INSIDE FORMIC A’S TR ANSFORMATIVE MATERIAL S P. 30
G R E E N B U I L D I N G & D E S I G N JA N UA R Y+F E B R UA R Y 2 018
MONDO’S LONG-LASTING FLOORS P. 66
100 YEARS OF RADIO FLYER P. 12
ALSO
Why FiberTite’s membrane roofing works P. 24
ABOVE AND BEYOND Amazing roofs and green technology overhead
UP FRONT
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GREEN BUILDING & DESIGN
In This Issue January+February 2018 Volume 9, Issue 48
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From Navy Base to Tech Hub Converting a naval warehouse into an attractive space for business and community was no small task.
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Paving the Way for the Future
Whitacre Greer’s permeable pavers make more construction projects possible.
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Deutsche Steinzeug America is transforming spaces while reducing indoor pollutants.
Quarrix’s composite tile has all the benefits of authentic tile, without the hefty weight or price.
Cape Town is poised to become a global leader in green building.
Better, Beautiful Spaces
Beauty Overhead
Transforming the Cape
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GREEN BUILDING & DESIGN
Table of Contents January+February 2018 Volume 9, Issue 48
38 Up Front 12
In Conversation Robert Pasin, Radio Flyer.
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Editors’ Picks Curated by gb&d staff.
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Event Preview Design & Construction Week, AHR Expo, and Solar Power Northeast are coming soon.
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Defined Design Singapore’s Khoo Teck Puat Hospital is truly an oasis of healing.
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RECAP: WSLA gb&d’s fourth annual Women in Sustainability Leadership Awards.
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A Stackable Solution GreenStaxx is revolutionizing modular housing with predesigned, building block units.
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Getting to the Bottom of Flooding TRUEGRID permeable pavers provide sustainable alternatives to traditional paving methods.
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Typology 54
Reinventing Spaces With adaptive reuse, old buildings get a new lease on life.
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UP FRONT
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Inner Workings 62
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Deck Smarts Maintenance issues plague outdoor living for homeowners— but IntelliDeck is changing that. Floors Built to Last Mondo’s resilient flooring solutions transformed a dialysis clinic into a restful space.
Spaces | Cape Town 90
Taking the Long View Sustainability was a top priority for 35 Lower Long, a hightech office building.
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A Waterfront at the Forefront V&A Waterfront’s innovations in green building are not going unnoticed.
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From RED to Green Cape Town’s new Radisson RED hotel is eager to go green.
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Punch List 100 WSLA Insights Stacy Glass discusses green building in the age of the circular economy.
4 Things We Learned About Rebuilding from Hurricane Sandy FAIA’s Claire Weisz looks at ways to create a framework to address extreme weather.
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Person of Interest Marianne Sætre, Snøhetta
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104 In the Lab Bjørn Tore Orvik of Yara Birkeland, a.k.a. the Tesla of the Seas, aims for a cleaner future.
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GREEN BUILDING & DESIGN
Editor’s Note Chris Howe A new year is upon us, and we must admit, in putting together the first issue of 2018, we’re already feeling rejuvenated. From inspiring adaptive reuse projects (see how Brooklyn Navy Yard’s Building 77 has gone from Navy base to tech hub on page 56) to innovative green solutions in Cape Town, South Africa (page 90), this issue is filled with stories that make us say, “Yes. Why not?” This issue also highlights the winner of the Stephen R. Kellert Biophilic Design Award, and to say that Singapore’s Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (page 16) is a masterpiece is an understatement. The more than 1 million-square-foot hospital is also a green oasis— with plants and water features at quite literally every turn. The architect Stephen Kieran has said that biophilic design should not just be part of the design process, but also the healing process. We couldn’t agree more. But it’s not simply beautiful buildings that make this issue great. It’s also the thought leaders who continue to push us all a little further— people like Radio Flyer CEO Robert Pasin (page 12). While the Chicago headquarters itself is a beauty (and LEED Platinum as well), we’re also struck by the longtime company’s continued commitment to do better. Writer Brian Barth got the chance to spend some time talking with Pasin about everything from conservation to making buildings more fun to work in. “Our mission is to bring smiles and warm memories to families
all over the world, and we work diligently across the company to ensure these positive impacts,” he says in the interview. It’s true. It’s hard not to smile when you see that little red wagon. But it doesn’t really matter what industry you’re in, does it? We can all do our best to make our spaces happier, healthier, and, ultimately a little greener. Just ask Snøhetta’s Marianne Sætre (page 102). She also talked a lot this issue about what it takes to make a better, smarter building as part of an even smarter city. We’re looking forward to another year of smart building and exciting breakthroughs in the world of sustainability. Sincerely,
Chris Howe, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
ON THE COVER INSIDE FORMIC A’S TR ANSFORMATIVE MATERIAL S P. 30
G R E E N B U I L D I N G & D E S I G N JA N UA R Y+F E B R UA R Y 2 018
MONDO’S LONG-LASTING FLOORS
FiberTite’s roofing technology helped to transform the roof at the Denver Art Museum. The titaniumclad Hamilton Building includes an outdoor sculpture deck with a westward facing window.
P. 66
100 YEARS OF RADIO FLYER P. 12
Photo by Jeff Goldberg/Esto. Courtesy of the Denver Art Museum.
ALSO
Why FiberTite’s membrane roofing works P. 24
ABOVE AND BEYOND Amazing roofs and green technology overhead
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GREEN BUILDING & DESIGN
Publisher’s Note Laura Heidenreich
gb&d Green Building & Design gbdmagazine.com EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Christopher Howe chris@gbdmagazine.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
Laura Heidenreich laura@gbdmagazine.com
Small actions can have a huge effect. It’s just one of the major lessons we learned in putting together the January/ February issue of gb&d. In this issue, we’ve been inspired by companies like TRUEGRID (page 38) and Bright Idea Shops (page 34), and how their efforts have gone a long way to make the spaces we live, work, and play healthier. We love that both companies use recycled content to keep products out of landfills. Bright Idea Shops’ Alan Robbins can’t help but get excited when he thinks about the impact—just one of his hexagonal plastic lumber picnic tables uses 1,300 milk jugs. Barry Stiles founded TRUEGRID to create permeable pavers from 100% recycled materials and solve flooding. He’s also on a mission to make the world a better place—especially since both he and his young son have battled cancer. “These cancers, they don’t know where they come from—whether
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it’s genetic or from food we eat or if it’s environmental—but I knew I could make a difference, that I could do something with my skill set to make our environment a healthier, safer place for our kids,” he told writer Rachel Coon. Of course, part of making a positive impact also comes down to making a more durable product in the first place. If your materials last longer, you don’t have to replace them after all. Take, for instance, FiberTite (page 24), whose specialized roofing membrane systems perform well even after 30 years, offering up added security, chemical resistance, puncture resistance, and sustainability to top it all off. Or Action Floor Systems (page 48), the high-performance maple flooring manufacturer that offers up solutions that have a hefty environmental impact, with all of the certifications and standards to back it up. Action Floors leads the industry in high-performance, innovative flooring that’s also sustainable. You can see their beautiful work in university stadiums all over the country, among other places. We’re excited to bring these stories and more to you as part of the first issue of 2018. Sincerely,
MANAGING EDITOR
Laura Rote lrote@gbdmagazine.com ART DIRECTOR
Kristina Walton Zapata kristina@gbdmagazine.com SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER
Brianna Wynsma
ACCOUNT MANAGER
Briagenn Adams
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
Julia Stone
EDITORIAL INTERN
Ross Greer
EDITORIAL DESIGN INTERN
Edgar Rios
CONTRIBUTORS
Brian Barth, Rachel Coon, Colleen DeHart, Leah Froats, Stacy Glass, Russ Klettke, Jessica Letaw, Caroline Eberly Long, Shay Maunz, Mikenna Pierotti, Margaret Poe, Claire Weisz EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD
Anthony Brower, Gensler Jason F. McLennan, International Living Future Institute 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.
Laura Heidenreich, Associate Publisher
Green Building & Design (gb&d magazine is printed in the United States using only soybased inks. Please recycle this magazine. The magazine is also available in digital formats at gbdmagazine.com/current-issue.
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 Inner Workings Features Spaces Punch List
gb&d
12 In Conversation Robert Pasin, Radio Flyer 14 Editors’ Picks Curated by gb&d staff 16 Defined Design
Meet the winner of this prestigious biophilic design award.
18 Event Recap A look back at the 2017 WSLA
celebration in Boston
20 Sustainable Solutions
Explore better solutions with the latest tech and innovations in the industry.
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UP FRONT
See more Radio Flyer on the web at gbdmagazine.com
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UP FRONT
In Conversation Robert Pasin Radio Flyer turned 100 years old in 2017, and “Chief Wagon Officer” Robert Pasin has an expanded vision for the next 100.
By Brian Barth
One could say durability is the old-fashioned version of sustainability. Historically, household products were built to last a lifetime, if not several. If an item never falls apart and is disposed of, there is no need to manufacture a new one—avoiding the use of all the resources required to make it. These days, few companies can claim more of a commitment to product durability than Radio Flyer, the toy manufacturer. Recently celebrating its 100th anniversary, Radio Flyer still makes its signature red wagon, along with tricycles, scooters, and other outdoor toys that continue to be built with the idea of passing them down from one generation to the next. Robert Pasin, the company’s “chief wagon officer,” grew up observing his grandfather, an immigrant craftsman named Antonio Pasin, in his Chicago woodshop (the elder Pasin founded Radio Flyer in 1917) and recently expanded on that old-fashioned version of sustainability. The company moved into its new LEED platinum headquarters in 2014—repurposing 70,000 square feet of its former manufacturing and warehouse space in Chicago—including a 30foot glass facade for natural light and a backyard vegetable garden. They’re eliminating PVC from their toys, incorporating more environmentally friendly materials, and redesigning their product line to be lighter in weight, which cuts down dramatically on the fuel required to deliver each toy to the retail outlet or customer. They managed to shave three pounds off one of their wagons, resulting in a 15% decrease in greenhouse gas emissions. The company even has a partnership with Elon Musk’s Tesla to produce a pint-sized toy Tesla to get your little ones thinking about alternative fuels at an early age. Just like the full-size version, it has a rechargeable battery that motors it down the driveway and a plug that allows your kid to blast their favorite tunes through the speakers. And don’t worry, a speed control feature limits the vehicle to three miles per hour for beginners or six miles per hour for “advanced” drivers. Pasin, who is himself still a kid at heart, recently took the time to answer a few of our questions about the exciting changes at Radio Flyer.
gb&d: Did you grow up with an interest in the environment? Were there any formative experiences that might have sparked that? Pasin: When I was young, my family had a farm in Wisconsin that my grandpa bought in the 1940s. Originally it was a dairy farm, but my dad, a conservationist, transformed it by ceasing farming and planting thousands of trees there. By doing this, the water quality of the lake went from being polluted from the fertilizers and manure to completely clean over the course of several years. Wildlife like wood ducks and fish returned in abundance. This made a big impact on me as a young person and I learned that it’s possible to reverse the effects of environmental damage. gb&d: How did the Radio Flyer sustainability journey begin? Pasin: I’ve always felt we should work to protect the environment. A key moment for me was at TED 2009 when Ray Anderson [the late founder of Interface and industrial ecology pioneer] gave his talk and really challenged businesses to do better on environmental issues. gb&d: How does this reflect back on the 100-year history of the company? Pasin: My grandpa was an Italian immigrant cabinet-maker, and two of his core values were to craft beautifully designed products that would last and to not waste anything. Those values are even more important now than they were a century ago. Our commitment to being a sustainable company is essential to laying the groundwork for another 100 years of business and innovating and creating timeless, quality products that will last generations. gb&d: Radio Flyer is known for durable, long-lasting products, which is one key to sustainable manufacturing. Why do you think so many other toy makers have gone in a different direction? Pasin: Radio Flyer depends so greatly on the outdoors—it’s where kids experience and make memories with our products. As a company, we feel we have a big stake in This conversation continues on p. 15
gb&d
PHOTO: COURTESY OF RADIO FLYER
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UP FRONT
Editors’ Picks Curated by gb&d staff
PRODUCT BIO-CASSAVA BAG What’s in the bag? No hard feelings, that’s what. Avani’s Bio-Cassava Bag is 100% compostable and biodegradable. Get them in whatever color, shape, or design you want and shop or sell easy, because these bags are made of cassava-based bioplastic and renewable bio-based materials—not oil. This sustainable bag can be easily recycled along with paper. It’s safe to consume for land and marine animals and dissolves in less than 150 days when discarded in water. Founded in Bali in 2014, Avani focuses on minimizing the toxic plastic waste discarded into Bali’s ecosystem by providing green alternatives. avanieco.com
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COMPANY RAVENWINDOW Dynamic glass is the future of green window design. Denver-based RavenWindow helps maximize your comfort while minimizing energy costs— we love how their smart windows automatically adapt to the changing climate using a solar-intuitive transitioning process. During the hot summer, these windows become shaded, scaling down on excessive solar heat and glare. In winter, they let in as much warmth and light as possible, so you stay cozy and comfortable. These windows are designed to last 30 years or more while reducing your energy usage by as much as 30%. ravenwindow.com
PRODUCT QUICKSTAND ECO So many of us sit all day, typing away, but what if we could more easily stand, too? The Quickstand Eco by HumanScale is a game changer for offices everywhere. Using minimal pieces and parts, this new sit-stand workstation is height-adjustable, easy to install, and portable. Made of sustainable materials, Quickstand Eco is part of the next generation of workplace wellness solutions. It can be paired with Humanscale’s OfficeIQ software, which sends periodic alerts when it is time to adjust your position. HumanScale is redefining office furniture, so you can feel better at work. humanscale.com
COMPANY ROHL SUSTAINABLE KITCHEN & BATH Rohl Sustainable Kitchen & Bath creates water management products that are truly efficient and environmentally friendly—both in design and performance. Rohl faucets and fireclay sinks are recyclable and lead-free. By using low-flow aerators for kitchen and bath faucets, Rohl helps conserve water. The company also takes advantage of the Perrin & Rowe filtration system, eliminating the need to buy plastic water bottles. One filter cartridge can provide up to 1,000 gallons of filtered water, so you can keep roughly 4,000 plastic bottles out of landfills. rohlhome.com
COMPANY MDC WALL Chicago-based MDC Wall offers sustainable interior wall solutions. As a leading source of commercial wall designs and coatings, they are committed to supporting a greener world. Through their MDC Reclamation Program, MDC Wall aims to reclaim vinyl wall covering for recycling into useful building materials. This helps reduce their environmental footprint and decreases the amount of material waste entering landfills. MDC Wall encourages users to return wall covering samples so the materials can be recycled or donated to ZeroLandfill Chicago for artists and educators. mdcwall.com
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PHOTO: COURTESY OF HUMANSCALE
Humanscale’s Quickstand Eco is a minimalistic solution to a healthier workspace.
UP FRONT
Event Preview
IN CONVERSATION with Robert Pasin
Winter 2018
Continued from p. 13
helping to preserve the environment for future generations. One of the bonuses of being a private company is that we’re able to look at the business with a different perspective and make decisions that are better for the company—and environment, in this case—in the long term. It’s hard to speak for others, but being passionate about the topic myself and having a dedicated workforce has helped us make an even greater commitment to sustainability at Radio Flyer.
By Julia Stone
gb&d: What other steps have you taken to reduce the environmental and human health impacts of your product line?
Design & Construction Week
DETAILS When January 9-11
Where Orlando, FL More than 80,000 design and construction professionWeb designandconals will come together for the fifth annual Design & Construcstructionweek.com tion Week (DCW) in Orlando. During the week, two simultaneous trade shows—The National Association of Home Builders’ International Builders’ Show (IBS) and The National Kitchen & Bath Association’s Kitchen & Bath Industry Show (KBIS)—will be presented by DCW’s founding partners. DCW encompasses three days of networking, educational events, and engaging programs and exhibits.
DETAILS Air-Conditioning, Heating, Refrigerating Exposition (AHR Expo)
When January 22-24 Where Chicago, IL Web ahrexpo.com
PHOTO: COURTESY OF DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION WEEK
Hosting more than 2,000 exhibitors this year, the International Air-Conditioning, Heating, Refrigerating Exposition (AHR Expo) is on its way to Chicago. What began more than 85 years ago as a small heating and ventilation show has now grown into the biggest event of the year for the HVACR industry. Roughly 65,000 HVACR professionals—from engineers to installers and end-users—from across the United States and all over the world will have the chance to discuss the future of their field and new ideas, products, and technologies.
DETAILS Solar Power Northeast
When February 5-6 Where Boston, MA Web events.solar/ northeast
The Northeast is among the strongest and fastest growing solar markets in the U.S., so it’s no surprise hundreds of companies and more than 1,000 industry professionals gather for Solar Power Northeast. Attendees explore new solutions, share expertise, and discuss policy. The event is expected to have 50-plus exhibitors. Proceeds help support the SEIA and SEPA’s research and education programs and SEIA’s advocacy initiatives. gb&d
Pasin: We’ve taken several steps to improve the sustainability of our products. For example, the Big Flyer Sport, which we started producing in 2015, features a number of sustainability improvements. We removed PVC tread from the front wheel tires and created a design that weighs less. The product is also manufactured in Illinois, which reduces overall emissions associated with transport. In addition, we have a replacement parts program where we help people extend the life of their favorite Radio Flyer products. We provide parts for those looking to either refurbish a toy to pass it down or those simply replacing damaged or heavily used parts. In 2015 and 2016, Radio Flyer shipped more than 123,000 replacement parts—many of which were to restore existing products outside of their warranty period. gb&d: What about operations? Pasin: One way we work to reduce our carbon footprint is through logistics. As a SmartWay Transport Partner, Radio Flyer works with freight carriers that follow fuelefficient best practices. This EPA program helps companies reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution created by their freight providers. gb&d: Tell us about your LEED Platinum headquarters. Pasin: Our commitment as a brand is to inspire creativity and fun, the same spirit we infused into our 70,000-square-foot headquarters in Chicago. We repurposed the warehouse space and added green design solutions, including building cisterns to retain storm water and installing geothermal heating and cooling systems to reduce natural gas consumption up to 50%. This conversation continues on p. 17
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UP FRONT
Green plot ratio This metric shows the relationship between the surface area, either horizontal or vertical, filled with greenery, to the plot of land. It’s an indicator of how much greenery there is in a given development.
Defined Design
An Oasis of Healing
By Margaret Poe Is it a hospital in a garden or a garden in a hospital? Singapore’s Khoo Teck Puat Hospital is both. The 1.1-millionsquare-foot, 590-bed public facility deeply integrates plants in its architecture. It offers this healing environment by appealing to the senses, from sight—views of abundant greenery and water features—to the smell of those plants and the sound of falling water. Greenery takes up nearly four times the size of the plot of land, known as the green plot ratio, giving the hospital a rainforest-like quality that’s heightened by the dragonflies, birds, and butterflies attracted to this oasis in the city. The hospital, which opened in 2010, won the most recent Stephen R. Kellert Biophilic Design Award, an International Living Future Institute award that recognizes exemplary projects. Kellert pioneered the field of biophilic design, which believes humans are healthier in environments connected to their natural surroundings. The hospital is built in a V-shaped configuration to allow breezes to first skim over the stormwater pond next to the site. In the center is a forest-like court with greenery cascading to the highest levels of the building, bringing nature to patients’ bedsides. To the architect Stephen Kieran, the hospital proves the essential role this approach can play in improving health. “With Khoo Teck Puat, we see that biophilic design elements and attributes should not only be considered as part of the design process, but also as part of the healing process.” Honorable mentions for the Stephen R. Kellert Biophilic Design Award are: Center for Sustainable Landscapes (Pittsburgh, PA), Etsy Headquarters (New York, NY), COOKFOX Architects Studio (New York, NY), Yanmar Headquarters (Osaka). gb&d
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V-shaped massing Shaping a building into an angled series of blocks can maximize natural ventilation and reduce energy usage.
RENDERINGS: COURTESY OF INTERNATIONAL LIVING FUTURE INSTITUTE
gbdmagazine.com
UP FRONT
IN CONVERSATION with Robert Pasin Continued from p. 15
Stormwater pond An artificial lake surrounded by vegetation helps prevent flooding and erosion after rainfall.
We also added a 30-foot glass facade to provide natural light and a view of the backyard. It offers an inviting landscape with native plants, walking paths, a vegetable garden, and a picnic space we enjoy during the summer. We wanted the renovation to focus on improving overall employee health and productivity, so we also added exercise and wellness rooms and sit/stand desks in the communal work area. gb&d: How do you track the success of your sustainability efforts?
Biophilic design This practice believes humans will thrive in built environments that integrate elements of the natural world.
Pasin: One of the most important tools we use to track the success of our efforts is scorecards. For example, when we look at our sustainable materials goal, our current product line is 98.5% PVC-free products, but we are aiming to get to 99% by the end of the year. We’ve also set an aspiration for the future to reach 100% PVC-free. From our scorecard work, we are developing a set of sustainability criteria covering GHG emissions, recycled content, sustainable and safe materials, ease of disassembly, and social compliance. Our aspiration is for all of our products to meet target thresholds within each of these areas. In 2016, we set a goal for 10% of our products to meet the sustainability criteria, and all departments work together to pursue positive changes toward this goal. gb&d: What about social impacts? Pasin: Our mission is to bring smiles and warm memories to families all over the world, and we work diligently across the company to ensure these positive impacts. We work to make a difference as a company in our community through paid time off to volunteer, donating products to children’s hospitals through our partnership with the Starlight Foundation, and building trees for every wagon sold online in partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation. We also strive to work with ethical manufacturing partners overseas; 99.9% of our overseas volume comes from suppliers who have received the “ICP Seal of Compliance,” and we continue to work toward our goal of 100% compliance. This seal means the facilities have been audited and met the standards of the International Council of Toy Industries ethical manufacturing program called the ICTI CARE Process. The seal ensures these facilities have responsible practices in the areas of This conversation continues on p. 19
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UP FRONT
Event Recap The 2017 Women in Sustainability Leadership Awards Virge Temme (center) of Virge Temme Architecture
This year’s WSLA winners celebrated in Boston. By Laura Rote On November 7, 2017, 100 people gathered at the Omni Parker House in Boston in celebration of gb&d’s fourth annual Women in Sustainability Leadership Awards. The awards dinner included speeches from Halstead/ MetroFlor’s Chief Sustainability Officer Rochelle Routman and USGBC’s Kimberly Lewis, senior vice president of market transformation and development for North America, as well as comments from winners. “I felt honored to be part of this group of strong, conscientious, and forwardthinking women,” says winner Virge Temme, owner of Virge Temme Architecture. “Hearing their stories and learning of their accomplishments earned in spite of the obstacles they faced made me feel, for the first time in my career, like I was not alone—like I had comrades in arms.” Lynn N. Simon, senior vice president of Thornton Tomasetti, says the celebration was especially meaningful. “Not only did it recognize my contributions to the sustainability field, but also my role as mentor and coach for women—and men—across the AEC industries. Sharing knowledge is the first and perhaps most
important step toward a greener built environment and affecting lasting change.” The 2017 WSLA Winners are: Dr. Duygu Erten of TURKECO Consulting, Deb Frodl of GE Ecomagination, Ilana Judah of FXFOWLE Architects, Sandra Leibowitz of Sustainable Design Consulting, Catherine Luthin of Luthin Associates, Susan Rochford of Legrand North America, Lynn N. Simon of Thornton Tomasetti, Gillan Taddune of Banyan Water, Virge Temme of Virge Temme Architecture, and Wendy Vittori of HPD Collaborative. Winners were selected by a judging panel, including Rochelle Routman of MetroFlor and chair of the WSLA Alumni Group, Amanda Sturgeon of the International Living Future Institute, Kimberly Lewis of the USGBC, and gb&d’s Chris Howe and Laura Heidenreich. The event was held in partnership with USGBC and ASPECTA by Metroflor and sponsored by EY, Los Angeles Department of Water & Power, SKANSKA, Steelcase, and United Eco-Skies.
For more on this year’s WSLA winners, visit us on the web at gbdmagazine.com
USGBC’s Kimberly Lewis
Rochelle Routman (center), chief sustainability officer at Halstead/ Metroflor, with gb&d’s Laura Heidenreich and Chris Howe
SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR PARTNERS & SPONSORS
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UP FRONT
IN CONVERSATION with Robert Pasin Continued from p. 17
health and safety, child and forced labor, working hours and wages, discrimination and disciplinary practices, and social benefits. gb&d: Who are the Eco Flyers? Pasin: Eco Flyers are employees passionate about the environment who lead our sustainability efforts at Radio Flyer by helping to identify opportunities for employees to reduce their carbon footprint and minimize waste. We recently introduced a new composting initiative, bringing our headquarters one step closer to becoming a zero-waste facility. The finished composted items provide our garden with rich fertilizer.
Winners of the 2017 Women in Sustainability Leadership Awards
gb&d: You also have a SMILE Squad and a wellness team. How do these relate to the company’s mission?
WSLA winners Dr. Duygu Erten and Lynn N. Simon
Pasin: All of our employee teams at Radio Flyer work to ensure we have a presence as a company in our local community. Our Smile Squad supports social responsibility and coordinates various community service opportunities throughout the year, including building playgrounds for schools in need. Our wellness team works to encourage a healthy lifestyle through nutritional guidance and motivation. Every year the team coordinates a summer fitness challenge to help offer new and exciting ways to get exercise in, as well as team-based incentives. They also worked with our Eco Flyers following the renovation to plant gardens in our backyard, which employees have access to regularly to harvest vegetables and other plants for lunch or dinner. gb&d: What are the top priorities for the toy industry at large to become sustainable?
PHOTOS: HANNAH OSOFSKY
Pasin: There are a lot of ways the industry can contribute to making toy-making a more sustainable business. The top priorities that stick out in my mind are continuing to ensure durable products, safe materials, and reduced transport impacts. gb&d
The 2017 Women in Sustainability Leadership Awards were held at the Omni Parker House in Boston.
gb&d
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UP FRONT SUSTAINABLE SOLUTION
A Stackable Solution GreenStaxx is revolutionizing modular housing with predesigned, building block units. By Julia Stone
For more than 30 years, Arthur Klipfel and Gwen Noyes have been working to provide better sustainable urban housing at an affordable cost. The married couple has decades of experience in the world of building and design. Klipfel is the founder and president of Oaktree Development LLC, a design-based development company originally founded as Unihab, Inc. in 1969. Noyes has been a partner of Oaktree since 1973. While designing multi-family residential projects with Oaktree, Klipfel realized most residential properties are made of units, like building blocks, that remain consistent from building to building— outside corners, inside corners, and corridor units. He envisioned an efficient system of constructing and designing buildings with these repeated “stacks.” His groundbreaking idea became the foundation for his affiliated development and design company, GreenStaxx.
INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY Klipfel and Noyes founded GreenStaxx to address the challenges of multi-family modular building. Klipfel designed and patented the GSX system, which includes a computer interface of stackable units, or boxes, that fit together like Legos on a grid. These pre-designed,
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UP FRONT
pre-engineered blocks help streamline the building and design process, saving big on energy, time, and money. The flexibility of pre-designed stackable blocks and the power and data organization of BIM (Revit) make GreenStaxx a technological and engineering powerhouse. With GreenStaxx, it’s as simple as “drag and drop”—the architect chooses the appropriate unit and places it into the graphic interface, which virtually models and assembles the project in 3D on a site-specific grid. When a project begins, the GreenStaxx team creates a grid that is sized to fit the blocks and customized to suit the local conditions and zoning requirements. The minimum double loaded corridor project uses about 12 unit stacks picked from available alternatives, but the system’s library also includes triple deckers and duplex townhouses. The company’s current largest design project, Cambridge Park Place, is 312 units. The library of more than 25 unit types sets GreenStaxx apart from other modular building solutions. Their collection includes many configurations—one, two, and three-bedroom units, elevators, stairs, and more. This allows the team to quickly and easily design, evaluate, and construct high-quality multi-family residences. Noyes and Klipfel say modular is the way to go in terms of speed, flexibility, and sustainability. However, you can use GreenStaxx’s technology even if you don’t want to build modular. “There’s a whole level of design time efficiency that’s achieved even if our clients don’t end up using prefabrication,” Noyes says. When appropriate, the library of units can work with conventional building projects. “GreenStaxx does both conventional and modular building because modular building has tighter criteria. Not every part of the country has the right facilities to make modular possible,” Klipfel says. Whether clients choose modular or conventional practices, they still reap the benefits of GreenStaxx’s technology. All of the stacks are sustainably engineered, highly vetted, and market tested. Completely customizable, GreenStaxx’s technology allows for creative freedom, and beauty, in modular building.
PHOTOS: COURTESY OF GREENSTAXX
DEBUNKING MODULAR MISCONCEPTIONS “Not all modular projects have to look like chicken coops,” Noyes says. “A lot of people think because you’re going modular you just have a big rectangle, but really you can do whatever your creativity allows.”
G R E E N S TA X X IN ACTION The current 28 Austin Street project is moving along quickly because of GreenStaxx’s streamlined process. “GreenStaxx simplifies the coordination process, which is the most difficult part of modular building,” says Josef Rettman, NEI contractor and managing director on the Massachusetts project. “In the past, we’ve found that coordination between the local architects and the modular shop manufacturers has been extremely cumbersome, but GreenStaxx has tackled that problem.” In fall 2017, the project was in the design and development stage—deciding whether to include a steel garage or a concrete tension garage, for example. They recently delved into some of the building configurations, including the elevation height and how the units will lay out on the grid. Rettman has been impressed with their approach. “Compared to what we’ve built before, the coordination process has been phenomenal,” he says. “It’s well thought-out and coordinated and flexible to the point where their design criteria and approach allows their systems to be utilized along multiple site commissions.” The Austin Street project, which is eligible for LEED certification, uses approximately 100 GreenStaxx boxes and includes 5,000 square feet of commercial and retail space.
With GreenStaxx, you could complete a project months earlier than a conventionally built project.
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Modular can be beautiful, and with GreenStaxx, it is. Countless customizable options—from patios or balconies to the color of the walls—are available with modular construction. “We offer the library of multiple stacks to the developer, and they can then customize based on their needs and budget,” Klipfel says. Currently, GreenStaxx technology can build five stories in wood constructed over a one or two-floor steel podium, which allows for seven stories total. GreenStaxx is also considering implementing a light gauge steel system, which would extend a project’s maximum height to 18 stories. The triple-decker infill design is geared for urban affordability. “If a process like GreenStaxx gets legs, which I think it will, it could make modular construction process that much more flexible and easier to build,” says Josef Rettman, NEI contractor and managing director and a local partner on GreenStaxx’s 28 Austin Street project in Massachusetts. Like Noyes and Klipfel, Rettman isn’t new to the modular building field. His team has completed several modular housing projects in Chelsea. He knows firsthand that you don’t have to compromise aesthetics and customization with modular. “With GreenStaxx, you can pretty much design whatever you want. When you relocate and move the boxes, you can create overhangs, sunscreens, and so much more,” Rettman says. “And as long as it is coordinated properly, you can build the project three to four months faster than a conventionally built project.”
STREAMLINED COORDINATION Before GreenStaxx developed its system, multi-family modular construction often suffered from communication issues between offsite and onsite contractors. The GreenStaxx system streamlines coordination between the architect, general contractor, and modular manufacturer. “Each community has its own codes or a certain look to its buildings,” Noyes says. “Working with locals is a better way of fitting a building into a community. And often, certain contractors and architects have already worked together before, so they have a strong sense of camaraderie.” Teamwork and local expertise make all the difference when dealing with complicated approval processes. “When you’re dealing with an out-of-state modular manufacturer, their engineers are all licensed in the state in which they’re building modulars,” Klipfel says. “But the architect’s drawings must be approved in the state and city where you are building your project.” This drawing approval process can take as many as 180 days. GreenStaxx solves this problem by giving the architect pre-approved tools they can work with ahead of time—the library of stackable units. This eliminates the time-consuming back and forth between the developer, the local architect, and the out-of-state modular manufacturer. The team follows the unit library protocols, and GreenStaxx provides support and coordination along the way. “We’ve heard many of the horror stories about pre-fab projects. But we work on taking the guesswork out of it,” Noyes says. THE ‘GREEN’ IN GREENSTAXX Klipfel and Noyes are always looking for ways to make GreenStaxx greener, too. “About 20 years ago, Gwen and I said, we want to be green developers. And we were thinking, how do we get green to stick? How do we get developers not to veto it?” Klipfel says. That came down to marketability and educating developers. GreenStaxx is particularly marketable because it’s practical, less wasteful, and less expensive, and the green is “baked in.” Every GreenStaxx structure is built in a factory, so you can control the temperature for finishes, which means less wood shrinkage. Factories also produce much less waste than traditional construction sites. Thanks to the repetition in the unit
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manufacturing process, no materials are ordered in excess. “The cost saving is a huge benefit if it’s done right,” Klipfel says. “The knowhow goes from one building to the next building, cutting out all of that design time it usually takes.” Greenstaxx clients can reduce their total project costs by 10 to 15%, and reduce timeframes by up to 30%, all while improving the overall building quality. Rettman says GreenStaxx’s commitment to green is clear. “They’re figuring out how to do modular passive houses, which would break a barrier in the future of energy efficiency. They have the skills to do it and they’re close to their goal—it could be a major breakthrough in modular design.”
LOOKING AHEAD The future is full of exciting R&D—from creating alternative unit libraries for different climates to expanding the company’s interior design options. By partnering with consulting firms for continued research, GreenStaxx hopes to get ahead and improve their technologies and services. For example, GreenStaxx is partnering with Mike Browne of Advanced Building Analysis, who focuses on building analytics and measuring energy use and ratings. Their work could help developers receive sustainability-based rebates and incentives. Stantec is also working to make GreenStaxx’s unit library particularly contemporary at the Newton, Massachusetts, project Austin Street. Stantec is helping to provide design, product, and material options that appeal to millennials. In the coming years, Noyes and Klipfel aim to make GreenStaxx available in all major multi-family housing markets in the U.S. They have patents in the U.S. and pending in Europe and India, and they are considering offering the GSX system in Canada. gb&d gbdmagazine.com
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PHOTOS: COURTESY OF GREENSTAXX
You don't have to sacrifice aesthetics or customization with modular. GreenStaxx provides plentiful possibilities that are beautiful, too.
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10
Ways Membrane Roofing Makes for the Best Roofs The experts at FiberTite share why their system works. By Julia Stone FiberTite® specializes in roofing membrane systems that last. Based in Wooster, Ohio, it is one of the leading roofing companies in the nation—constructing long-lasting roofs for more than 35 years. “What sets us apart is our roofs’ chemical makeup, our fiber-knitting process, and the track record and history we have,” says Roy Ahrens, technical specialist at FiberTite. Ahrens began working at FiberTite in 2015, but he knew about the company’s positive reputation for longevity and durability long before joining the team. He recognized and respected their work as a roofing consultant back in 2012. “You didn’t see many single-ply roofs that were still performing well after 30 years,” he says. “It piqued my interest when I found out the roofs that were lasting the longest were FiberTite roofs.” Here are 10 ways the FiberTite roofing membrane proves to be the smartest method for building strong, durable roofs.
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PHOTO: COURTESY OF FIBERTITE
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FiberTite roofs have proven to perform well even after 30 years.
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FiberTite roofs are more resistant to UV rays and chemicals and offer up superior performance.
PRODUCT FORMULATION
FiberTite roofs outlast the rest because of their unique roofing membrane formula. In fact, the formula hasn’t changed since the start of the company in 1979—why fix something that isn’t broken? The FiberTite roofing membrane utilizes Elvaloy® Ketone Ethylene Ester (KEE). In 1973, DuPont™ developed KEE with the hope of making better roofing materials. DuPont wanted to create a solid plasticizer with a high molecular weight that would not separate from a single-ply polyvinyl chloride (PVC) roof. “Before Elvaloy KEE was created, PVC roofs typically used liquid plasticizers. But liquid plasticizers migrate out of the system. This means the PVC would revert to being brittle and more prone to cracking or shattering,” Ahrens says. Ahrens explains that a solid plasticizer, unlike liquid, bonds with PVC to create a new permanent compound, increasing the longevity and durability of the material. Elvaloy KEE resins also fight weathering and chemical breakdown to allow for more durable single-ply roofing systems. In the ’70s, Seaman Corporation (FiberTite’s manufacturer) began line trials using Elvaloy with PVC to create a geomembrane. About two years later, the XR-5® geomembrane was developed, and it was ready for use by 1975. It’s the highest strength and most chemical resistant geomembrane on the market, and FiberTite was born of it. Today, the FiberTite formula has a proven blend of KEE. The optimal amount of KEE not only makes the roof more resistant to UV rays and chemicals but also contributes to longevity, repair ability, and superior performance.
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BUILDING SECURITY Safety comes first, and critical facilities need increased protection when it comes to roofing. Hospitals, schools, data centers, and food processing plants cannot afford the risk of roofing damage or water leaks. “The Ohio Facilities Construction Commission deems roofing as one of the top critical components in a building,” Ahrens says. “If the roof were to fail, it would cause many safety issues.” Single-ply FiberTite membrane roofing systems provide premium protection against chemicals, standing water, and other damages compared to conventional single-ply and multi-layer roofing systems. FiberTite also offers hybrid multi-ply roofing systems to increase roofing redundancy. This formula combines the FiberTite membrane as the cap sheet with FiberTite SBS Modified Bitumen base sheets for maximum protection. FiberTite utilized a hybrid multi-ply roofing system when working on the Good Samaritan Medical Center in Lafayette, Colorado. gbdmagazine.com
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PUNCTURE RESISTANCE
“As you can tell from our name, fiber is the backbone of our roofs,” Ahrens says. “The roof’s puncture resistance has everything to do with the fabric.” Contrary to popular belief, roof puncture resistance doesn’t depend on the thickness of membrane—the fabric is what makes the roof more puncture resistant. Using poor quality fabric with low fiber counts creates a flimsy, weak membrane. Unlike other roofing membrane companies, FiberTite knits and weaves its own fabric at its weaving mill in Tennessee. From start to finish, the FiberTite team has complete control and customization over the fabric manufacturing process. FiberTite typically uses twice as many yarns within a one-by-one-inch square than other manufacturers, which makes its reinforcement fabrics stronger and more resilient.
AR EA O F FI RE BE LO W.
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CHEMICAL RESISTANCE
COMBUSTIBILITY
“Some people think, ‘Well, we don’t have jet fuel. We don’t have fats and oils like food processing plants, so I’m not worried about chemical contamination.’ But, the reality is, all roofs have chemical contamination, whether from normal pollution or standing water,” Ahrens says. As previously mentioned, FiberTite was born of the XR-5 geomembrane, which was developed to contain and protect against acids, oils, methane, and alkalis. Across the world, XR-5 is used for pond liners, secondary containment, floating covers, and wastewater baffles. FiberTite’s product formulation makes it the most chemical resistant of all roofing membranes.
The FiberTite KEE membrane is selfextinguishing thanks to its chemical makeup. The vinyl in the PVC includes a flame resistant chlorine component. If you expose the FiberTite membrane to fire, you can see this chemical process in action. Once you remove the flame source, membranes other than the FiberTite membrane continue to burn, while FiberTite self-extinguishes once the flame source is removed.
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6 WATER TIGHTNESS
Waterproofing a roof starts with the fibers. FiberTite roof membranes are water resistant because the yarns are covered in a primer coat that encapsulates them and increases their water tightness. No other company in the industry takes this important step after the knitting and weaving process. “Many roofing systems adhere their fibers using a heated strikethrough process where the top and back coat are sandwiched together with the scrim in between,” Ahrens says. “But at FiberTite, we encapsulate the yarns first and then fuse the top and back coat together separately, which fully waterproofs the roof.” The prime reason for the top coat is for waterproofing and to protect the yarns from water damage. And there is no need for extra sealant because the custom-made yarns in the FiberTite membrane are already watertight.
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SUSTAINABILITY
FiberTite is sustainable, efficient, and ecological. The company has one of the top scores from the Cool Roof Rating Council and was one of the first roofing membranes labeled under the ENERGY STAR roofing products program. FiberTite roofing membranes also exceed LEED requirements. FiberTite also offers rooftop gardens, or green roofs, popular among environmentally conscious clients. These sustainable roofs provide many benefits, including energy efficiency, stormwater and flooding control, cleaner air, and a longer roof life span. Green roofs also add thermal insulation, which lowers utility costs. FiberTite and its manufacturer, Seaman Corporation, are also founding members of the Vinyl Roofing Division of the Chemical Fabrics and Film Association, which helps educate architects, building owners, and contractors on the benefits of vinyl as a sustainable material for single-ply roofing systems.
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FiberTite’s strong, puncture resistant roofing system was the perfect choice for the Denver Art Museum.
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SOLAR REFLECTANCE
UV light inevitably damages materials over time. Since your roof can’t wear sunscreen, it’s important to install one with high solar reflectivity (SR) and infrared emittance (IE) to help your roof last longer and improve your building’s energy efficiency. “UV is what breaks down and ages roofs,” Ahrens says. UV radiation alters the chemical composition of your roof; when oxygen molecules combine with hydrocarbons, materials begin to break down. As these molecular changes take place, your roof becomes more susceptible to cracking. Ahrens says flat, built-up roofs were much more common when he started in the industry 30 years ago. “Roofs were not nearly as solar reflectant as they are now. If the roof wasn’t covered in gravel then it may have had a coating to increase its reflectance, but this ended up being a maintenance issue since the roof would lose its reflectance over time.” The FiberTite roofing membrane has an acrylic coating to keep it cleaner and more reflective. High solar reflectance helps with cooling costs in summer and lengthens the roof’s life span. The FiberTite membrane also meets the SR and IE requirements of California Title 24 energy efficiency standards.
▼ AS SEEN IN You’ll also find FiberTite’s work at: BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY DENVER ART MUSEUM DUKE UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER GEORGIA AQUARIUM GRAND OLE OPRY HOUSTON AIRPORT RUBBERMAID, INC.
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DURABILITY
Durability and longevity go hand in hand. “Carl Cash, a roofing industry expert, suggests building owners consider the durability range as a better indication of a roof life span instead of a warranty,” Ahrens says. Because of the solid plasticizer KEE in the FiberTite KEE membrane, FiberTite roofs are very strong and durable. “Everything will wear on the surface over time depending on different conditions, but our KEE membrane has the best durability and takes the longest to wear that surface away,” Ahrens says. Depending on the environment, it takes several years for a FiberTite roof to lose just one thousandth of an inch (mil) off the surface.
SPANGLER CANDY COMPANY TYSON FOODS UNIVERSAL STUDIOS YANKEE STADIUM
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LONGEVITY
Roofs that last longer are more cost effective and better for the environment. FiberTite roofs can withstand harsh chemicals and perform well for decades. As a result, FiberTite’s carbon footprint is much lower than the industry average. While initial roofing cost may be slightly higher for a FiberTite membrane, the investment pays off with a much lower life cycle cost. You won’t need to replace your roof as often as other membranes. Since its introduction in 1979, no FiberTite roof has experienced membrane failure—ever. gb&d PHOTOS: COURTESY OF FIBERTITE
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Sleek Surfaces Formica Group blends technology, design, and sustainability into the environments of the future. By Jessica Letaw
One of Formica Group’s most recent earth-friendly innovations started in an unlikely place: Renee Hytry Derrington’s basement. The group vice president of design was researching how to insulate the basement of her Wisconsin home when she discovered one of the options was a product made from reclaimed, choppedup denim. Not only had she found a solution for her basement, she’d found inspiration—to repurpose the waste our society generates into a beautiful, durable, flexible product. The evolution of Formica® Brand’s internationally acclaimed Reclaimed Denim Fiber line is a microcosm of how Formica Corporation evolved from a manufacturer of ’50s-fabulous countertops into a global leader in innovative design.
THE EVOLUTION OF DESIGN Derrington brought her idea out of the basement to Formica Group’s design team, who in turn asked the manufacturing team whether it would be possible to print using cotton fibers (all of Formica® Brand’s gb&d
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surfaces are printed). The printers embraced the design challenge with curiosity and enthusiasm, working to understand every phase of the process, from sourcing to manufacturing to how it would eventually be disposed of, completing the same life cycle analysis they do with all of their products—analyzing water usage and greenhouse gas emissions during manufacturing as well as assessing end-of-life recyclability. It’s the same process the team follows when collaborating with cutting-edge designers like Jonathan Adler. “The team wants to work with designers who stretch the definition of laminate design,” Derrington says. Adler—a famous ceramicist/ author/designer—fit the bill perfectly, bringing to the table not only his own color palette and out-of-the-box ideas for prints, but a strong enthusiasm for mid-century modern design and a collection of some of Formica Group’s earliest original products. Developing new products is a balancing act between technology, design flexibility, and environmental responsibility. There’s no “sustainability team” working to develop new products, says Jeffrey Taylor, Formica Group’s vice president of innovation and R&D, because “innovation and sustainability go hand in hand. No person focuses entirely on that, but rather builds a philosophy first, which then guides product development.” Formica Group uses many tools to guide that development, including participating in the GREENGUARD product certification, a program that helps to measure the emissions of a given product. By participating in this program during development, Formica Group engages in a continuous feedback loop, measuring the environmental outcomes of each stage of a product’s manufacture and highlighting the opportunities to reduce its environmental impact at each one. The reclaimed denim design project ended up earning the GREENGUARD designation, certifying it as a safe interior product producing very low or no volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions.
LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE Because Formica Group is a global group of companies, manufacturing in and selling to communities all over the world, they’re continuously looking for input. “We learn from our team all over the world who has boots on the ground—from the U.K. and Germany to Shanghai and Melbourne, and of course Cincinnati, we’re learning what people all over the world are looking for,” Derrington says. Taylor predicts products addressing health, safety, and recyclability will be the most popular, especially considering the
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PHOTOS, THIS PAGE AND PREVIOUS SPREAD: COURTESY OF FORMICA GROUP
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VISUALIZE YOUR DESIGN Formica Group recently introduced its patent-pending Formica Envisualizer® Design Platform, so architects and designers can experiment with patterns. The browser-based, algorithmic design tool invites you to choose from six vector shapes to create your own Formica® Brand–inspired patterns and scale, distort, and randomize objects. Manipulate your design so you get exactly what you want or start with a pre-made option and make it your own. You can share your final creation on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest, export it as a fully editable vector image, or use your new artwork as the basis of your next custom laminate project.
success of the Formica Infiniti™ line, a series made from material that has antimicrobial surface protection, resists fingerprinting, and can be thermally healed. Derrington agrees, adding that people are blurring the lines between their working and living spaces, erasing traditional boundaries and becoming more mobile. She anticipates the push to get off the grid will invite an aesthetic that describes not just man in nature, but how man lives in nature; grasscloth, leather veneer, and reclaimed materials are all predicted to play roles in the Formica® Brand of the (near) future.
Formica Group has been in the business for 100 years, leading the laminate world with beautiful design.
TEAMWORK, TEAMWORK, TEAMWORK In the end, the teams at Formica Group want what most of us want: comfortable, beautiful, healthy surroundings, as well as a sense of pride in responsible stewardship of the natural environment. “It’s important to recognize that Formica Group uses a philosophy of sustainability in a powerful way,” Taylor says. “We don’t just work cradleto-grave, we work within a global context. It becomes a way of thinking about the world.” In the end, the Reclaimed Denim product not only achieved its GREENGUARD certification goal, it recently won the industry’s prestigious Red Dot, an international distinction awarded to products of outstanding design and quality. That’s a pretty good ending for a weekendwarrior basement project. gb&d january–february 2018
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Better, Brighter Site Furnishings Bright Idea Shops is making parks even greener with highly sustainable, plastic lumber products. By Laura Rote
The first thing Alan Robbins does when he tours a park or job site is look around and ask, “Where’s the recycled content here?” “Many times I’m disappointed because there isn’t any,” he says. As president of Bright Idea Shops, a sustainable site furnishings company in Akron, Ohio, he’s set out to change that. Robbins’ six-person shop may be small, but its impact is large, as the company creates inviting outdoor spaces that are people-friendly and good for the environment, too. Founded in 2009, Bright Idea Shops designs, manufactures, and sells high-quality recycled plastic lumber products. Those colorful Adirondack chairs you love so much? Bright Idea Shops resells them as part of its POLYWOOD collection. The six-sided picnic table you easily step into? That’s this outfit, too. The latter is the company’s best seller, so popular in fact that you’ll find more than 150 of them at Yosemite National Park. The inviting conversation piece is easy to put together (12 screws and 12 bolts for typical assembly, while most benches ship fully assembled), not to mention easy to clean—just wipe it down or power wash—in addition to being made of recycled plastic.
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PHOTOS: COURTESY OF BRIGHT IDEA SHOPS
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Bright Idea Shops is known for its high-quality, six-sided picnic tables, among other beloved products, that are made from recycled plastic.
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THE IMPACT Plastic from 1,356 milk jugs is used to make one Bright Idea Shops hexagonal picnic table. That’s a lot of potential trash kept out of the landfill.
These clever solutions require little to no maintenance, meaning you won’t be stuck painting faded furnishings either, nor will you encounter splinters, rot, mold, or rust. “There’s a durability to this material versus wood,” Robbins says, adding that there’s also a lot of variety—in numerous sizes and more than 20 colors. Site furnishings in the park and recreation industry is 60% of Robbins’ business. And more than 50% of his business is made up of repeat customers. “People are extremely satisfied with our product and its quality, durability, and appearance.” We recently sat down with Robbins to find out more about how his products are made and what makes their contents special.
gb&d: Tell us more about the shop and your process. Robbins: The shop is just like any wood shop, except there’s no wood. It’s a 10,000-square-foot facility with saws, computerized routers, and drill presses, but we use plastic lumber, not wood, and we smooth over the edges
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with a router for a finished look. We also use an all stainless steel fastener system in the construction and fabrication of our products, so you don’t have to worry about rust.
gb&d: What about the product makeup? What goes into making one of the picnic tables, for example? Robbins: We work to include as much recycled content in every product we can. Whether you want the hexagonal or traditional style picnic table, our products are made with high density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic lumber with light stabilized pigments and UV stabilizers for decades of worry-free maintenance. This is the same kind of plastic used for milk containers or plastic containers labeled with the number 2 recycling gbdmagazine.com
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symbol. High-quality plastic lumber is created from only a single type of HDPE plastic stream and contains no fillers. So these tables won’t rot, splinter, or fracture, and mold, dirt, and graffiti won’t stick.
gb&d: Where do your products fit into the history of recycling plastics? Robbins: Industrial recycling of scrap materials has been going on for a long time, but it wasn’t really until the late ’80s that curbside plastic recycling picked up in the U.S. That was basically soda bottles and milk jugs. From a polymer standpoint, the soda bottle is really interesting, and it had a pretty clear recycling route. It could go into unwoven fibers like those in a winter jacket. But the milk jug wasn’t as straightforward. After new technologies for plastic lumber started coming out of Europe, I also started learning about how to refine the material system and what other opportunities might exist for molded, recycled plastic. Back in the late ’80s there was maybe 1.4 billion pounds of materials going into the milk jugs in the United States. That’s a large quantity that needs to be recovered. My vision was picnic tables, benches, trash receptacles—things in parks. gb&d: What is one thing people don’t think about when it comes to something as simple as picnic tables or park benches?
THE GOODS
PHOTOS: COURTESY OF BRIGHT IDEA SHOPS
u Picnic tables u Park benches u Waste and recycling receptacles u Architectural park signage u Adirondack chairs u Spa steps u And more
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“ W E W O R K TO INCLUDE AS MUCH R E C YC L E D CONTENT IN EVERY PRODUC T W E C A N .”
Robbins: Back around 1989 picnic tables were made out of pressure-treated southern pine or redwood materials. Redwood ALAN ROBBINS is very expensive wood and BRIGHT IDEA SHOPS environmentally sensitive. It takes a long time to grow a redwood tree. Southern pine was actually grown to make paper—it grew quickly—but if you look at a cross section of the growth rings of a virgin growth, old age timber versus a ranched tree, the growth ring has more spaces. It’s softwood. Softwood has a lot more splitting and insect penetration—the bad things. On top of that, they put a preservative on it—chromated copper arsenate, or CCA, to impregnate the wood and keep termites out. Then they built a picnic table and you and your family sat on it. The industry had to get rid of harmful CCA. It had to. gb&d: How important is it to you to include recycled content? Robbins: I’ve been doing this for 30 years, so when people talk about green content—I’ve been doing that for a long time. Our hexagonal picnic table weighs 212 pounds. It comes in various colors, and it’s well crafted with a nice design that’s easy to assemble and add an umbrella. That’s 212 pounds, and there are 6.4 milk jugs in a pound of plastic. Do the multiplication and that’s 1,356 milk jugs to make that one product. That’s 1,300 milk jugs that were going to a landfill that now go to make this product. And that’s just one picnic table. When you talk about the impact of 1,300 milk jugs, that’s a lot of impact. gb&d january–february 2018
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Getting to the Bottom of Flooding TRUEGRID permeable pavers provide environmentally sustainable alternatives to traditional paving methods. By Rachel Coon
As Barry Stiles sat in his Houston home while Hurricane Harvey stormed across his yard, he saw pickup trucks driving through grill-high water on the road in front of his house—while his driveway stood entirely free of any flooding. It was a perfect portrait of the founder and CEO of TRUEGRID’s permeable pavers at work. Launched roughly five years ago, TRUEGRID was born of Stiles’ background in manufacturing and design—but even more, from the plastics engineer’s own personal journey, when his young son was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and then Stiles himself battled cancer. The father and son are both healthy today, but as Stiles struggled through those experiences, he also did some soul searching. “These cancers, they don’t know where
TRUEGRID Founder Barry Stiles’ permeable pavers are a safer, more sustainable alternative.
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▼ AS SEEN IN WHOLE FOODS LINKEDIN AUTONATION NATIONAL PARKS
PHOTOS: COURTESY OF TRUEGRID
NASCAR they come from—whether it’s genetic or from food we eat or if it’s environmental—but I knew I could make a difference, that I could do something with my skill set to make our environment a healthier, safer place for our kids,” Stiles says. And from the beginning, that’s been his driving mission with TRUEGRID: to use 100% recycled materials, to make a more sustainable paving alternative, to help reduce flooding and clean storm water, and ultimately, to remove environmental toxins.
REAL-WORLD LEGOS Traditionally, and particularly for commercial development, decent alternatives to concrete and asphalt haven’t existed. “Low-impact development is a trending topic—it’s been coming on like a freight train,” Stiles says. “People are looking to develop more wisely and more in gb&d
harmony with nature.” Enter GOOGLE TRUEGRID permeable pavers, heavy-duty pavers that can be used anywhere (short of highspeed freeways) for residential, commercial, and industrial purposes—parking lots, green spaces, event centers, walkways, truck yards, storage centers, high-end retail destinations, commercial strip centers, office buildings, and the list goes on. Based in Houston and manufactured in facilities across the U.S., TRUEGRID permeable pavers are made from 100% post-consumer recycled, high-density polyethylene. “Basically, recycled shampoo bottles, water jugs, milk jugs,” Stiles says. “There’s a monumental waste stream we’re trying to utilize and keep out of oceans and landfills.” january–february 2018
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TRUEGRID pavers are strong— they can handle serious traffic— and can be varied to meet any aesthetic need.
With an eye on developing responsibly—and affordably (Stiles knew his product had to be “green” but also more cost effective than traditional methods)— Stiles mimicked his TRUEGRID permeable pavers after Legos. “My other love, outside of family, is design and new product development, and I kept going back to Legos—they’re so strong, never break, you can do anything with just a pile of plastic bricks,” he says. So he started with a cellular shape—a strong, heavy-walled grid that can handle 18-wheeler traffic—and created an innovative, modular system featuring various products and accessories you can mix-and-match to achieve the function and aesthetic you’re after. The geometric cylinders combine superior strength and rigidity with flexibility. “As we see with concrete and asphalt, they crack when the earth moves, while TRUEGRID pavers hug the earth—so the design can handle traffic and heavy loads, but it also moves with the soil and works within any climate.”
NATURE’S LANDSCAPE But why permeable pavers—and why now? What’s the significance of having a paving method that allows water to pass through? “That’s a huge topic right now from coast to coast, and especially in Houston after Harvey,” says Stiles, who draws attention to increasing temperatures and dramatic rain events. Instead of
“ I ’ V E A LW AY S B E L I E V E D T H AT SM A LL AC TIONS C AN EQUAL BIG R E S U LT S .”
BARRY STILES TRUEGRID FOUNDER & CEO
becoming more of a concrete wasteland, TRUEGRID permeable pavers allow for two essential factors. Firstly, they create 100% permeable surfaces, and secondly, they detain water. By creating a more natural, cooler landscape that absorbs water, TRUEGRID tremendously reduces the amount of storm water runoff because the pavers’ cellular pores allow water to pass straight
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PHOTOS: COURTESY OF TRUEGRID
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through at very high rates to a rock base below the grid. So instead of having to build separate detention ponds that can often take up to 25% of a developer’s land, TRUEGRID’s detention system is beneath the surface that’s hosting your walkway, parking lot, or retail center—meaning developers are able to utilize 100% of the land for functionality and revenue. But even more importantly, as the storm water goes through the TRUEGRID system and then the rock base and into the soils, a natural bioremediation process helps cleanse the storm water of pollutants—from vehicles and concrete and asphalt surfaces—that end up right in our aquifers. “The EPA’s done studies that show a high percentage of pollutants are cleansed by the time storm waters filter gb&d
naturally through soil.” Changing mindsets, however, and getting architects and designers, owners and developers, to try something new has been Stiles’ greatest challenge. But with millions of square feet of TRUEGRID now on the ground, people are starting to recognize the benefits. “I have this vision that someday every new development— every new parking lot, paving project, strip center, grocery store, big-box store—will use TRUEGRID permeable pavers, so that not only will we have a world that floods less and looks more like nature but is cleaner and less toxic.” gb&d TRUEGRID permeable pavers create 100% permeable surfaces and detain water.
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Sound Design Why architects and designers should care about how a space “sounds”—and FabriTRAK’s acoustical products can help (without sacrificing style). By Caroline Eberly Long
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Acoustics is one of those design considerations that tends to land on the project priority spectrum somewhere around “afterthought” and “budget-dependent.” “Typically, acoustics is either never considered or quickly cut from a project, but it tends to be the first thing end-users complain about once the project is complete,” says Bart Moore, president and CEO of acoustical products company Bartley Group. In other words, high acoustic quality—and the products that help achieve it—don’t usually get project points for being aesthetically sexy. And yet they’re absolutely essential to how a space functions. We’ve all had the experience of being in a jarring public environment to prove the point: a restaurant where the din drowns out the person next to us, a museum hall that amplifies footsteps, an open office where every whisper travels. This “noise pollution” comes from reflected sounds, explains Steven Frost, vice president of gbdmagazine.com
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WHY THIS MATTERS
PHOTOS: COURTESY OF FABRITRAK
1 FabriTRAK’s line of wall and ceiling treatments absorb anywhere from 75 to 95% of reflected sounds—the noises that bounce around a space and make conversation uncomfortable.
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2 The track used in the company’s systems is highly pliable, so it can be installed on a variety of unconventional surfaces, from columns to curved walls.
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3 With features like wide-width fabrics, custom art printing, and expansive colormatching, good sound quality doesn’t have to mean drab design.
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4 Through FabriTRAK’s ecofriendly line, projects can have optimal acoustics while also leaving out PVC, VOCs, and other potentially harmful Red List materials.
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5 The company works with acoustical consultants who advise on how to best use FabriTRAK in various projects, as well as trained installers who are experts in configuring the system and working with different fabrics.
6 FabriTRAK products have been fire tested to ASTM E84 and ASTM E2573 and passed as Class “A”.
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BEFORE & AFTER A space with poor acoustic design is an unpleasant, dysfunctional space, according to FabriTRAK acoustician Tony Sola of Acoustical Consulting Services. “Without proper acoustic control, a space can become noisy, speech can be unintelligible, reflections can be annoying, and the space simply might not function,” Sola says. FabriTRAK products work to bring the noise level down to the ideal range of 80% sound absorption (that’s absorption of reflected or unwanted sounds, not original sounds). “No one likes to speak above a certain octave level,” says FabriTRAK President and CEO Lou D’Angelo. “You need to modulate sound by having a material finish that absorbs reflective sounds and makes a room pleasant to speech.” We like the sound of that.
FabriTRAK, a company that specializes in acoustic finishes. “Initially, you only hear the source of the sound (the person or speaker) and then it gets reflected off of the room’s surfaces many, many times—and that’s what makes a space uncomfortable.” FabriTRAK’s line of sound-dampening fabric treatments for walls and ceilings work to absorb anywhere from 75 to 95% of these reflected sounds, not only optimizing the acoustics of a variety of spaces but offering creative possibilities to the architects and designers behind them. And better yet, the company innovates with eco-friendly materials along the way.
DESIGN FLEXIBILITY From its early days, FabriTRAK has been concerned with beautiful design. In the late ’70s the company was started (under a different name) by Floyd Baslow, an entrepreneur who wanted to bring the elegant interior tapestries of France to the U.S. design market.
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PHOTOS: COURTESY OF FABRITRAK
Baslow’s interpretation of the French concept centered on two main components—fabric and track, hence the company’s current name—which came together to form neatly taut wall coverings. These panels not only brought beauty to interiors but helped reduce noise. While Baslow was at first unlucky in marketing the concept straight to homeowners, he began working with dealers of interior finishes and the product took off. That design has evolved into what remains the company’s core product today. Here’s how it works: A network of flexible tracks that holds the fabric using “jaws” (rather than adhesives or staples) is applied to the wall or ceiling. Those tracks then receive a layer of sound-absorbing infill, which is covered by any number of fabrics that are fire-tested, moisture-resistant, and acoustically transparent— meaning, sound can travel through them. Because the track itself is made of pliable PVC, these systems can be applied to columns, doors, hanging ceilings, and curved walls—virtually any unconventional or contoured surface an architect can dream up. “The track is a framework that you can reasonably make any shape or size you want,” says President and CEO Lou D’Angelo. “It allows a designer’s creativity to come forth.” For the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Orlando, Florida, for example, FabriTRAK cloaks the dome of the lobby, creating a focal point for the space and making conversations below intelligible. The company’s line appears in any space where sound travel or group communication is a factor—movie theaters, ballrooms, churches, auditoriums, conference rooms, offices, hospitals (featuring antimicrobial fabric), even a large yacht, and others.
free track (called GeoTRAK) and to create a complete system of green products, the company also engineered eco-friendly infills and fabrics. Both used as acoustical infill, EcoTACK is made of formaldehyde-free fiberglass and TerraCore Poly is made of recycled polyester. And, EcoSPAN is a 100% recycled fabric that can be colormatched to virtually any Pantone or paint chip. “The entire system is Red List-free and VOC-free,” Frost says.
INNOVATIONS IN SOUND In addition to these eco-friendly innovations, the company has also lately experimented with ways to make its products more designforward. They’ve recently developed a range of wide-width fabrics that span up to 16 feet— perfect for large-scale projects—as well as a line of acoustic art panels that can be printed to feature custom digital images. (The company’s offices feature an image of the Grand Canal in Venice.) And they’ve expanded their color range, too, offering the ability to create literally millions of color combinations for the fabrics used in their systems. This approach means that, for the architects and designers who use FabriTRAK in their projects, achieving strong acoustics doesn’t have to come at the expense of good design. In fact, it can even be a gateway to new, creative possibilities. And visitors to these spaces likely won’t even detect the acoustical nature of the products. They might notice the beautiful wall or ceiling treatment—and then comfortably carry on with their conversation. gb&d
FabriTRAK’s acoustical products transform beautiful spaces to make them even better.
ECO-FRIENDLY IMPACT For yet another client, Google, FabriTRAK faced an interesting challenge: to create a system of track that was free of PVC (or polyvinyl chloride)—a plastic the tech giant wanted to minimize in its facilities. “This was not easy to do,” D’Angelo says. “Most PVC-free materials don’t lend themselves to being formed into the geometry of a track while still being pliant.” The company innovated to come up with a proprietary material worthy of the Declare Label—an eco-friendly stamp of approval declaring a product’s lack of Red List ingredients. To pair with this new PVCgb&d
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Reflection of Quality MirrorLite’s glassless mirrors can add beauty to any design. By Julia Stone
From high-end hotel ceilings to stage design for Adele’s “Skyfall,” MirrorLite is known for its innovative, reflective glassless mirrors. Their flexible film technology provides the distortionfree properties of traditional glass—high luminosity and reflectivity—without the risk of shattering. British Aerospace developed glassless mirror technology after World War II. It wasn’t until the late 1980s when the commercial use of glassless mirrors came into play. MirrorLite acquired the manufacturing license from British Aerospace to begin developing its own mylar mirror film. “Our motto is ‘reflection of quality,’ not only in the product itself, but also in how we work with architects and clients,” says Gary Reith, MirrorLite’s president and founder.
AMBITIOUS PROJECTS Since it began in 2007, MirrorLite has worked on projects across the globe—from the Mandarin Oriental Hotel’s ceiling in Qatar to Thomson Consumer Electronics’ corporate headquarters in France. “For being a small business of 20 employees, we certainly get involved with projects around the world,” Reith says. Recently, MirrorLite completed a $10 million lobby in Lafayette Tower— Washington D.C.’s first LEED Platinum certified office building. “Our customshaped mirrors gave the reflection they were looking for, but also allowed for all the necessary functions in a building lobby—like efficient lighting and fire detection technology,” Reith says. The project wasn’t without its challenges, though. The team faced
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difficulties such as creating the intricate shape of the octagonal mirror, constructing more than 50 custom mirror shapes on two levels, and working with a ceiling height of more than 25 feet. The project’s tight deadline meant Reith and his team had to be ambitious and quick to adapt. The lobby was completed in less than two months from start to finish, a major feat in speed and service. MirrorLite also partnered with Leek Building Products, Inc. on the MGM Grand Casino in Las Vegas. This large-scale project incorporated sound-absorbent panels below of the mirror mylar film. “In a noisy casino, sound absorption is important,” Reith says. “The ceiling panels not only serve as a decorative mirror finish, but also absorb excess sound.” “We wanted to keep the noise levels manageable while having a reflective look
projects, the mylar film is stripped off and recycled. The mirror frame components are disassembled and either recycled or resized and reused in other projects. It’s also one of the first companies to use water-based adhesives for assembly. And the MirrorLite panel inherently increases thermal insulation, which decreases overall energy usage and costs.
BENEFITS OF GOING GLASSLESS “The lightweight properties of MirrorLite allow architects to design larger mirror panels than conventional glass,” Reith says. Glassless mirrors are 85% lighter than conventional glass mirrors of the same size, making them easier to transport and install. For some installations, MirrorLite uses Dual Lock Reclosable Fasteners, which Reith likens to “velcro on steroids.” The installation team
GLASSLESS MIRRORS ARE 85% LIGHTER THAN CONVENTIONAL GLASS MIRRORS OF THE SAME SIZE, MAKING THEM EASIER TO TRANSPORT AND INSTALL. with large paneled sections,” says Bill Leek, president of Leek Building Products. Leek used his strong acoustical background to help the team develop its noise control strategy, and he ruled out traditional mirrors. “Mirrors are highly reflective but have no acoustical value,” he says. A normal sheet of glass would enhance the echo, but MirrorLite panels’ special foam board absorbs sound. “MirrorLite’s glassless mirrors flex when the sound wave hits them, transmitting the sound into the cavity behind the mylar film.” The project not only stayed within budget; it was completed on time. “It was a labor-friendly project,” Leek says. “It was a large project, too—not just a little piece of two-by-four glass. Luckily, MirrorLite’s glassless mirrors are lightweight and easy in terms of installation.”
REFLECTING A GREENER OUTLOOK MirrorLite strives to be eco-friendly and never lets materials go to waste. “If the mirror surface is ever damaged, you can use the same frame and just put on new mylar film,” Reith says. MirrorLite recycles and reuses every material it can, too. For temporary mirror gb&d
PHOTOS: COURTESY OF MIRRORLITE
simply clicks the mirror panel into place and can easily remove it at any time. MirrorLite’s glassless mirrors are also safer and more durable because they’re shatterproof. Glassless mirrors have a rigid foam core that gives them more stability. To form the mirror’s reflective surface, the manufacturing team stretches mylar film across the frame’s raised edges. The cavity between the back of the film and the core gives the mirror enhanced flexibility and helps protect it from damage.
LOOKING AHEAD MirrorLite’s future is brighter and greener, too, as Reith aims to go solar. “The glassless mirror panel lends itself well to the solar energy industry,” he says. MirrorLite is also experimenting with tinting mirrors different colors, as well as developing a permanent on-site installation system to accommodate venues with restricted door openings. The company has completed several test installations for short-term projects. “When it comes down to it, we want to provide a solution and make glassless mirrors that will work for our clients’ needs,” Reith says. gb&d january–february 2018
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PERFOR 48
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MANCE IS THE NAME OF THE GAME Action Floor Systems leads the industry in high-performance flooring that’s sustainable, innovative, and evolutionary.
PHOTO: PIXABAY
BY RACHEL COON
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S She suits up—pulling a jersey over her head, lacing up her sneakers, maybe strapping on a brace or tugging on a sweatband—and grabs a basketball, stepping onto the court. She’s already in the zone, already visualizing victory—and almost certainly not thinking of the solid, gleaming, highperformance flooring system beneath her feet. That’s Action Floors’ job. For 30 years, the experts and engineers at Action Floor Systems in Mercer, Wisconsin, have been devoted to developing and designing exceptional flooring systems that are not only safe for athletes and end users, but healthy for the environment as well. THE SWEET SPOT
In the U.S., maple is by far the preferred floor surface for basketball, volleyball, racquetball, squash, aerobic and dance studios, and even performance stages. And maple flooring is—and always has been—the core of Action Floors’ business. In fact, President Tom Abendroth, an Action Floors founder, is a fourth-generation industry pro. “Maple is the only hardwood product we mill—we specialize in maple flooring,” says Abendroth, who adds that it’s the wood’s light color that makes it the leading choice, lending itself to superb game line and graphics visibility. Of course, the cell structure of hard maple is also ideal, allowing for the flexibility a flooring system needs to achieve high-performance shock absorption and bounce. “Maple’s in that sweet spot,” Abendroth says. “It’s hard to beat.”
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The hardwood also happens to be inherently sustainable—though the positive environmental impact of maple harvesting is not always obvious. “There’s a lot of misunderstanding and confusion about the harvesting, logging, and cutting of trees, especially when it comes to hardwoods, which are naturally renewable,” Abendroth says. Hardwoods are harvested through closely managed programs where mature trees are selectively cut from large plots of land, opening the canopy and allowing for better airflow and more sunlight. “It promotes the growth of saplings and less mature trees, so those younger trees can flourish,” Abendroth explains. “Plus, all hardwoods—particularly maples— essentially replant themselves, so they are continuously regenerating.”
As sourcing sustainable materials has become more of an industry focus, the Action Floors team sought to prove it already fully supported sustainability initiatives. So the company started achieving industry certifications and underwent independent third-party verifications, like a Life Cycle Assessment conducted by the University of Wisconsin, to evaluate its environmental impacts, which ultimately resulted in Action Floors earning carbon negative certification. BEYOND THE SURFACE
Producing the best maple sports surfaces will always be Action Floors’ primary focus, though the company has also transformed itself into a leading manufacturer of sustainable high-performance gbdmagazine.com
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PHOTOS, CLOCKWISE: THIS PAGE AND PREVIOUS SPREAD: LARRY FINCHUM (2); SOLID ROCK BASKETBALL; JOHN JEMAIL
Action Floors incorporates recycled-content elements in its systems and uses natural rubber resilient pads made from an environmentally friendly process.
flooring systems. “Most people walk into a gym and see a nice wood floor—most don’t realize what’s underneath,” says Technical Director Don Brown. “We take great pride in the environmentally sustainable system underneath.” Action Floors incorporates recycled-content elements within its systems and happens to be one of the few (if not only) athletic flooring companies that uses natural rubber resilient pads made from an environmentally friendly process where rubber tree sap is collected and then vulcanized to deliver superior shock absorption. The sustainably conscious flooring company also utilizes low-energy production measures and recycles its wood waste to provide steam for milling, reducing its need for fossil fuels. gb&d
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A leader in sustainability initiatives, Action Floors chooses to go beyond simply claiming environmental responsibility. “Most companies within the industry strive for these standards, but most aren’t as proactive or at the same level as Action Floors,” Brown says. Through independent third-party verifications and their own company-based SCORES program (or Sustainable Construction of Renewable Engineered Surfaces), the company constantly strives to minimize its environmental impact in every aspect of the manufacturing process. This program measures the company’s use of resources and materials, energy consumption, and carbon footprint, to name a few. It encourages customers to source flooring systems from a zero-waste mill and purchase those that utilize Forest Stewardship Council–certified maple. By using the SCORES program, Action Floors has proven its high-performance floor systems are engineered to support sustainability and green building efforts.
Action Floors continues to develop and engineer outstanding athletic floor systems, like this one at UWRiver Falls.
HEALTHY BUILDING
Action Floors’ commitment to sustainability hasn’t faltered in 30 years. In fact, the company is more proactive than ever in its commitment to accountability and transparency. They’ve committed
to staying transparent by offering the architectural community AIA Continuing Education programs, which enables Action Floors to provide up-to-date information while showcasing their sustainability efforts. The company also recently released an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) that, from the forest to the floor, looks at Action Floors’ overall production facility— what products are made of, the manufacturing process, and their impact on the environment. What dramatically separates Action Floors from its competitors, however, is that the company’s goals have always been multifaceted. They aimed to achieve the highest sustainability
and healthy building materials standards while simultaneously developing and engineering outstanding athletic floor systems that are healthy and safe. From exceptional sports floor installations at Northern Kentucky University and University of Wisconsin–River Falls to outstanding high-performance applications around the world, Action Floor Systems is committed to healthy building. “A building’s health is going to become more and more important as studies continue to show how all products used in construction can contribute or take away,” Abendroth says. “And Action Floors is just on the tip of the iceberg.” gb&d
You know those “fresh paint” smells? They’re not necessarily all good—in fact, what you’re smelling may be volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from newly installed floors. That’s why, even when the experts
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at Action Floors are engineering what goes on the ground, they’re also always considering what goes into the air. And that’s also why Action Floors decided to seek—and recently achieve—FloorScore® certification to validate emissions
from their hardwood products are low to zero and continue the company’s commitment to healthy building and sustainability. Action Floors has undergone extensive testing, from the handling of its raw materials
to manufacturing and quality control— ultimately meeting the certification’s rigorous indoor air quality requirements. “It’s a phenomenal story—that we can talk to an architect or work with an owner and say, ‘Here are the steps we’ve taken to
confirm our products are safe and healthy.’ They don’t have to be concerned about the health impact of our floor systems because FloorScore® proves the low to zero emission rates are safe,” says Vice President of Sales Ron Fenhaus.
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PHOTO: KATHY M HELGESON
SCORING WHERE IT COUNTS
FRONT GREEN BUILDING UP & DESIGN
Up Front Typology Inner Workings Features Spaces Punch List
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55 Power It Up
A former power plant becomes the base for this inspiring music center.
56 From Navy Base to Tech Hub
Brooklyn Navy Yard’s new Building 77 is a lesson in adaptive reuse.
58 Making House a Home for Global Policy
The University of Pennsylvania gets creative with an old cottage on its campus.
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REINVENTING S PA C E S
WITH ADAPTIVE REUSE, OLD BUILDINGS GET A NEW LEASE ON LIFE.
BY SHAY MAUNZ
Buildings tend to outlive the reason they were built. A home’s occupants will eventually move or pass away, the technology housed in a specialized plant will become obsolete, even the most steadfast tenant will give up their lease. Just because a structure has outlasted its purpose doesn’t mean it’s outlived its usefulness, but it may require a bit of imagination—and a lot of elbow grease—to be ready for a new life in the 21st century. Luckily, as demand soars for unique, eco-conscious dwellings, plenty of designers are dedicating their talents to adaptive reuse, making thoughtful design decisions to transform defunct old structures into distinctive new ones. They’re rewarded with buildings that have character and a story to tell. Plus, there are the sustainability benefits—even the most elaborate adaptive reuse project is often more efficient than one built from scratch.
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When the Middlesex School was founded in 1901, the entire 350acre campus for the private boarding and day school in Concord, Massachusetts, was heated from a power plant on campus, where two large steam boilers burned coal in the early years and, more recently, oil. In the early 2000s, the school wanted a greener energy source and switched to natural gas, decommissioning the plant. Around that time, the administration embarked on a strategic planning exercise to identify facility needs. At the top of the list: A space to house the school’s thriving music program, which was crammed into the library basement. “We try to be very, very careful about bringing on new square footage that is carefully calibrated to how our campus feels,” says Matt Crozier, chief operating officer at Middlesex. “The idea of ‘Let’s plop down a 20-000 square-foot music facility in the middle of a field,’ that was not something that our board of trustees took lightly.” Instead, the team decided to replace that old power plant with a state-of-the-art music and performance hall—but rather than demolish the century-old structure, Middlesex opted for adaptive reuse, with local constr uction management firm Windover Construction leading the project. The 22,000-squarefoot Rachel Carson Music and Campus Center opened in the fall of 2017, boasting a 134-seat recital hall, classrooms, and a public study area. About 40% of the center is newly constructed, and the rest is housed in the renovated power plant. Luckily, the massive room that used to house the boilers—with 25-foot-high ceilings, thick concrete, and masonry walls—turned out to be the perfect home for a recital hall. The acoustics are great, and after cutting out some windows, the space was beautiful, lofty, and bright. The building has a geothermal heating and cooling system, ionized window glazing to automatically shade the interior depending on how bright it is outside, and a green roof that helps manage storm water runoff and absorbs heat to offset cooling costs. The most challenging part of adapting the building was preserving the element that distinguishes it from every other building on campus: the smokestack. “We decided to keep the stack because we want students to know this building heated the campus for 100 years,” Crozier says. “To know we shoveled coal into this thing and heated you guys for the first 40 years and then we burned oil for the next 60 years, and as things evolved we moved on to greener energy, that’s an important part of keeping a campus going.” But maintaining the 100-year-old stack in the middle of an active construction site involved some complicated logistics. When it came to underpinning—that is, increasing the foundation to support the weight of the growing structure—the team had to take a hopscotch approach, making sure there was always enough earth holding up the existing foundation before they dug into the soil to fill additional foundation below that. Sounds maddening, but Stuart Meurer, president of Windover Construction, says that’s the kind of thing that makes adaptive reuse fun. “We enjoy doing that because there’s nothing mundane about it; there’s always something different,” he says. “Until you unearth the original building, you’re not really certain what you’re dealing with.”
POWER IT UP
The Rachel Carson Music and Campus Center is now part of a former decomissioned power plant.
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PHOTOS: COURTESY OF WINDOVER CONSTRUCTION
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FROM NAVY BASE TO TECH HUB BUILDING 77 IN BROOKLYN’S NAVY YARD IS BECOMING A CENTER OF COMMERCIAL AND COMMUNITY ACTIVITY.
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Building 77 was first built to store dry goods as well as house offices for naval officers overseeing the North Atlantic fleet.
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he waterfront property along Wallabout Bay in Brooklyn, New York, has been home to industry for centuries. After the Revolutionary War it was used to construct merchant vessels, and in 1801 President John Adams authorized the purchase of some 40 acres there and established the site as a naval shipyard. In the run-up to World War II, the Brooklyn Navy Yard doubled in size, expanded its workforce to 70,000 employees (including, for the first time, women), and became known as the “can-do” yard for its outsized, enthusiastic contribution to the war effort. That’s when the Navy constructed Building 77, a massive, 1 million-square-foot structure; the bottom 11 floors stored dry goods, and the top five housed offices for naval officers overseeing the North Atlantic fleet. Fast forward to 1966, when the Navy Yard was decommissioned and began its life as an industrial park. Private companies continued to build ships there for another decade or so, but as American manufacturing declined, so did the yard, and until the ’90s it laid mainly dormant. Now, as Brooklyn is becoming hipper, techier, and more vibrant than ever before, the yard is changing, too. The Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation, a nonprofit corporation that serves as the yard’s developer and property manager on behalf of the City of New York, envisions the yard as a major player at the intersection of manufacturing and technology in the 21st century. At the heart of that vision is Building 77, which represents around a quarter of the total building stock on the yard. The development corporation partnered with Marvel Architects and Beyer Blinder Belle on an ambitious renovation of the gbdmagazine.com
TYPOLOGY
In 2018, Building 77 will also be home to Russ & Daughters, famous NYC purveyor of smoked fish.
structure, reimagining it as a modern space for tech-centric manufacturing and light industry, with a 60,000-square-foot food court on the ground floor. Russ & Daughters, the famed New York City purveyor of smoked fish, has signed on as the anchor tenant and will have a retail storefront at Building 77 as well as commercial cooking space. When it opens in 2018, the cafeteria will be open to the general public, drawing people to a section of Brooklyn that was—until now—short on amenities. For years, the yard was only open to the people who worked there, frustratingly cordoned off behind walls and fences that hid much of it and the waterfront from view. The Building 77 development represents a major opportunity for residents to engage with a major fixture in their neighborhood. “What’s the one thing you want to do when you walk along that wall?” says Scott Demel, director of operations at Marvel Architects. “You want to see the other side.” To encourage pedestrians to step up to the building—which they’ve known for decades as an imposing concrete building looming over the street—the design team placed its main entrance along Vanderbilt Avenue, one of Brooklyn’s larger thoroughfares. “There’s this urban connection,” Demel says. “We want to be part of the neighborhood.” Inside, the food hall runs along one of two railroad tracks that is embedded in the floor. Where it used to carry in naval supplies, it will soon guide in Brooklynites looking for a snack. The low-lying Navy Yard was ravaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, so storm resiliency was top-of-mind for the design team. The entire first floor of Building 77 was raised 18 inches, putting it well above the level mandated by building codes. That also created a space for food production tenants to run piping under the current floor but above the reinforced concrete of the original one—the original base was so strong it would have been practically impossible for tenants to cut through, making it more difficult for them to install the infrastructure they need. And to foster a sense of connection with the Navy Yard as a whole, the far end of the food court features large windows that give occupants a front-row seat to the happenings inside the yard. A word about those windows. Converting a naval warehouse into an attractive space for businesses was no small task, and with Building 77, the team was trying to build the core and shell to LEED standards to boot. That was especially complicated because the first 11 floors were originally constructed to house dry goods, not people, so they were made from solid concrete and completely devoid of windows. To adapt the space, crews punched through the walls to create nearly 400 new windows, removing some 3 million pounds of concrete. Overall, it was a massive undertaking—hence the more than $140 million price tag (it was primarily funded by the city). The reward, Demel says, will be the more than 3,000 jobs that will be created with the building and, if things go as expected, the revitalization of an entire neighborhood. gb&d
PHOTOS AND RENDEARINGS: COURTESY OF NYC MAYOR'S OFFICE
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MAKING A HOUSE A HOME FOR GLOBAL POLICY PHOTOS BY GREG BENSON
Take a look at the Perry World House at the University of Pennsylvania and you’ll see a familiar facade nestled into one corner of the building’s hulking frame. It’s a charming little cottage, originally all of 900 square feet. The Gothic Revival house was built in 1851 using a template created by architect Samuel Sloan, then became home to a merchant from Philadelphia and, later, a campus fraternity. By 2014 the cottage was the oldest surviving building on Penn’s campus, but it was also a bit of an eyesore. The university was looking for a home for its new, multidisciplinary institute for global policy. Perhaps the obvious thing to do was knock down the rickety old house and build something new in its place. That’s not what happened. Instead, the university hired the New York and Frankfurt–based firm 1100 Architect to imagine a new building without entirely scratching out the old one. Their approach, so unique it stretches the boundaries of what we call adaptive reuse, was to preserve a portion of the original house while merging it with a much larger structure. “Our new building holds the most significant portion of the house in an embrace,” says David Piscuskas, founding principal gb&d
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into the space as possible. It was also held to modern sustainability standards and achieved LEED Silver, a University of Pennsylvania requirement for any new campus building. The house features energy-saving features like radiant flooring and includes a shower to encourage occupants to commute by bicycle. The Perry World House is home to a new institute on global policy, which brings together faculty and students from all 12 of Penn’s schools, plus international scholars and policymakers. It’s already becoming a hub for discussion on global matters in the 21st century, and Piscuskas hopes the building’s design—and the influence of the historic cottage—will impact the tone of those conversations. “The institute is in a house, or a building influenced by a house,” he says. “I think that sets a tone of direct engagement, I’d even dare to use the word intimacy, with those big, big world issues. And that ethos embodies the entire building.” gb&d
at 1100 Architect. The finished 17,400-square-foot building is 20 times larger than the original, but it’s defined by the facade of the 160-year-old cottage. The house’s front bay was seamlessly merged with a new limestone building, and its Gothic Revival style inspired the design—though it’s been stripped down and abstracted for the 21st century. “We never set out to make a period piece,” Piscuskas says. “We were historically accurate, but it’s not 1850. We didn’t include every carved piece of molding that would have been there back then. The cottage is a contributing building that inspired a new building.” Piscuskas says the constraints of working with the cottage heightened the team’s creativity, inspiring design decisions that would never have come about if they’d been building from scratch. For instance: dormers. The team played with the idea of dormers—those windows that project from a roof—in keeping with the spirit of a 19th-century home. They used the cottage’s original dormers to bring light and visual interest to the interior, and opted to add more to the building’s sloping roof, which was itself inspired by the cottage’s silhouette. These new dormers are much larger than the originals, so big a person can stand inside them and “place themselves at the edge of the viewscape,” Piscuskas says. Also, the building sits on a pedestrian walkway, straddling a residential neighborhood and busy urban corridor. By combining the cottage motif with the scale of a major campus building, the Perry World House is able to engage with its surroundings on both levels. Despite the historic cottage’s influence, the team held its design to modern standards for habitability, bringing as much light
An old cottage gets quite the addition at the University of Pennsylvania.
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GREEN BUILDINGTYPOLOGY & DESIGN
Up Front Typology Inner Workings Features Spaces Punch List
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62 Deck Smarts IntelliDeck solves maintenance
and performance problems beautifully.
66 Floors Built to Last Mondo’s long-lasting flooring
solutions transform a dialysis clinic.
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A BETTER POOL DECK
DECK SMARTS Maintenance and performance issues plague outdoor living for homeowners and condo associations. But IntelliDeck is changing all that. By Russ Klettke Rooftop decks typically add an average of 6 to 8% to the value of condominiums, according to a report by CNBC’s real estate reporter Diana Olick. And many realestate consultants interviewed say rooftop decks shorten the sales period and are important selling points in urban and rural areas alike. But not all decking material is the same, and the differences have significant environmental and financial effects. A few years ago, the product development people at O’Sullivan Films recognized problems with two predominant decking materials—pressure treated lumber and composite decks, the latter a combination of wood sawdust and plastic. O’Sullivan used a waterproof membrane material devised more than 25 years ago
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Slip and fall accidents are no joke, particularly around backyard pools. Neither are leaky concrete decks that surround them. A 40-year-old condominium pool deck in Ocean City, New Jersey, had been given liquid surface coatings multiple times over the years. Seasonal expansions and contractions caused 1.5-inch gaps that were sure to grow over time. With 6,000 square feet of surface, it was a lot to worry about. Trained IntelliDeck installer Grant Barlow was able to cover the entire area in just a few days (a 12-hour training program enables installers to provide up to a 30-year guarantee to customers). Water seepage in the concrete stopped immediately, while the condo association was assured that IntelliDeck not only meets the International Code Council requirements for slip resistance, it actually is more resistant when wet.
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Green Facts 3/4 of ê About IntelliDeck is made from recycled manufacturing scrap from O’Sullivan Films’ other divisions that make interior flooring, auto interior products, health care materials, and flexible plastic windows.
ê IntelliDeck’s manufacturing operations are zerolandfill facilities. are made ê Adhesives from water-based solvents the EPA deems acceptable and harmless.
PHOTOS: COURTESY OF INTELLIDECK
IntelliDeck offers luxury outdoor vinyl flooring solutions.
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HOW IT WORKS Once installed, the membrane reduces solar heat gain due to proprietary chemistry in the base plastics and inks. “Darker colors actually cool it,” says John Morley, a digital marketing specialist with the company, describing a paradoxical component of the product. In a sideby-side comparison of IntelliDeck versus composite decking, IntelliDeck proves to be 20% cooler. This not only allows bare foot comfort, but also reduces heat near adjoining structures— the “heat island effect” that increases demand for mechanical air conditioning.
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IntelliDeck solutions are lower maintenance and more sustainable.
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"THIS IS A CODE - A PPROV E D, WA LK A BLE ROOF T O P M E M B R A N E ." ã K YLE L ANCASTER, INTELLIDECK
in industrial and commercial settings but determined in 2015 that a residential version could offer a lower-maintenance and greener alternative to wood and composite decking. They gave it a name, IntelliDeck, and it’s changing decks as we know them. “This is a code-approved, walkable rooftop membrane,” says Kyle Lancaster, the exterior business unit manager for the Washington, DC-area firm. He says it ideally works on any elevated deck, creating a dry space beneath it, from suburban backyard patios and pools to rooftop decks on gleaming high-rises. MULTIPLE SOLUTIONS
IntelliDeck is luxury vinyl outdoor flooring, a membrane with a PVC layer and 3-ounce nonwoven polyester back layer that promotes glue adhesion. The facing is printed with a variety of wood grain, stone, and pebble designs. But aside from aesthetics, it solves a number of environmental issues. The big problem with wood decks is they require annual staining or sealing to prevent mold and other deterioration. The stains gb&d
may have high levels of volatile organic compounds, too. Because traditional planking has open slots between planks, rainfall leads to deterioration. Consequently, the support joists, which are hard to protect with annual maintenance, can fail from rot. With composite planking, the substructure (made of wood) is also subject to rainfall—and it’s also the most expensive choice. Composite material also responds to temperature fluctuations, so it needs to have larger gaps between planks; this has the consequence of trapping debris. If the deck is largely in the shade, mold can result, and if it’s in the sun, the surface can be too hot for bare feet. One installer who has firsthand knowledge of negative consequences from composite decks is Grant Barlow of MyWaterproofDeck.com. He’s well established in the business of building decks, and he now uses IntelliDeck over or in place of composites and treated lumber. “I have many years experience with wood and composite decking,” says Barlow, who operates out of Wellsville, Ohio. “Over time moisture causes rotting, mold, and movement of supporting joists.” While the product can be installed over existing decks and concrete, it uses untreated lumber and plywood (not oriented strand board) as a substrate in a new-build project. To avoid puddling, the deck needs a standard 2% slope downward, away from buildings and toward the desired drainage area. gb&d january–february 2018
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The Dialys Managem Clinic, des by the IBI was transf part with M Contract F resilient fl
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sis ment signed Group, formed in Mondo Flooring’s flooring.
FLOORS BUILT TO LAST Mondo’s resilient flooring solutions transformed a dialysis clinic into a restful space. By Margaret Poe PHOTOS BY BEN R AHN/A-FR AME
PHOTO: COURTESY OF SUNBRELLA
When designing a dialysis clinic, there are several challenges to overcome. The space needs to accommodate a large amount of traffic, particularly a heavy rolling load of beds and equipment with high foot and wheelchair traffic. Surfaces must be resistant to bacteria to prevent the spread of infection. And, because it’s a space where patients spend a lot of time, it shouldn’t feel like a cold, institutional environment. These competing priorities were top of mind for the IBI Group, the design firm behind the renovation and expansion of the Dialysis Management Clinic in Pickering, Ontario, Canada. “The patients are there for many hours at a time—five to six hours a day, three to four days a week,” says Susan Chang, an associate at the IBI Group. “We want to give them an
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u
The Dialysis Management Clinic, designed by the IBI Group, was transformed in part with Mondo Contract Flooring’s resilient flooring.
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LESSONS LEARNED The Dialysis Management Clinic had several complaints about its previous flooring solution. Here’s a look at before and after:
BEFORE: LINOLEUM FLOORING shrank and ê Welding deteriorated over time to find contractors ê Difficult to make repairs
environment that, while it’s not home, will at least give them some of the comforts of home.” It’s the materials used, from floor to ceiling, that create that sense of comfort. The clinic management knew the flooring would need to establish a calm and restful environment while meeting their needs. After evaluating their options, they chose a flooring solution from Mondo, the global leader in rubber flooring. NATURA BENEFITS
Mondo Contract Flooring’s Natura line was the perfect fit, Chang says, as it offered Spare flooring kept in both the durability and storage deteriorated longevity the team needed while evoking a natural Often showed evidence of product, almost like wood. spilled concentrates from The muted natural tones of dialysis treatments the flooring add a peaceful element to the space. Rubber flooring fills a unique AFTER: NEW RUBBER FLOORING need in the marketplace, according to Fernanda Coin, Low required maintenance Canadian sales manager for Highly durable product Mondo Contract Flooring. She explains there are three major Reduced likelihood of types of flooring options used slippage in the health care industry: Formulated to handle linoleum, vinyl, and rubber. spilled dialysis Linoleum often requires a concentrates vigilant maintenance routine involving stripping and waxing the surface, and it can be susceptible to cracking (which creates spaces where bacteria can grow). Vinyl also needs regular maintenance and can contain toxic phthalates, which have been linked to asthma, cancer, reproductive problems, and birth defects. That leaves rubber, which is highly resistant to shrinking and cracking and is free of Red List ingredients (those building materials deemed harmful to humans and the environment). The Natura product is also free of PVCs, heavy metals, chlorine, BPA, and halogen. Chang says this was particularly important during installation, as half of the space remained in use to treat patients during construction, so it was essential to prevent any harmful compounds from penetrating patient spaces.
ê ê
ê ê ê ê
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Coin says Mondo Contract Flooring has demonstrated a commitment to smart environmental practices since its founding in 1948. The Italian manufacturing location is a zero-waste facility, and it’s powered by more than 4,000 solar panels on the roof. Mondo’s products also meet the GREENGUARD Gold standard, which certifies they are low-emitting and safe to use in a health care environment. The clinic management was particularly invested in avoiding any shrinking of the flooring. “If you have any kind of shrinking or cracking in a health care environment, you’re opening yourself and your clients to infection control issues,” Chang says. And the Natura flooring has additional benefits beyond its resistance to shrinking. It’s antimicrobial and antibacterial, too. Additionally, the team considered the acoustical properties of the various flooring options. Unlike harder surfaces, rubber can absorb sounds and create a calmer, pleasant atmosphere. Maintenance was another important factor in the decision process, Chang says. Because rubber flooring is low maintenance, it drastically reduces the amount of chemicals the clinic has to use on a regular basis. With Natura, you don’t have to wax and strip like you would some other flooring, resulting in less overall maintenance costs as well as less chemicals flushed into the water system. “We talk a lot about life-cycle costs,” Coin says. “While other products may have a lower initial cost, they have to be replaced quicker, may need all sorts of chemicals for maintenance, and aren’t resistant to stains.” Chang says the clinic management, having had difficulties with linoleum flooring products in the past, understood the many benefits of a rubber solution. “They knew the longer-term gain,” she says. “They knew they were going to come out ahead.” gb&d
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" I F YO U H AV E A N Y KIND OF SHRINKING OR C R A C K I N G I N A H E A LT H C A R E E N V I R O N M E N T, YO U ’ R E O PE N I N G YO U R S E L F A N D YO U R CLIENTS TO INFECTION C O N T R O L I S S U E S ." ã SUSAN CHANG, IBI GROUP
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GREEN BUILDING INNER WORKINGS & DESIGN
Up Front Typology Inner Workings Features Spaces Punch List
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72 Paving the Way for the Future You can do more with Whitacre Greer’s permeable pavers.
78 Better, Beautiful Spaces Deutsche Steinzeug America is transforming spaces and reducing pollutants.
84 Beauty Overhead Quarrix’s composite tile makes for more beautiful, durable roofs.
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BY COLLEEN DEHART Whitacre Greer’s permeable pavers make more construction projects possible.
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TORMWATER IS A BIG PROBLEM FOR MUCH OF CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE, but not for homes in the NextGen Homes development, thanks to permeable pavers. Stormwater buildup leads to millions of gallons of combined sewer overflow dumping unkempt—and unsanitary—sewage into waterways each year, says Michael Walton, executive director of green|spaces. That’s why the nonprofit architecture firm decided to use permeable pavers by Whitacre Greer for its zero-energy, water-efficient, healthy home development. Exactly what they sound like, permeable clay pavers have larger spacing lugs that allow water to pass through the joints—mimicking how water is absorbed naturally into the land to slow runoff. Without them, the NextGen Homes development would likely not even exist. At the start of the development’s planning process, green|spaces learned they would need to include a retention pond. But the project’s location—on the side of a hill—made such a task impossible. “It would have been a deal breaker,” Walton says. Fortunately, the design team had already decided to install permeable pavers in the homes’ driveways, so the project became possible without installing a pond. “Having (the pavers) in the project from the beginning really helped us clear some of those hurdles as quickly as possible.”
QUICK LOOK u Traditional clay pavers in 15 colors and 19 sizes u Firebrick in 23 sizes and 2 colors u Custom-blending available
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Whitacre Greer’s permeable pavers make projects like the NextGen Homes development in Tennessee possible.
“BRICKS AND SUSTAINABILITY GO HAND-INHAND WITH EACH OTHER.” Chris Kaboth Whitacre Greer
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FUNCTIONALITY & HIGH DESIGN Water runoff is a big problem with any construction, causing most projects to require some kind of retention pond. But ponds aren’t always ideal and can lead to problems with mosquitos and an increased risk of disease. By using permeable pavers, the water goes back into the ground and impurities are filtered out naturally through the stone layers. “This allows the end user to decide where the water goes, and it is safer than sitting in a pond,” says Chris Kaboth, president of Whitacre Greer. Whitacre Greer’s popular boardwalk pavers can withstand 1,300 inches of water per hour, while the smaller, traditionally sized pavers can withstand 970 inches of water per hour. Unlike traditional brick, which uses sand in the joints, #9 stone is used in the installation of permeable pavers—creating a natural water filtration system. The pavers have durability on their side, too. “Bricks and sustainability go hand-in-hand with each other,” Kaboth says. “The largest road in the world was Appian Way (made of brick), and it still stands to this day. If we do our job and manufacture bricks correctly, they can last 150 to 200 years at least with the right installation.” The pavers come in two designs, allowing architects and customers to design whatever they want, as well. “They can let their mind and their design run wild,” Kaboth says. The boardwalk-style pavers—which have a long, thin design—used in the NextGen Homes project are frequently a point of praise from onlookers and homeowners alike. “It is one of the things people always comment on,” Walton says. The aesthetic value allowed green|spaces to sell the homes— which have no garage or carport space—at a higher price point. “We wouldn’t have been able to do that if we were using asphalt pavement. Using the pavers made it OK that we did not offer a garage.”
ALL IN THE FAMILY Whitacre Greer—located in Alliance, Ohio—is not the only company that produces permeable brick pavers, but they were one of the first. The familyowned manufacturer of fired-clay paving brick and firebrick is now in its 101st year of operation. Kaboth is the fifth generation to lead the charge. “It has always been a point of pride,” he says. The company decided to create a permeable brick paver in response to the growing emphasis on LEED credits in the brick industry, and the decision has paid off. “As we received more inquiries at trade shows, we came up with the design and got them to run quickly,” Kaboth says. Feeling the push to be more sustainable as an industry, the company has been working to transform its current location—purchased in the 1970s—“away from the 1950s and closer to the 2000s.” They
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continue to add more environmental controls, including dust collectors to cut down on dust from brick production, and have renovated their kiln to become more energy-efficient. The updated kiln uses half the natural gas as the old kiln. Whitacre Greer is one of two U.S. manufacturers to use the dry-pressed process to form all products and fire them in natural gas-burning kilns. The company started using the dry press method in the 1990s to create a smoother finish on their brick. All products are produced using raw materials extracted in Northeastern Ohio. gb&d gbdmagazine.com
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HOW WE DO IT
Dry-Pressed Manufacturing Dry-pressed manufacturing of brick used to be common, but now only a handful of structural clay manufacturers utilize this production technique—and Whitacre Greer is one of them. The process creates a more dimensionallystable product than the commonly used extruded manufacturing process, says Chris Kaboth, president of Whitacre Greer. Dry-pressed brick contains 6-8% moisture, whereas extruded brick contains 1618%. Less moisture means less shrinkage and deformation of the brick. Dry-pressed brick withstands multiple freeze and thaw cycles better than its counterparts, too, Kaboth says.
Whitacre Greer’s boardwalk pavers can withstand 1,300 inches of water per hour, compared to traditionally sized pavers, which can withstand 970 inches of water per hour.
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PHOTOS: COURTESY OF WHITACRE GREER
The process begins with mechanical presses— producing two to four bricks with each stroke. The presses use steel molds and a vacuum system that extracts air from the molds so the materials can be pressed tightly together. The pressed, unfired brick is then inspected for any irregularities and transferred to the kiln. In the kiln, the bricks are fired at 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. During the firing process, a thermo-physical change takes place in the material creating strong, beautifully colored brick.
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DEUTSCHE STEINZEUG AMERICA IS TRANSFORMING SPACES WHILE REDUCING INDOOR POLLUTANTS.
STORY BY COLLEEN DEHART PHOTOGRAPHS BY SCOTT WATT PHOTOGRAPHY
BETTER BEAUTIFUL SPACES gb&d
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HOOSING TILE FOR THE LOBBY
of the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Orlando at SeaWorld—which opened in October 2017—was a no-brainer for the developer Mandala Holdings. The designers wanted to create the feeling of walking into the ocean, with a herringbone pattern of teal and deep blue tile gradually getting darker as guests move into the hotel. “We wanted to create something guests could take home as an emotional and mental souvenir,” says Vinay Rama, founder and CEO of Mandala Holdings. The color palette and tile sizes that German-based company Deutsche Steinzeug America, Inc.—known as DSA in the U.S.—offered made their vision a reality and so much more. Beyond its distinct aesthetics, DSA tile has a feature unique to its brand—“HT,” or Hydrophilic Tile technology. A refinement of titanium dioxide, a photocatalytic oxidizer, is applied during the glazing process and then fired into the tiles—making it a permanent part of the product for a host of benefits that will last the lifetime of the tile. The tiles have an antimicrobial effect, killing bacteria like E.coli and MRSA on contact. They can also be slipresistant, are easy to clean, odor eliminating, and non-marking. You’ll currently find them in the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel in New York City because of their anti-graffiti properties.
A SAFE AND CLEAN ALTERNATIVE The application of titanium dioxide on the tiles causes a chemical reaction when charged by light, says Heather Walker, distributor and A&D sales manager-US for DSA. The activated
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oxygen breaks down the cell walls of bacteria. When bacteria comes in contact with the tile it’s rendered inactive, Walker says, thus eliminating germs and viruses The titanium dioxide coating—a form and clearing the of nanotechnology—used in DSA air of unwanted tiles works as an antimicrobial agent odor compounds— because of its photocatalytic oxidizing including NOx gases. properties. Photocatalytic oxidation The tile’s occurs when the titanium dioxide hydrophilic property interacts with light or water to activate causes water to the movement of electrons. spread out in a film, rather than bead. The Photocatalytic oxidation deactivates hydrophilic property cells by attacking the cell walls lifts dirt and debris and converting them into carbon away from the tile, dioxide and water. Once the wall speeding up cleaning is compromised, the interior of the time and chemical cell leaks out and the cell becomes inactive. consumption by more than 50%, The process results in the surface Walker says. becoming superhydrophilic—rather Unlike carpet and than beading on the surface, the hardwood floors, water spreads out in a thin sheet. As which sometimes the water flows, dirt and debris are harbor harmful lifted from the tile, making the tile chemicals known easier to clean. as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), DSA tile is virtually chemical-free. Titanium dioxide is a nontoxic, naturally ENDLESS occurring substance commonly found OPTIONS in deodorants, toothpaste, makeup, food, “Designing with tile is limitless,” says and medications. Walker says it’s safe to Andrew Brown, president of Traditions animals, humans, and plant life and never in Tile and Stone—the DSA distributor produces harmful vapors or fumes. who worked on the Holiday Inn “We feel it’s a technology that can do project. Brown regularly works with a lot of good,” she says. “For example, clients who enter his showroom with in health care, there are a ton of people a specific design in mind and the who go into a facility to get well but end uncertainty that it will be achievable, up getting sicker while there.” Using a then he pulls out the color wheel tile with HT Coating reduces the spread from DSA. “(The client) says, ‘Oh my of germs, and the tiles are catching on goodness. You can do this.’ It is an for use in a variety of environments, incredible offering.” from health care facilities to schools and DSA regularly works with designers in residential areas. “Our goal is to cover to create patterns and color blends every surface of the world,” Walker says. specific to their vision. “As a company, Tile also keeps dirt, dust, pollen, and we do a lot that is not typical,” says Mark other allergens at bay, as they’re easily Ficarra, national sales director for DSA. wiped away, further improving indoor The artistic variety DSA offers air quality. is originally what caught the eye
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of Holiday Inn’s designers, but the added benefits are what sold them. The HT Coating was fitting for a hotel environment—especially a breakfast area where there is a high risk of spillage, says Lee Babcock, CIO for Mandala Holdings. “It’s an example of how green manufacturers are pushing the envelope on traditional building materials. They’re making them green and also making them better. It’s like being rewarded for doing the right thing.”
A LONG-TERM CHOICE Of course, tile has a number of benefits. The high temperatures that ceramic is fired at makes it fire resistant. Unlike carpet, which has to be replaced over time and cleaned regularly, tile is durable and easy gbdmagazine.com
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to clean. It also has benefits over natural stone, which can require more maintenance and have special cleaning requirements, Ficarra says. When installed properly, tile should only require routine grout maintenance, which Walker says is getting easier because of ongoing setting material improvements. “It’s a life cycle product. If installed properly, tile can remain in the building for the life of that building,” Ficarra says. Its durability and longevity also make it a more economical choice— another reason it was a top choice for Holiday Inn. “Our perspective was to be smart about the materials we use. Tile is durable and a great way to reduce the operating and lifecycle costs of a hotel,” Babcock says. gb&d gb&d
COMMO N D IS INFE CTIO N ME THO D S V S . PHO TO CA TA L Y TIC O XID A TIO N ME THO D S COMMON METHODS 1 Use toxic chemicals 2 Can lead to re-growth of harmful microbes 3 Byproducts can be toxic to humans PHOTOCATALYTIC OXIDATION METHODS 1 No toxic chemicals used 2 Deactivate microbes to prevent re-growth 3 Non-toxic byproducts 4 No production of vapors of fumes 5 Creates healthy living environment
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UTY HEAD QUARRIX’S COMPOSITE TILE HAS ALL THE BENEFITS OF AUTHENTIC TILE, WITHOUT THE HEFTY WEIGHT OR PRICE. BY LEAH FROATS
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here’s a reason that when we refer to a home we call it “a roof over our heads”—the roof is undeniably one of the most important aspects of a structure. A well-tiled roof protects not only its inhabitants, but also the foundation of the home itself. For such an important part of your house, it can be difficult to decide on the best material or tile—especially with the wealth of options available to contemporary homeowners. Founded in 1985, Quarrix understands that struggle and aims to make the decision process a little easier with its composite tile offerings. 86
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FEATURES
Quarrix made this Maryland roof even stronger.
All Tiled Up Quarrix makes more than just tile—it offers an array of innovative roofing products, including ridge vents, pipe flashing, and furring strips. But its composite tile offerings are perhaps the company’s most standout product. For new roofing projects, Quarrix composite tile is a great option for both its durability and its 50-year warranty. Of course, those same benefits apply for re-roofing projects. One of composite tile’s greatest perks is it’s extremely lightweight when compared to genuine tile, which means homeowners won’t have to complete a reengineering study. “All a homeowner needs to do for a re-roofing project is “take the old shingles off and put our product on without adding any structural support to the roof,” says Peter McQuaid, in-field product expert for Quarrix. “The longevity composite provides is appealing because you’re going to buy it once, and you’re probably not going to have to redo that roof in your lifetime,” he says, adding that with asphalt shingles or wood roofing, clients frequently have to remove their roofing before its true life cycle is up, wasting valuable resources. In addition to its durability, the product’s high-density polyethylene material stands up to ice and hail and passed the highest impact testing to receive a Class 4 rating. gb&d
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Made to Last Todd Masterson of Masterson Roofing & Exteriors is a contractor working in Maryland who has worked with Quarrix composite tile on many roofing projects. “It’s a win-win for the customer. It costs less, weighs less, looks just as good as the real deal. It’s a winwin,” he says. He says that even for an experienced contractor, you can’t tell the difference between composite tile and real tile after installation—which, for many customers, is a major selling point. He was also quick to emphasize the savings enjoyed by homeowners as a result of Quarrix composite tile. Not only is the price of their tiles lower, but homeowners also save by not having to beef up the existing structure of the home to accommodate heavier tiles. While Quarrix’s composite tile product has been in the market for more than 16 years, Masterson has faith in its durability. “The warranty they have is one of the best in the business. With the warranty and the price and the weight difference, it really favors the homeowner in every way.”
But, of course, a roof needs to look good, too, especially as a roof can consist of up to half of a home’s sight line. New Jersey homeowners Guillermo and Paula Argote compared multiple products when considering their roofing project. But for Paula, the first thing that drew her to Quarrix composite tile was the look. “It’s the highlight of the house,” she says. “Everyone who comes here compliments the look. Everyone has a comment about it because it’s beautiful.” Available in six colors, Quarrix tiles provide a feel that Guillermo describes as “Mediterranean,” and
McQuaid calls “old-world.” No matter what word you use, it’s undeniably distinctive. Guillermo had initially considered a material like terra cotta tile for the roof. However, terra cotta tiles are heavy, while Quarrix composite tile weighs roughly 67% less than traditional clay and concrete tile. “I would really recommend it. Not only because it’s a nice product, but also because of the look. I’m a builder and developer and use a lot of other material,” Guillermo says. “But for a special home, it really stands out. People say, ‘Wow, that’s different.’” McQuaid agrees, adding that longevity and aesthetic value aren’t just a benefit for the current homeowner—they’re also benefits for sellers. “One of the things we talk about with homeowners is the resale value of their home. You can put super-duper paint on your house and no one knows or cares what it is—it’s paint,” he says. “But you put a lightweight composite tile on a home, and it increases the resale value tremendously.” gb&d
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PHOTOS: COURTESY OF QUALITY ROOFING INC; COURTESY OF QUARRIX
Looks Matter
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Quarrix’s composite tile offers benefits like lower cost and increased durability.
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GREEN BUILDINGFEATURES & DESIGN
Up Front Typology Inner Workings Features Spaces Punch List
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91 Taking the Long View
This Cape Town development is sustainable and multipurpose.
94 A Waterfront at the Forefront
Tenants at this beautiful property all contribute something positive.
97 From Red to Green
The Radisson RED proves eco-friendly design can be high design.
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TRANSFORMING THE CAPE C APE TOWN IS POISED TO BECOME A GLOBAL LE ADER IN GREEN BUILDING—AND NOT A MOMENT TOO SOON. BY MIKENNA PIEROT TI
As the adage reminds us: Necessity is the mother of invention. Arguably, at no other time in history has that been more strikingly true than now, with climate change and its repercussions already a reality around the world. And few regions understand it better than the Western Cape of South Africa. Home to some 6.5 million people and one of the fastest growing provinces in the country, the Western Cape is at a tipping point. According to Gillian Gernetzky, acting communications manager of the Green Building Council of South Africa, the province and its capital especially (metropolitan Cape Town) are “experiencing the worst drought in more than a century, and…facing the very real prospect of running out of water by March 2018.” Add to that electricity insecurity and rising costs as well as an increasingly concerned population and you have the makings of a movement. Green building in the country has taken off in recent years, and there are no signs of slowing down. According to the Dodge
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Data SmartMarket World Green Building Trends Report 2016, South Africa is poised to become a global green building leader by 2019, with Cape Town vying for a position at the heart of that transformation. Of the 310 Green Star South Africa certifications in the country, the per-capita proportion of green buildings in the Western Cape is higher than anywhere else in the country. “The City of Cape Town and the Western Cape Government are positioning themselves as leaders in green building and sustainability and are forging ahead with green buildings in local and provincial government, as well as encouraging all building owners, users, as well as property professionals and developers to build or retrofit green,” Gernetzky says. In Cape Town, old buildings are taking on new life, like the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, which sprang from a historical grain silo and is a testament to creative reuse, and new building projects like the Radisson RED hotel and upcoming 35 Lower Long office tower are reimagining the relationship between businesses and the precious resources they rely on.
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Sustainability is key for developers like Abland.
TAKING THE LONG VIEW F
PHOTO: PIXABAY
or South African property developer Abland, the benefits of going green are twofold. Buildings that reduce waste and consumption and are built with the future in mind not only benefit the environment but also the bottom line by reducing operating costs and attracting the best tenants. That’s why, when Abland and joint venture partner Ellerine Brothers began development on a new office tower—35 Lower Long—in Cape Town’s Foreshore precinct, sustainability was a top priority, says James Cresswell, Abland’s regional director for Western Cape, South Africa. It all started with putting together a list of priorities. “There are three issues that are critical for sustainable developments in the Cape Town CBD,” Cresswell says.
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s s s 35 Lower Long is set to be finished in 2020.
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The new building will have flexibile office space, retail space, aboveground parking levels, a penthouse, and more.
Reducing electrical and water consumption were the obvious places to focus, but Abland also added reducing vehicle trips to the list. While Cape Town has been hit with electrical and water shortages, traffic has become a major issue that
negatively affects tourism and business. “The city as well as tenants have required developers to look at these issues to ensure new buildings do not exacerbate these problems.” Next they needed to amass the right engineering team. With Aurecon on the structural side;
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RENDERINGS: COURTESY OF 35 LOWER LONG
Converge Consulting on electrical and lighting; Sutherland Engineers working on fire, wet services, facade, and lifts; Ekcon on mechanical; and green building consultants Green Direction keeping the project on track, development has already begun on the four-star green building, certified by the GBCSA (Green Building Council of South Africa), and completion is set for 2020. When the building finally makes
its debut, it will encompass more than 144,000 square feet of flexible office space, 3,476 square feet of retail space, nine aboveground parking levels, and a penthouse on the top floor—all with high-speed internet connectivity. Its modern, glazed facade will have generous floor-toceiling heights and a sculptural form that will provide stunning views of the city. But the project team’s innovative approach to Cape Town’s sustainabil-
ity concerns will undoubtedly be the most impactful in the long-term. “The team identified the usual water and electrical saving devices such as energy-efficient devices and low-flow taps and then went further to identify the air-conditioning and lifts where the greatest water and electrical saving can be made,” Cresswell says. To address this, the team introduced the sky lobby, a jockey lift system that could be used in january–february 2018
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conjunction with smart lifts. The team also incorporated the latest water-saving air-conditioning system. “The greatest saving on the air-conditioning was achieved by reducing heat buildup in the building,” Cresswell notes. “This was done by facing the building away from the harsh summer sun, changing the color and quality of the glass, as well as using a combination of double glazing and high-tech blinds.” And what about reducing transportation congestion? It’s all in the location. The new building is convenient to both public transportation and bicycle lanes. Adding bicycle storage areas, showers, and lockers will encourage tenants to ditch their cars in favor of healthier, greener methods of commuting. Even the building’s construction keeps the focus on sustainability alive and well. With help from engineering consultancy Solid Green Consulting, waste from the site will be recycled and locally manufactured and sustainable products are used as much as possible.
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Not only will occupants benefit from this high-tech green building, the community will for decades to come. From ensuring wind flows off the building don’t create a hazard for pedestrians to creating usable space for the community, Abland aims for 35 Lower Long to be more than just a pretty face. “We also wanted to ensure the building did not create dead facades that did not benefit passing pedestrians,” Cresswell says. “The building has double volume retail areas that open onto the surrounding pavements that will create an interactive space.” Rather than simply a challenge, Abland approaches Cape Town’s sustainability issues as an opportunity to fulfill their mission to shape the South African landscape for the better. “Abland is proud of its developments and works very hard to ensure new buildings improve the overall location. We worked closely with the architects to ensure we developed a beautiful building that will benefit our future tenants as well as the citizens of Cape Town.”
A WATE R FRO NT AT TH E FO R E FRO NT Green initiatives drive this Cape Town development.
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PHOTOS: ERIC ROTH
V&A Waterfront asks its tenants to guarantee they’re contributing positive activities to the development.
No single area is more symbolic of the transformation bubbling over in the Western cape than the bustling V&A Waterfront, a mixeduse development encompassing more than 300 acres of residential and commercial buildings—from hotels and dining to leisure and entertainment. It has become one of Africa’s most popular tourist destinations, with 24 million annual visitors. It also has a storied history as the southern hemisphere’s oldest working harbor. Being the unofficial heart of Cape Town, the Waterfront is vital to the South African economy, with some 21,000 people working within it, 1,500 residents, and as many as 180,000 visitors daily. As such, it was
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in a prime position to not only set an example for the rest of the region, but also make a big impact in the fight to preserve resources. “The V&A Waterfront has long been committed to leadership in sustainability practices, with a holistic sustainability program consisting of interventions such as waste recycling, energy efficiency, traffic management, public transport, fleet management, as well as staff and tenant education and incentives,” says Donald Kau, head of communications at the V&A Waterfront. “We are also at the fore of implementing a green agenda across the property, as it is important to ensure our tenants’ activities are environmentally friendly. We’ve introduced a Green
Lease Tenant Criteria Reference Manual, guaranteeing tenant activities contribute positively.” Although the Waterfront’s focus on sustainability predates the area’s current water and electricity problems, some of its newest projects, like the jaw-dropping Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA), situated in the heart of the Waterfront’s Silo District, are among its most impressive feats of green design. Opened in September 2017, the Zeitz MOCAA is housed in a converted historical grain silo—once the tallest building in South Africa. Kau says the biggest challenge was working out how to preserve and acknowledge the building’s history while recycling and reusing material, minimizing the carbon footprint of the project, and still giving it a new, contemporary use. That challenge has only intensified as the Waterfront takes on six new developments surrounding the museum—commercial offices, residential buildings, the Virgin Active Health Club, and the Radisson RED Hotel (page 131). “In instances where we are constructing buildings from scratch…we ensure that the latest green engineering practices are used, and that each new building will meet the [Green Building Council of South Africa]’s criteria for green-star ratings,” Kau says. But when they have to “reverse-engineer” sustainability into a property like the Zeitz MOCAA, things get a little trickier. Kau says it was a challenge they were more than happy to embark on. “In some cases, there were relatively simple things we could implement, such as changing the lighting controls and installing sensor-activated taps in bathroom basins, to reduce electricity and water consumption.” Other innovations implemented within the Silo
RENDERING: COURTESY OF 35 LOWER LONG; PHOTO: COURTESY OF V&A WATERFRONT
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District include efficient water and electrical design to minimize the district’s demand on resources, water and energy metering systems to manage consumption, efficient use of space using light-weight internal walls to reduce wall thickness and decrease total building weight, using low-VOC finishes and natural lighting, and incorporating durable yet costeffective building facades that could withstand the harsh harbor environment and offer thermal performance. One of the Waterfront’s most impressive features, though, is its cooling system, which makes perfect use of its prime harbor location, drawing in cold Atlantic seawater to regulate internal building temperatures. “The seawater cooling system has been introduced to newer buildings in the Silo and Marina districts,” Kau says. “The cooling system replaces energy-hungry air conditioning. Ice-cold water from the Atlantic sea is piped throughout the building and returned into the sea. This seawater is so cold it cools the air around it, eliminating the need for air-conditioning and other cooling systems.” The Waterfront’s innovations in green building are not going unnoticed, earning accolades from Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA) and others. “The property’s ongoing drive to safeguard both its historic and environmental legacy saw the V&A Waterfront receive Heritage Platinum status in July 2015,” Kau says. And the V&A Waterfront is one of only four establishments in the Western Cape to have Platinum Heritage status. It also received the Best Destination for Responsible Tourism Award at the World Travel Market in 2014. “Our buildings are an important asset at the V&A Waterfront, and we have committed to sustainable development across the property as a strategic focus point for the business.” PHOTO: COURTESY OF V&A WATERFRONT
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DEK DEK DEK DEK DEK DEK DEK DEK DEK DEK DEK DEK DEK DEK DEK
FROM RED to GREEN PH O T OS BY PAT R I C K K I N G
A closer look at the V&A Waterfront reveals the extent to which the Cape Town region is eager to go green from the inside out—and the city’s new Radisson RED hotel, opened in September 2017, is one way that message is hitting home with everyone from locals to tourists. Dale Simpson, curator at the Waterfront Radisson RED, Africa’s first Radisson RED, says the hotel’s green features reflect both the V&A Waterfront’s ethos of pioneering sustainable approaches and the RED hotel philosophy—one that aims to connect the hip new chain with millennials through its eclectic yet environmentally aware culture. “It’s important primarily to continue to value our precious resources and, with building and design, these are important considerations,” he says. “Later, of course, as an operational business, our clients now are much more interested in our approach with sustainability and responsible business as well as our team members. People want to work for and indeed with businesses who operate from design to delivery with sustainability embedded in their approach and ethos.” • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• ••In • •• •• •• •• •• ••and • •• •• •• •• ••phase, • •• •• •• •implemented • •• • •• ••the •• •• •• •design •• •• •• •build •• •• •• •• •• ••the •• •• •• •V&A • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • key green elements that reduced the building’s strain on •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• 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A Stay
B Play
Table Mountain Robben Island Greenpop South African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds
january–february 2018
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january–february 2018
The hotel offers everything from suites with balconies and water views to petfriendly rooms.
resources (via the central seawater cooling system, spatially efficient design that makes use of daylight, and lighter wall thickness). Within the hotel, Simpson says, “We work on a ‘no food waste’ policy, meaning no traditional buffets, which reduces food wastage by over 30%. Our responsible footprint also continues as we have a ‘no paper’ policy in our studio rooms, again significantly reducing our environmental strains.” Reducing waste doesn’t mean reducing convenience or amenities, though. This 252-room hotel offers everything from the standard two-sleeper studio to studio suites with balconies and water views (pet-friendly rooms are also available). Add a fully equipped gym as well
as the famed RED roof (encompassing a pool, bar, and grill) where the hotel hosts regular barbecue events, and the space becomes much more than just a place to hang your hat. Convenience-focused technology like free high-speed Wi-Fi, keyless entries, and an app for everything from ordering food to checking out to requesting more pillows are clearly aimed at the region’s increasingly mobile workforce and tech-savvy tourist culture. The OUIBar +KTCHN is a hub for local flavors, an extensive cocktail list, and socializing in bold spaces that bring art and architecture to life. Guests can even stream their personal video services like Netflix and Hulu right to their hotel rooms. And you can do all this while feeling good about your choice. “The building and hotel fit perfectly,”
Simpson says. “At the hotel, we create a sense of place in our destinations using inspirations of art, music, and fashion. These inspirations mean our guests feel a ‘local experience’ in our hotel, which is important and is a chance to showcase the best of local talent. After all, this is our community…we enjoy celebrating that, and we have a responsibility to our local community.” Cape Town itself is bolstering businesses like this with enthusiastic support. Well known all over the world for its creativity and innovation, the city was recognized as the World Design Capital in 2014. “The fact that the city embraces this innovation in combination with a realization of how valuable our resources really are means the city is already well positioned [to act on] its status as a green hub.” gb&d gbdmagazine.com
GREEN BUILDING & DESIGN
Up Front Typology Inner Workings Features Spaces Punch List
gb&d
100 Green Grows Up
Stacy Glass shares what it means to build positive.
101 4 Things We Learned from Hurricane Sandy
Claire Weisz of WXY Architecture on lessons in rebuilding after the storm.
102 Person of Interest
A senior architect from Snøhetta talks smart buildings.
104 In the Lab
This autonomous, emission-free container ship in Norway is changing the maritime industry.
january–february 2018
99
PUNCH LIST WSLA INSIGHTS
Green Grows Up Building in the Age of the Circular Economy
2015 WSLA WINNER
Stacy Glass Vice President, Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute
There’s no denying the green building movement has made tremendous strides to reduce impact on people and planet by improving efficiencies in water and energy consumption, but bigger challenges remain; we are plundering our world of precious, finite resources at an increasing rate. Thus, we must usher in the next era in the built environment—the materials economy. Cradle to Cradle has long provided a galvanizing platform to help designers fully consider the environmental and human impacts of materials in the built environment beyond their immediate life cycle. Now, with the concept of a global circular economy taking root, the Cradle to Cradle products program provides a framework for developing and verifying materials for the circular economy that is more relevant than ever—and
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the conditions are right to make the economic case for a materials revolution. In the future, we will create buildings that are essentially material banks whereby the materials a building contains are selected based upon principles of circular design, material health, and design for disassembly and recovery. In turn, this approach will help owners realize greater economic value, occupants will have improved health, and the environment will bear less of the burden of growth and consumption. There is economic value in the materials that are used every day in the built environment. However, we need to design products, buildings, and cities differently to realize that value. When we create value through intelligent design, we not only create economic value, but we also create positive impacts for people and the planet. Following in the footsteps of William McDonough and Michael Braungart, that is exactly what Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute’s new initiative, Built Positive, aims to do. Built Positive is a co-creative movement to increase the built environment’s positive impact on people, planet, and economy by designing for circularity, innovating to improve inputs, and quantifying positive impact from the molecule to the metropolis. Built Positive will help the sustainable design community to build what is next. WHAT IS BUILT POSITIVE?
Through circular design and circular value chains, materials in buildings sustain their value so they function as banks
of valuable materials. This shift allows the building sector to produce less waste, use fewer virgin resources, slow the usage of resources to a rate that meets the capacity of the planet, and improve human health while creating true value for owners and occupants.
thoughtfully designed and assembled for whole building circularity. • Policies & Standards: Govern-
ments can affect preconditions for a circular building sector through various incentives, policies, standards, and regulations.
Key concepts of Built Positive: • Circular Design: Everything
is a resource for something else. Intentionally eliminate the concept of waste through design at all levels: material, product, and building. • Material Health: Quality as-
surance and value retention through the use of materials that are verified to be safe and healthy for humans and the environment. • Design for Disassembly, Reuse, and Recovery: Build-
ings that can be easily deconstructed so materials, products, and components can be easily recovered, their value retained, to be meaningfully cycled. • Value Chain Collaboration & Integration: To innovate and
accelerate circular solutions requires early and often engagement of the supply chain, material manufacturers, architectural and interior designer, owners and developers, banks and financiers. • Realizing Value: Creating
For years in the Cradle to Cradle Certified™ products certification program, manufacturers and suppliers have been innovating in their design and production departments to provide the built environment with inputs that are safe, cyclable, and manufactured in ways that create positive impact for humans and the environment. This is foundational and necessary to enable circular systems. Now, the conditions are ripe to scale these ideas and to realize the world our founders envisioned and to create a robust circular economy. gb&d
Stacy Glass, vice president at the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, applies her passion for creating healthy and sustainable space to advance the adoption of the Cradle to Cradle Certified products program in the built environment sector. She is responsible for outreach, engagement, and education of architects, designers, manufacturers, and standards programs, such as LEED. She is a 2015 Women in Sustainability Leadership Awards (WSLA) winner.
and retaining value over the use and reuse cycles of a product or building enabled by the identification, optimization, verification, and tracking of materials gbdmagazine.com
PUNCH LIST
4 Things We Learned About Rebuilding from Hurricane Sandy Change by Design, published by Columbia Books on Architecture and the City. These are just a few of the ways to create a framework to address extreme weather:
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PHOTO: COURTESY OF VANDUSEN
Claire Weisz Principal-in-Charge WXY architecture + urban design
In 2013, following Hurricane Sandy, President Barack Obama announced the international design and ideas competition Rebuild by Design, which created a public-private partnership to support research and development of innovative ideas that addressed many of the risks and vulnerabilities highlighted by Sandy and similar climate events. One of the proposals, the Blue Dunes project led by design firms WXY and West 8, proposed a string of artificial barrier islands off the coasts of New York and New Jersey. The project involved a diverse group of designers, climate scientists, financial advisors, risk managers, and community boards and members. By embracing such a broad coalition, this proposal also suggested a number of important lessons for future efforts to address and mitigate the damage from ever-more-frequent storms in a changing climate. The process is detailed in a new book, Blue Dunes: Climate gb&d
PLAN AT MULTIPLE SCALES. The Blue Dunes
project highlights the notion that certain problems, like climate change, must be addressed across a full spectrum of scales, including the regional. As an artificial archipelago with multiple scales of designed interventions, the project offers a measure of flood resilience along the coast, reducing many specific communities’ vulnerability to storm surges. These specific interventions wouldn’t solve the problem of coastal inundation, but they would buy some time as we either adapt or build some measure of resiliency in various places along the coast. Taken as a whole, this project also shows the power of land use planning as a comparatively low-cost adaptation strategy that has the potential to save billions of dollars. THINK ABOUT METHODOLOGIES, NOT JUST SPECIFIC DESIGNS.
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There are no uniform solutions, and not every principle is scalable. A solution created for one community may not work for a neighboring community. Blue Dunes offers a way to address these challenges at the level of methodology, and the study provides a model for what kinds of decisions need to be made in this type of planning and design process,
and in the workflow. A similar process model could be applied to tackle urban flooding, energy distribution, ecological preservation, and many other climate related challenges that defy the scale of existing political-economic organizations and institutions. To that end, the Blues Dunes project can serve as a prototype for further research in design science, decision science, participatory planning, organizational management, and institutional change. TACKLING CLIMATE CHANGE REQUIRES A DIVERSE SET OF STAKEHOLDERS. There is little
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doubt that no one discipline in isolation can solve the challenges of climate change. Blue Dunes lays the groundwork for coalitions of political, social, and economic interests. By involving risk modelers and financial analysts, for example, the project team showed substantial annual savings, in the range of tens of millions of dollars for flood insurance alone, could be procured and leveraged for future resiliency measures at the regional or national level. Engaging the private sector in the language of return on capital is critical for leveraging political will and enabling economic risk-taking, which together serve as the foundations for comprehensive strategic action.
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THINK BIG.
ABOVE The new book details lessons for future efforts to mitigate damage from storms.
technology, and innovation represented by the Blue Dunes project demonstrates that the big ideas are still possible and even desirable. The artificial barrier islands represent only one form of innovation, as the true innovation is in the art and science of designing, engineering, financing, and regulating a new form and function that is truly regional in its scope and ambition. The lessons derived from Blue Dunes provide some hope that we can plan and design for extreme weather and ultimately climate change in a way that citizens desire for their communities. gb&d
Edited and written by Claire Weisz and Jesse M. Keenan, the book Blue Dunes chronicles the design of artificial barrier islands developed to protect the Mid-Atlantic region of North America in the face of climate change. It narrates the complex, and sometimes contradictory, research agenda of an unlikely team of analysts, architects, ecologists, engineers, physicists, and planners addressing extreme weather and sea-level rise within the practical limitations of science, politics, and economics.
The book also highlights the idea that experimentation is key in responding to and preparing for climate change. The scale of experimentation, january–february 2018
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PUNCH LIST
Person of Interest Marianne Sætre
“Strategies need to be redefined to meet the challenges societies around the world are facing.” Interview by Laura Rote
Sustainable cities and communities. Decent work and economic growth. Industry, innovation, and infrastructure. These are among the 17 goals established by the United Nations for sustainable development—aspirations that
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also ask us to face challenges head on to maintain cities and create jobs without straining land and resources. They’re goals international architecture firm Snøhetta doesn’t take lightly. A big part of Snøhetta’s mission is recognizing and investigating the consequences of global phenomena like climate change, urbanization, and mass migration, according to Senior Architect Marianne Sætre. “How these challenges interrelate will strongly influence our practice in the years to come,” she says. “On all levels, from urbanization, transportation, and land use through recycling and reuse of all building materials, strategies need to be redefined to meet the challenges societies around the world are facing.” You’re probably familiar with much of the work of Snøhetta—major architecture, landscape architecture, interior design, and brand design company—from the National September 11 Memorial Museum & Pavilion at the World Trade Center site to the Oslo Opera House to even Europe’s forthcoming “first underwater restaurant.” We recently talked with Sætre about public spaces (they’re moving inside buildings), reducing office space (less big, empty space is more sustainable), and designing for the future. gb&d: How does Snøhetta design for the future, especially as many of us live in more high-density places? Sætre: Designing buildings with integrated green areas, like green terraces and roof gardens. One example is our recent project for Les Lumières Pleyel [a massive mixed-use development project in France comprised of more than 50 projects—including offices spaces, residential buildings, student housing, and recreational space. The team is working to ensure the buildings
are flexibly designed so they can be adapted for residential or commercial.] Another example is our proposal for Hørsholm [near Copenhagen. Formerly an abandoned hospital, the site is being transformed into hundreds of apartments covered in solar panels and green roofs]. gb&d: From an architect’s perspective, what makes a smart city? Sætre: A smart city is made for people, with a large variety of meeting places with high value and great qualities. A smart city is attractive to different types of businesses and made for people on the move, with efficient systems of mobility. Different modes of transportation must be interconnected with priority to the pedestrian flow. The walking experience, the biking opportunities in combination with access to public transportation as well as electrical vehicles is critical for a city to be smart. gb&d: I was intrigued by the discussion you led during Oslo Innovation Week about rethinking space. Can you share more about the Bisnode redesign you completed last year? How did Snøhetta transform a 1920s building into a workplace that incorporated different work styles? Sætre: Every client has specific needs that require specific solutions. For gbdmagazine.com
PUNCH LIST
Tailored solutions are increasingly important for clients.
PHOTOS, CLOCKWISE: MIR, STEPHEN PAOLO CITRONE (2)
gb&d: How has workplace design changed over the years?
the Bisnode project we established a felt wall surrounding the work space imitating a sort of “walk in the forest,” where employees could [pace and] speak loudly on the phone. The acoustic qualities of the felt absorbs some of the noise and creates a mental barrier between the workspace and the open landscape. We also recycled some of the drawers to create some playfulness to the area. As you will see in the photo, the drawers are used as personal shelves for employees. Of course, this solution is tailored for one gb&d
particular client, but it’s an example of the importance of innovation by tailored solutions. gb&d: What is one valuable lesson you’ve learned recently with regard to designing more sustainably? Sætre: Low-tech solutions are more sustainable than high-tech ... Low tech is more flexible, and there is less technical equipment to change if the user changes.
Sætre: In the ’80s workspaces were adapted to the data revolution. In the ’90s, innovation and technology were important drivers for how these spaces were designed. In the 2000s, collaboration and coworking became buzzwords for the ideal office space. Finally, today, we see that tailor-made solutions are becoming an important driver for innovative workspaces. gb&d: You also talked about smaller workplaces, asking, “How many square meters do you really need?” What other questions should we consider? Sætre: Another question would be “How do you operate in your daily work?” And “Is the space optimized for the activity?” We need to ask these questions to invent new solutions that work and fulfill the client’s needs. gb&d january–february 2018
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PUNCH LIST
In the Lab
Bjørn Tore Orvik Introducing Yara Birkeland, a.k.a. the Tesla of the Seas Written by Laura Rote
Imagine a container ship that didn’t guzzle fuel and generate emissions equal to millions upon millions of cars. While carbon dioxide emissions from shipping are on the rise globally, Norwegian chemical company Yara International is doing its part to plan for a cleaner future. The International Maritime Organization estimates carbon dioxide emissions from shipping were equal to 2.2% of the global human-made emissions in 2012, expecting them to rise 50 to 250% by 2050 if no action is taken. Fortunately, action is being taken, at least on some local levels. In May 2017, Yara announced a partnership with global maritime technology company Kongsberg Maritime to build a fully electric, autonomous, open-top container ship. That’s right—fully autonomous, operated by an innovative system of sensors, cameras,
Q A
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and radar to get 100 containers of NPK fertilizer from one Norwegian city to another across the fjord each day, replacing 40,000 diesel-powered truck trips each year. “Yara Birkeland is a game-changer that will set a new standard in the maritime sector,” says Bjørn Tore Orvik, project manager for Yara Birkeland. “It’s also a commercial solution that will help the world deliver on the climate goals as set forth in the Paris agreement.” It was Orvik’s idea to build an autonomous, electric vessel, and he sees potential to shake up the entire industry. The Norwegian government itself has allocated roughly 133 million NOK ($16 million USD) in funds, while the total cost of this project’s investment (vessel and quayside equipment) is approximately 400 million NOK, or $49 million USD. The project is still in its early stages.
gb&d: How was this idea born? Bjørn Tore Orvik: Yara is looking for every way to reduce emissions and make our production and logistics environmentally friendly. In Porsgrunn, Norway, we ship about 100 containers with fertilizer every day by truck to regional shipping hubs in Larvik (20 km away) and Brevik (25 km away). Last year we started looking into using maritime transport as an alternative to these truck journeys through densely populated areas. In dialogue with the leading maritime technology company Kongsberg, we soon agreed that together we had the opportunity to realize a game-changer within short sea shipping.
The ship’s designer, Marin Teknikk, was selected in June 2017. In September, a six-meter-long, 2.4-ton model of the final design was revealed and its capabilities were tested in water at SINTEF Ocean’s 80-meter test tank facility in Trondheim, Norway. In early 2019, the Yara Birkeland will set sail—at first as a manned operation, before an unmanned and fully autonomous operation is tested in 2020. Kongsberg is responsible for developing and delivering all key technologies on Yara Birkeland, including the sensors and integration required for remote and autonomous operations, in addition to the electric drive, battery, and propulsion control systems. We recently took some time to speak with Orvik and the Yara Birkeland crew to find out more about how the “Tesla of the Seas” is set to change the industry as we know it.
framework, so that autonomous vessels are allowed to sail in Norway. Yara Birkeland is a game-changer in the maritime sector, and we believe that in the near future we will see several vessels performing autonomous operations. gb&d: Will longer journeys occur in future? Orvik: The plan for Yara Birkeland is to sail between Porsgrunn and Larvik/Brevik in Norway. We believe we will also see other autonomous ships be built that could travel in the deep-sea segment. But the largest potential when it comes to sustainable operations is within short sea shipping and inland waterways.
gb&d: What has surprised you about this process so far?
gb&d: What is the ultimate goal of this project?
Orvik: There are currently no national or international regulations covering autonomous ships. The Norwegian Maritime Authority and the Norwegian Coastal Administration has participated in the project from day one, with the aim of establishing a national regulatory
Orvik: Zero emission fertilizer production. We believe innovation is the key to solve the challenges facing the world, transforming bright ideas into business value.
january–february 2018
gb&d: How will Yara Birkeland operate without a crew?
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PUNCH LIST
The Yara Birkeland model is seen during testing in an indoor tank. The ship will eliminate 40,000 truck journeys per year, reduce dust and local pollution, reduce CO2 emissions, and improve road safety in densely populated areas.
PHOTOS, CLOCKWISE: CHRISTINE SCHEFTE, COURTESY OF YARA BIRKELAND
For more, visit gbdmagazine.com
Orvik: An autonomous ship will be equipped with advanced sensors, cameras, and different types of radars. Tests show how the ship sees and recognizes small boats, windsurfers, and kayakers. The ship also sees objects the size of a seagull when there is little sea. The autonomous ship relies on common laws and regulations for safe navigation in the same way as any other ship ... Although the ship is not manned, it will be possible to call it on the VHF to notify of reduced maneuverability, such as failure with the engine or the sail, tow, and so on.
gb&d: What makes investment in this worth it? Orvik: With an autonomous and electric container feeder, the initial investment is larger, but the operating expense is significantly lower. Added benefits are removal of noise, pollution, and emissions. The ship will remove 40,000 truck journeys per year, reduce dust and local pollution, reduce CO2 emissions by 700 tons per year, and improve road safety in densely populated areas. gb&d: What’s most exciting to you about this project?
gb&d: How will this change the maritime industry? Orvik: The real breakthrough here is the “sensor fusion,” combining advanced technologies with autonomy software, and moving it from a test environment to real-life commercial operation ... Yara Birkeland will be fitted with batteries that will be charged with clean Norwegian hydro power during loading and unloading and reduce 700 metric tons of CO2 emissions every year.
gb&d
Orvik: Delivering a commercial solution that will help the world deliver on the climate goals in the Paris agreement excites us. In addition, it’s a fun fact that 2017 was 150 years since Yara’s founder, innovator and scientist Kristian Birkeland was born. In 1905, he developed the most valuable patent in Norwegian history when he discovered how to extract nitrogen from the air to produce fertilizer. To celebrate, Yara has named the vessel after him—Yara Birkeland. gb&d
january–february 2018
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PUNCH LIST
Directory & Index
ADVERTISERS
A Action Floor Systems, LLC, 48 actionfloors.com 715.476.3512
# 28 Austin Street, 21 35 Lower Long, 94 1100 Architect, 59
B Bright Idea Shops, 34 brightideashops.com 330.258.0168
A Abendroth, Tom, 50 Abland, 94 Acoustical Consulting Services, 44 Adler, Jonathan, 32 Advanced Building Analysis, 22 AHR Expo, 15 Ahrens, Roy, 24 Anderson, Ray, 13 Arbor Day Foundation, 17 Argote, Guillermo and Paula, 84 Aurecon, 95
D Deutsche Steinzeug America, 78 dsa-ceramics.com 714.774.7750 F FabriTRAK, 42 fabritrak.com 609.409.6700 Formica, 30 formica.com 800.367.6422
FiberTite, 24 fibertite.com 800.927.8578 G GreenStaxx, 20 greenstaxx.com 617.491.6004 I IntelliDeck, 62 intellideck.us 540.667.5566
International Living Future Institute, 16 living-future.org 206.223.2028
M MirrorLite, 46 gomirrorlite.com 914.930.8906
Mondo Contract Flooring, 66 mondocontractflooring.com 610.834.3835 Q Quarrix, 84 quarrix.com 800.438.2920 T TRUEGRID, 38 truegridpaver.com 855.355.GRID W Whitacre Greer, 72 wgpaver.com 330.823.1610
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PEOPLE & COMPANIES
january–february 2018
B Babcock, Lee, 78 Banyan Water, 18 Barlow, Grant, 81 Bartley Group, 42 Baslow, Floyd, 44 Beyer Blinder Belle, 56 Bisnode, 103 Blue Dunes, 101 Braungart, Michael, 100 British Aerospace, 46 Brooklyn Navy Yard, 56 Brown, Andrew, 78 Brown, Don, 51 Browne, Mike, 22 C Cambridge Park Place, 21 Cash, Carl, 29 Center for Sustainable Landscapes, 16 Chang, Susan, 83 Coin, Fernanda, 85 Cool Roof Rating Council, 28 COOKFOX Architects Studio, 16 Converge Consulting, 95 Cradle to Cradle, 100 Cresswell, James, 94 Crozier, Matt, 55 D D’Angelo, Lou, 44 Derrington, Renee Hytry, 31 Demel, Scott, 57 Design & Construction Week, 15 Dialysis Management Clinic, 83 DuPont, 26 E Erten, Duygu, 18 Ekcon, 95 Etsy Headquarters, 16 EY, 18
Green Building Council of South Africa, 95 Green Direction, 95 green|spaces, 72 H HPD Collaborative, 18 Holiday Inn Express & Suites Orlando at SeaWorld, 78 I International Maritime Organization, 104 IBI Group, 83 Interface, 13 International Council of Toy Industries, 17 J Judah, Ilana, 18 K Kaboth, Chris, 72 Kau, Donald, 92 Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, 16 Kieran, Stephen, 16 Klipfel, Arthur, 20 Kongsberg Maritime, 104 L Lafayette Tower, 46 Lancaster, Kyle, 81 Leibowitz, Sandra, 18 Lewis, Kimberly, 18 Leek, Bill, 47 Leek Building Products, Inc., 47 Legrand North America, 18 Los Angeles Department of Water & Power, 18 Luthin Associates, 18 Luthin, Catherine, 18 Les Lumières Pleyel, 102 M Masterson Roofing & Exteriors, 84 Masterson, Todd, 84 McDonough, William, 100 McQuaid, Peter, 84 Metroflor, 18 Meurer, Stuart, 55 MGM Grand Casino, 47 Middlesex School, 55 Moore, Bart, 42 Morley, John, 80 Mandala Holdings, 78 Mandarin Oriental Hotel, 46 Marvel Architects, 56 N National September 11 Memorial Museum & Pavilion, 102 NEI, 21 NextGen Homes, 72 Noyes, Gwen, 20
F Fenhaus, Ron, 52 Ficarra, Mark, 78 Frodl, Deb, 18 Frost, Steven, 42 FXFOWLE Architects, 18
0 Orvik, Bjørn Tore, 105
G GE Ecomagination, 18 Gernetzky, Gillian, 90 Glass, Stacy, 100 Good Samaritan Medical Center, 26 Google, 45
R Rachel Carson Music and Campus Center, 55 Radio Flyer, 13 Radisson RED, 96 Rama, Vinay, 78
P Pasin, Robert, 13 Perry World House, 59 Piscuskas, David, 59
Rebuild by Design, 101 Reith, Gary, 46 Rettman, Josef, 21 Robbins, Alan, 34 Routman, Rochelle, 18 Rochford, Susan, 18 Russ & Daughters, 57 S Sætre, Marianne, 102 Sloan, Samuel, 59 Seaman Corporation, 26 Simon, Lynn, 18 Simpson, Dale, 96 SINTEF Ocean, 104 SKANSKA, 18 Snøhetta, 102 Sola, Tony, 44 Solar Power Northeast, 15 Solid Green Consulting, 96 Stantec, 22 Starlight Foundation, 17 Steelcase, 18 Stiles, Barry, 38 Sustainable Design Consulting, 18 Sutherland Engineers, 95 Sturgeon, Amanda, 18 T Taddune, Gillan, 18 Taylor, Jeffrey, 32 Teknikk, Marin, 104 Temme, Virge, 18 Thomson Consumer Electronics, 46 Thornton Tomasetti, 18 Traditions in Tile, 78 TURKECO Consulting, 18 U United Eco-Skies, 18 University of Pennsylvania, 59 USGBC, 18 V V&A Waterfront, 92 Vinyl Roofing Division of the Chemical Fabrics and Film Association, 28 Virge Temme Architecture, 18 Virgin Active Health Club, 92 Vittori, Wendy, 18 W Waldorf Astoria, 45 Walker, Heather, 78 Walton, Michael, 72 Weisz, Claire, 101 West 8, 101 Windover Construction, 55 World Trade Center, 102 WXY, 101 Y Yara International, 105 Z Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, 92
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