generation portfolio. Moving closer to the end customer, we help utilities think through how to modernize the distribution grid in a cost effective manner. gb&d: What are the forces driving the shift toward renewable energy?

Abbott: In addition to strong regulatory support in certain geographies, the biggest trend we see at Bain is that the costs of both wind and solar are rapidly coming down the experience curve. As more investment is placed into these technologies, more units are produced, and the big manufacturers are learning how to bring The conversation continues on p. 18

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UP FRONT

IN CONVERSATION with Matt Abbott Continued from p. 17

their costs down. Five or 10 years ago, most folks in the industry would have said that the only way that these renewable technologies are cost competitive is because of subsidies. And that would’ve been true.

Now we’re getting to the point where, at least in certain geographies, they are getting very close to cost competitive on their own compared with traditional fossil fuel energy. gb&d: Besides cost competitiveness, what else needs to happen to make renewable energy generation more widespread?

Abbott: As you can imagine, now that power is being produced in different places and in different ways than it used to be, new transmission lines, or certainly upgraded transmission lines, are required to bring central station renewable energy into population centers. In addition, distributed energy resources (e.g., distributed solar, storage) are being integrated into distribution grids. In the past, electricity flow was one directional—from smokestacks through transmission lines to commercial buildings, industrial facilities and homes.

Now that generation sources are being located throughout the grid, as they are with rooftop solar, there are a number of modernization investments that need to be made, as well as changes to utility operational tempos. gb&d: What geographic factors come into play with renewables?

Abbott: Utility scale solar makes a heck of a lot more sense along the West Coast and in the desert Southwest, where there’s quite a bit of high-quality sunlight. Wind makes a lot more sense in the Midwest, even into Texas and Oklahoma, which have very high quality wind resources. So you have to make sure that you’re making investments in the right technology in the right locations that fit with the natural resources of those areas. gb&d: That makes sense—it seems like that is another big challenge to scaling up renewable energy.

Abbott: European countries, which invested heavily and early in utility scale renewables, are a good case study for that.

There is a tremendous amount of sunlight in Spain, in southern France and Italy, and there is a lot of wind in northern Europe.

The conversation continues on p. 23

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Event Recap The Women in Sustainability Leadership Awards

We gathered this year’s recipients and members of our alumni group to celebrate the women shaping the sustainability landscape of tomorrow

By Amanda Koellner

To celebrate our second-annual Women in Sustainability Leadership Awards, we gathered nearly all 20 of this year’s winners and members of our esteemed alumni group for an inspiring celebration in Washington D.C. Based all across the globe and coming from a plethora of backgrounds, this year’s diverse group of winners were able to finally meet one another and mingle over cocktails, dinner, and an awards ceremony held during this year’s Greenbuild International Conference and Expo. The WSLA strives to identify, support, and give opportunities to future women in leadership, and we can’t wait to see what comes of our now 30-women-deep alumni group as we continue this initiative.

Hand selected by a judging panel that includes Rochelle Routman of Mohawk Industries (and the chair of the WSLA Alumni Group), Kimberly Lewis of the USBGC, Charmaine Atherton of Bank of American Merrill Lynch, and Chris Howe and Laura Heidenreich of gb&d, this year’s winners include Lori Duvall, Director of Global Impact, eBay; Arlene D. Blum, Founder and Executive Director, Green Science Policy Institute; Erla Dögg Ingjaldsdóttir, CEO/Inventor, mnmMOD Building Solutions; Hilary Beber Firestone, Senior Project Manager/ Advisor, Energy Efficiency, Los Angeles Mayor’s Office of Sustainability; Deborah Marton, Executive Director New York Restoration Project; Alicia Silva, General Director and Founder, Revitaliza Consultores; Dawn Rittenhouse, Director of Sustainable Development, DuPont Company; Heather White, Executive Director, Environmental Working Group

(EWG); Robin Chase, Founder, ZipCar, Buzzcar, Veniam; Mary Wenzel, Head of Environmental Affairs, Wells Fargo; Jane Palmieri, Business President, Dow Building & Construction; Kira Gould, Director of Communications, William McDonough + Partners; Angela Foster-Rice, Managing Director of Environmental Affairs, United Airlines; Stacy Glass, President, Built Environment, Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute ; Michelle Moore , CEO, Groundswell; Fulya Kocak, Director of Sustainability, Clark Construction Group; Dagmar B. Epsten, President & CEO, The Epsten Group, Inc.; Amy Francetic, CEO, Clean Energy Trust (CET); Lisa Colicchio, Director of Corporate Responsibility, CBRE; and Katrin Klingenberg, Executive Director, Passive House Institute US (PHIUS). The evening was presented

by Mohawk Industries in partnership with the United States Green Building Council in part by Ernst & Young, DuPont, United Airlines, and Steelcase. gb&d For more on this year’s WSLA winners, visit us on the web at www.gbdmagazine.com/2015/wsla/

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Special thanks to our partners & sponsors

Erla Dögg Ingjaldsdóttir, CEO/ Inventor, mnmMOD Building Solutions with Tryggvi Thorsteinsson.

Kira Gould (LEFT), Director of Communications, William McDonough + Partners, with Stacy Glass (MIDDLE), President, Built Environment, Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, and Lex Hundsdorfer.

PHOTOS: RAVI SATHIA

Heather White, Executive Director, Environmental Working Group (EWG) chats with guests during the WSLA cocktail reception.

Rochelle Routman (LEFT), VP of Sustainability, Mohawk Industries (and the chair of the WSLA Alumni Group) poses with Paul Cleary (MIDDLE LEFT), Jackie Dettmar (MIDDLE RIGHT), and 2014 winner, Leisha John, Director of Environmental Sustainability, Ernst & Young (RIGHT).

gb&d

Hilary Beber-Firestone, Senior Project Manager/ Advisor, Energy Efficiency, Los Angeles Mayor’s Office of Sustainability (MIDDLE), with Dominique Hargreaves (LEFT), of the USGBC - Los Angeles Chapter, and Annie Argento.

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Cloud based.

PHOTOS:

* Versus previous ezH2O models. Š2015 Elkay Manufacturing Company

Earth friendly.

Our latest and greatest bottle filling stations* save more time, more energy and more footsteps with central operating system. More details on the next page and at elkay.com/ezH2O.gbdmagazine.com

january–february 2016 an optional

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Arlene D. Blum, Founder and Executive Director, Green Science Policy Institute (MIDDLE RIGHT) with guests.

Sends system diagnostics wirelessly right to your computer via our new interface* Uses electronic sensors for filter status communication, change notification and auto reset Can operate from a central location to set temperature and on/off times* Power down refrigeration system to save energy Optional video displays for customized messaging Order at elkay.com/ezH2O

PHOTOS: RAVI SATHIA

Jane Palmieri, Business President, Dow Building & Construction and Dean Palmieri.

Fulya Kocak, Director of Sustainability, Clark Construction Group (LEFT), Gabriela Villa (MIDDLE), Alicia Silva, General Director and Founder, Revitaliza Consultores.

©2015 Elkay Manufacturing Company * Optional feature

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INFORMATION Job Number

110-13768

Trim

2.375 x 9.8417 in

Modification Date

June 5,

UP FRONT

Defined Design The SU+RE House

By Amanda Koellner

Every year, the US Department of Energy challenges 20 collegiate teams to design, build, and operate a cost-effective, energy-efficient, and aesthetically pleasing solar-powered home. The teams spend nearly two years designing and building the projects, which are eventually judged in 10 different areas with one winner coming out on top. 2015’s victors, Stevens Institute of Technology, originally began with a simple question, asking themselves: “How can we design a home that both reduces its energy use and adapts to the realities of a changing, more extreme climate?”

The answer manifested in the form of a storm-resilient, ‘60s style modern beach house cottage dubbed SU+RE thanks to its marriage of sustainability and resiliency.

The fully solar-powered home is fit for

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Ventilation \ven(t)əˈlāSH(ə)n/ (noun) The provision of fresh air to a room, building, etc.

The SU+RE House’s Heat Recovery Ventilation system runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to provide clean, filtered air to the home while extracting stale air from the kitchen and bathroom, all the while using a wildly small amount of energy and saving heat from the exhausting air (resulting in the 90% decrease in heating and cooling energy needs).

Elevation \eləˈvāSH(ə)n/(noun) The height of a place. FEMA requires that all homes in flood-susceptible communities be elevated up above the designated Base Flood Elevation (BEF), and in these zones, all new construction must be elevated on pilings or columns so that the bottom of the structure is out of harm’s way. In the case of SU+RE, the house is rated to withstand up to about six feet of water.

battle against extreme weather, uses 90% less energy than its conventional cousins, and in the wake of a major weather event, becomes a hub for emergency power for its neighborhood. Here, we had the SU+RE team define three terms that shed a little light on just how this modern marvel gets the job done. gb&d gbdmagazine.com

UP FRONT

IN CONVERSATION with Matt Abbott Continued from p. 18

PHOTOS: JUAN ALICANTE; RENDERING COURTESY OF STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

However, because decisions were made on a country-by-country basis under different regulatory regimes, the investment in solar and wind turned out to be much different than you would expect. There is a lot more solar in Germany, for example, than perhaps is optimal; there is more wind in southern Europe than perhaps is optimal. gb&d: What is Bain doing to help its clients avoid pitfalls like that?

Islanding ˈīlənd/iNG (noun) The condition in which power continues to be generated even if the source of power is no longer present. When extreme weather takes the grid down, traditional Photovoltaic systems stop creating usable energy at one of the worst possible times. In this project’s case, the PV system is designed to allow a small amount of “islanded” energy—energy that’s cut off from the main grid—to generate during a power-outage, sans batteries.

Abbott: At Bain, we’ve been doing a lot of work with the World Economic Forum (WEF) to help participants think about the criteria to make the electricity sector much more investable. Billions and billions of dollars need to be spent to change how we generate and consume energy, so we have to think very carefully about how to optimize the investment. Our joint BainWEF study of Europe indicated that savings of a total of $140 billion could have been had if the investment in renewables was optimized across the EU. Those are real dol-

“Our study of Europe indicated that savings of a total of $140 billion could have been had if the investment in renewables was optimized across the EU. “ lars, and if we think about how much money needs to continue to be invested, those learnings from the recent past are critical for getting it right in the future.

PART 3 TOWARD A SMARTER GRID gb&d: Since we can’t turn on the wind or turn up the sun when we want to, how will energy infrastructure have to change in the future to deal with variable supply from renewables?

The SU+RE house is fully solar-powered, storm-resilient, uses 90% less energy than a conventional home, and in the wake of a major weather event, becomes a hub for emergency power for its neighborhood.

Abbott: According to Bain’s research and analysis of the industry, we think storage, essentially in the form of batteries, is going to be a massive change for the grid for multiple reasons. We need cost-effective storage options so the excess energy created by the solar panels during the day can be saved and used at night. It’s the same with wind—when it’s really blowing hard and you are generating more than you need, The conversation continues on p. 24

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UP FRONT

IN CONVERSATION with Matt Abbott Continued from p. 23

it’s a huge advantage to be able to save that energy. There are some pilots in place right now that are pretty exciting, but the technology is still expensive. gb&d: There is a big push for better batteries for electric vehicles, too. Does this connect with the push for better grid storage options?

Abbott: Absolutely; I follow these trends pretty religiously from both an energy perspective and an auto perspective. We’re seeing some fascinating developments with the likes of Tesla and other companies that are investing heavily in battery technology and continue to achieve cost savings on a per unit basis, which will eventually allow grid storage to become much more cost-effective.

“We need cost-effective storage options so the excess created by the solar panels during the day can be saved and used at night.

It’s the same with wind.” gb&d: So your stint in the automotive industry may be coming full circle! How do you see the link between the automotive industry and the electricity business developing into the future?

Abbott: The two industries are coming together more and more. There have already been a couple instances where we’ve helped utilities forecast what the uptake of electric vehicles might be in their service territories. And with things like Tesla’s Powerwall, there are already some early adopters who are interested in having batteries at their homes or businesses. We need to think about storing excess energy at the neighborhood level—I can imagine a future state where storage is much more widespread and really helps to capture all of the renewable energy we are generating so we can use it when we need it. gb&d: That certainly seems like a massive shift in the business of energy supply. What are the implications?

Abbott: It takes so much energy to charge some of these electric vehicles, that it’s almost like putting another house out on the circuit. At the neighborhood level, the grid

Event Preview Design & Construction Week 2016

By Amanda Koellner

KBIS

DETAILS

Presented in conjunction with the National What KBIS When January 19-21 Kitchen and Bath Association, KBIS is an interactive platform for industry insiders fea- Where Las Vegas, NV turing dynamic events both on and off the Web kbis.com show floor, as well as two halls full of exhibits from more than 500 leading brands (including 40 KBIS first-timers) showcasing design, technology, and sustainability in the kitchen and bath industry. The show will once again co-locate with the NAHB International Builders’ Show (IBS) for the third-annual Design & Construction Week. Partner events include The International Surface Event (TISE) and The International Window Coverings Expo (IWCE); read on for more.

International Builders’ Show

DETAILS

Every year, The National Association of What IBS When January 19-21 Home Builders brings together manufacturers and suppliers from all around the Where Las Vegas, NV globe—50,000 attendees from more than Web buildersshow.com 100 countries, to be exact. This year’s convention features 120+ sessions in eight tracks, brought to you by renowned building industries experts who will touch on a variety of themes from sales and marketing to construction and codes.

International Window Coverings Expo

DETAILS

Billed as the only trade show and conference What IWCE specifically for window coverings in North When January 19-21 America, this annual gathering rounds up Where Las Vegas, NV window fashion decorators, designers, re- Web iwce-vision.com tailers, architects, installers, remodelers, and more. Expect to find and learn from those behind fabric, blinds, shades, shutters, and motorization technology.

The International Surface Event The best place (and one of the only places, admittedly) to find an extensive display of floor coverings, tile products, and natural and engineered stone, TISE unites Surfaces, StonExpo/Marmomacc Americas, and TileExpo for a week for comprehensive education and training taught by the best in the business.

DETAILS What TISE When Exhibits: January 20–22, Education January 19-22 Where Las Vegas, NV Web tisewest.com

The conversation continues on p. 103

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gbdmagazine.com

GREEN BUILDING & DESIGN

Up Front Typology Trendsetters Features Spaces Punch List

gb&d

KITCHENS + BATHS

28 Kitchen at the Core

Design by Susan Serra

30 A Writerly Retreat

Design by Robin Wilson

32 Making the Old New Again Design by Sarah Barnard

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PHOTOS: SALVATORE BRANCIFORT, COURTESY OF SUSAN SERRA ASSOCIATES

TYPOLOGY KITCHENS+BATHS

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TYPOLOGY

Kitchens Baths ... with a sustainable twist Great design is an art of exacting detail. Although big picture items, like stunning architecture and a resulting small carbon footprint, earn headlines and awards, the minutiae of a project are what elevate it from functional to unforgettable.

Kitchens and bathrooms represent the extreme poles of the at-home experience, from the most social to the most personal. Often the most trafficked spaces in a home, both were once considered interstitial places, necessary but hidden from view, and afterthoughts when it came to design. In today’s sustainability-conscious design landscape, these two areas have taken their rightful place as centers of attention. Where form must follow function, the details are everything. Here, Kristofer Lenz explores the work of three designers who, with a keen eye for detail, incorporate an eco-conscious philosophy directly into their projects: creating spaces that are comfortable for today but don’t forget the world we’re building for tomorrow.

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TYPOLOGY KITCHENS+BATHS

Kitchen at the Core Design by Susan Serra

The kitchen is everything for professional chef, author, and photographer Jaden Hair. It’s not just where family meals originate, but also a community hub, a culinary laboratory, and even the set of her acclaimed show Steamy Kitchen. With a husband and two young boys running amuck, as well as the daily demands of her cooking career, Jaden needed a new kitchen that could accommodate her family’s myriad requirements in an eco-friendly manner.

The task of designing this multi-functional space came to designer Susan Serra. With the family’s diverse needs in mind, she designed an open kitchen concept that revolves around a large, central island with substantial room around it to allow for heavy traffic. Whether it’s Jaden, her husband Scott and the kids, or guests coming by the home, the island counter features several workstations that allow food preparation to become a group activity.

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Although the large island was a necessity, it created a few design challenges. First and foremost came the sacrifice of some storage space, as it prevented the placement of cabinets on one wall. Serra turned the obstacle into an opportunity by placing a colorful mural on the open wall and seamlessly uniting the existing cabinetry to create a striking, yet useful, composition. In another space saving and environmentally mindful move, Serra incorporated a BLANCO SOLON composting system, which makes collecting organic waste from egg shells to coffee grounds incredibly easy, into the island.

Serra also utilized a BLANCOCULINA faucet, which saves 20% of water compared to conventional faucets.

Additionally, the sustainably produced Crossville SpeakEasy kitchen tiles offered a natural wood look that will last for years, saving the energy (and effort) required to refinish the surfaces. The KitchenAid ingbdmagazine.com

TYPOLOGY

PHOTOS: SALVATORE BRANCIFORT, COURTESY OF SUSAN SERRA ASSOCIATES

BELOW The BLANCO faucet saves 20% of water compared to conventional faucets.

duction cooktop and refrigerator are also both Energy Star certified and optimized to be aesthetically pleasing and highly functional. A Dekton bacteriostatic quartz countertop rounds out the room, offering a rich, white hue that blends seamlessly with the cabinetry and kitchen as a whole while combatting the growth of dangerous bacterium.

Serra and the Hair family worked diligently to reduce the project’s environmental impact by working within the kitchen’s existing footprint (saving both waste and money created via extensive construction), and they recycled and donated as much of the previous kitchen’s fixtures as possible. The result can be seen on Jaden’s Steamy Kitchen blog, and as the chef’s career skyrockets, she is safely secured in a space that is multi-functional and pleasing to the eye. Serra and the Hair family’s careful selection of materials ensures that the kitchen will continue to dazzle, while keeping hands clean and busy, now and for generations to come.

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TYPOLOGY KITCHENS+BATHS

A Writerly Retreat Design by Robin Wilson

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TYPOLOGY

PHOTOS: VANESSA LENZ

There is, perhaps, no place on earth where space is at as much of a premium as in New York City. Every inch of an apartment must be optimized to the fullest extent, lest one feel the concrete canyons crashing down around them. When experienced interior designer Robin Wilson took on a kitchen and bath remodel in New York’s historic Lincoln Center, she knew space would be a concern, but she had no inkling of the other obstacles that would stack against her. All plans had to be approved by the building’s board and completed within a tight, strict time schedule, while also meeting the client’s budgetary restrictions.

That client was a bi-coastal novelist who was dissatisfied with the state of the kitchen and bathrooms in her Manhattan pied-a-terre. Additionally, she and her husband had exacting cleanliness standards and wanted a design that offered peace of mind, both as a workspace and as protection from foreign agents. Never one to shy away from a challenge, Wilson worked diligently to provide her client with an innovative, calming design.

She started by designing a creative cabinetry solution that allowed for additional storage in the space-starved kitchen. With a modem tucked away in the cabinets, the room becomes a place where her client can comfortably set-up shop whenever inspiration strikes, and the open kitchen concept revolves around a central island that Wilson festooned with hidden electrical plugs.

She also mounted halo LED strips inside the cabinetry—not only energy-efficient; the lights also emit a warm, natural color. Plus, all the lights in the home are connected via a radio dimmer, so Wilson’s client can press a button on her phone and the house will be lit at a pre-determined level—a huge energy saver.

In deference to her clients’ needs, bacteria-resistant Silestone by Cosentino quartz countertops and a Kohler undermount sink were installed to help make the kitchen a sanitary multi-use are. In the bathroom, efforts to create a germ-free space also reigned supreme. Wilson installed touchgb&d

TOP RIGHT Bacterial-resistant Cosentino quartz countertops and a Kohler undermount sink were installed to help make the kitchen a sanitary multi-use space.

BOTTOM RIGHT A Mr. Steam shower unit that uses roughly half as much water as the previous fixture, was installed in the bathroom.

less Kohler fixtures wherever possible, including a low-flow toilet and a hands-free faucet that utilizes WaterSense technology, which creates the sensation of a big flow while actually saving H2O. This eco-friendly mindset also resulted in a Mr. Steam shower unit that uses roughly half as much water as the previous fixture.

Wilson’s design philosophy is rooted in attention to the subtle details that make a space sustainable at any budget. For example, she carefully selects her fixtures while considering their carbon footprint, often choosing Kohler because they are manufactured and shipped directly from the US. This philosophy fit hand-in-glove with the Lincoln Center project. Despite the variety of challenges she faced, Wilson proudly completed the environmentally conscious project on-time, under budget, and to her client’s lasting satisfaction. january–february 2016

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Making the Old New Again PHOTOS: CHAS METIVIER

Design by Sarah Barnard

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TYPOLOGY

When a young screenwriter came to designer Sarah Barnard with a West Hollywood bungalow in a state of unlivable disrepair, the two worked diligently to retain the structure’s original charm while adding sustainable design f lourishes—fitting perfectly with Barnard’s expertise, as her background lies in historic preservation. She made a concerted effort to salvage as much of the existing layout as possible, even saving some of the cabinetry.

In the kitchen, the distinctive countertops get their subtle green hue from recycled Heineken bottles, effortlessly matching the hand-glazed tiles on the backsplash. The distinctive mirror in the master bath was also made from a recycled barn door—it’s striking, original, and a fine example of reuse in sustainable design (a nearby desk fits this theme, made of repurposed barnwood from a bowling alley floor).

Previously, the bungalow lacked a proper master bath. In deference to preserving the building’s original character and with

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LEFT Barnard used solar tubes in the bungalow’s bathrooms, which bring reflected sunlight directly into the home. This saves on daytime electricity use by relying on California’s most abundant natural resource.

BOTTOM The distinctive countertops in the kitchen get their subtle green hue from recycled Heineken bottles, effortlessly matching the hand-glazed tiles on the backsplash.

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ABOVE Barnard and her client made an old space feel new again by combining elements of the region’s classic architecture with contemporary sustainability.

PHOTOS: CHAS METIVIER

respect to sustainability, Barnard limited herself to carving a space out the existing floor plan, rather than building an addition.

She was able to optimize an unused corner and used a corner sink and mirror pairing to save space while making it functional. With inexpensive tile and low-flow fixtures, she was able to create a sustainably conscious space to boot. In both bathrooms, Barnard used solar tubes, which bring reflected sunlight directly into the home. This saves on daytime electricity use by relying on California’s most abundant natural resource.

With floors made from bamboo (rather than new Douglas fir), Barnard created what she calls “a marriage of historic knowledge and a lively modern aesthetic.” The phrase can be applied to entire project, as Barnard and her client made an old space feel new again by combining elements of the region’s classic architecture with contemporary sustainability. gb&d

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GREEN BUILDINGTYPOLOGY & DESIGN

Up Front Typology Trendsetters Features Spaces Punch List

36 American Hydrotech

The venerated Chicago-based brand’s flair for durability carries it into another generation of fruitful longevity

38 USGBC’s Bringing Up Girls

How the organization is using networking events and mentorship programs to empower women

42 DC Water

Innovation is guiding this utilities company

44 The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy

While industries experiment with turning gas-dependent automobiles electric, others instead work to minimize manual transportation and expand public option

46 Flood Panel

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The award-winning company is raising NYC’s resilience against the severest of natural disasters

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TRENDSETTERS

S U S TA I N A B L E R O O F I N G P I O N E E R S

AMERICAN HYDROTECH

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF AMERICAN HYDROTECH

The venerated Chicago-based brand’s flair for durability carries it into another generation of fruitful longevity

By Vincent Caruso

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TRENDSETTERS

FACING PAGE MM6125 membrane has been protecting the parking structure underneath the reflecting pond at the First Church of Christ Scientist in Boston continually since 1971.

From one perspective, sustainable building is an ancillary industry, relying heavily on the larger domains of science and technology. The rate at which fresh, cutting-edge technologies can be propelled from the lab bears a direct connection to the capacity for architectural experts to map out the most desirable eco-conscious constructions for their clients and the natural environment alike. From another perspective, it is an industry rooted firmly in pragmatism, embracing proven techniques and methodologies—using these models as a template to expand upon and polish as needed. A noted example of the latter would be American Hydrotech’s long-celebrated Monolithic Membrane 6125, a roofing membrane that literally turned the traditional model upside-down. We caught up with Dennis Yanez, American Hydrotech national marketing director, to learn more about the significance of this time-honored sustainable roofing epitome. gb&d: American Hydrotech has been in business since 1977, and your most celebrated product is the classic Monolithic Membrane 6125. What were the factors that ultimately led to the development of this product?

Dennis Yanez: Monolithic Membrane was developed by Uniroyal’s construction products division in the early 1960s at the request of the Canadian government.

They were looking for a bridge decking/ waterproofing product that could be applied at low temperatures and withstand the test of time. Over the years, American Hydrotech has adapted this product for a variety of configurations: reflecting pools, plaza waterproofing, roofing, and, most recently, vegetated roofing (Hydrotech’s Garden Roof Assembly). gb&d: What inspired Dow Chemical’s experiment of reversing the insulation and the membrane that produced the results exhibited by the Monolithic Membrane 6125? gb&d

Yanez: Dow was looking for additional applications for Styrofoam brand Extruded Polystyrene rigid board insulation.

Again, developed initially for cold weather markets, the Insulated Roof Membrane Assembly (IRMA) typically referred to today as a Protected Membrane Roof (PMR) was tested and deemed to provide outstanding performance by the Army Corps of Engineers in the early 1970s. gb&d: What sets the composition of the Monolithic Membrane 6125 apart from that of its competitors? How does it represent a significant evolutionary leap in sustainable architecture?

ABOVE After 32 years, the former Pac Bell Headquarters Protected Membrane Roof still performs today like the day it was installed.

gb&d: How long has American Hydrotech been in the business of sustainability?

What are some of the ways that this priority is translated through the Monolithic Membrane 6125?

Yanez: Monolithic Membrane 6125 not only has a unique formulation that gives it unmatched performance and workability, but that same original formulation is still in use today. The membrane is comprised of asphalt, synthetic polymer, oil, rubber crumb, and clay. Sustainable architecture by definition is long-lasting.

MM6125 has a proven track record of longevity, keeping structures watertight for 50+ years. If that doesn’t meet the definition of “sustainable,” what does?

Yanez: In 1996, when American Hydrotech brought over technologies from Germany to launch the Garden Roof Assembly, the first single source warranty vegetated roof assembly in the US. It was a significant investment of time, resources and money in bringing sustainability to the architectural and design community.

In the early days of marketing the Garden Roof Assembly, there were many blank stares back at us when we suggested keeping water on the roof to support plants.

Fast forward 19 years, and vegetated roofs are a common and accepted design principal, but it was some tough uphill sledding to get architects to embrace the concept.

gb&d: What are some noteworthy examples of the Monolithic Membrane 6125 applied to architectural projects?

gb&d: What are some of the environmental advantages to be gained from employing the Garden Roof Assembly?

Yanez: MM6125 has been entrusted with keeping high profile structures across the country and around the globe watertight for more than 50 years. Unique applications include the reflecting pool at the First Church of Christ Scientist in Boston, where the membrane has been performing in a continually submerged condition since 1971, to roofing the former Pac Bell Headquarters in San Ramon in 1983.

Yanez: Replacing the impervious surface of a conventional roof with a vegetated roof can help to substantially reduce stormwater runoff and help to restore the balance with nature in our urban centers. Reducing the Urban Heat Island Effect, re-creating natural habitats for various insects and animals, and a reduction in dust and smog levels are additional environment benefits from installing a vegetated roof. gb&d january–february 2016

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TRENDSETTERS

GENDER GAP CLOSERS

The United States Green Building Council The organization is using networking events and mentorship programs to empower women and bring equality to the field of sustainability

By Amanda Koellner

gb&d: So once you knew that you wanted some type of forum for the women in this field to come together, how did the specific idea of holding this breakfast come about?

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gb&d: And what has the response been like from some of the women that have attended the event?

Lewis: I think the biggest thing is that they want more, and the second response is that they really want USGBC to lead by example. We’re talking about women in leadership, and they want more transparency from us as far as what we’re doing and what’s next for us. USGBC is known as an organization that just doesn’t talk but as one that’s able to show through action, results, and performance. So, we as an organization have been focusing on providing platforms and opportunities for women leadership and mentorship, which is pretty much is the biggest piece I can celebrate.

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF USGBC

When United States Green Building Council (USGBC) COO Mahesh Ramanujam obtained that title, he told senior vice president Kimberly Lewis that he planned to push her out of her comfort zone.

“He asked me to put together my 90-day plan, my three-year plan, and my vision,” Lewis recalls. “In my three-year plan, I wanted to build back some romance and acknowledge some of the leaders in the industry, knowing that I really felt that women have been a huge part of the history and the success. I really wanted to create a forum to celebrate women leaders.”

That forum took shape as the Women in Green Power Breakfast, an annual event held at Greenbuild complete with Beyonce’s girl power anthems greeting everyone at the early hour of 7 a.m., tables stocked with seasoned industry leaders and young women alike, and meaningful speakers touching on the importance of mentorship and the current barriers women in the industry face. I caught up with Lewis to talk about the event and the USGBC’s continued efforts to empower women in sustainability.

Kimberly Lewis: As I begun to think about women within the green building movement, I realized that we’ve had a few deaths of legacy leaders. I realized that we needed to have succession planning and a connection between generations. What I was hearing from our emerging professionals and our student leaders is that there are these great global leaders that they see on the stage at Greenbuild and whose books they read and whose blogs and articles they follow, but that they don’t ever have time to connect with. That was my challenge—to try to figure out how to bring these generations together to learn, to share, and to provide an opportunity for next-generation leaders to have a place to confront today’s leaders and connect with them and create relationships and dialogue that they wouldn’t normally have. And so, with those two issues, that’s how the Women in Green Power Breakfast came together.

gb&d: I understand that at Greenbuild 2014, there gbdmagazine.com

TRENDSETTERS

“Women think differently; we think collaboratively, and we understand how to bring the best of everyone together. For this movement to regenerate and continue to sustain, we need all hands on deck.”

KIMBERLY LEWIS, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, USGBC

FACING PAGE & LEFT Kimberly Lewis, USGBC’s senior vice president.

RIGHT Members of the Bringing Up Girls program work toward their final projects, a big idea for sustainability in their communities, with mentors from the USGBC.

was a call to action for the USGBC to do more to further bridge the gender gap within the sustainability field. Knowing this and what you just said, what other initiatives are the USGBC working on with regards to women in green?

Lewis: As an organization, they want us to lead by example. We have been doing that; internally, we have provided an executive coaching platform for our middle-management leaders and our millennial students to help them get a vision and a plan for their lives and to really focus and get directed on where they’re moving as leaders. We truly believe that everyone is a leader and that everyone has a call and a purpose for their lives; that’s why they’re here at the USGBC. They could be anywhere else, but they’re here focusing on the call, and so, how do we get them really focused and understanding what that journey is?

We’ve also been working to support other green building councils around the world to offer conferences that convene the leaders and inspire and create the opportunity for first-class education and business within the tradeshow floor. To that end, we wanted to incorporate the global conversation for women in green, too. So we’ve launched Women in Green Power Breakfasts in Brazil, Guatemala, and just recently in Europe. It’s really empowering to be able to have that global conversation and bring our best practices and that conversation to other countries. gb&d: Why do you think that mentorship is important in sustainability, specifically for young women? gb&d

Lewis: I think I want to go back to our vision as an organization—buildings and communities will regenerate and sustain the health and vitality of all life within a generation. I feel very strongly that women sometimes are missing in the conversation and that what’s important for me is that we continue to push that next pipeline, that next batch of young women leaders so they can take their role within the green building industry. We have to understand that without us, the movement can’t continue to go forward because we’re missing a huge population of voices, of perspectives, of diverse opportunities, and connections. Women think differently; we think collaboratively, and we understand how to bring the best of everyone together. For this movement to regenerate and continue to sustain, we need all hands on deck. gb&d: What advice would you give to more established women with leadership roles in the industry with regards to being a mentor and guiding younger women toward realizing their dreams?

Lewis: We have a responsibility. Before we start saying, “This corporation isn’t creating access” or “There aren’t enough women in leadership”—each woman who does have opportunity or does have access has that opportunity to lift someone up. We need to be identifying the next influencers and the next gifts and talents that we can cultivate and shape. And it’s tough: just holding down our current positions and being able to continue to move forward and work in our own world and on our own purpose. But giving and investing isn’t convenient, and it’s not easy, but if you’re living your purpose, a part of that is giving. january–february 2016

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gb&d: How did this awesome program come about?

Cecilia Shutters: We started a little over a year ago. Fleming and I work in communications and advocacy, and we found that we were collectively having an experience where we didn’t see as many women in positions of leadership as we hoped. It became this reality we were all experiencing, so we started talking about what we could do to try and move the needle and make a change. From there, we started doing an inventory of what the state of gender equity was across our industry through conversations with different folks and realized it was a pipeline issue.

We went all the way back to what we see and what research shows to be the initial problem, which is coined as the “confidence gap.” A lot of times in STEM-related conversations in schools, girls around the age of 13 start to drop off in interest and testing results within STEM fields. So we decided to dive into how to get more women into STEM professions that will ultimately lead to better outcomes. Many of the professions in the green building

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ABOVE The USGBC launched Bringing up Girls last year—a mentorship program presented in conjunction with the Girl Scouts.

gb&d: So how does the program work?

Fleming Roberts: We had almost 20 girls total, in and out, and 10 stuck it through to the end and were honored at Greenbuild last year. Conversations ranged from teaching them about green building and sustainability to discussing more personal issues like what it takes to be a leader and how to nurture your own confidence, and then how to connect the two: what does it mean to be a sustainability leader? Most of those meetings and conversations took place around the office; they would come in, and we’d have speakers and do activities together. We also went to Girl Scout camp with them, which was super fun. We did a gardening project and a lighting retrofit; we made s’mores in solar ovens. I think the big takeaway from all of this was that the girls got to see women represented in these STEM fields and talking about their jobs; they can be it if they can see it.

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF USGBC

In the organization’s continued effort to bridge the gender gap within the sustainability field, the USGBC launched Bringing Up Girls last year—a mentorship program presented in conjunction with the Girl Scouts that starts at the beginning of the proverbial pipeline in order to build STEM-related confidence in girls at the pivotal age of 12 or 13. Here, I talk to Fleming Roberts and Cecilia Shutters—founders and directors of the Bringing Up Girls program and members of the USGBC’s communications team—to learn more.

industry—engineering, construction, architecture—these are STEM-related fields.

If there are more women in the pipeline from the beginning, that will result in better talent in our industry.

From there, we thought about how we know a lot about sustainability, but who knows a lot about girls at this age and how to develop that confidence. And, how do we connect those two? Fleming has a niece in the Girl Scouts, so we reached out to the Girl Scouts Council of the Nation’s Capital, and they were really interested.

One of their big focuses is environmentalism and environmental stewardship, but it’s also in the STEM conversations and how to get girls to continue their inters in math, science, and technology.

Shutters: The program itself is hinged around a Green Apple Day of Service project. The Girl Scouts were paired oneto-one with our USGBC staff mentors to develop an idea—a big, bold idea for sustainability in their communities. So they planned the project at each meeting, and gbdmagazine.com

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at camp, we had subject matter experts who called in to answer specific questions that they had about their projects. We had someone talk about water retrofits, a landscape architect who ended up drafting some plans in response to one of the projects. It’s been really cool to connect real life professionals to the vision these girls had that we asked them to bring to the table and then to watch them actually execute those projects and engage other kids those age, and adults for that matter. gb&d: What’s been the best part of spearheading and participating in this?

Roberts: We realized how much people, particularly women, want to help each other and that that help is there if you want to reach out for it. It is a lot to ask your

gb&d

The US Green Building Council (USGBC) is changing the way buildings and communities are designed, built, and operated.

BELOW Bringing Up Girls teaches young girls about green building and sustainability, among other topics.

colleagues to come in several Saturdays, but they were so willing to do it and so happy to do it. It’s the type of thing that makes you take it back to your own life; there are probably women who would help me if I were to ask. It’s been a really interesting culture of giving that we’re taking away and realizing exists. Seeing our colleagues watch their mentees speak about their project to the group, and their eyes are just full of such pride and adoration, it’s really cool. gb&d

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WAT E R T R E AT M E N T E X P E R T S

DC WATER Innovation guided this utilities company to a breakthrough in wastewater treatment

By Kristofer Lenz

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ous system produced nearly 1,200 tons of Class B biosolids each day. Class B waste can be used as fertilizer, but only in specific, EPA-mandated environments, including certain farms and commercial landscaping environments. DC Water was responsible for identifying customers who could use the Class B material, transporting the fertilizer to the sites. Between the costs of shipping the waste—up to 60 truckloads each day, biosolid management was a site ripe for system improvement.

So, Peot’s research team examined wastewater treatment facilities and processes around the globe, looking for a good fit for DC Water’s needs. During their research, the team encountered CAMBI thermal hydrolysis, a process that uses high temperature and pressure to break down cellular walls, which facilitates the next step of treatment—anaerobic digestion. This process was being used in Europe, but not in any American facilities. After initial interest, the DC Water team performed nearly 40 peer-reviewed research papers, exploring the process’s feasibility, benefits, and potential downsides before making an investment. Without a model to follow stateside, the DC Water team was tak-

PHOTO: DAVID KIDD

In October of 2015, Washington D.C.-area based utility DC Water unveiled a new, environmentally friendly waste-to-energy project. The upgraded facility generates a net 10 megawatts (MW) of power, produces a cleaner byproduct, and greatly lessens the utility’s carbon footprint. This innovative solution to the global goal to turn wastewater into clean drinking water represents not only a major step forward for the residents DC Water serves. It also shows the risk-averse utilities across the US that investing in the future can make both fiscal and environmental sense. If one wants proof, they need only tour DC Water’s facilities and see for themselves how foresight (and a bit of boldness) helped a major utility complete what DC Water CEO George Hawkins calls “a rare public project that makes both economic and environmental sense.”

Keeping fresh, healthy water flowing in a major metropolitan area like Washington D.C. is a massive undertaking. DC Water buys treated drinking water from the US Army Corps of Engineers Washington Aqueduct and then distributes it across the district. To accomplish this, the company operates “more than 1,350 miles of pipes, four pumping stations, five reservoirs, four elevated water storage tanks, 1,800 miles of sanitary and combined sewers, 22 flow-metering stations, and nine off-site wastewater pumping stations.”

In the mid-2000’s, DC Water’s infrastructure was in need of a $100 million upgrade to maintain operational levels, and the company’s board of directors used this as an opportunity to explore possibilities for improvement. DC Water operates a robust research division, staffed by scientists, engineers, and graduate students conducting applied research. A team from DC Water’s research department, led by Chris Peot, director of resource recovery, identified areas in need of an update in DC Water’s biosolids or wastewater operations and sought new, innovative solutions.

One of the largest problems facing any wastewater treatment facility is what to do with the solid matter left over after the treatment process. DC Water’s previ-

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PHOTOS: COURTESY OF DC WATER (TOP); TED COYLE (BOTTOM RIGHT)

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ing a risk, but felt enthusiastic about their potential to serve as an example of how progressive, innovative processes can work for utilities here at home.

With high expectations, the utilities company broke ground on their new waste-to-energy facility in 2011. In the first year since its launch in late 2014, the utility is already seeing significant benefits. The methane gas produced during anaerobic digestion is being used to produce up to a third of the plant’s electricity needs. The steam produced is fed back into the process. And because the CAMBI thermal hydrolysis produces roughly half of the solid materials, DC Water saved money in the initial investment by building only half of the digesters previously needed. Additionally, the material produced is a super clean Class A compost-like material that can be used nearly anywhere.

DC Water is currently working to develop it into a marketable compost product that can further defray costs and support community projects.

“There is no waste, only wasted assets,” contends CEO George Hawkins. While still a long way from the ultimate goal of being energy neutral, Hawkins is rightfully proud of the example set by DC Water. Today they are host to tours from teams from places as far off as San Francisco and Honolulu, and their research team will help those communities potentially develop their own CAMBI thermal hydrolysis projects. “We are most proud of the benefits we have delivered to the public.

We have shown that a government agency can be innovative while serving the needs of ratepayers.” gb&d gb&d

FACING PAGE DC Water CEO and General Manager George S. Hawkins.

RIGHT The unveiling of the plaque for the Bailey Bioenergy Facilities, with Walt Bailey, now retired.

BOTTOM RIGHT District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser speaks at the commissioning ceremony October 7, 2015.

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TRANSIT TRAILBLAZERS

The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy

While industries experiment with turning gas-dependent automobiles electric, others instead work to minimize manual transportation and expand public options

By Vincent Caruso

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ABOVE Placement of the BRT corridor is a hugely important thing, and Cleveland picked a great place, adjacent to the newly revitalized and always busy East 4th Street, so that the system is much more likely to be successful.

gb&d: The ITDP has been promoting green transit practices since 1985. When approximately did you integrate BRT into this mission, and how has the focus of it influenced ITDP’s work since?

Jemilah Magnusson: ITDP started advocating for BRT in the mid-90s, but it didn’t really take off as a major initiative for us until Transmilenio, Bogota’s BRT, opened in 2000. Transmilenio really changed the paradigm for BRT as a high capacity urban transportation model. Transmilenio was the first to integrate passing lanes and use bi-articulated buses, which, among other design advancements, allowed speeds and capacity equal to, and sometimes greater than, most

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF ITDP

As a gb&d reader, you by now know that the merits of retrofitting as a means for environmental engineering are abundantly documented. The process of furnishing existing buildings with newer energy efficient installations has produced countless positive results. What happens, though, if this method—optimizing an existing system rather than supplanting it—were applied to localized municipalities such as roads and transportation? That’s precisely the concept behind the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy’s (ITDP) Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system. Here, we spoke to the ITDP’s global communications manager, Jemilah Magnusson, about the history, impact, and progress of BRT.

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metro systems. After the success of Transmilenio, ITDP began bringing delegations from cities around the world to Bogota to see what a gold-standard BRT system could be, and many other high quality BRTs were inspired by that model. One evolution we encourage is integrating BRT into downtown areas. This has been done extremely well in Mexico City, for example, Metrobus was a major part of the revitalization of the historic center, with narrow streets typical of an old city downtown.

vast majority of people in the world’s cities who rely on walking, cycling, and public transportation to get around. Putting everyone in a car, no matter the technology of that car, is not a sustainable solution for cities. Our focus is on improving quality of life for people in cities, and in the biggest, fastest growing cities of the world, people need infrastructure such as sidewalks, safer paths for cycling, and reliable public transport that improves their commutes. This is the model we support.

gb&d: What are some of the environmental benefits to be gained by implementing BRTs?

gb&d: Where in the United States has BRT found most success? What has allowed such progress to occur?

Magnusson: The most basic, and the biggest benefit to all mass transport systems is that they provide an alternative to cars.

We estimate that the Guangzhou BRT reduces CO2 emissions by some 86,000 tonnes annually, mostly through improved bus operations efficiency—buses emit a lot more pollution if they are stuck in traffic than moving quickly through a corridor—and because it is faster to take the BRT than drive. gb&d: We’ve seen companies begin to test automated, self-driven automobiles, and for longer now, certain developed countries have enjoyed high-speed rail train transportation. How does BRT fare when compared to alternatives like these?

Magnusson: Whether a car is self-driven or not doesn’t really change much for the gb&d

Magnusson: Cleveland is the most successful in the US so far, and here as in everywhere where BRT is successful, it has been about political will and government support, along with a commitment to design a high quality system. Placement of the corridor, for example, is a hugely important thing, and Cleveland picked a great place, right in the center of the city. So this is where development is taking place, where people want to go, so it’s much more likely to be successful. gb&d: What are some noteworthy projects that exemplify ITDP’s progress in advancing the BRT system?

Magnusson: Our most successful projects are more about using BRT as part of

ABOVE Guangzhou is the highest capacity BRT the Institute of Transportation and Development Policy has developed, moving about a million people a day.

transit-oriented development, for example in Mexico City. As part of a revitalization of the historic center, ITDP worked with the city to redesign streets for pedestrians, cyclists, and transport. The Metrobus BRT now has five lines, and line 4 runs through the center to the airport, a route that was previously only accessible by car and took about 90 minutes in traffic.

Another example is Guangzhou, which is the highest capacity BRT ITDP has developed, moving about a million people a day. The success of this system is due to its excellent design, which puts the busway in the middle of the roadway bordered by the stations on either side, allowing the buses to move quickly, pass each other, and allow boarding and alighting to happen quickly without any interference from traffic. Another advantage of BRT compared to rail is that local buses can come in and out of the BRT corridor, speeding up that part of the trip, and then continue on local streets to get people to their destination without transfer, which is what Guangzhou does so well. gb&d january–february 2016

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RESILIENCY EXPERTS

FLOOD PANEL An inside look at how the award-winning company is raising NYC’s resilience against the severest of natural disasters

By Vincent Caruso

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these undertakings may be, we still must safeguard against more urgent short-term environmental hazards. Our planet has suffered a whirlwind of extreme natural disasters in recent years, and many in the scientific community have suggested that we can only expect this trend to intensify. As essential as installations like solar panels and rainwater collection systems surely are, can they alone withstand the upheaval that could come as a result of the next Hurricane Sandy?

The obvious answer is probably not.

In that respect, it is imperative that we

PHOTO: PIXABAY

In the business of sustainable design and architecture, much of what we see focuses on shifting the sources of the built environment’s power demand to more naturally abundant resources. Through a variety of methodologies, eco-conscious developers and architects routinely aim to minimize Big Infrastructure’s consumption of water and electricity while vastly shrinking our collective carbon footprint.

Industry cooperation with measures like these is important because they promise stability and preserve our natural environment in the long-term. But, valuable as

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PHOTO: COURTESY OF FLOOD PANEL

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begin brainstorming systematic defenses against superstorms, as unprecedentedly devastating as they’ve been. It’s a threat increasing in gravity, and one that recent RISE : NYC winner, and Flood Panel, LLC president and cofounder, Tom Osborne, has been proactive in confronting. This was made clear recently by his successful endeavor for the RISE : NYC competition, a New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) initiative that invited experts to conjure up cutting-edge, practical support for New York small businesses against the menacing inevitability of Hurricane Sandy-ranked superstorms.

Although more than 200 projects were submitted, Osborne’s contribution was just one of 11 awarded and one of only two selected for the “building systems” category (the grouping that involved optimizing a building’s resilience performance before, during, and after a storm).

To name your company “Flood Panel” in and of itself implies that Osborne knows a thing or two about enforcing resilience against certain cataclysmic forces of nature. And for RISE : NYC, his rarefied expertise was put to good use, having developed a modular flood barrier system that employs an entirely new technology developed by Osborne himself, together with the assemblage of an accompanying “flood expert network,” expressly for the NYCEDC program. The Flood Panel technology was originally called the Sandwich Plate System (SPS)—renamed to “Polylite Flood Panel” in the final product design—which Osborne explains is characterized by, “extruded aluminum alloy filled with polyurethane elastomer.”

In other words, these are the materials that allow the panels to resist the extreme pressures from the deluge of a flood while remaining physically light enough to store and retrieve them with tremendous ease.

The Sandwich Plate System technology was developed by Intelligent Engineering (IE) for a wide range of applications in the marine, offshore, civil, and military industries. The patented process uses gb&d

a polymer developed and defended by BASF. IE and BASF have never used SPS technology for flood proofing solutions, and Osborne has gained exclusive rights to use the patented IE technology in the new Polylite Flood Panel. As a result, he will integrate the technology in many other products that Flood Panel currently manufactures.

The Polylite Flood Panel is a manifestation of good fortune not just for the small business owners of New York but also for Osborne himself. He had been

ABOVE Flood Panel will help New York City’s small businesses prepare for the effects of natural disasters.

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The panels can resist the extreme pressures from a flood while remaining physically light enough to store and retrieve them with tremendous ease.

resulting technology retains the reliable strength of a traditional flood panel, “the SPS panels are of lighter weight, allowing for easier deployment of the system, while their thinner profile allows the system to take up much less storage space.”

According to Osborne and Ellington, the product is complete and fully ready to be at the service of New York’s commercial edifices. Until the NYCEDC finishes sifting through bales of regulatory formalities, however, RISE : NYC owns the information pertaining to any potential Flood Panel client, which Flood Panel is currently prohibited from divulging. In the meantime, Osborne will continue to tweak and make additional improvements to the award-winning panel to guarantee that it will be in its ultimate form by the time New York’s small businesses are set to harness it. “Once it runs through the testing, we may just go ahead and release it as a regular line of goods for our company,” he says. “We own the technology anyway, so there’s no sense in waiting.” Let the floodgates open. gb&d

PHOTO: COURTESY OF FLOOD PANEL

experimenting with unorthodox combinations of materials for years, even though conventions of this business have always favored steel for its size and unmistakable robustness. “Bigger is better” typically goes the mantra, but Osborne strips this misnomer down. “Bigger isn’t better; bigger is stronger,” but it isn’t really about just merely a strength, he says. “It’s the depth.” Osborne goes on to explain, “Obviously if you use solid plate steel, that would be best, but it weighs so much (which makes it substantially more difficult when storing and/or erecting the panels). However, a quarter-inch steel plate can’t support a very long span at 150 pounds, the lifting weight allowed for two men per OSHA guidelines, so you have to start looking into materials that are lighter but still maintain the strength.”

And though aluminum can’t hold a candle to steel on its own, it was through Osborne’s experiment with the extrusions that engendered the Polylite Flood Panel.

“A quarter-inch plate in aluminum hasn’t nearly the strength of a quarter-inch plate in steel, so if you create an extrusion, or a tube if you will, your strength comes with the depth of that tube.” Business development manager Russ Ellington of F. William Brown, LLC notes that while the

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GREEN BUILDING TRENDSETTERS & DESIGN

Up Front Typology Trendsetters Features Spaces Punch List

gb&d

50 The Science of Sustainability

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is changing the built environment with good R&D

62 Less Guts, More Glory

Mitsubishi Electric Cooling & Heating Revolutionizes HVAC and Saves Millions in Energy Costs

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PHOTO: COURTESY OF PNNL

FEATURES PNNL

PNNL evaluates the performance of energy-efficient lighting technologies such as these LED lamps.

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gbdmagazine.com

The Buildings & Energy Issue January/February 2016

Science Sustainability the

of

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is changing the built environment with good R&D

By Brian Barth

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FEATURES PNNL

With PNNL’s help, Detroit recently: Replaced 65,000 broken streetlights with highefficiency LEDs

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Saved an estimated $2.94 million annual in electricity costs

and measure the performance of LEDs, a critical step in getting the technology from the drawing board to the manufacturing stage. They’ve also carried out field trials to see how well the technology fares in different applications. “We did installs in Minneapolis to see how things worked in the cold, and some in Arizona to see how it works in the heat,” Stiles says.

Leading LED Technology to Market

Saved 45.6 million kilowatt-hours in energy Removed the equivalent of more than 40,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere

Technical analyses are just the tip of the iceberg of what PNNL is working on in the SSL space. “Early on, the focus was on replacement,” Stiles says. “You take out a 60watt incandescent bulb and replace it with an LED lamp. But now, because of the way these products can be made, and the way you can design light products using these LEDs, you can rethink the way lighting is done. It’s no longer just a replacement option, it’s a completely new way of thinking about delivering light.”

LEDs are more efficient and longer lasting than other lights, but there is another important, and often overlooked, facet of the technology: they are highly controllable. They originate from microchip technology, Stiles says, and are built on a circuit board, meaning that many other functions can be embedded into LED light fixtures.

That fundamental difference allows them to fit snugly into PNNL’s vision for buildings of the future—a new paradigm where every feature related to a building’s energy use, occupant comfort, security, and IT capability are knit together into a single, programmable system. “Imagine your lighting being connected and controlled as part of your larger building efficiency strategy,” Stiles says. “By connecting LEDs to more than just a power source, they can

LEFT Dennis Stiles, the program manager for building energy efficiency research at PNNL, says technical analyses are just the tip of the iceberg of what PNNL is working on in the SSL space.

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PHOTOS: COURTESY OF PNNL

Much of what would be considered cutting edge technology in the energy and AEC industries today can trace its roots back to past research efforts at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), one of 17 US Department of Energy labs. Take solid-state lighting, for example—the lighting class that includes LEDs. PNNL didn’t invent LEDs, but has been instrumental in accelerating improvements to the technology and encouraging its penetration into the marketplace. Few other technologies in recent years have done as much to reduce energy use in as short a time. Once full market saturation is achieved, DOE estimates that solid-state lighting (SSL) has the potential to reduce total domestic energy use for lighting by half.

Detroit, a city that is still recovering from municipal bankruptcy, is a prime example of the potential of LEDs to cut into energy budgets. When the motor city filed for bankruptcy in 2013, about half of its 88,000 streetlights were not in working order, leaving much of the city dark at night and susceptible to vandalism and a host of other social ills. The city nearly chose to replace its lighting stock with high pressure sodium lights until the Municipal Solid State Lighting Consortium, a technical advisory group backed by PNNL research, made an alternative suggestion. With PNNL’s help, the city is now in the process of replacing 65,000 streetlights with high-efficiency LEDs—an effort that will save an estimated $2.94 million annually in electricity costs and 45.6 million kilowatt-hours in energy, not to mention removing the equivalent of more than 40,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. And, since the replacement project began, Detroit’s crime rate has dropped 18%.

“Due in part to Detroit’s success, we are seeing LED streetlights flood the market,” says Dennis Stiles, program manager for building energy efficiency research at PNNL, pointing out that both Walmart and MGM Resorts International have pledged to replace their parking lot lights with LEDs. PNNL has helped develop many of the metrics used by the lighting industry to test

FEATURES

BELOW PNNL’s VOLTTRON software, which monitors energy use and manages loads, is installed as a controller on this small-scale computer.

sense things like the temperature of a room, whether there is someone in the room, or whether there are 10 people in the room.”

LEDs also lend themselves to radically different design considerations that will be of interest to architects. Because they produce much less heat, they can be embedded in almost any design element, making the idea of light fixtures as distinct objects unto their own irrelevant. Rather than a ceiling with lighting fixtures hanging from it, the ceiling panels themselves could glow bright or dim themselves in response to the available daylight, user needs, and other parameters. They could change the mix of wavelengths that make up white light and their intensity to better suit the different uses that may occur in a single space at different times, for example. “You can have an architectural feature that is cool and glitzy and does many things, but also happens to put out high-quality light that better meets user needs and is extremely energy efficient,” Stiles says. “That’s where lighting is headed.”

To get there, LED lights need specialized sensors that are fully integrated with gb&d

building control systems. PNNL is working on that, too.

VOLTTRON: Beaming Energy Information throughout the Grid Although it may sound like a character from Star Trek, VOLTTRON is actually a software platform for the “smart” buildings of the future. VOLTTRON, which is now available with open-source licensing through PNNL, monitors energy use in individual buildings and manages which loads (i.e., energy draws—whether for lighting, heating, cooling, computing, or other needs) receive power at what time, all in a response to a signal from the grid. “The goal is to always balance loads behind the meter with generation,” says Srinivas Katipamula, a staff scientist in PNNL’s energy and environment directorate. “The purpose of VOLTTRON is to fully automate the process of demand response.”

Balancing energy use with energy supply has always been a goal of utility providers, but it has significant implications in

terms of energy conservation and renewable energy generation. During peak load periods—say, when people get home from work, activate their heating or cooling system, start dinner, and flip on the TV—energy companies struggle to keep up with supply, especially if it’s a particularly hot or cold day. They charge the consumer higher rates during these periods and are more likely to switch over to their “less clean” energy resources to meet the spike in demand, says Katipamula.

But even more importantly, if the energy supply originates from a renewable source like wind or solar—what grid operators refer to as non-dispatchable resources—it is even more difficult to match production with consumption. Energy use may peak at 6 p.m., but the sun’s energy peaks at noon, and winds have a mind of their own. We might love the idea of these renewable energy sources, but there are severe limitations to implementing them on a mass scale given current grid infrastructure. That’s where VOLTTRON comes in.

“You get what you get, and they are highly variable,” says Katipamula of non-dispatchable resources. “In some areas of the country, wind and solar are nearing 25% penetration in the energy market, which is creating some reliability issues on the grid.”

When VOLTTRON senses a flood of cheap energy available on the grid (during periods of low demand), it switches on loads that can make use of it, even though occupants are not actively using the related appliance. And vice-versa—when there is a high demand on local distribution lines, VOLTTRON switches off any load that is not critical at that particular time. It has the ability to schedule energy use throughout a campus or neighborhood, or even at a city scale, according to user priorities and energy availability, making it a crucial tool for integrating distributed generation systems with the centralized grid.

Hot water heaters provide an easy example for how VOLTTRON works. There is no need to continuously heat a hot water tank unless hot water is continuously in use, which occurs only in spurts each day.

However, says Katipamula, if there is surplus energy available, why not heat the water and use its thermal mass properties like a battery, storing the energy when it’s not needed for a time when it is? The same principle applies to the massive chilled water systems that are used to cool large buildings. “Buildings consume 75% of the electrical supply in the country,” Katipamula says. “So they have to be active participants in managing the energy on the grid.” january–february 2016

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PHOTO: COURTESY OF PNNL

FEATURES PNNL

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FEATURES

The Buildings & Energy Issue January/February 2016

Although it may sound like a character from Star Trek, VOLTTRON is actually a software platform for the “smart” buildings of the future.

“The purpose of VOLTTRON is to fully automate the process of demand response.”

Srinivas Katipamula, staff scientist, PNNL’s energy and environment directorate

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PNNL’s Long History of Building the Future Despite the stereotypes, scientists are very much interested in the everyday practical ramifications of their research. Being an unbiased empiricist is important for 56

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ABOVE PNNL employs more than 4,000 staff members with a $1 billion annual budget. Since 1965, PNNL has been operated by Battelle on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy.

maintaining the integrity of the scientific method, but every scientist is also a human being who cares about discoveries that will make the world a better place (or so we hope). They can also be downright funny.

Steve Shankle, director of the electricity, infrastructure, and buildings division at PNNL, has dedicated his career to making buildings smarter, more efficient, and more environmentally friendly. When asked about the lab where he works—a place that few non-scientists have ever heard of—he cracks open a bottle of humor: “We work on really important things.

You know that special coating on M&M’s that makes them melt in your mouth, not in your hand?” Well, the technology that keeps M&M’s from being messy to eat is one of many from the annals at PNNL. Like other more serious and impactful

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF PNNL

So what’s the connection with LEDs? Well, VOLTTRON is not just a grid-to-building communication platform, it is designed to host complete building automation systems, including sensors for fault detection and diagnostics. Since LEDs are like tiny computers masquerading as light fixtures, they communicate easily with the VOLTTRON platform, streamlining the integration of lighting with building controls. “In our current paradigm, we tend to think of lighting control systems as being separate from other building control systems,” Stiles says. “But LEDs are highly tunable. As the grid pulls on more and more renewables, we need to manage the dynamic profile of generation with more dynamic loads—solid state lighting can be a part of that.”

inventions, like optical digital recording technology and airport security scanners, PNNL has set its sights on much grander visions for buildings of the future: making net zero buildings a reality in the coming decades. Not just for the slim number of buildings that might have a LEED Platinum or Living Building Challenge label, but for the entire sum of the country’s building stock.

Actually, explains Shankle, the chemistry of candy coatings was a past project of the Battelle Memorial Institute, the world’s largest non-profit research and development organization, who operates PNNL and a plays a role in a handful of other government labs. At PNNL, the mission is to lay the scientific groundwork for industry innovation, with a focus on security, energy, and the environment—all of which are important to the AEC industry. PNNL scientists look at things on a generational scale and focus on the work that needs to be done now in order to remake the world as a healthier, safer, more sustainable place in 10, 25, 50, or even 100 years.

The Department of Energy has a broad

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It’s not just a matter of installing PV panels and building wind farms; fundamental changes are required in the grid that distributes their energy and buildings that consume it, placing a tremendous demand on the private sector to realize the potential of these new energy sources.

goal of reducing the energy use in the nation’s building stock by 50% as the next generation of structures are built. In the near term, more than half of the states have ramped up their mandate for renewable energy—most are shooting for wind and solar to comprise 15 to 30% of energy supply by 2020, says Shankle. It’s not just a matter of installing PV panels and building wind farms; fundamental changes are required in the grid that distributes their energy and buildings that consume it, placing a tremendous demand on the private sector to realize the potential of these new energy sources. “In regions like Washington State and Texas, up to 50% or more of total installed capacity coming on is wind,” he says.

“Our research leads to new tools and algorithms that can be implemented by industry vendors,” says Shankle, who shepherds the work of 220 scientists and researchers toward that goal every day at PNNL. “We do the intellectual property development and then it gets licensed out to companies like Siemens or Alstom Grid, for example, who incorporate it into their products. That’s how the technology gets into the marketplace.”

Change Where it is Needed Most “There are a number of trends that are roiling the electricity industry right now,” Shankle says. “There are a lot of technological challenges. We need control systems that are friendly and usable at the building occupant level. We need a smart grid; we need that to be real. But the basic theoretical understanding of how to do that doesn’t even exist. So we are working on advanced control theory to help operators figure out how to manage all of these changes.”

One of the low-hanging fruit has been to use VOLTTRON to deploy fault detection FACING PAGE Steve Shankle, director of the electricity, infrastructure, and buildings division at PNNL, has dedicated his career to making buildings smarter, more efficient, and more environmentally friendly.

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and diagnostics in building control systems, an area where PNNL estimates that 20% or more of energy use in commercial buildings could be cut. “For example, if a system has been left on after 7 p.m. and the building is unoccupied, VOLTTRON can actually turn off that system automatically,” Katipamula says. “Or to provide actionable information to the building operator, so that when the operator comes in, the operator can attend to the error.”

But because only the largest commercial buildings (more than 100,000 square feet) typically have building control systems, PNNL is working on ways to reach the rest of the building stock with similar precision controls. Building automation in small- and medium-sized buildings, which comprise 70 to 80% of commercial building stock, often consists of “little more than a thermostat,” says Katipamula, “but they also have significant scheduling problems.” PNNL is working with companies like Emerson Climate Technologies and Transformative Wave, who specialize in operating small and medium commercial buildings, to implement VOLTTRON in that context.

“VOLTTRON can actually be used as the building controller for smaller buildings that don’t have any building automation,” says Katipamula. In particular, PNNL is targeting rooftop AC units, where a tiny VOLTTRON “node” can literally be mounted on the side of AC housing. “You can literally do that for 50 bucks, and now your rooftop unit is communicating with the grid,” Katipamula says. “Previously, we didn’t have the ability to do that.”

The beauty of VOLTTRON is that each node communicates with the others across a given geographic region, allowing for a cost-effective strategy to disseminate the technology on a large scale. There is no infrastructure overhaul required, so the rollout of the technology could be quite swift.

After small- and medium-sized commercial buildings, PNNL has its sights set on the residential market, meaning an interconnected network of building control nodes may soon translate the idea of smart buildings to the reality of smart cities.

Tech Terms: The Science of Net Zero Infrastructure

Non-Dispatchable Resource:

Energy sources that cannot be accessed on demand, such as wind and solar. VOLTTRON integrates non-dispatchable resources with the energy grid by making it possible to divert surplus energy or store them for later use at times when the wind is still and the sun is not shining.

Interoperability:

The ability of different technological devices from different manufacturers to communicate with each other. As a government lab, PNNL focuses on open source platforms that will encourage interoperability for future smart grid technologies.

Micro-Grid:

Small scale, locally based energy distribution systems. Microgrids are part of the diverse energy infrastructure of the future envisioned by PNNL.

Distributed Generation:

Decentralized energy production at the point of consumption (on-site), as opposed to the centralized grid. Rooftop PV panels are an example of distributed generation that PNNL is working to better integrate with the grid.

Demand Response:

Modulating energy loads during periods of high demand for grid resources. Advanced building control systems have the ability to provide demand response during peak energy periods to reduce energy costs and encourage the use of renewables.

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FEATURES PNNL

Nora Wang, senior engineer and associate program manager for building efficiency at PNNL.

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FEATURES

Looking to the Cities of the Future Nora Wang, senior engineer and associate program manager for building efficiency at PNNL, has spent the last year working to define a vision for how the built environment will change over the course of the next century. Together with industry leaders from more than 60 organizations, she convened a dozen panel discussions, each focused on a different aspect of buildings of the future, such as climate change, resilience, energy, health, and sustainability. Wang recently sat down to discuss her findings with gb&d.

gb&d: What sparked the idea of producing a century-long vision for buildings and energy infrastructure?

Wang: The reason, quite simply, for this exercise is the goals that have been set within the industry. We have a goal of net zero by 2030; other organizations have set a goal of carbon neutral by 2050. 2050 sounds far away; but if you think about building stock turnaround, it’s not a long period of time.

The average service life of most buildings is 70 to 80 years. We are painting a picture of what buildings could be like in 100 years to figure out the process of how to get there.

gb&d: What do you mean when you say a building can function as a battery?

Wang: There are many ways to store energy in different forms. The idea of a passive house is one way, storing heat in the walls and the floors. There is also technology to use ice to store energy, converting back and forth from thermal to electrical energy as it freezes or melts. But actual batteries may have a role to play, as well. We can look at electric cars as back-up energy sources for buildings, for example. During a catastrophic event or under an extreme weather condition when power is insufficient, buildings with less critical functions such as shopping malls or cinemas can become the energy sources for critical functions, such as hospitals.

Wang: Well, wearable devices could be used to help us better understand occupants and make buildings smarter. gb&d: Wearable devices? You mean things like smart watches and Google Glass?

gb&d: What role do you see for technology in the buildings of the future?

Wang: It also connects buildings to transportation networks. That is part of our vision, as well, thanks to the push for autonomous vehicles and service-on-demand transportation systems, like we are seeing with Uber. There are implications for buildings: land use for parking, driveways, and even roads will be significantly reduced, opening up land for green space, pedestrians, and the ecological benefits that it provides.

Wang: In the future, buildings will all be connected, so they can transact their utility services, or even ecological functions.

gb&d: That sounds incredible. What other unexpected technological twists should we expect in the buildings of the future?

gb&d: Sounds terrific. And what do you see as PNNL’s role in helping the industry to realize these ideas?

Wang: Scalability is important. We need to look at this in terms of mainstream buildings, not just the most advanced buildings.

It’s also important not to fragment the different aspects of the building industry.

Energy, water, construction techniques, economics, health, safety, regulations—all of those things have to be brought forward together.

gb&d

gb&d: Considering electric cars as part of a community’s energy infrastructure does indeed sound futuristic!

“Rather than creating a presumed comfortable indoor temperature range for a large space, a building can provide a personalized environment that is free of discomfort for anyone and with less energy use.” — Nora Wang

Wang: Exactly. The future technology will go even beyond that. We are on the verge of being able to monitor our physiological data, day and night, at a minimum cost, with technology so unobtrusive you will forget it is present. Image a skin patch as thin as a temporary tattoo. This will allow us to collect biometric data and user preference and feed them into building control systems. Rather than creating a presumed comfortable indoor temperature range for a large space, a building can provide a personalized environment that is free of discomfort for anyone and with less energy use.

gb&d: What are the most important aspects of that picture in your mind?

PHOTO: COURTESY OF PNNL

Things like water purification, energy production, energy storage, and waste heat recovery can all be shared among buildings in a community. Microgrids will produce energy in one place and store it in buildings throughout the community. Some buildings will function as batteries and may receive income for providing that service. Technology will be needed to provide the structure to enable those transactions between buildings.

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FEATURES

Wang: We focus on the interoperability of different devices, so there needs to be coordination between different manufacturers.

The dilemma of developing flexible, modular building systems is that different brands of equipment, controls, and sensors often do not talk to each other, which makes it very hard to make buildings smarter. So we are developing open source platforms that everybody can use and rely on to develop their own technologies. These are evolving so fast that a future building may experience several generations of technologies.

The best way to adapt to unpredictable change is to develop modular building systems that make upgrades easy to plug and play. That means in the future everybody will need to use the same open protocol.

ABOVE The Building Operations Control Center at PNNL acts as the nerve center monitoring and controlling information on energy usage at multiple campuses in Washington state to research and test transaction-based energy usage in and between buildings.

BELOW In PNNL’s “Lab Homes” project, the company conducts experiments focused on reducing energy use and peak demand, performed in two identical 1,500 square-foot homes where one house works as an average existing home and the other is used to test a new technology.

gb&d: And how do all these technological advances circle back around to energy conservation and environmental issues?

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PHOTOS: COURTESY OF PNNL

Wang: With machine learning capability integrated into buildings, we’ll have better outcomes in terms of user comfort, health, and productivity, but the same technologies also help to optimize resource consumption. So in the future, a much smaller amount of resources will be required to meet occupant needs. gb&d gbdmagazine.com

FEATURES

A Look Inside Asset Score

BUILDING ENERGY

1

ASSET SCORE

OVERALL BUILDING SCORE BUILDING INFORMATION Example Building - Single Use 2000 A Street Chicago, IL 60601

Asset Score is available here: http://energy. gov/eere/buildings/building-energy-asset-score gb&d

Office:

9.5

Estimated Savings1

45%

10

M

100,000 ft2

Uses LESS Energy2 High-Efficiency

Estimated Source Energy Use (kBtu/ft2)

A

Building Use Types

6

Energy Use Intensity by Fuel Type Site Energy Use (kBtu/ft2)

143

Current Building

79

This report includes a Score for the entire Upgraded Building building as well as individual Scores for each of the separate use types.

Source Energy Use (kBtu/ft2)

S

Fuel Type [ Site EUI , Source EUI ] Gas [ 8.1, 8.5 ] Electricity [ 42.8, 134.5 ] District Heating [ 0.0, 0.0 ] District Cooling [ 0.0, 0.0 ]

The Building Energy Asset Score is a national rating system developed by the U.S. Department of Energy. The Score reflects the energy efficiency of a building based on the building's structure, heating, cooling, ventilation, and hot water systems. The building's Structure and Systems are individually evaluated and ranked. The Upgrade Opportunities page provides recommendations for how to improve the building's energy efficiency, increase the building's Asset Score, and save money.

Savings reflect the reduction in source energy that would result from undertaking all of the efficiency improvements identified on the Opportunities page. Actual savings will depend on a variety of factors including actual operating conditions.

1

A score of 10 represents lowest expected energy usage using current energy efficiency technologies. A score of 8.5 represents a high-efficiency building that uses approximately 30% less energy than a building built to the AHSRAE 90.1-2004 energy code.

2

This report is based on self-reported building information. http://energy.gov/eere/buildings/building-energy-asset-score

BUILDING ENERGY

3

ASSET SCORE

UPGRADE OPPORTUNITIES Building Name: Example Building - Single Use

Gross Floor Area: 100,000 ft2

Cost Effective Upgrade Opportunities

• Add roof insulation in Office Block - Learn More

LE

Building Envelope

Energy Savings 3

Cost4

High

$ - $$

High

$$ - $$$

Medium

$$

Low

$$

• Add air-side economizer in Office Block - Learn More

Medium

$-$$

• Implement demand controlled ventilation (DCV) in Office Block - Learn More

Medium

$$

• Add variable frequency drive to supply fans in Office Block - Learn More

Medium

$$

Low

$$

• Install high performance triple pane windows in Office Block - Learn More

Interior Lighting

P

• Upgrade T8 fluorescent lighting in Office Block with LED lighting - Learn More • Add daylighting controls in Office Block - Learn More

HVAC Systems

M

PNNL and the DOE have developed a new nationally standardized rating tool that provides a free report with actionable information for building owners and operators.

Example report version 9/30/15

A

In an effort to bump up the energy efficiency of the country’s entire building stock, rather than just the high-end new construction market—which has long been the focus of the green building industry—PNNL and the DOE have developed a new nationally standardized rating tool. With the click of the mouse, you can input basic information on the “assets” of any building—things like the building envelope (roof, walls, and windows), lighting, hot water, and HVAC systems. The tool will then run a sophisticated energy simulation for the building and generate a report (free of charge) with actionable information for building owners and operators.

The tool provides an Asset Score ranging from 1 to 10 based on the energy efficiency of the building, which can be used to rate and compare buildings in the same way the miles-per-gallon ratings are used to compare fuel efficiency in cars.

The report includes total estimated building energy use, as well as suggestions for building upgrades that will have the greatest leverage in improving overall building efficiency. A potential energy efficiency score is provided, based on the reduction in energy use that would result from the identified upgrades.

The Asset Score can be used for new construction projects and existing buildings with commercial, institutional, and multi-family residential uses. The DOE provides a separate tool for single family homes called the Home Energy Score.

09/22/2015 XXXXX

Potential Score

P

1

Score Date: Building ID #:

LE

Current Score

Uses MORE Energy

Office 100,000 ft2 2005

Building Type: Gross Floor Area: Year Built:

Hot Water Systems

S

The ins and outs of a new rating system for building energy efficiency from the U.S. Department of Energy and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

• Add low flow faucets in Office Block - Learn More

The energy savings range reflects the expected incremental savings for the overall building associated with the specific efficiency upgrade opportunity assuming all other recommended upgrades have already been implemented. This assumption is made to avoid double counting of savings. The ranges reflect site energy savings and are based on standard operating assumptions, unless actual operating conditions are provided by the user.

3

The costs are based on Advanced Energy Retrofit Guide and RS Means. The costs are replacement costs, not incremental costs. The costs do not include local incentives. Costs are shown as a range ($ = low cost, $$ = medium cost, $$$ = high cost).

4

Example report version 9/30/15

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FEATURES MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC

Less Guts, More Glory Mitsubishi Electric Cooling & Heating Revolutionizes HVAC and Saves Millions in Energy Costs

By Jeff Link

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PHOTO: COURTESY OF MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC

FEATURES

The David Whitney Building—a gem of a skyscraper in the Neo-Renaissance style, designed by the legendary architectural firm Daniel H. Burnham & Co., was recently retrofitted with more than 600 tons of Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) technology from Mitsubishi Electric.

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FEATURES MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC

Ask any member of the executive sales team at Mitsubishi Electric US, Inc. Cooling & Heating Division (Mitsubishi Electric) how the cooling and heating industry has changed over the last decade and they’ll have no shortage of words. They’ll tell you how technological innovations in HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) have led to seismic shifts across the building industry, from dramatic energy and cost savings, to improved thermal control and increased occupant comfort.

At the cutting edge of this change, according to Mark Kuntz, senior vice president of sales, marketing, product strategy and engineering for Mitsubishi Electric, is the company’s Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) zoning technology, an energy-efficient, ductless cooling and heating system which Kuntz says is revolutionizing HVAC. Gone is the labyrinthine of duct work and cobwebbed boiler rooms. In their place, Kuntz says, is a system that is easier and more affordable to install and maintain, that comes with tighter more individualized control, and uses less energy.

Too good to believe? Perhaps. But use of VRF technology globally and in the United States is widespread and growing. Mitsubishi Electric alone, one of a dozen or so players in the market, has more than 15,000 systems active in the United States and Canada and has been recognized with awards ranging from the US Green Building Council’s 2014 Best of Building Award in the HVAC/Indoor Air Quality/Building Controls category to Plant Engineering magazine’s Product of the Year Silver Award for its Hyper-Heating INVERTER (H2i) CITY MULTI R2-Series VRF Zoning System.

Their technology is seen in LEED-rated projects and retrofits across the nation, from single-family passive and net-zero homes, to schools, restaurants, residential skyscrapers, even the corporate offices of multi-state energy companies who pride themselves on efficiency.

“Right now, VRF technology has about 6% share of the cooling and heating market in the US, “ Kuntz says. “We see this continuing to grow into double digits in the next five years.”

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Here’s a closer look at how the technology, invented in Japan, has affordably furnished the renovation of the one-hundred-year old David Whitney Building in Detroit, saved 25% in energy costs within two years of installation at Screven Elementary School in Sylvania, Georgia, and prompted industry competitors to rethink their product strategy.

Some Like it Hot. Others Don’t.

Mitsubishi Electric Cooling & Heating retrofit the David Whitney Building with more than 600 tons of Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) technology, while preserving the 19-story skyscraper’s historic character in Detroit’s hot new urban core At the junction of Park Avenue, Woodward Avenue, and Washington Boulevard within Detroit’s resurgent Grand Circus Park Historic District, stands the renovated and nearly fully occupied David Whitney Building—a gem of a skyscraper in the Neo-Renaissance style, designed by the legendary architectural firm Daniel H. Burnham & Co. A century after its 1915 construction, the building’s restoration is a sign, like the arrival of corporate offices for companies like Twitter, Shinola, and Compuware, of the resurgence of Detroit’s urban core.

Named after the wealthy lumber and shipping baron David Whitney Jr., who made his fortune in white pine, the building, with its terra cotta and glazed brick façade, is regarded for its four-story skylit atrium adorned with ornately carved marble and gold leafing. It was once a premier address for some of the city’s best medical professionals, but, like many of Detroit’s historic skyscrapers, fell out of use as a result of disinvestment and the exodus of gbdmagazine.com

A century after its 1915 construction, the David Whitney Building’s restoration is a sign, like the arrival of corporate offices for companies like Twitter, Shinola, and Compuware, of the resurgence of Detroit’s urban core.

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF MISTUBISHI ELECTRIC

“Right now, VRF technology has about 6% share of the cooling and heating market in the US. We see this market continuing to grow into double digits in the next five years,” Mark Kuntz, senior vice president of sales, marketing, product strategy, and engineering people from the city.

After sitting vacant for 15 years, the building, which overlooks Comerica Park (home of the Detroit Tigers) and was bought by the joint venture Whitney Partners LLC for $3.3 million dollars in 2011, is once again prime real estate. The $94.5 million renovation led by the Roxbury Group has resulted in 108 apartments, a boutique 136-room hotel called Aloft Detroit (part of Starwood Hotels & Resorts), a bar and lounge, and the Grand Cirque Brasserie restaurant expected to open later this year.

A major part of the renovation, led by local HVAC contractor RW Meade & Sons, was retrofitting the entire building with more than 600 tons of Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) technology from Mitsubishi Electric. Not tons of material weight, rather tons calculated by ice melt— the century-old mechanism for translating heat production into a measurable unit: the amount of ice that melts in one hour as a result of heat absorption. In modern construction, gb&d

the conversion is a rough indication of a distributed, from air-cooled outdoor units project’s size: about 400 square feet per ton, on the roof and in the basement. With few according to Will Scott, commercial sales restrictions on the placement of tee and elbow joints, these lines were connected manager at Mitsubishi Electric.

At 19 stories, the sheer size and mass of to branch circuit controllers on each floor, the David Whitney Building, not to men- allowing for independent temperature contion its 22- to 28-inch-thick flooring, pre- trol in as many as 16 indoor units per floor. sented an immediate heating and cooling Scott is quick to point out that the problem, says Vince Dattillo, vice president system’s benefits go beyond ease of instalof construction and project management lation. The apartments in the building, at the Roxbury Group. Forced air involving nearly fully leased, cater to the increasing ductwork would have meant high installa- number of young professionals moving to tion costs and difficult work in crawl spaces. Detroit’s urban core to work and live. SatisAccording to Scott, Mitsubishi Electric’s fying the comfort needs of this millennial CITY MULTI R2-Series Heat Recovery VRF set, as well as international hotel guests, system (the company’s energy-efficient, required a precise system with versatility cooling and heating system), a modular de- and individualized control. sign that lends itself to widespread line sets, “In a hotel and apartment, there are eased installation by limiting welded con- wildly different comfort demands. Of the nections and cutting labor costs and time. two, hotels are more challenging. A visitor Led by foreman Andy Peters, a team from from the Middle East might want his room RW Meade & Sons unspooled 82 foot-long, at 80 degrees, while someone from Canapre-insulated lines of copper refrigerant da wants hers at 68-69 degrees,” Scott says. piping, manufactured in Italy and locally “Whether guests are male or female, how january–february 2016

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FEATURES MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC

much they weigh, personal preferences, these all come into play; individual comfort and control is of great value in a hotel.”

Producing adequate heat to keep occupants warm in a cold Detroit climate was a major challenge, Scott says, particularly in light of the project’s historic preservation guidelines requiring the single pane windows to be preserved. In each hotel room, temperature is controlled by modulating an electronic expansion valve within the indoor unit. Occupants in adjoining or nearby rooms can use heating or air conditioning as they wish without greatly compromising efficiency. Large open areas, such as the atrium; one- to two-bedroom apartments; and hotel rooms all operate in different thermal zones.

Scott says the key to the system is the high-powered variable speed, inverter-driven compressor, which can be up- or down-throttled like a gas pedal, to progressively match output to conditioning requirements. Through a sophisticated sys-

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600 tons of cooling & heating output

Key to the renovation was retrofitting the entire building with more than 600 tons of Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) technology

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF MISTUBISHI ELECTRIC

ABOVE Mark Kuntz, senior vice president of sales, marketing, product strategy, and engineering at Mistubishi Electric.

tem of heat exchange, surplus energy rejected from a space is transferred to where it is most needed. “No other VRF manufacturer can hold a candle to Mitsubishi Electric when it comes to how well our engineers have designed the collection of components and the inverter-driven compressor to achieve optimal performance and efficiency. Mitsubishi not only manufactures its own compressors, but everything down to the solenoid valves, microprocessor controls, and electronic components to ensure systems work together for optimal performance. It really makes a difference when you have sole source construction,” Scott says. “Others may be able to deliver this kind of heat with a ‘four-cylinder,’ but to keep up with our ‘eight-cylinder,’ they have to operate on overdrive. Our system is designed to do this.”

Mitsubishi Electric’s CITY MULTI VRF systems require little upkeep other than filter changes to the indoor air handling units and outdoor unit condenser coil cleanings. A control system, integrated into the building through BACnet, is monitored remotely by Scott Mondock, Aloft’s director of engineering. It is fully integrated with the CITY MULTI VRF system to track energy performance down to the indoor unit and condenser, allowing for off-site equipment audits and limiting the need for service calls, according to Mondock.

Perhaps just as significant as the energy performance and lifecycle benefits of the system are the reported cost savings over a water source heat pump system, what Scott says was the next best alternative. A lower “first cost” purchase and installation price reduced the project’s budget from $6.8 million to $5 million. And against baseline estimates for a comparable heat pump model, Mitsubishi Electric’s CITY MULTI R2-Series Heat Recovery VRF system is reporting an average of 10% lower energy costs annually, Scott says.

Ultimately, Scott is pleased to see the David Whitney Building energizing Detroit’s broader revitalization. “It was breathtaking to see the transformation of this high-rise building, abandoned and neglected for decades, into this beautiful architectural gem for city of Detroit,” he says.

gbdmagazine.com

FEATURES

The David Whitney Building By the Numbers

$1.8 million saved

The original estimate of $6.8 million with a water source heat pump system shrunk to $5 million with Mitsubishi Electric’s CITY MULTI R2-Series Heat Recovery VRF system

1 degree temperature differential

“With this VRF system you set it to 72 degrees, say, and the system is usually within one degree of that, often right on the money,” said Scott Mondock, director of engineering at Aloft Detroit

5 miles of piping

“We were looking at close to five miles of piping, so compare VRF to getting guys in here crawling through tight spaces to install insulation—that’s a lot of money saved on that one piece alone,” said Vince Dattilo, vice president of construction and project management at Roxbury Group

3 condenser split

A design by Don Nichols, senior mechanical engineer at Strategic Energy Solutions, split the condensers across three areas – on the roof, in an alley and in the basement level area-ways – to minimize the vertical travel distance of line sets, thereby staying within Mitsubishi Electric’s specifications

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A wall-mounted indoor unit operating off the VRF system can produce conditioned air for an individual room, while being part of a larger cooling and heating system.

Go Variable or Go Home Japanese innovation and American muscle collide in Mitsubishi Electric Cooling & Heating’s high-powered compressor that is turning the HVAC industry upside down More than a decade ago, David Archer, LEED AP, was on a travelling sales and training call for Mitsubishi Electric. David was one of the first people authorized to sell the company’s line of Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) technology in the United States, an energy-efficient cooling and heating system that company executives believed could transform the HVAC industry by making building conditioning not only incredibly precise but more affordable and highly variable throughout a building. The people he was trying to convince, however, weren’t exactly chomping at the bit.

“The technology was so out front people would look at me like I had six heads,” Archer says. “‘You’re telling me you can show me how to simultaneously heat and cool a building with one compressor?’ People said that is crazy talk. Even contractors who signed on were getting the cost and doubling the price and labor in their heads.”

That first year, Archer says, he worked on two or three installations. This year, as an application consultant for Mingledorff’s, Inc., a wholesale distributor for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems based in the southern United States, he has consulted on 200-300 jobs using Mitsubishi Electric’s VRF systems. With the support of contractors such as Dyess Air, engineers like Pruett, Ford & Associates, and clients ranging from school districts, to hospitals and the US Military, he says the momentum behind the technology continues to build.

Archer’s experience may be anecdotal, but use of VRF technology globally is widespread, and evidence of growth is support-

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ed by industry research. Mitsubishi Electric alone, one of a dozen or so players in the market, has more than 15,000 systems active in the United States and Canada and has been recognized with awards ranging from the US Green Building Council’s 2014 Best of Building Award in the HVAC/Indoor Air Quality/Building Controls category to Plant Engineering magazine’s Product of the Year Silver Award for its Hyper-Heating INVERTER (H2i) CITY MULTI R2-Series VRF Zoning System. Their technology is seen in LEED-rated projects and retrofits across the nation, from single-family passive and net-zero homes, to schools, restaurants, residential skyscrapers, and even the corporate offices of multi-state energy companies who pride themselves on efficiency.

Outside the United States, VRF systems are nothing new, Kuntz says; in fact, they dominate the market. According to Kuntz, VRF technology was invented and launched in Japan, where high-energy costs and government regulations against outdoor noise in densely populated cities, such as Tokyo, contributed to the rise of the quiet, energy efficient systems, which spread rapidly throughout the Pacific Rim and other continents before migrating to the United States.

So then, one might ask, how does the system work? Kuntz explains that unlike a centralized HVAC system, in which a chiller, boiler and pump are housed in one location, VRF zoning systems use distributed technology such that each floor has, fundamentally, its own separate system, which can be installed incrementally. Conditioned refrigerant—R410A, the industry standard—

is piped directly to the zone where it is required, thereby eliminating incremental heat transfer loss and surplus component parts.

“A high rise building traditionally used a chiller and boiler system, pumping water to every zone in the building. The challenge is you have one massive machine generating hot water and a separate massive machine generating cold water,” Kuntz says.

“Depending on conditions in the space, you are working at different levels of efficiency.

If one component goes down, the entire system is at risk.”

The chief innovation Mitsubishi Electric has brought to the HVAC market, according to Kuntz, is the variable capacity of its compressor. Unlike a traditional compressor that operates at a constant speed of about 60Hz, Mitsubishi Electric inverter-driven compressors can turn at speeds of up to 200 HZ, improving the precision, balance, and quality of the system. It is able to run fast and for a long time. Most important, the compressor does not have to be simply on or off, but can shift gears, similar to an automobile transmission. “We were the early entrants into the idea of a variable capacity, direct expansion system to exactly match the load conditions of the space. As we approach the desired space temperature, we can throttle back, and vary capacity downwards,” Kuntz says.

Tight compressor speed control means better comfort for building occupants and improved energy and cost performance at the building level, Kuntz says. Because the inverter-driven compressor can operate at a fraction of its full load speed, throttling down when it needs to, it is not “oversized” for a building’s total energy load. And since rooms can be rapidly cooled or heated, a building operator can turn off the system in spaces that are unoccupied—saving energy while knowing these rooms will quickly return to the desired temperature once turned on.

Ductless and VRF systems operate on three levels, Kuntz says, beginning with Ductless Mini-Splits with one outdoor unit serving a single indoor unit, then Ductless gbdmagazine.com

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF MISTUBISHI ELECTRIC

FEATURES

Multi-Splits with one outdoor unit serving up to 8 indoor units, and culminating with the VRF system with one outdoor unit serving up to 50 indoor units. At the highest level, Mitsubishi Electric’s heat recovery VRF systems are able to transfer rejected heat from the conditioning process to rooms internally, so nearby rooms or building areas can simultaneously be set at different temperatures—68, 72, or 78, for example—without compromising performance.

Energy-savings data from internally produced case studies of recently installed Mitsubishi Electric VRF systems support Kuntz’s assertion the technology is leading to significant cost and energy savings. The city of Sacramento, for example, recently replaced a four-pipe chilled-water and boiler system with a VRF system in The Sacramento Drill Tower, a 9,476 square-foot concrete water tank that contains offices for the city’s firemen, administrators, and IT personnel.

City officials report a dramatic reduction in utility bills due to the new system: a total energy savings (kBtu usage) of 50%, and a total cost savings of 19%.

Then there is Wisconsin-based Franklin Energy, a firm one might reasonably imagine would be invested in energy efficiency.

The company relocated their headquarters to the former Smith Brothers processing plant on the Lake Michigan shoreline, in January 2011, and installed a VRF zoning system. Using utility meter data and measured data from an energy monitoring system, performance data show significant energy savings compared to Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) energy data for a building of comparable size and construction: 32% savings in electric energy use, (12.2 kWh/ft2/year), and 48% savings in gas energy (21.9 ft3/ft2/year).

In Mitsubishi Electric’s case study of Franklin Energy, Dave Janquart, a VRF specialist at Auer Steel & Heating Supply Co. in Milwaukee, who recommended the VRF installation in Franklin Energy’s headquarters, reports several additional advantages of the system, including ease of installation, the small footprint and lightweight of the outdoor units, and the ability for load-shargb&d

ing not possible with conventional systems.

Of course, with all of these benefits, one wonders why the technology has not been more eagerly embraced in the United States.

Interestingly, Kuntz says, the innovation of Mitsubishi Electric’s VRF heat recovery system, which allows some building areas to operate in heating mode while others operate in cooling mode, presented early hurdles to US adoption, as industry testing protocols failed to accurately capture the system’s energy savings. A big

in terms of innovation and development of VRF. We are in continuous competition on a global basis to shrink our footprint, lower our weight and refrigerant volume, and make our products better.”

Driving Mitsubishi Electric’s effort to stay ahead of the competition and keep up with the rapid proliferation of emerging thermal technologies in the built environment—for instance, an airless, chilled beam system that uses convection current to regulate tem-

“The technology was so out front people would look at me like I had six heads.

‘You’re telling me you can show me how to simultaneously heat and cool a building with one compressor?’ People said that is crazy talk. Even contractors who signed on were getting the cost and doubling the price and labor in their heads.” David Archer, application consultant for Mingledorff’s, Inc. part of what helped Mitsubishi Electric stake its claim as one of the most widely recognized, sought after VRF brands in the industry relied on convincing the US Department of Energy and the Air Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute to adopt a new testing protocol, validated by an independent panel of engineers and experts.

Although Mitsubishi Electric certainly has active competitors in the heating and cooling industry, Kuntz says many of them have been slow to embrace VRF technology, considering it a niche product. Only now are US heating and cooling manufacturers joining forces with Asian suppliers to compete in the VRF market: a few cases in point, Toshiba and Carrier, Trane and Samsung, and Johnson Controls and Hitachi. “We feel there are two major innovators, and a lot of followers. Daikin is our closest competitor

perature differential—is the recruitment of top-tier professionals from within and outside the industry, Kuntz says.

He adds that facilities investment has also been key. Just as Asian automobile manufacturers Honda and Toyota established US design and manufacturing centers to better reach North American consumers, so has Mitsubishi Electric. Mitsubishi Electric built a design and engineering center in Suwanee, Georgia, that allows US and Japanese engineers to work together while benefiting from technological expertise refined overseas. “We’re dedicated, in our DNA, to the ideas of quality and innovation,” Kuntz says. As a global 500 company, we have the long-view as to how that innovation and quality works and what the paybacks need to be. We’ve made a long-term commitment in investment in R&D.” january–february 2016

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Schooled in Ductless Screven Elementary School saves 25% on energy costs within two years of installation

In 2012, William Bland, then-assistant superintendent at Screven County School System, had a difficult decision to make.

Screven Elementary School in Sylvania, Georgia, a rural school that serves 1,400 students ranging from pre-K to fifth-graders, was operating on a dated and inefficient HVAC system sorely needing replacement.

The pipes of the building’s original water-source heat pump system, installed in 1989, were corroded and water was dripping through the ceiling. “There was no question about the need for a renovation of the HVAC system at the elementary school,” writes Bland in a project report.

What remained a question, however, was how to renovate affordably, while increasing energy efficiency. One option was to replace the original water source heat pumps with new equipment. Another was to install wall-mounted units, designed by

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Bard, around exterior walls and use ducted package systems for interior rooms.

To Bland, neither option was a clear-cut winner.

Eventually, he and other school representatives were invited to an educational session in Savannah, Georgia, led by Mingledorff’s, to learn about Mitsubishi Electric’s CITY MULTI Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) system as another alternative.

“I clearly remember telling David Archer of Mingledorff’s that I would like to learn more and get more insight into the different systems, but I did not want to waste his time as I still did not think the CITY MULTI was for us,” Bland writes. Upon leaving the meeting and visiting a few sites using the technology, his attitude had changed. “We were very impressed and left that meeting with much more knowledge and an interest in learning more. The more we studied and

The PLFY 4-Way Ceiling-recessed Cassette Indoor Unit (pictured above) contributes to a decrease in energy consumption at the Screven Elementary School.

researched and questioned other users, the more we liked the product.”

The installation, completed in less than 12 weeks, took place over the summer when school was not in session. Archer says the renovation has led to 25% less energy consumption and $16,266 in savings annually. Not only that, but it has helped Mingledorff’s sell the system to nearby school districts in Washington County and Effingham County, Georgia.

“Most of the time, when you look at green solutions, you expect to pay a premium. But you almost have to be foolish not to embrace this for a school. You save 10% on the first cost, compared to a water source heat pump, then you save 25% in energy a year.” gbdmagazine.com

FEATURES

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF MISTUBISHI ELECTRIC

Pre-Renovation Average monthly cost: $12,375 Energy use: 115,883 kWh

In an internally produced Mitsubishi Electric case study, Mike Dixon, maintenance director for Screven Elementary School, says, “It was the energy efficiency that grabbed our attention. We were also interested in the ability of the units to maintain the temperature within one or two degrees and the quiet operation. It almost sounded too good to be true.”

Apart from its energy savings, Archer says, the system’s ability to transfer rejected heat through a branch circuit controller is well-suited for a school building where temperature can vary substantially by building wing, and room and children alternate between periods of seated instruction and activity. “Say one teacher has a whole bunch of kids that just came in from PE; they’re putting out heat and they are hot,” Archer says. “Next door, the classroom is clouded over. That classroom would get heat gain, while the other room would be cooled, via conditioned refrigerant circulated from room to room.”

The VRF system allows Preston Dees, director of school safety and energy manager for the Screven County School System, to monitor and control the cooling and heating in each classroom, according to the Mitsubishi Electric case study. “We were able to cut out another big part of our energy costs when we installed the new system because we were able to remove the old boiler and cooling tower,” Dees says. The boiler had provided heat, which was no longer necessary with the Mitsubishi Electric system. “We saved about two-thirds on our gas costs, so we’ve saved on energy and gas.”

Maintenance is also easier. The Mitsubishi Electric system is compartmentalized and distributed across 100 indoor air handling units, Archer points out, so if one component of the system goes down it can be fixed without requiring a total system shutdown and repair.

“The greatest risk is losing 10-12 percent of the school at any given time,” Archer says.

“With a water pump system, a single problem can take down a whole school.” gb&d

Post-renovation Average monthly cost: $11,023 Energy use: 87,313 kWh Average Yearly Savings: $16,226 Average Energy Savings: 25%

The VRF system allows the Screven County School System to monitor and control the cooling and heating in individual classrooms on campus.

Mitsubishi Electric and the three-diamond logo are registered trademarks of Mitsubishi Electric Corporation. CITY MULTI and H2i are registered trademarks of Mitsubishi Electric US, Inc.

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Beauty & Performance ™ in Wood

Treehouse by Blue Forest, Kebony Radiata and Scots Pine

What is Kebony?

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Kebony is a highly durable, sustainable wood with the aesthetics and performance of the best tropical hardwoods. Kebony is committed to environmentally sound treatment and sourcing practices.

DECKING

ROOFING

DOCK PLANKING

YACHT DECKING

CLADDING

INDOOR FLOORING

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Distributed By:

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GREEN BUILDING & DESIGN

Up Front Typology Trendsetters Features Spaces Punch List

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74 Modern Redux

A mid-century Eichler home in Palo Alto looks to biophilia and brings the outside in with a 21st-century update

80 Opposing Stiles

The winner of the Solar Decathlon’s Fan Favorite award, the STILE House blends cultural styles and so much more

84 There’s an App For That

A Canadian telecommunications company sets the standard for sustainability via new technology

88 The School of Sustainability

How a net-zero elementary school is helping the environment, saving money, and teaching its students the power of green

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MODERN REDUX A mid-century Eichler home in Palo Alto looks to biophilia and brings the outside in with a 21st-century update

By Rebecca Pogson

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PHOTO: MARIKO REED

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The goal for this Palo Alto home was to maintain its modern look and feel while creating a deeper connection with the outside and making the spaces more suitable for entertaining.

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SPACES

PHOTO: MARIKO REED

How do you improve on a classic or update something that was vastly ahead of its time 60 years ago? Ask Klopf Architecture. The San Francisco firm specializes in designing remodels and additions to classic Eichler homes like this one in Palo Alto—one of the thousands of mid-century modern residences built by developer Joseph Eichler in California in the 1950s and ‘60s. Known for their inside/outside relationship and minimal detailing, Eichlers embody a style that is “clean and modular, understandable, and at rest,” says principal John Klopf.

Clients who live in these homes are living in a piece of history. But as well designed as these residences might be, they can feel somewhat outdated for the modern family. “People today are looking for ‘flowy’ spaces where everyone can hang out together in a great room or around the kitchen as the heart of the home,” Klopf says. The goal for this Palo Alto home was to maintain its modern look and feel while creating a deeper connection with the outside and making the spaces more suitable for entertaining.

Expanding on the original walls of glass and connection to nature so common in Eichler homes, Klopf designed a remodel that relocated the kitchen away from the entry, removed a heavy brick fireplace, and opened up the great room completely to the outdoors with folding glass walls to improve the flow. “Opening up the two walls of the great room turned the house conceptually into an open-air pavilion with two cedar-clad ‘blocks’ of house on either side,” Klopf says.

The open-air pavilion extends side to side on the property, incorporating both side yards into the great room. This space, which contains the living and dining areas, is the heart of the home, and when opened up makes the relatively small house seem large, with outdoor living areas that include a fountain, fire pit, and dining area. Taking the concept of borrowed landscape from traditional Japanese architecture, the fountain, concrete bench wall, and natural landscaping bound the indoor/outdoor space. Plus, the roof extends past the folding glass door walls to gb&d

PROJECT Location Palo Alto, CA Size 1,662 ft² plus garage Completion 2014

TEAM Architect Klopf Architecture Landscape Architect Arterra Landscape Architects Structural Engineer Brian Dotson Consulting Engineers Contractor Flegel’s Construction

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The master bath acts like a tunnel to the outside, with a full glass wall in the shower that looks onto the private landscaped rear yard, giving homeowners the feeling that they are showering outside.

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PHOTOS: MARIKO REED

ABOVE Continuing the white walls and gray floors from inside to out really emphasizes the indoor/outdoor living style of Eichler homes.

help blend the interior and exterior spaces and provide shade and additional protection from the rain.

The color and materials palettes also promote openness. Cedar siding covers the two wooden boxes of the house, except for the white walls that continue along from exterior to interior to exterior in the great room. The smooth white surface extending from outdoors to indoors to outdoors again further blends the interior and exterior spaces and also provides a conceptual cut gb&d

through the house, reinforcing the void that separates the two wooden boxes. Gray porcelain tile floors turn into gray concrete at the side yards and front walkway and driveway. “Continuing the white walls and gray floors from inside to out really emphasizes the indoor/outdoor living style as well,” Klopf says.

Even the bathrooms are open to nature.

The master bath acts like a tunnel to the outside, with a full glass wall in the shower that looks onto the private, landscaped rear yard, giving homeowners the feeling that they are showering outside.

All of this openness presented some structural challenges though. The biggest technical obstacle, according to Klopf, was incorpo-

rating enough structural strength at the two folding walls to allow the whole walls to open up completely, while keeping the Eichler aesthetic intact—structurally minimal, elegant, and simple. “We ended up putting steel moment frames in that went over the roof to keep the lightness of the construction and openness of the walls,” he says.

With its ultra open spaces, the house requires no air conditioning. A new radiant infloor heating system was installed, along with a super-insulated roof, all new double-pane glass, windows, and doors throughout, and new wall insulation. Together, these elements helped the home’s overall energy design exceed California’s Title 24 Energy Code by 42.3%. gb&d january–february 2016

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OPPOSING STILES The winner of the Solar Decathlon’s Fan Favorite award, the STILE House, blends cultural styles and so much more

By Maura Welch

Fourteen small, quirky houses appeared on a decommissioned Marine Corps Air Station in Irvine, California last October. The abundance of solar panels, hydroponic gardens, and electric car-charging stations may have given the impression to passersby that a miniature eco-village had popped up almost overnight. But the houses were finalists in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon—a prestigious competition that invites students from all over the world to develop creative solutions to

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energy challenges by designing, building, and operating their own solar-powered houses. Despite the variation in their approach to energy infrastructure, many ultimately resembled one another in their markedly industrial, boxy appearance. Which is why one—with a remarkably elegant design, airy feel, and, most striking of all, a Roman-style arch crowning its compact central living quarters—stood out.

It is called STILE House (Sustainable Technologies Integrated in a Learning

Experience), and students from the University of West Virginia and the University of Rome Tor Vergata spent two years fine-tuning its integrated approach to energy efficiency, as well as its striking aesthetic design. STILE House, which won the Fan Favorite award, is all about cooperative opposition: between functional Appalachian and classical Roman architecture, between sustainability and comfort, and between compact design and organic communion with the surrounding natural world. gbdmagazine.com

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APPALACHIAN + ROMAN

The essential structure of the STILE House pays tribute to the backgrounds of the American and Italian students who designed and built it. The sturdy, rectangular shape of the main living area, complete with sliding barn-style doors, was inspired by the functional architecture of West Virginia, while the elegant arch that supports the solar array references a classic Roman style. STILE team member Todd Funkhouser, a civil engineering student at West Virginia University, explains that this collaboration helped its creators develop as designers and enhanced STILE’s aesthetic value. “It helped us get as much cross-cultural experience as we could, and showed us how European and American design teams can work together,” he says.

RENDERINGS: COURTESTY OF WVU-UTV

THIS SPREAD Blending the design styles of the two places from which this project’s student designers lived, West Virginia and Rome, resulted in its unique look.

ABOVE Obis dolupta voluptat.

Arum etur alique modi simet iusdam, consequodit aute sitistio.

Andant quam aut iunt, to dis voluptas.

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SUSTAINABLE + LIVABLE

This non-binary approach to the house’s design is evident when considering the sustainability impact of its most attractive components: floor-to-ceiling windows which provide ample natural light and also reduce energy consumption through passive solar heating. A living green wall contributes a lively array of flora and reduces the need for residents to consume energy traveling for fresh produce. The Roman-inspired arch, which gives the house its signature façade, also provides the proper angle for solar panels to generate enough electricity to power the entire house.

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The house’s openness, especially evident in its combined central living, dining, and kitchen area, creates a layout ideal for entertaining. It also provides the perfect layout for the house’s sophisticated solar chimney to use convection currents and differences in air pressure to cool the combined living areas at the same time.

“A huge cost for houses is heating and cooling, which is where the solar chimney came in,” Banfield says. “The passive cooling system doesn’t use electricity. You can just open your solar chimney and your vents along the floor and let the convection currents throughout the house work their magic.”

The solar chimney works when both the skylight in the center of the main living area and floor vents along the East and West walls of the house are opened. Warm, less-dense air can escape through the skylight, which pulls cool, shaded air in from beneath the house, lowering the temperature and providing fresh air without any energy consumption.

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PHOTO: THOMAS KELSEY/U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY SOLAR DECATHLON

The STILE team needed to navigate the relationship between sustainability and livability. Molly Banfield, also a civil engineering student at WVU, explains that the team wanted to demonstrate that consumers need not approach residential projects with an either/ or philosophy. “Sustainability and livability were valued equally,” she says. “We were really trying to show that sustainability is livable.”

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SELF-CONTAINED + CONNECTED

FACING PAGE The Roman-inspired arch provides the proper angle for solar panels to generate enough electricity to power the entire house.

RENDERINGS: COURTESTY OF WVU-UTV (OPPOSITE & RIGHT)

THIS PAGE Floor-to-ceiling windows allow the home to truly blend with the outdoors, which was a main goal behind the design.

Perhaps the greatest triumph of the STILE house is its natural integration with the outside world despite its very sleek, compact design. Banfield explained that this focus on the natural environment was an important aspect of the house’s sustainability goals.

“Connectedness with the outside world is an important part of sustainability, so we wanted the deck not to be a separate space so much as a continuation of your living space,” she explains.

Just outside the main living area is the outdoor deck, which is shaded by the arch. This creates the illusion of an extended indoor living space. It also allows for a very gentle, gradual transition between the built and natural environment, which represents a lifestyle that integrates the built and natural environment seamlessly.

Funkhouser elaborates on this effect. “We used floor-to-ceiling windows to create as little visual distraction as we could,” he says.

“We also put the floor at the same level as the decking outside so that your eye didn’t get caught on that transition and could just look right past it and onto the outside.”

The STILE House balances cultural designs, sustainability and livability, and the built and natural environments. This dynamic creativity nods to the future of energy efficiency, which will undoubtedly become an increasingly strong force pushing style forward. gb&d

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S PAC E S WO R K

THERE’S AN APP FOR THAT A Canadian telecommunications company sets the standard for sustainability via new technology

By Emily Torem

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PROJECT Location Vancouver, Toronto Size 525,000 ft² plus residential tower (ft² to be determined) Cost $750 million Certification LEED Platinum anticipated

TEAM Architect Henriquez Partners Architects Real Estate Development Westbank Project Corp.

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF TELUS

At TELUS Garden, a new office tower in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, the relationship between technology and nature is evident in a modern workspace that helps TELUS lower its carbon footprint and foster a stronger connection with its community.

“To make the building an icon, we had to look at sustainability as an opportunity,” says Andrea Goertz, chief communications and sustainability officer, TELUS. Goertz wanted TELUS Garden to not only be a beautifully architected addition to Vancouver’s skyline, but an aide in the city’s mission to become the greenest metropolis in the world by 2020.

Goertz accomplished her mission by leaps and bounds, constructing a tower that was built to the latest LEED Platinum certifications (although the certification is still under review, it was applied with 86 points, which is the most a Canadian building has ever featured) by collaborating and creating a dialogue between TELUS employees about the development of the building itself through a nuanced understanding of how workers interact with technology in 2015. Work Styles is a program that TELUS launched in 2008, which today has encouraged nearly 70% of the company’s workforce to work where and when they are the most productive and efficient. “We’ve been able to shrink our real estate square footage by about one million square feet because we have less team members working in our building, and when they are in our building, it’s fantastically collaborative and productive,” says Goertz. “We’ve focused on having an inspiring space rather than voluminous one.” Not only is TELUS Garden a stunning space featuring dramatic cantilevered sky boxes, it also has a significantly smaller carbon footprint compared to other buildings of its size due to its environmental features and space-saving design.

To Goertz, creating a modern workspace meant not

THIS PAGE The newly built TELUS Garden office tower in Vancouver is expected to earn a LEED Platinum certification.

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ABOVE TELUS employees engage with the company’s “Nudge” smartphone app.

Collaborative pop-ups solicit feedback from any employee who has downloaded the app to create company-wide initiatives that everyone has a stake in.

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only acknowledging the increased mobility of workers, but also creating a flexible workspace that helps TELUS employees work as efficiently as possible when they are in the office. “We started thinking about how we behave as humans and how to prioritize for our team members,” Goertz says. “If they wanted more collaborative space where they could gather informally, we’d build areas for that.” High-efficiency motion sensor lights respond to room occupancy, saving money and mirroring team member usage. Remarking on TELUS Garden’s 10,000 square feet of outdoor space, which spreads over six levels for maximum accessibility, Goertz says, “We felt strongly that we had to take advantage of outdoor spaces and help our team members feel inspired by nature. We wanted to make sure they felt a connection to Vancouver’s sea and sky.” A rainwater capture system retrieves and redistributes rainfall to use as gray water and irrigation for outdoor spaces. To make it easy for members to cycle to work, communing with nature and saving on carbon emissions, TELUS Garden provides bike storage and shower facilities.

Electric car charging stations offer an easy incentive for drivers with energy efficient cars.

With Vancouver’s largest solar panel system, comprised of 288 panels, TELUS Garden takes advantage of supplementary technologies to add to its sustainable design.

It also makes use of existing infrastructure, sequestering heat waste from its adjacent central office. “That was a very innovative and site-specific opportunity,” Goertz says.

The District Energy System captures heat to help reduce the heating and cooling burdens of the office, residential and retail space by up to 80% compared to conventional office buildings.

Perhaps the most direct way TELUS’ design collaborates with its employees is through the use of a customized smartphone “Nudge Rewards” app, the brainchild of a Canadian start-up. The app engages team members via push notifications with tidbits of information relating to the energy use of the building, recyclable office materials like sugar cane paper, and other

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“We’ve been able to shrink our real estate square footage by about one million square feet because we have less team members working in our building, and when they are in our building, it’s fantastically collaborative and productive,” says Goertz. “We’ve focused on having an inspiring space rather than voluminous one.” sustainability trivia, and contests. It even calls for brainstorming; “Spark Ideations” are collaborative pop-ups that solicit feedback from any employee who has downloaded the app to create companywide initiatives that everyone has a stake in. Colleen Dix, senior sustainability manager, recalls using it to pen TELUS’ new 2015 sustainability vi-

sion statement. “We had input from all of our senior executives, but we were missing how our team members felt. It was too corporate,” she adds. “We asked our team members what sustainability meant to them, and from that we created a word cloud. Within 48 hours, we had the answers we needed and were able to create our new statement.” Inspired by nature: creating a healthier, more sustainable future.

As a telecommunications company, its fitting that TELUS makes use of the real-time engagement that smartphones provide. “We found that 95% of people have their smartphones within reach at all times,” Dix says.

“And the average text is replied to within three minutes of sending.” Goertz underscores the importance of tapping into the power available to us to collaborate and inspire sustainable behaviors with contemporary technology. She wants TELUS Garden to be the type of structure her children will be proud of, and indeed, sustainability is all about acting well in the present to provide for the future. “As leaders when we have the opportunity to use new technology, we have to take it,” Goertz says. “It’s incumbent upon us to respect future generations.” gb&d gbdmagazine.com

PHOTOS & PHONE RENDERINGS: COURTESY OF TELUS

RIGHT TELUS Garden includes 10,000 square feet of outdoor space, which spreads over six levels for maximum accessibility. In addition, a rainwater capture system retrieves and redistributes rainfall to use as gray water and irrigation for outdoor spaces.

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Vancouver’s largest solar panel system: 288 panels will produce 65,000 Kilowatt hours per year.

515,000

TELUS Garden opens up about 450,000 square feet of office space for businesses and more than 65,000 square feet of new retail space in the downtown core.

10,000

More than 10,000 square feet of outdoor space on six different levels.

$750M

TELUS Garden represents a $750 million investment in the city of Vancouver.

1M

The system will reduce Co2 emissions by more than 1 million kilograms annually.

80%

A district heating system that will capture waste heat, reducing heating and cooling needs by 80% compared to conventional office buildings.

On The Nudge App: 95% of people have their smartphones with them at all times.

Most texts are responded to within three minutes.

During its eight-week pilot, there was a 95% adoption rate and a 73% engagement rate within 48 hours.

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THE SCHOOL OF SUSTAINABILITY How a net-zero elementary school is helping the environment, saving money, and teaching its students the power of green

By Emily Torem

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PROJECT Client Davis School District Size 84,785 ft² Cost $13.1 million Certification LEED Gold anticipated Completion 2014

TEAM Architect CBO Architecture Mechanical Engineering Van Boerum & Frank Associates, Inc. Electrical Engineering Envision Engineering Structural Engineering Bsumek Mu & Associates Landscape Architect ArcSitio Design Contractor Hughes General Contractor

SUPPLIERS

PHOTO: SCOT ZIMMERMAN

Carpet Mohawk Floors Johnsonite Masonry Amcor (Oldcastle) Ceilings CertainTeed Ceramic Tiles Dalile Door Hardware Ingersoll-Rand Doors Steelcraft, Overhead Door Co. Elevators Schindler Elevator Corporation Insulation Icynene, CertainTeed Movable Partitions ModernFold Paint Kwalpaint Roofing Sika Samafil Skylights Solatube, Sun Optics Windows EFCO Hand Drying Equipment Dyson

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THIS PAGE The school’s four wings, playfully called “habitats” with the names “run, jump, swim, and fly,” are meant to encourage movement and exercise.

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BELOW Every classroom is designed with a scheme, with round group tables and stools, so kids can move freely. Research shows that you can do better work that way because there is more blood flowing, allowing students to get the most out of their education and teachers to use different platforms.

It’s fitting that the first net-zero school in Utah is an elementary school. Architecture studio VCBO Architecture’s extraordinary design is a stunning ode to what conservation-savvy architects can achieve when they prioritize future generations.

On top of a comprehensive carbon cutting design, Odyssey Elementary produces as much energy as it consumes via an array of 1,100 photovoltaic panels. VCBO principal Jeanne Jackson, FAIA recalls explaining to fifth graders why they wanted to install the costly $750,000 PV array, highlighting that they would zero out energy costs in a mere decade. “I showed them the figures and the payback and they said, ‘That seems like a really good investment, because after that, it’s all free.’ I think if we can get a fifth grader to see it, then we did our job,” Jackson says.

Knowing the panels were not a guarantee because of their initial price tag, Jackson and her team whittled down the energy usage of the building as much as possible from the outset. They started with emulating other low energy buildings, orientating their building properly to take advantage of passive solar heating and cooling, and outfitting every light fixture in the building with responsive LEDs. “There’s daylight harvesting, so when there’s enough daylight coming in, the lights dim or turn off,” Jackson explains. There’s likewise different controls available depending on the classroom’s needs, for instance during a presentation, the optimal lighting set up can be configured.”

Jackson insists that the most important part of the building’s energy saving infrastructure is its ground source heat exchange loop, which uses the earth as a “heat sink,” drastically lessening the burden on applied heat and cooling to the interior temperature. The system works by running glycol into the 350-foot wells beneath Odyssey’s playfields, and using the earth’s steady 45 degrees as a base from which to heighten or lower air temperature. “If you’re trying to cool down to 65 degrees on a summer’s day, conditioning air starting from 45 degrees is a lot less intensive than gb&d

starting from 90,” Jackson says. Similarly, when heating a building when outdoor air temperatures dip below freezing, a well-insulated envelope filled with polyiso spray foam and high performance double-glazed windows help keep conditioned air from leaking.

When it comes to water conservation, Odyssey is no slouch either. “We are in a desert,” Jackson says. “We don’t like to use a lot of water.” From low-flow fixtures to native plants on the school grounds, the team kept water usage to a minimum. They did, of course, want green grass for children to enjoy, but even the water-intensive lawns are monitored by evapotranspiration, where sensors in the landscaping keep track of soil dryness, and only turn on the sprinklers when necessary.

Jackson, who only designs K-12 facilities, underscores that Odyssey’s engagement with the kids’ present and future goes beyond the sustainability of their environs and is built into the foundation of their experience. Prior to the building’s construction, a committee meditated on the childhood epidemic of obesity and settled on the thematic concept of motion and what it means to kids. The school’s four wings, playfully called “habitats” with the names “run, jump, swim, and fly” are meant to encourage

movement and exercise. The animal kingdom’s cast of characters also helped bring their vision to life. “In every classroom, we designed a scheme with round group tables and stools, so kids can move freely and can fidget,” Jackson says. “Research shows that you can do better work that way because there is more blood flowing.

It allows students to get the most out of their education and teachers to use different platforms.”

Perhaps the most inspiring thing about Odyssey, besides that children will have likely have a blast there, is that it demonstrates what a great investment it is financially for buildings to utilize green technology and design principles.

“An average school in Utah costs about $1-per-square-foot-per-year to run utilities,” Jackson says. “We’re at $0.37-persquare-foot-per-year.” This massive energy reduction means that Odyssey and schools like it (there are two others following the same prototype currently in the works) will be able to recover the costs of their PV array in about 12–14 years. Additionally, energy costs will likely double every 10 years, Jackson points out, whereas a net zero, well insulated building like Odyssey will be set for the next 75 years.

“It’s the most exciting project I’ve ever worked on,” Jackson beams. “It’s themed; it’s fun. It’s everything.” gb&d january–february 2016

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Sustainability, available on-the-go.

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GREEN BUILDING & DESIGN

Up Front Typology Trendsetters Features Spaces Punch List

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94 Sustainable Stay

The Westin Georgetown

98 On the Boards

Recycling and Energy Recovery Facility

100 Green Space

Fenway Farms

103 On the Spot

Matt Abbott

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Sustainable Stay The Westin Georgetown

A Washington D.C. hotel transforms its traditional elements to the environment’s benefit

By Vincent Caruso

The hospitality industry has been among the most remarkably dynamic at systematically changing its structural framework for the betterment of our ecosystem. As gb&d reported in the Typology section of our July/August 2015 issue, the hotel business in particular has embraced green adaptations such as electric vehicles and charging stations, the utilization of solar and geothermal energies, and a host of policy implementations designed to dramatically reduce waste. Essential adjustments in business practices such as these have long been exemplified by the Starwood Hotels enterprise, and more specifically, the Westin Georgetown has been an active agent in the cause to turn our built environments into positive appendages for our natural environment.

One of the novel ways the Westin Georgetown has managed to diminish energy consumption is by automating the scheduling of systems that demand energy. For example, the hotel has adopted the Evolve keycard software: after a fixed length of idleness in a given room, lighting, air conditioning, and any electronic devices shut down automatically until the assigned room keycard is reinserted by a guest, thereby prompting electricity activity to resume once again.

The effortless Evolve implementation has come a long way, resulting in a 30% reduction in the level of the hotel’s greenhouse gas discharge. As an added touch of green, the components now subject to automation have also been replaced by greener alternatives. Throughout the hotel, for instance, retrofits of Compact Fluorescent

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PHOTO: JASON DEWEY PHOTOGRAPHY

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30%

19.5%

71%

10%

The Evolve implementation resulted in a 30% reduction in the level of the hotel’s greenhouse gas discharge.

The hotel has diverted waste by 71%, by recycling discarded toiletries and donating hygiene products to impoverished peoples.

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Water consumption has reduced 19.5% since 2008, or three million gallons per year.

Retrofits of CFL and LED lighting were conducted, altogether resulting in a steady 10% electricity reduction since 2008.

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Sustainability,

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LEFT The Westin Georgetown has been an active agent in the cause to turn our built environments into positive appendages for our natural environment.

PHOTO: JASON DEWEY PHOTOGRAPHY

Lighting (CFL) and LED lighting were conducted, altogether resulting in a steady 10% electricity reduction since 2008.

Also steadfast has been Westin Georgetown’s waning water usage. “Our water consumption has reduced 19.5% since 2008, or three million gallons per year,” Paul Zalocha, Westin Georgetown director of sales and marketing, points out. The approach has been a largely mathematical one, installing meters to monitor and collect data to enable better-informed adjustments. Presently, for example, sink faucets are fixed to meet a standard use of 2.2 gallons per minute, while bathroom urinals meet a minimum standard of 0.5 gallons per flush. Aside from minimizing usage, the source of water has been refined slightly as well, instituting a rainwater and treated wastewater collection system to satisfy hotel needs of this scarce resource in a more practical and conscious way.

These efforts were pushed and embraced collectively within the company, and they haven’t gone unnoticed.

“Sustainability is compatible with the beliefs of a lot of our associates and managers,” Zalocha illustrates, which made it a perfectly natural sequence of events. And as the Westin Georgetown has received a number of accolades from a multitude of organizations for the steps they’ve taken advancing sustainability in hospitality, they have plenty to show for it. In addition to receiving the first-ever supplier Gold Medal from Project ICARUS (their highest award), the hotel has been granted a Clean the World distinction for recycling discarded toiletries, donating hygiene products to impoverished peoples, and diverting waste by ultimately 71%, proving it’s indeed possible to help the environment while aiding the less fortunate in the process. gb&d gb&d

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On the Boards

Recycling and Energy Recovery Facility

By Amanda Koellner

Leeds, England will soon be the green poster child for waste-to-landfill reduction with its upcoming Recycling and Energy Recovery Facility, designed to remove recyclable waste from the city’s trash bins—214,000 annual tons of waste, to be exact.

Designing the project is Jean Robert Mazaud, founder of France’s S’PACE Architecture, whose expertise lies in large-scale industrial projects including energy from waste plants, water treatment facilities, refineries, chemical plants, and more. Veolia, a United Kingdom leader in environmental solutions, is building the facility under a 25-year contract with Leeds City Council for residual municipal waste treatment and energy recovery.

Here, we zoom in on some of the details to gather what makes this soon-to-be open facility so exciting. gb&d

The Recycling and Energy Recovery Facility’s unique construction is based on the creative combination of glass and timber framing.

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The facility will generate around 11 Megawatts (MW) of electricity, which will be supplied to the national grid. This is set to be enough electricity to power around 20,000 area homes.

RENDERING: JEAN ROBERT MAZAUD ARCHITECT, S’PACE ARCHITECTURE

The living wall to the southern facade, which creates what the builder calls a “vertical woodland,” will be one of the largest of its type in the country.

The building will also feature rainwater harvesting and drainage techniques to add to its overall sustainability.

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Green Space Fenway Farms How the urban farming team at Boston’s Green City Growers brought more than 4,000 pounds of fresh, organic produce to Red Sox Nation

By Amanda Koellner

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ABOVE Green City Growers, in conjunction with Recover Green Roofs, installed a 5,000-square-foot plot positioned on the roof of the front office on the third base side of Fenway Park.

ees. Here, we spoke with Green City Growers founder and CEO Jessie Banhazl about how they’re helping turn one of America’s most beloved ballparks into one of the greenest. gb&d: How did Fenway Farms come about?

And how did the collaborative aspect regarding your company and Recover Green Roofs play into this process of getting the project off the ground?

Banhazl: We participated in MassChallenge, which is a startup accelerator program, back in 2013, and were awarded the John W. Henry Family Foundation prize for social impact, which is how we were introduced to Linda Pizzuti Henry. Simultaneously, Fenway was planning to install

PHOTO: JEFF GILBERT

A kale Caesar wrap at a ballpark? It’s a far cry from the nachos and hotdogs most crave as they gear up for the seventh-inning stretch, but who says baseball’s culinary counterpart has to come in the form of junk food?

On the opening day of the 2015 baseball season, Boston-based urban farming company Green City Growers—in conjunction with Recover Green Roofs—installed and launched Fenway Farms, a 5,000-squarefoot plot positioned on the roof of the front office on the third base side of Fenway Park. The team behind the project set out to grow 4,000 pounds of produce last season and surpassed that number by 600 pounds, providing fresh food to the park’s EMC Club Restaurant, the press kitchen, select concession stands, and even employ-

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RIGHT The team behind Fenway Farms set out to grow 4,000 lbs of produce last season and surpassed that number by 600 lbs, providing fresh food to the park’s EMC Club Restaurant, the press kitchen, select concession stands, and even employees.

a traditionally green roof, and had hired Recover to do the install. In speaking with Linda, we pitched the idea of Fenway installing a rooftop garden, which she was really excited by! The fact that we had worked with Recover Green Roofs on both the rooftop farm at Whole Foods Lynnfield and at ester restaurant in Dorchester was fortuitous, and made the entire process of converting over from a traditional green roof into a rooftop farm really seamless.

Recover did the actual installation of the green roof membrane layers, the crates, the soil, and the irrigation system, and Green City Growers maintains the farm. gb&d: Can you elaborate on the milk crate container growing system and how that works?

PHOTO: MARIE MACCHIAROLO

Banhazl: The milk crate growing system is quite elegant in its simplicity. There are 1,750 1’x1’x1 milk crates, each which are lined with a felt liner and filled with a custom soil mix from the Vermont Compost Company. The system also has a state of the art Weathermark SmartLink drip irrigation system, which can be monitored remotely (via a smartphone) and adjusts based on soil moisture level/weather. The whole growing system is incredibly organized and neat, which has been ideal for horticultural management. gb&d: It’s interesting to read about arugula, broccoli, chives, eggplant, collards, etc. being grown for use at a baseball stadium. A bit far off from the typical nachos and hot dogs offered at most parks. Are these crops used at the general concession stands or somewhere a bit fancier within the ballpark? gb&d

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gb&d: Do you predict more sports stadiums/ arenas will turn toward home-grown produce to expand their offerings in the future?

Banhazl: While healthier options probably won’t ever replace hot dogs or chicken fingers as the go-to concessions at ballparks, there is a real desire for healthy options and fresh produce among many fans. I wouldn’t be surprised to see more in-park gardens after the amount of press that Fenway Farms received, or at the very least, I anticipate that more parks will offer healthier options to typical fare.

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gb&d: On that note, is this the only such roof at a baseball stadium that you’re aware of ?

Banhazl: It is not the only garden at a baseball stadium, but it is the largest! In addition to Fenway Farms, there is Giants Garden at AT&T Park where the San Francisco Giants play, and Coors Field is home to the Colorado Rockies, and “The GaRden.”

Fenway Farms represents the Red Sox’s commitment to health and wellness for both children and adults. Environmentally, eating locally grown produce cuts costs and harmful emissions from long-distance transportation. Additionally, green roofs act as an insulator, helping to reduce heating and cooling costs for the park’s offices below.

gb&d: You estimated that more than 4,000 pounds of produce would be harvested this year during the spring, summer, and fall.

Now that we’re in October, how did that estimation shake out in reality? Where does the excess produce go?

Banhazl: We passed the 4,000 pound mark in the first week of September! As of the end of October, we’ve grown over 4,600 pounds of produce. As I mentioned, the produce was used in-park at almost every kitchen.

The EMC Club hosts events, which are often catered, throughout the off-season, so while the Red Sox season is long over, the farm’s produce is still being put to use. gb&d: Why do you feel this is an important addition to Fenway? What are the environmental benefits?

Banhazl: This project serves to engage Red Sox Nation in the value of eating fresh food.

Eating vegetables, especially those grown organically and locally, combats obesity and other common health issues. Fenway Farms represents the Red Sox’s commitment to health and wellness for both children and adults. Environmentally, eating locally grown produce cuts costs and harmful emissions from long-distance transportation. Additionally, green roofs act as an insulator, helping to reduce heating and cooling costs for the park’s offices below. gb&d gbdmagazine.com

PHOTO: U.S. AIR FORCE, RICK BERRY; PUBLIC DOMAIN

Banhazl: The majority of the produce is used in the EMC Club Restaurant, which is the park’s high-end restaurant. We have been able to offset over 20% of the restaurant’s produce needs at the peak of the growing season. However, because the farm has been so prolific, the produce has been used in almost every kitchen in the park— notably, the press kitchen uses Fenway Farms produce, and there is a ground-level concessions stand that sells a kale Caesar wrap and a kale salad. The park also sent home some shares of produce to employees, like a CSA, which was a great unintended perk of the farm.

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On the Spot Matt Abbott

Matt Abbott, the subject of this issue’s In Conversation interview and a partner in Bain & Company’s utilities and alternative energy practice, answers our questionnaire and touches on some of his favorite places, the importance of education, and his belief that one should always “leave it better than you found it.”

THE PERFECT CITY WOULD HAVE

CURRENT PROJECT YOU’RE MOST EXCITED ABOUT

THE BUILDING YOU SOULD SAVE IF THE WORLD WAS GOING TO END

St. Petersburg, Russia.

A safe and nurturing environment for kids from all walks of life to learn and develop.

Hyperloop.

FAVORITE PLACE YOU’V EVER TRAVELLED

The Smithsonian (admittedly, it’s more than just one building…), to preserve as much of our history as possible.

MOST IMPACTFUL EXPERIENCE IN NATURE

FAVORITE MODE OF TRANSPORTATION

CAUSE YOU’D SUPPORT IF YOU HAD A BILLION DOLLARS

Spending time (most anywhere) in Yosemite.

A car with a great manual transmission—I know, I know, not the greenest option.

Education, education, education.

MOST MEMORABLE HOMETOWN HAUNT

SOCIAL MEDIA: HELPING OR HURTING?

Short trips to the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor.

YOUR PERSONAL DEFINITION OF SUSTAINABILITY

Leave it better than you found it.

For the most part, helping, as injustice can be made known and acted upon so much more rapidly these days.

IN CONVERSATION with Matt Abbott Continued from p. 24

was designed to accommodate a certain number of houses, so if we all of a sudden get a significant adoption of electric vehicles all in one place, that puts a tremendous strain on the local grid. Utilities need to figure out how deal with that, both from an infrastructure investment standpoint and to make the grid more durable. There is also an element of customer behavior involved, such as how to incentivize customers to charge their vehicles at different points in time, so we’re not maxing out the load on that circuit. gb&d: It seems like engaging consumers around energy usage in general will have to become more effective in order to reduce energy reduction goals. Do you also work with the customer experience side of the equation?

Abbott: Bain already works extensively with utilities on how they interact with customers. Historically, the products were pretty standard, and communications with customers were very limited. However, customers now have many more choices, especially around green options, and there’s a lot more interaction with customers on their energy usage. Providing data to customers, whether through an online presence or even through apps, is helping them become more informed and make decisions about their energy usage in a way that they couldn’t in the past. Some utilities are doing some really interesting things with games and competitions, for example, where you can look at an app that shows you how much energy you consumed last month compared to the same month the year before, along with the average energy consumption for residential customers in your area that have similar profiles. Are you doing a better job than they are to reduce your energy envelope? Or are they beating you? gb&d: It sounds like creativity and psychology have as much of a role to play as technology and economics.

PHOTO: COURTESY OF BAIN & COMPANY

Abbott: Certainly. There are many interesting and technology-enabled ways to interact with customers to help achieve what most of us are striving for, which is lower cost and lower environmental impact. There are many different experiments out there that are becoming more mainstream, and I think you’re going to see more of that. gb&d

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gb&d Exchange Your go-to resource guide for incorporating sustainable practices into your business.

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Directory & Index

ADVERTISERS

A American Hydrotech, 4 hydrotechusa.com 800.877.6125 B BOMA, 107 boma.org 202.408.2662 E Elkay, 20 elkay.com 630.574.8484 F Flood Panel, 2 floodpanel.com 888.744.2607 M Mitsubishi Electric, 3 mitsubishielectric.com 714.220.2500 N New York Build, 15 newyorkbuildexpo.com 315.636.4844 P Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 9 pnnl.gov 509.372.6317 Pine River Group, 72 pinerivergroup.com 855.230.5656 T Tandus Centiva, 12 tandus-centiva.com 800.248.2878 Trade Show Emporium, 97 tradeshowemporium.com 866.764.2968 U USGBC, 108 usgbc.org 800.795.1747

PEOPLE & COMPANIES

A Abbott, Matt, 13 Air Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute, 69 Aloft Detroit, 65 Alstom Grid, 57 American Hydrotech, 37 Archer, David, 68 Army Corps of Engineers, 37 AT&T Park, 102 Atherton, Charmaine, 18 Auer Steel & Heating Supply Co., 69

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B

Bain & Company, 13 Banfield, Molly, 82 Banhazl, Jessie, 100 Bank of American Merrill Lynch, 18 Barnard, Sarah, 33 Base Flood Elevation (BEF), 22 Battelle Memorial Institute, 56 Beber-Firestone, Hilary, 18 BLANCO SOLON, 28 BLANCOCULINA, 28 Bland, William, 70 Blum, Arlene D., 18 Boston Red Sox, 102 Bringing Up Girls, 40 Built Environment, 18 Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), 44 Buzzcar, 18 C CBRE, 18 Chase, Robin, 18 CITY MULTI R2-Series Heat Recovery VRF system, 65 Clark Construction Group, 18 Clean Energy Trust (CET), 18 Clean the World, 97 Colicchio, Lisa, 18 Colorado Rockies, 102 Comerica Park, 65 Compuware, 64 Coors Field, 102 Cosentino, 31 Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, 18 Crossville SpeakEasy, 28 D Daniel H. Burnham & Co., 64 Dattillo, Vince, 65 David Whitney Building, 64 DC Water, 42 Dees, Preston, 71 Dekton, 29 Design & Construction Week, 24 Detroit Tigers, 65 Dix, Colleen, 86 Dixon, Mike, 71 Dögg Ingjaldsdóttir, Erla, 18 Dow Building & Construction, 18 Dow Chemical, 37 DuPont, 18 Duvall, Lori, 18 Dyess Air, 68 E eBay, 18 Eichler, Joseph, 77 Ellington, Russ, 48 EMC Club Restaurant, 100 Emerson Climate Technologies, 57 Energy Star, 29 Environmental Working Group, 18 Epsten, Dagmar B., 18 Ernst & Young, 18

ester restaurant, 102 Evolve, 94 Expanded Polyactic Acid (E-PLA), 16 Extruded Polystyrene, 37 F F. William Brown, LLC, 48 Fenway Farms, 100 Fenway Park, 100 First Church of Christ, Scientist, 37 Flood Panel, LLC, 47 Ford & Associates, 68 Foster-Rice, Angela, 18 Francetic, Amy, 18 Franklin Energy, 69 G Garden Roof Assembly, 37 Giants Garden, 102 Girl Scouts, 40 Giro, 16 Glass, Stacy, 18 Goertz, Andrea, 84 Google Glass, 59 Gould, Kira, 18 Green Apple Day of Service, 40 Green City Growers, 100 Green Science Policy Institute, 18 Greenbuild International Conference and Expo, 18 Groundswell, 18 H Hair, Jaden, 28 Hawkins, George, 42 Henry, Linda Pizzuti, 100 I Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), 44 Insulated Roof Membrane Assembly (IRMA), 37 J Jackson, Jeanne, 91 Janquart, Dave, 69 John W. Henry Family Foundation, 100 K Katipamula, Srinivas, 53 KitchenAid, 28 Klingenberg, Katrin, 18 Klopf Architecture, 77 Klopf, John, 77 Kocak, Fulya, 18 Kohler, 31 Kuntz, Mark, 64 L LEED Platinum, 56 Leeds City Council, 98 Lenz, Kristofer, 27 Lewis, Kimberly, 18 Lincoln Center, 31 Living Building Challenge, 56 Los Angeles Mayor’s Office of Sustainability, 18 M Magnusson, Jemilah, 44 Marine Corps Air Station, 80 Marton, Deborah, 18 MassChallenge, 100 Mazaud, Jean Robert, 98

Metrobus, 45 MGM Resorts International, 52 Mitsubishi Electric US, Inc., 64 mnmMOD Building Solutions, 18 Mohawk Industries, 18 Mondock, Scott, 66 Monolithic Membrane 6125, 37 Moore, Michelle, 18 Mr. Steam, 31 Municipal Solid State Lighting Consortium, 52 N NAHB International Builders’ Show (IBS), 24 National Kitchen and Bath Association, KBIS, 24 New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), 47 New York Restoration Project, 18 Nudge Rewards, 86 O Odyssey Elementary, 91 P Pac Bell Headquarters, 37 Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), 52 Palmieri, Jane, 18 Passive House Institute US (PHIUS), 18 Peot, Chris, 42 Peters, Andy, 65 Pietrzak, Chris, 16 Project ICARUS, 97 Pruett, 68 R Ramanujam, Mahesh, 38 Recover Green Roofs, 100 Recycling and Energy Recovery Facility, 98 Revitaliza Consultores, 18 Rittenhouse, Dawn, 18 Roberts, Fleming, 40 Routman, Rochelle, 18 Roxbury Group, 65 RW Meade & Sons, 65 S S’PACE Architecture, 98 San Francisco Giants, 102 Sandwich Plate System (SPS), 47 Scott, Will, 65 Screven County School System, 70 Screven Elementary School, 64 Serra, Susan, 28 Shankle, Steve, 56 Shinola, 64 Shutters, Cecilia, 40 Siemens, 57

Silestone, 31 Silo Helmet, 16 Silva, Alicia, 18 Starwood Hotels & Resorts, 94 Steelcase, 18 Stevens Institute of Technology, 22 STILE House, 80 Stiles, Dennis, 52 SU+RE, 22 T TELUS, 84 Tesla, 24 The Epsten Group, Inc., 18 The GaRden, 102 The International Surface Event (TISE), 24 The International Window Coverings Expo (IWCE), 24 The National Association of Home Builders, 24 The Sacramento Drill Tower, 69 TileExpo, 24 TISE, 24 Transformative Wave, 57 Transmilenio, 44 Twitter, 64 U U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon, 80 Uber, 59 Uniroyal, 37 United Airlines, 18 University of Rome Tor Vergata, 80 University of West Virginia, 80 US Army Corps of Engineers Washington Aqueduct, 42 US Department of Energy, 22 US Green Building Council, 68 USGBC, 18 V Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF), 64 VCBO Architecture, 91 Veniam, 18 Veolia, 98 Vermont Compost Company, 102 VOLTTRON, 53 W Walmart, 52 Wang, Nora, 59 WaterSense, 31 Weathermark SmartLink, 102 Wells Fargo, 18 Wenzel, Mary, 18 Westin Georgetown, 94 White, Heather, 18 Whitney Partners LLC, 65 Whole Foods, 102 William McDonough + Partners, 18 Wilson, Robin, 31 Women in Green Power Breakfast, 38 Women in Sustainability Leadership Awards, 18 Work Styles, 84 World Economic Forum (WEF), 23 Y Yanez, Dennis, 37 Z Zalocha, Paul, 97 ZipCar, 18

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