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Maggie’s Centre Barts, Steven Holl Architects, London P. 77
DESIGNING FOR TOMORROW
WHAT CAN THE U.S. LEARN FROM EUROPEAN PRISON DESIGN? P. 82
UP FRONT
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In This Issue March+April 2018 Volume 9, Issue 49
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Andy Cohen, co-CEO of Gensler, is planning for a driverless future— and no parking lots.
Carnegie offers highend acoustic solutions to improve any space.
The Jack Byrne Center for Palliative and Hospice Care fosters a connection with nature.
A closer look at the most transformative window and door solutions of 2018 with Milgard.
A tour of some of London’s best green buildings.
In Conversation
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Cutting Through the Noise
Somewhere Like Home
The Glass Expanse
Where There is a Will, There is a Way
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Table of Contents March+April 2018 Volume 9, Issue 49
76 Up Front 12
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In Conversation Gensler’s Andy Cohen is inspired by a driverless future.
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8 Ways Vinyl Fencing is Better Than Wood Superior Plastic Products’ solutions stand the test of time.
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FOG on the Water Endura removes fats, oils, and grease from wastewater in a greener way.
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Cutting Through the Noise Carnegie creates spaces that amplify what you want to hear—and dampen all the rest.
Kid-Friendly The Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital stays close to nature while being a place kids won’t fear.
Safe, Strong, and Sustainable Saving energy is easy with Accella’s spray foam roofing systems.
Somewhere Like Home
Inner Workings 54
Bright Ideas for Coworking Lumenomics uses special lighting to transform any workspace.
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Making Buildings Better
Thoughtful design at the Jack Byrne Center for Palliative and Hospice Care brings peace to endof-life care.
Smart Storage Spacesaver solves storage needs without sacrificing design.
Defined Design When it comes to energy efficiency, this University of Iowa building is music to our ears.
More Than a Pretty Fan MacroAir’s large ceiling fans make cooling any space a breeze.
Event Previews Globalcon and Lightfair International are coming soon.
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Editors’ Picks Curated by gb&d staff
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Typology
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YKK AP meets complex design challenges with curtain wall innovations.
Mission: Net Zero Energy This energy-efficient building accommodates medical professionals’ needs while standing up to Massachusetts winters.
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Spaces | London
Punch List
73 A Timber Revolution Dalston Works is the world’s largest building constructed out of crosslaminated timber.
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75 The Building
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That Gives Back
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Catherine Luthin shares why you should still pursue distributed energy resource projects.
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Designing for Prisons Can U.S. designers learn from European countries focused on rehabilitation to make real change?
Person of Interest The International DarkSky Association’s Pete Strasser tells us why we should care about light pollution.
Improving IAQ How interior designers and mechanical engineers can work together for better air.
Sustainability meets community at Bloomberg’s new European headquarters.
77 Building Hope Maggie’s Centre Barts helps cancer patients and their families heal in a healthy environment.
WSLA Insights
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Lessons Learned Let nature help you heal, and other lessons from ZGF Architects’ Marty Brennan.
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In the Lab You can learn a lot from an acrylic panel injected with algae.
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GREEN BUILDING & DESIGN
Editor’s Note Chris Howe Driverless cars (page 12), starry skies, and even prisons that look more like boutique hotels—this issue of gb&d goes beyond buildings, to say the least. In the pages of the March/ April magazine, we take a look at the bigger picture, asking tough questions about how architects, designers, engineers, and even consumers can make real change. One of those questions was this: What can American designers learn from European countries focused on rehabilitation in prisons? Interior architect Lea Hershkowitz explores the juxtaposition of European and American ideas of prison design on page 82, looking at examples of how natural light, open air, and art can truly inspire people to heal, grow, and learn. With an increasingly burdensome prison population in the U.S. (the Center for Prisoner Health and Human Rights says the 2.2 million people imprisoned in the United States account for a quarter of the population of people incarcerated worldwide), why wouldn’t we want to consider how we can help people return to society in meaningful ways? Speaking of natural light and open air, we also got a chance to learn from the International DarkSky Association (page 84) about light pollution in this issue. Not only is light pollution a quickly growing problem—in many places, we can’t even see the stars—it’s also just plain wasteful. As for natural light, projects like the Voxman Music Building (page 16) at the University of Iowa stand out with clever daylighting controls and full-
height, north-facing windows. The six-story LEED Gold–certified music center from LMN Architects and Neumann Monson PC is a sight to see with its shingled-glass facade and sculptural acoustic ceiling system. Its projects like these that make it clear: You can have energy-efficient spaces that have great lighting and maximum comfort while being inspiring, too. Sincerely,
Chris Howe, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
ON THE COVER A DRIVERLESS WORLD: Q&A WITH GENSLER’S ANDY COHEN P. 12
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Maggie’s Centre Barts, Steven Holl Architects, London P. 77
In London, the team behind Maggie’s Centre Barts used color, light, and unique materials to transform a cancer center. Photo by NAARO, Courtesy of Steven Holl Architects
DESIGNING FOR TOMORROW
WHAT CAN THE U.S. LEARN FROM EUROPEAN PRISON DESIGN? P. 82
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Publisher’s Note Laura Heidenreich
gb&d Green Building & Design gbdmagazine.com EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Christopher Howe ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
Laura Heidenreich
MANAGING EDITOR
Laura Rote
Reading this issue, I was struck by the sheer volume of over-the-top solutions. Not only is the March/April issue of gb&d packed with sustainable projects and healthy building materials— the solutions are also gorgeous. Take, for example, Spacesaver (page 30). The smart storage gurus are changing the day use locker game, giving corporate offices a sleeker, more efficient way to manage their employees’ personal belongings. The solutions run the gamut, whether you want high-tech locks or fob entry, laminate doors or steel. Let’s just say we could easily benefit from having some of those in our office ourselves. Then, consider Carnegie (page 38), whose acoustic treatments continue to transform spaces like the language lab at the University of Virginia. What was once a disruptive space full of students speaking different languages is now a beautiful, inspiring center where
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talented young people continue to come together and learn. In addition to this issue’s sound solutions, we also discovered new answers for lighting. Writer Kate Griffith got a chance to tour Atlas Workbase in Seattle to see just how innovative company lumenomics (page 54) handled the coworking space’s many diverse lighting needs. Founder Marti Hoffer says, “Investing in light and user-friendly controls from day one affords so much ability to manage occupant comfort and productivity.” But the offerings don’t stop indoors. This issue also showcases sustainable, thoughtful options outside of the built environment—like Superior Plastic Products’ vinyl fences (page 18). Did you know two contractors can put together 1,500 feet of privacy fence in just two days? These fences aren’t only easy to assemble, they’re easy to clean, made of recycled materials, and they last a really, really long time. Sincerely,
ART DIRECTOR
Kristina Walton Zapata ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Julia Stone
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE
Julie Veternick
SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER
Brianna Wynsma
ACCOUNT MANAGERS
Briagenn Adams Ciara Gomez DESIGN INTERNS
Edgar Rios Sam Weber
CONTRIBUTORS
Brian Barth, Rachel Coon, Stephanie Crets, Colleen DeHart, Leah Froats, Kate Griffith, Lea Hershkowitz, Russ Klettke, Catherine Luthin, Shay Maunz, Margaret Poe, Nichole Reber 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 Printed in the USA. © 2018 by Green Advocacy Partners, LLC. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the consent of the publisher. The publisher is not responsible for product claims and representations.
Laura Heidenreich, Associate Publisher
The Green Building & Design logo is a registered trademark of Green Advocacy Partners, LLC. Green Building & Design (gb&d magazine is printed in the United States using only soy-based inks. Please recycle this magazine. The magazine is also available in digital formats 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
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12 In Conversation Gensler’s Andy Cohen plans for a world without drivers.
14 Editors’ Picks Curated by gb&d staff
15 Event Previews Mark your calendars for Globalcon and Lightfair International.
16 Defined Design This music building at the University of Iowa pushes the envelope when it comes to sustainable high design.
18 Sustainable Solutions Innovative problem solving from Superior Plastic Products, Endura, MacroAir, Spacesaver, Accella, and Carnegie.
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See more Radio Flyer on the web at gbdmagazine.com
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UP FRONT
In Conversation Andy Cohen Autonomous vehicles may be here sooner than we think. Are we ready to take advantage of the revolution in urban sustainability they offer?
gb&d: Have you personally ridden in an autonomous vehicle? Cohen: I’ve been in several. I can’t tell you which ones because I’d have to kill you [laughs]. Each car company has a different twist on how it works, so it is going to be very interesting to see who wins the race to roll out the first mass-produced model. gb&d: Was it frightening as a passenger?
By Brian Barth
Cohen: Not at all. These were demonstration areas, so it’s a controlled environment, which is a little different than a real road. But the cars maneuvered around all kinds of obstacles; they knew when to stop. I felt really comfortable in them. gb&d: How soon do you believe they’ll be adopted on a mass scale?
For many of us, the notion that we will soon zip around in driverless vehicles remains a Jetson-esque fantasy. That may be only because we have never ridden in one. Google, Uber, Tesla, and other major companies are now neck-deep in building them, however, so the driverless future may be more real, and near, than it seems. Andy Cohen, co-CEO of Gensler, is convinced that it is, and he believes it will be here before we know what hit us. The implications for the built environment are many, as are the opportunities to leverage this change toward sustainable city-building. Each of the 260 million vehicles in the U.S. spew 24 pounds of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere for every gallon of fuel they burn. But transportation experts believe three simultaneous trends—car sharing, electric vehicles, and autonomous technology— could result in a 60% cut in transportation emissions, according to McKinsey & Company management consulting firm. If driverless car-sharing services rather than private vehicles become the norm for most trips—which could happen as soon as 2030—there will likely be 80% fewer vehicles on the road, according to reports from MIT Senseable City Lab. Driverless cars will drop you off where you need to go and then jet off to fetch the next passenger, rather than park—potentially eliminating the need for 90% of parking surfaces, along with the environmental problems that come with them, from polluted runoff to the urban heat island effect, a report from TechWorld says. What might we create in place of all those unneeded parking lots? Cohen has plenty of ideas for that. Cohen has been with Gensler—the largest architecture firm in the world with 44 offices and 5,000-plus employees serving more than 120 countries—for 36 years, and says the advent of autonomous vehicles is the most daunting urban transformation he’s faced as a designer. But it’s a challenge he relishes because of the rare opportunity it presents.
Cohen: Our research shows that by 2030, the vast majority of vehicles will be rideshare vehicles, and we expect most of those to be driverless. Uber already operates driverless vehicles in Pittsburgh. They have a “driver” who can take over the wheel, but that’s just so the passenger is comfortable. gb&d: What intrigues you, as an architect, about driverless vehicles? Cohen: Today, our vehicles are parked 95% of the time. There are approximately 500 million parking spaces in the U.S., most of which won’t be needed with shared, autonomous vehicles. There will be far fewer vehicles on the road, plus autonomous vehicles can travel very close together at high speeds without endangering humans, which means roads themselves can be much smaller. This will free up a huge amount of land that is currently congested with vehicles, which has tremendous implications for how cities and buildings are designed. This is the most profound shift in urban land use any architect alive today has seen, arguably since the transition from horses to cars a century ago. gb&d: Clearly, it’s important that the design community take a leadership role as autonomous vehicles become mainstream. Is that starting to happen?
This conversation continues on p. 15
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PHOTO: COURTESY OF GENSLER
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Editors’ Picks Curated by gb&d staff
COMPANY MOSA Few companies are as sustainable as Mosa. This ceramic tile manufacturer uses raw materials, reuses building products, and saves energy, all while creating innovative ceramic floor tiles, wall tiles, and facade cladding. The company also regularly publishes its environmental developments. With more than 130 years of experience, Mosa is a global leader in the ceramic tile industry. The manufacturing company recently won the Gold Cradle to Cradle Challenge Award, where leading architects rated companies’ complete sustainability strategies based on environmental criteria. mosa.com
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PRODUCT ECHOPANEL BALANCE TILES Now you can combat sound control issues without sacrificing sophistication. Woven Image’s EchoPanel Balance Tiles absorb sound while transforming plain walls into works of art. Distributed exclusively in North America by Kirei, these peel-and-stick modular acoustic design tiles control sound and add unique pattern and color to any space. Available in nine colors to meet your needs—from neutral beige to vibrant red—Balance Tiles are an effortless design solution to everyday sound control problems. wovenimage.com
COMPANY THE NEW RAW What if you could print a city? The New Raw, a research and design studio based in the Netherlands, is exploring this idea and many more. Its ongoing Print Your City project involves using recyclable plastic waste for 3D printing public furniture. The New Raw focuses on boosting local production through material research and digital design. The organization has worked on a variety of research and building projects— from hyperlocal fabrication in refugee camps to decentralized production in islands. Ultimately, the New Raw strives to innovate and rethink circular concepts. thenewraw.org
PRODUCT THINKPHI - MODEL 1080 This umbrella is for more than rainy days. ThinkPhi, an Indian clean-tech startup, created a large urban-style umbrella that can harvest and filter water while absorbing solar power. Model 1080 is a sunshade structure that generates its own energy to power a diffused lighting system. The smart “plug-and-play” system provides clean water and energy from two renewable resources: rain and sunlight. Functional and simple, Model 1080 is safe, wind-resistant, and cost-effective. Real-time sensors retrieve data and send system maintenance alerts to your phone. thinkphi.com
BOOK THE NEW CARBON ARCHITECTURE: BUILDING TO COOL THE CLIMATE This book explores how biomimicry-inspired innovations in building—from cities made of wood to insulation grown from mycelium—can help reduce carbon in the atmosphere. The author, Bruce King, is the founder and director of the Ecological Building Network (EBNet) and has been a structural engineer for 35 years. Published in November 2017 by New Society Publishers, The New Carbon Architecture illustrates the potential of architecture to heal the climate and produce safer, healthier, and more beautiful buildings. newsociety.com
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PHOTO: COURTESY OF MOSA
Mosa uses raw materials and reused building products in its ceramic tiles.
UP FRONT
Event Preview
IN CONVERSATION with Andy Cohen
Spring 2018
Continued from p. 13
Cohen: So far I’ve been kind of a lone wolf talking about this. Everyone is talking about the technology, but no one is really connecting the dots to the built environment. About a year ago, the Urban Land Institute approached Gensler and asked if we could do some research on how to connect this incredible technological innovation with what is going to happen with the future of cities. I’ve become somewhat of an evangelist, speaking about this two or three times a week. Often I find myself on panels where I’m the only architect alongside folks from Microsoft, Tesla, Ford, and Uber.
By Julia Stone
gb&d: What is your take-home message when you speak to people about the design implications for autonomous vehicles? Cohen: The switch to shared autonomous vehicles means most people won’t own cars. The impacts of that on the environment and climate change are huge. Also, cars are clogging our city streets and taking up valuable real estate. In the future, all that real estate can be repurposed for green amenities and for people. It’s an opportunity to create much more people-oriented cities, similar to what you find in places like Copenhagen. gb&d: Are we really going to be able to get rid of most parking spaces?
Globalcon
DETAILS When March 21–22 Where Boston Web globalconevent.com
PHOTO: COURTESY OF LIGHTFAIR INTERNATIONAL
Expand your horizon and learn about all of the latest developments in the world of energy as part of this year’s Globalcon at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston. Presented by the Association of Energy Engineers, this year’s events invite those interested to explore new technologies, compare energy supply options, and learn about innovative and cost-conscious project implementation strategies. The multi-track conference features presentations by industry experts as well as in-depth seminars to help you prepare for certification programs. Or, simply attend the expo to discover some of the latest technologies at your own pace, or sign up to participate in free interactive workshops in the exhibit hall.
DETAILS Lightfair International
When May 8-10 Where Chicago, IL Web lightfair.com
For nearly 30 years, Lightfair International has been bringing the latest and greatest lighting innovators under one roof as part of what has now become the world’s largest annual architectural and commercial lighting trade show and conference. This year, more than 550 exhibitors will be on-hand to share the latest in lighting technology. Attendees will also have options to enroll in any of the 200-plus hours of accredited courses as well as choose from a plethora of networking opportunities at this mega conference and expo. gb&d
Cohen: What I’m hearing from experts is that these cars aren’t going to park—they will be circulating constantly, or they will go back to a central yard owned by the car company, where they’ll have a maintenance facility and the cars are requisitioned based on how many they need on the road at a given time. So yes, we won’t need a lot of parking. What we will need in front of buildings are tons and tons of drop-off areas. gb&d: You’ve suggested that many paved surfaces, whether parking lots or driving lanes, could be repurposed as urban green space, improving air quality, helping to filter storm water runoff, and creating space for people to be outdoors in contact with nature. What other improvements to the urban landscape do you envision? Cohen: There are 125,000 gas stations in the United States that will eventually become obsolete. What we’ve been hearing from the major manufacturers, especially Tesla, is This conversation continues on p. 17
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UP FRONT
Parametric modeling is the creation of a digital model based on a set of pre-programmed rules or parameters. Parametric prototypes are generated automatically by internal logic algorithms, enabling rapid ideation, structural analysis, and precise geometric control.
Defined Design
The Voxman Music Building By Julia Stone When it comes to energy efficiency, this building is music to our ears. The Voxman Music Building at the University of Iowa elevates green building standards while enhancing acoustics and sound with innovative design techniques. The LEED Gold–certified building, which opened in 2016, features energy-saving elements like active daylighting controls, chilled beams, and a heat recovery system linked to the campus chilled water loop. In addition to researching acoustics and material science, LMN Architects and Neumann Monson PC used digital fabrication and parametric modeling to inform the geometry of their design and test acoustical systems for effectiveness, installation, and durability. The six-story, 189,000-square-foot building houses classrooms, studios, a music library, rehearsal rooms, and two major performance venues. Open, welcoming spaces like the communal rooftop terrace encourage collaborative, student-driven learning. The design team incorporated daylighting to maximize comfort and reduce energy use throughout the building. The 200-seat recital hall features a shingled-glass facade that lets in natural light while maintaining acoustic isolation. The shoebox style, 700-seat concert hall has full-height, north-facing windows that let in natural light. The concert
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PHOTOS: COURTESY OF ADAM HUNTER/LMN ARCHITECTS
hall also includes a sculptural acoustic ceiling system framed by wood-paneled walls—its intricate latticework includes openings for audio speakers, stage-lighting, fire sprinklers, and acoustic clarity. In the heart of Iowa City, the Voxman Music Building embraces both academic and urban experiences. The design team completed the project with a modest budget on a tight schedule, creating a state-of-the-art facility that unites musicians, artists, and scholars under one roof. gb&d
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UP FRONT
IN CONVERSATION with Andy Cohen Continued from p. 15
The rehearsal room “swarms” include acoustic, kite-like reflectors made from aluminum composite panels and perforated to achieve dynamic acoustical and lighting effects. The team parametrically arranged the reflectors in sculptural swarms on the high ceilings.
that the cars of the future will not have to go somewhere to be plugged in and charged. They will have battery packs that can be pulled out and replaced with a fully charged one as needed. Therefore, we won’t need charging stations. That means gas stations can be retrofitted for parks and other urban amenities, even photovoltaic farms. How great would that be, to take these polluted gas stations and make them into all sorts of green spaces. This could revolutionize cities. gb&d: Obviously, such massive changes to urban infrastructure are not going to happen on their own. What changes are needed now to pave the way to take advantage of this opportunity?
Daylighting is the method of placing windows, or other apertures and reflective surfaces, so that natural light offers effective internal lighting during the day, lessening overall energy consumption.
The suspended theatroacoustic system in the concert hall consists of more than 900 unique, folded-aluminum composite modules that were digitally designed and fabricated. This ceiling system unifies acoustics, lighting, and safety requirements.
Cohen: The one impediment is legislation, especially zoning laws. We are just starting to get cities to understand that zoning codes are going to have to change. For example, all the parking that is currently required for most buildings is not going to be necessary. I’ve been telling everyone that we have to talk to our political representatives about making changes like that, so the buildings that we are designing today won’t quickly become obsolete. The innovation of car companies has already outpaced land use policy, so we have to catch up. gb&d: Are your clients already asking you to consider driverless vehicles in the new buildings you are designing today? Cohen: What I call long-gestation clients—like airports, for example—definitely are. These are clients who are planning things that may not be built for 10 or 15 years. I just spoke at a sustainability-themed conference for airport operators, and they were all sitting on the edge of their chairs because they know they have to start planning for this now. If they don’t start replacing parking with pickup and drop-off areas, they’re going to start losing a lot of revenue from the unused parking, so some are already starting to do it. gb&d: Do the real estate developers that you work for show any interest? Cohen: The smart developers are paying attention, but for the most part the word is just getting out. We are sitting with clients all the time saying, “Listen, if you are building a parking deck, make sure it is designed to be adaptable for other uses in the future.” We’ve
This conversation continues on p. 90
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UP FRONT SUSTAINABLE SOLUTION
8 Ways Vinyl Fencing is Better Than Wood Superior Plastic Products’ solutions stand the test of time. By Stephanie Crets
The “American dream” usually includes a house surrounded by a white picket fence. It never specified what type of fence; many people just assumed it was wood. But if you want that dream to be truly long-lasting, vinyl fencing is the way to go. Wood fences rot, warp, deteriorate, and splinter over time. They need to be replaced and painted often. Vinyl fences, on the other hand, are a lowermaintenance solution for anyone’s fencing needs. Superior Plastic Products offers high-quality, durable vinyl fencing, railing, and lawn and garden products that stand the test of time. “A wood fence is cheaper, but then you have to worry about fence maintenance over the long term,” says Melanie Hess, content writer and event coordinator at Superior Plastic Products. “My husband and I had a wooden fence. It was falling down, the pickets were all different colors, and it was rotting out. We made the switch to vinyl, so now we don’t have to worry about it.” Chris Monson, president of Custom Craft Distribution, agrees. Superior Plastic supplies his company’s top-selling privacy fence, and he says their commitment to customer service and manufacturing quality products at a competitive price goes above and beyond. “Our largest fence customer was able to complete a commercial fence installation project of the Cambridge Privacy panel in a third less time than planned due to the ease of installation,” Monson says. “In the rare instances of product concerns or warranty issues, Superior Plastic has always stood behind their product with quick resolution. This is a testament to their commitment to both their product and their customer.” These are just some of the benefits of vinyl fence solutions from Superior Plastic Products:
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THEY’RE DURABLE. Aluminum channels run through the bottom rail of fencing. These ensure the fence remains strong and prevents sagging. A reinforcement channel comes standard with every Superior vinyl fence.
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UP FRONT
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IT CAN LOOK LIKE WOOD IF YOU WANT.
If you crave the traditional look of a wooden fence, Superior Plastic Products offers WoodTone fencing, a printed wood grain style of vinyl fencing created with long-lasting ink that won’t scratch off. “It’s reminiscent of wood and has that wood ambience, but you don’t have to paint it or replace it constantly,” Hess says. “We call it the ‘next generation’ in vinyl.”
PHOTOS: COURTESY OF SUPERIOR PLASTIC PRODUCTS
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THE STYLE IS EVEN MORE FLEXIBLE. Superior Plastic Products has a variety of styles and colors for its vinyl fencing, including black in addition to their WoodTone. Choose from picket fences, privacy fences, yard or semi-private fences, and post and rail (field/horse field) fences.
4 THEY’RE EASY TO CLEAN. When vinyl gets dirty from everyday elements, you can simply wash it off with soap and water.
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UP FRONT SUSTAINABLE SOLUTION
American Made John Lapp founded Superior Plastic Products in 1978 on an Amish farm in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Initially, he created high-quality chain-link fencing that quickly became a hit within the community. Years later, vinyl fencing and railing became a major part of the business. When the extrusion plant that supplied Superior’s vinyl was shuttered by its owners, Reuben Lapp, John Lapp’s son and current CEO, purchased it and rehired all the people who had been laid off when the previous business fell through. Now, Superior Plastic Products continues to grow and expand its product line. “It’s a truly American company,” Hess says. “We run the entire process from start to finish. We control everything, and that ensures everything is made with high standards and high quality. Total American manufacturing: We’re doing it.”
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ALMOST EVERYTHING IS RECYCLED. If something is damaged during the manufacturing process, that item is put into a shredder, then a grinder, then pulverized back into its original resin state. It’s then reused in the vinyl extrusion process, so there’s little to no waste created.
PHOTOS: COURTESY OF SUPERIOR PLASTIC PRODUCTS
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UP FRONT
7 THESE SOLUTIONS ARE COST EFFECTIVE.
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THEY LAST A LONG TIME.
The more you need to replace a wood fence (as often as every couple of years), the more trees you need to cut down. You don’t need to repaint vinyl and it won’t rot or deteriorate over time. “Most of our fences come with a limited lifetime warranty,” Hess says. “We wouldn’t give those out if they weren’t going to last.” In addition to the limited lifetime warranty, Superior Plastic Products also offers a prorated five-year labor warranty. “We actually cover all or part of the labor cost of installing your new fence for the first five years if—in a rare case—you need to get a new one,” Hess says. “Most companies ship you a pile of new fence and leave the cost of installing it to you. We don’t do that.”
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VINYL FENCING IS EASY TO INSTALL.
Assembling and installing the company’s fences is an easy process done by a contractor. Once the pieces are locked in place, the fence is good to go. “We once had two contractors put together 1,500 feet of privacy fence in two days,” Hess says. “That’s about 188 sections of fencing in a very short period of time. All of our fences are easy for our contractors to install.”
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Wood fences may be cheaper initially, but if you have to replace them every couple years, they can quickly become a money pit. Investing in a high-quality vinyl fence will save you time, effort, and worry over the long run.
PERGOL A POWER Superior Plastic Products’ growing line of lawn and garden products offers a variety of vinyl items, including picnic tables, benches, planter boxes, lamp posts, and pergolas—anything that will create a more welcoming atmosphere for your lawn and garden. The pergolas, especially, have been experiencing resurgence in popularity. “It seems like every home improvement show is putting up a pergola,” Hess says. Like the vinyl fencing, the pergolas have an aluminum support structure inside them to make it through the winter months and stand up to the weight of snow. To prove just how strong its pergolas are, the company once hung a Ford Fusion from a pergola’s rafters during their yearly expo.
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UP FRONT SUSTAINABLE SOLUTION
FOG ON THE WATER 22
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UP FRONT
Removing fats, oils, and grease from wastewater is what Endura® does. Doing it in a way that is green and less costly is where it excels. BY RUSS KLET TKE
THERE IS A LOT TO DISAGREE ABOUT IN LIFE. But there is universal consensus on at least one point: used fats, oils, and grease—or FOG—should not foul our world. No one wants these remnants of food service in our sewers or waterways, backing up into our drains, or spilling out onto the landscape. But FOG has to go somewhere. And it has post-food service uses, like upcycling into soaps, cosmetics, animal feed, or even textiles. The trick is to intercept it from the waste stream, preferably at the point of origin—restaurants, food processing facilities, prisons, and hospitals, among other locations—in a sanitary and affordable way. In excess, FOG builds up in sewer lines, restricts flow, and is capable of blockages that spill raw sewerage into homes, businesses, streets, and waterways. To be clear, there are two types of FOG: “yellow” grease from deep fryers that is saved manually, and “brown” from dishwashers and floors, that is sent down drains where it could wreak havoc. Fortunately, industries exist to combat this challenge. Liquid waste haulers, or “pumpers,” are companies that haul away FOG for recycling or to dump into sanitary landfills, which can ultimately create usable methane. But before that step, different
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types of interceptor devices have to capture FOG, as per local codes and ordinances of most municipalities. “FOG interceptors have been in use since World War 1,” says Faith Winter, a market development specialist for the Endura line of Grease Management Technologies. “They would reuse the grease for lubricating moving parts on tanks and in the manufacturing of guns.” The urgency around FOG interception today, she explains, comes from the municipalities that are tightening codes for environmental reasons.
SLOW THE FLOW
Endura Grease Management Technologies somewhat upend the traditional interceptors used widely over the past 100 years. Officially known as “hydromechanical grease interceptors,” or HGIs, they are more sophisticated than “gravity grease interceptors,” or GGIs, the traditional model. The GGIs are more or less large tanks that serve as a reservoir for the passive separation of FOG from wastewater—a process that usually takes in excess of 20 minutes. Most GGIs are made of concrete or metal: Both materials are subject to corrosion, leaks, and foul odors, with operational lives of as little as three years. Endura instead is made of an engineered thermoplastic material that is resilient to such corrosion. The plastic (and all accompanying mechanisms) can last up to 10-plus years.
▼ AS SEEN IN You’ll also find Endura’s work at: RUTH’S CHRIS STEAK HOUSE COOKIE IT UP
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THE TWO T YPES OF FOG “YELLOW” grease from deep fryers that is saved manually. “BROWN” from dishwashers and floors, that is sent down drains where it could wreak havoc.
The Endura interceptors also have an innovative flow-control baffling device. This slows the flow of dirty water from the source, which enables better separations of FOG, water, and solid particles—in other words, no fast flushes at rush hour that would enable those components to stay together. Instead, kitchen FOGs float on top of water (because they are less dense and therefore lighter in weight), cleaner water continues flowing to the municipal sewer system, and solids (food particles and such), drop to the bottom of the interceptors. Aiding the slower flow is an air intake vent that effectively mixes air and grease molecules, increasing its floatation properties. Credit the Endura research and development team for devising the systems and achieving its net effects. “This interceptor produces less toxic waste and damage to downstream city infrastructure,” says Rob Cooke, director of innovations. “They also demand less water to function.”
EASY CLEAN, MORE GREEN All interceptors need periodic cleaning, and the Endura products are no exception. The difference is the HGI model is greener and more efficient. The pumpers make their money by hauling away the contents of the interceptor, which is predominantly FOG, using less fuel if there is less water in the haul. The Endura tanks also tend to be smaller (they come in various sizes) and consequently require more frequent cleanings. “This came from rethinking the entire process,” says Cooke. “Smaller tanks are easier to install and maintain, and because the engineered thermoplastic material has smooth walls, it’s extremely difficult for grease and bacteria to cling to it.” For the food service operator, however, the first priority lies in having a clean, lower-cost operation. Health and sanitation authorities in many jurisdictions closely monitor those maintenance schedules. Winter says code enforcement varies by location, but the cleaning schedule manifest is part of periodic inspections. She says particularly in droughtprone California and similar locales where water savings matter most, the Endura product finds its warmest reception. But the matter of FOG interceptors remains front and center for all concerned. “We’re able to capture 98% of grease,” says Winter. And Cooke’s team aims to improve even that. Endura is a registered trademark. gb&d
Endura’s grease interceptors demand less water to function and reduce toxic waste.
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PHOTOS, THIS PAGE A ND PREVIOUS SPREAD: COURTESY OF ENDURA
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MORE THAN A PRETTY FAN MacroAir’s large ceiling fans make cooling any space a breeze. By Nichole L. Reber
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We’ve all been in buildings with thick, sticky air that smells bad and feels like it’s never circulated. It’s kind of like the air in a plane on a transcontinental flight, leaving us in an icky haze. These are not places of optimal health and wellness. Fortunately today there are MacroAir fans, the original high-volume, low-speed—or HVLS— ceiling fan that works as well as it looks. When designing The Hub, a student commons building at the Southeast Technical Institute in South Dakota, architect Michelle L. Klobassa knew she wanted MacroAir fans. When early sketches of the architectural plan presented large volumes of spaces, she and the project group in the South Dakota office of TSP—an architecture, engineering, and planning firm—immediately wanted to integrate the fans, having been familiar with the California company’s products from other gbdmagazine.com
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projects. The large ceiling fans now help to optimize health and wellness for the multitude of students, professors, and staff who use the space. “The ceiling heights are really tall, so the fans help destratify the air at the top of the ceiling,” says Klobassa, a principal with the firm. An added plus— they’re more cost-effective and energy-efficient than traditional fans and HVAC systems. On this project, Klobassa opted for the AirVolution-D 550 model. The 1.05 horsepower model is available with diameters ranging from 8 to 18 feet in diameter. Akin to having a personal wind turbine, these powerful fans bear a slim, clean, contemporary look that make a natural fit for a college atmosphere. “You see them and can’t help but notice them because their size creates a visual impact. They’re attractive gb&d
to design groups like architects, not just mechanical engineers,” Klobassa says.
WHY MACROAIR? From an overall sustainability perspective, the school’s biggest driver was energy savings. “People don’t want to spend money to just say they’re doing something green; they want it to show,” she says. These fans also decrease the need to shell out lots of cash on utility bills because they reduce heating and cooling loads. The fans also reduce the strain on large mechanical HVAC systems because (in cool weather) they help push warm air down to the level where people are sitting and walking by running in reverse motion–clockwise. In all weather conditions they keep air moving, which always aids in easy breathing and feels good to the skin.
MacroAir’s HVLS fans are more cost-effective and energy-efficient than traditional fans and HVAC systems.
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MacroAir’s fans range from 6 to 24 feet in diameter to meet the needs of almost any space.
Before MacroAir fans, building owners often used many noisy fans. Imagine a church built a half-century ago. The 20 sleepily spinning fans had little more effect than giving bored kids something to watch. Today that church would need only a few MacroAir fans. The options are endless, too. Your gym? Your favorite restaurant? Warehouses, distribution centers, manufacturing facilities? In all spaces, air movement mitigates stale air, dense odors, moisture deposits, sweat, the spread of bacteria, and dust. MacroAir’s large ceiling fans range from 6 to 24 feet in diameter, to meet the needs of any space. In fact, MacroAir’s 24-inch AirVolution-D 780 model can provide air movement for up to 22,000 square feet of floor space.
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THE WELLNESS FORMULA All these factors contribute to the human wellness formula that makes people want to be somewhere. That subtle air movement by fans upon workers and other people using the space lends an inherently good feeling because it’s reminiscent of being outdoors and feeling a breeze, Klobassa says. That positively impacts our reaction to being in a place, especially because we’re such an indoors culture now. Drivers for using the fans include sustainability, aesthetics, and air circulation. Here’s how that often turns out: • Facility owners latch on to the word sustainability because these fans keep buildings gbdmagazine.com
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BEFORE & AFTER
PHOTOS: COURTESY OF MACROAIR
When MacroAir’s research and design engineers first gathered, they wanted to create something better than the everyday fan. They began by working with fans with 10 blades and big AC induction motors with gearboxes. “We invented the HVLS—the large diameter—ceiling fan,” says Jonathan Hollist, research and design engineer with MacroAir. “We’ve gone from inventing a large industrial ceiling fan to meet a basic need to developing the most innovative fan in the world that provides quality air movement for any space.” By 1998, their HVLS (high-volume, low-speed) ceiling fan had far surpassed the common fan, revolutionizing the ceiling fan market. It used fewer blades, which translated to using less energy. Five years later, MacroAir incorporated. Today, the California-based company creates a variety of aesthetically pleasing fans. “On most we have six blades now, and on a few we have three. We’ve also gone from a gearbox down to a DC brushless motor,” Hollist says. “Now they’re long-life and more efficient. That allows them to be more reliable and reduce the amount of total power needed to turn a fan.” MacroAir fans’ quietness amplifies the comfort of a room, which anyone used to ceiling fans that thunk thunk thunk as they turn can appreciate.
in better condition longer. They keep water droplets from forming when used in humid locations or in settings that produce a great deal of moisture. That, then, is good for food and any materials that might otherwise rust.
just want to turn on the air to create a space with consistent temperature instead of large pockets of hot or cold air when using the HVAC system. IT also translates to not having to set the air conditioner as low.
• Owners also appreciate the improved safety conditions these fans generate. That is, in warehouses with forklifts, they can eliminate hazardous slipping conditions like Sweating Slab Syndrome by preventing moisture from condensing on the floor.
“In the summer, if you’re only setting the thermostat to 77 degrees to cool the space instead of 70, you’re saving all that energy. In the winter, when warm air gets trapped up top, run the fan in reverse to push the air along the walls and down to warm up more air,” says Jonathan Hollist, research and design engineer for MacroAir. That creates comfort and cleaner air, in turn yielding better health and optimal wellness for everyone who uses the space. gb&d
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Smart Storage Spacesaver’s resilient day use lockers solve storage needs without sacrificing design. By Laura Rote
In a world of open offices, it can be hard to simply find a place to put your stuff. For some, it’s a matter of organization, while for others, it’s all about aesthetics. Fortunately, companies like Spacesaver are evolving their solutions so you can relax, offering options to solve everyone’s needs, starting with day use lockers. “We’re helping employees keep their stuff stored and safe when working in open office environments or offices that have more active design concepts and modular design,” says Katie Lowell, director of marketing for Spacesaver. Spacesaver has been in the space saving industry for decades, traditionally with high-density mobile shelving. “We’ve been making lockers for the public safety market and military market for years and we’re known for being the best in the industry,” Lowell says. “Taking that same framework without compromising quality or integrity, we simplified and designed for the corporate office environment.” Make no mistake—these aren’t your traditional storage options. Spacesaver’s day use lockers are integrated into workspaces in a way that’s beautiful—aesthetically pleasing with clean lines. And that’s just the beginning, as the lockers are part of a much larger workspace suite of Spacesaver products. “It’s storage in plain sight,” Lowell says, rather than the storage you might expect in the back of a building. “Often storage is looked at as not ‘sexy’ but bulky, needed but inconvenient. We want to break that perception.”
STORING “STUFF” Spacesaver CEO Mark Haubenschild says the 45-year-old Wisconsin-based company continues to respond to people’s needs. “We have to adapt to the new way people want to work,” he says. “They like flexibility, they like options. The products we develop have to help our customers (across markets) retain talent. This is a little way of doing that.” The new,
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Spacesaver’s new day use lockers balance organization with aesthetics.
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PHOTO: COURTESY OF SPACESAVER
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environments are changing. “The day-use lockers are one aspect of a much larger workspace suite of products,” Lowell says. The custom storage solutions also allow modern companies to incorporate their corporate brand into the physical setting. The limitless aesthetic options of Spacesaver’s day lockers allow businesses to easily bring their brand and what they stand for into the workplace.
Nearly half of Spacesaver’s orders include a custom option, and you can choose from an array of doors and locks.
open workplace balances organization and aesthetics to retain talent, productivity, and keep employee satisfaction high. Spacesaver has continued to evolve since it started with paper storage in the ’80s and ’90s. Back then, 90% of the business was tied to record storage. “We still store paper, but it’s a really small percentage of our business,” Haubenschild says. “Our business philosophy hasn’t shifted in terms of maximizing storage, but our products are now shifting to cater more toward ‘stuff storage,’ Haubenschild says. “Now we’re into storage of personal stuff, following that trend of flexible workplaces—‘I need a place to put my backpack, my gym bag, my bike helmet.’ It’s a natural extension of storage.”
A TAILORED APPROACH The options for Spacesaver’s day use lockers are limitless, and 45% of the company’s orders include a custom option. “We are becoming more and more of a custom built manufacturer,” Haubenschild says. The day use lockers can be made in any size and color. The doors can be laminate, wood, steel—you name it. Keypad entry, fob, or padlock? Whatever you want. Every customer is different, and that’s not a problem for Spacesaver. “We can match whatever the customer is trying to accomplish,” Haubenschild says. “We’re reinventing our business. It’s a lot of fun.” Customization is clear inside the plant. The company’s operations are no longer set up to simply pound out the same shelves. “We’ve totally changed our manufacturing philosophy to a ‘customer of one’—custom-made products to adapt specifically to the requirements of our customers.” This means a factory with state-of-the-art lasers, progressive turrets for lower quantities, and more custom work across the board. Ultimately the day use locker is an integral piece of a much broader vision to provide solutions to the public sectors, especially as office
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MORE BENEFITS At the end of the day, Haubenschild says it’s all about maximizing space, removing clutter, and securing your items. Even as Spacesaver has evolved from paper storage to storage for the military and police departments to now more corporate environments, the commitment to efficiency hasn’t changed. They’re still maximizing space, delivering durable products, and making sure there’s no off-gassing from paints. It’s all about the environment, minimizing the carbon footprint, and, now, making sure everything looks cool, Haubenschild says. From a design perspective, Lowell says the lockers can be as elegant as you want. “Spacesaver has many beautiful installations across the country—for the Oregon Ducks, Seattle Public Library, and others. Now we want to re-enter this market with that same application and design.”
▼ AS SEEN IN You’ll find Spacesaver’s work at: THE FIELD MUSEUM GE SOFTWARE DESIGN CENTER IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY OREGON DUCKS PORSCHE SEATTLE PUBLIC LIBRARY YALE UNIVERSITY ART GALLERY
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Spacesaver also builds its products to last. The durable day use lockers are made of heavy gauge steel, with the best hinges money can buy, Haubenschild says. Security is a big piece of the puzzle as well, as the company is committed to protecting whatever it is you’re storing. “That’s why we have offered different types of lock options to accommodate that—not only aesthetically but for security,” Haubenschild says. Customers can count on top-notch service long after their purchase, too, with local, certified contractors who can come out anytime should a problem arise. “You have local support and knowledge right in your backyard. They can respond immediately,” Haubenschild says.
RENDERINGS: COURTESY OF SPACESAVER
CULTURE OF INNOVATION But how does Spacesaver know what companies need in the first place? The company focuses on market research, customer feedback, and takes a designthinking approach when it comes to innovation. Recently, the company hired vertical market thought leaders to work
with customers to identify pain points and how they could be solved. “We’re trying to be very proactive. We’re trying to invest in those resources to really understand the markets better than we ever have,” Haubenschild says. Creative collaboration is key at Spacesaver, and that’s also evolving. Everyone works together—from the product development team to the marketing department to the product managers and the press operator on the shop floor, everyone plays a key role. “We’ve really changed our culture,” Haubenschild says. “It’s rapid pace, it’s fail forward, it’s about trying new things.” It’s all about empowerment, he says, not bureaucracy. “We want people to move fast, to iterate, to share their ideas, and be part of it all.” Haubenschild has been with Spacesaver for 35 years, and his excitement for the industry continues to grow. “I’ve seen this company go from 25 employees to 400 (full-time employees). I’ve seen the market drastically change from paper storage to stuff storage. I’ve seen a lot of competitors come and go,” he says. “We’ve come out on top because we are innovative and willing to adapt and reinvent. You have to.” But the day use lockers are just part of it. “There are many storage solutions that we make today and are innovating currently that can be applied with dayuse lockers to create a comprehensive workspace solution with modularity and flexibility,” Lowell says. Yes, it’s not the only new thing Spacesaver has up its sleeve—three more product initiatives are being rolled out in 2018. At the end of the day, Haubenschild says there’s so much to do, and for him, that’s part of the thrill. “We’re more than just mobile storage. We’re about customizing solutions in any market for any customer to meet their requirement,” he says. “I still have a lot of passion for it. We’re not even close to being done.” gb&d
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Saving energy is easy with Accella’s spray foam roofing systems. BY L E A H F R OAT S & L AU R A R O T E
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Safe
Strong
Sustainable gb&d
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I
magine a coastal property or commercial building after a hurricane—roof gone, debris everywhere. Metal roofs degrade over time, as screws become loose, metal rusts, and structures weaken, according to Daryl Pilon, director of business development at Standard Solar, Inc. But close your eyes and imagine a metal roof with Accella’s fortifying spray foam roofing system and you’ll see a different picture—one much like the photos Pilon was recently shown of schools in Tom’s River, New Jersey, after Hurricane Sandy. “They had no problems with the solar, and they had no problems with the roof— whereas on nearby buildings, roofs had been sucked off. There’s a strengthening element to SPF (spray polyurethane foam) that is real,” Pilon says. Bob Burwasser, Accella’s northeast commercial manager of SPF roofing and insulation, showed Pilon such images to exemplify just how well Accella’s solutions work. Their spray foam roofing system on its own is one of the best options out there, with the highest R-value on the market and an environmental focus.
WHAT IS THE SPRAY FOAM ROOFING SYSTEM? The Accella spray foam roof system is a spray-in-place insulation made of a rigid, closed-cell plastic foam formed through the mixing of an Iso and a special resin blend. The materials ultimately bond to themselves so there are no joints, seams, or penetrating fasteners—so no leaking. Multiple layers of SPF can be sprayed in place to achieve the desired thickness of insulation, and flashings and roof details can be tied-in with the spray installation. JUST ADD SOLAR “Spray foam roofing is a great fit for a commercial photovoltaic project,” says Luke Nolan, president of Central Coating Company. “In many cases, the
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installation of a new SPF roof will increase the energy efficiency of a facility, decreasing the electrical load. This integration of load reduction with PV generation can maximize the ROI of a solar project.” The spray foam roofing system and solar panels are often sold together— and for good reason. Imagine you want to install solar panels; you may be tempted to simply install them on your existing roof for upfront cost savings, but this may not be the best plan, according to Pilon. He says modern solar panels can produce 85% of their original energy output at the 25-year mark, but you’d likely need
to repair or replace most roofs before that time. “The marriage between roofs and solar arrays is really important,” he says. “You wouldn’t want to put a 25-year system on a 10-year roof.” One of the biggest perks of the spray foam roof system is its longevity; with proper maintenance, it can outlive your building. “As long as it is coated periodically (every 15 to 25 years with a UV-protective liquid-membrane), it can outlast the life of a building.” But consider another exciting benefit—reflectivity. Because the Accella spray roof system includes a highly reflective coating, you can capitalize gbdmagazine.com
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Spray foam roofing is a great fit for commercial photovoltaic projects, increasing the building’s energy efficiency.
on the reflectivity of the roof, in addition to the direct sun, and generate even more energy. Talk about clever. Of course, one of the most important metrics for insulation is how well a material insulates, or its R-value. The higher the R-value, the more thermal transfer is prevented. Spray foam just so happens to have the highest R-value on the insulation market. The R-value of traditional fiberglass insulation ranges from R-3 to R-4, compared to closedcell spray foam, which can reach up to nearly R-7. Accella’s spray foam products are insulating enough to save anywhere from 30 to 50% on energy costs. “Spray foam is airtight, vapor tight, and has the highest R-value on the market,” Burwasser says.
WHY THIS MATTERS PHOTOS, THIS PAGE AND PREVIOUS SPREAD: COURTESY OF STANDARD SOLAR
The Accella Spray Foam Roofing System is practical, safe, and sustainable. With no seams or penetrating fasteners, it gives your building’s roof a durable coating that protects and prolongs its life as well as provides increased insulation and a reflective coating for better energy efficiency and savings. In a nutshell, it provides: 1 The best insulation
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2 Unbeatable durability
3 Superior leak protection
4 The most flexibility
5 ROI in an average of 4 years
CUTTING-EDGE SOLUTIONS Accella is also acutely focused on research and development. The company employs a team of 25 scientists and researchers who help develop cutting-edge polyurethane systems like BaySeal, Foamsulate, and QuadFoam— open and closed cell foam structures alike. This science-minded approach combined with the acquisition of more than 10 company acquisitions makes Accella uniquely qualified to produce top-of-the-line, innovative products. But not all spray foam insulation is created equally. In years past, green architects and designers often looked down on spray foam insulation because of its hydrofluorocarbon blowing agents, which have had a high global warming potential, or GWP. However, the current generation of SPF has zero global warming potential. Products like Accella’s QuadFoam NatureSeal OCX insulation have zero ozone depleting blowing agents, catalysts, or polyols. The QuadFoam 500 uses water as the blowing agent. It’s innovations like these—plus the longevity and energy savings provided by Accella’s spray foam roof system in general—that are making buildings greener by the project. And Burwasser says that innovation isn’t going away any time soon. “We continuously strive to develop user-friendly, higherinsulative materials, with no negative impact to the environment.” gb&d march–april 2018
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Cutting Through the Noise Through its innovative textiles and acoustic solutions, Carnegie creates spaces that amplify what people want to hear—and dampen all the rest. By Margaret Poe
As she approached the renovation of a language lab at the University of Virginia, Jennifer Greenhalgh, owner of Jackson + Park Design, faced a challenge. On any given day, multiple students were in the space, speaking various languages to each other or with an online partner. All those intermingled voices weren’t simply noisy; they were disruptive to the students. They needed a space where they could concentrate. The solution? An acoustical design that would help absorb the voices. Greenhalgh found that in Xorel Artform, an acoustical paneling system installed on the walls. She worked with the design team at Carnegie, inventor of the pioneering Xorel textile, to choose among 11 panel shapes and 300-plus patterns, colors, and textures to find the perfect fit for the space. The resulting installation created an environment where students could focus on speaking and listening. In addition, it’s bright and vibrant—a vast improvement over the previously dull, gray room. “It made it more fun to be in that space,” Greenhalgh says.
5 THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN DESIGNING FOR SOUND
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PHOTOS: COURTESY OF CARNEGIE
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Sound and problems with sound are very individual. You’re trying to create solutions that are flexible enough to work for different people in different spaces. M A RY H O LT, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF CRE ATI V E FOR C A RN EG IE
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Carnegie Zetacoustic is a transparent curtain fabric with sound absorption properties.
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FOCUS ON VERSATILITY.
When thinking about designing for sound, forget a cookiecutter approach. “Every activity has its own challenges, and therefore its own acoustical design,” says Heather Bush, executive vice president of creative for Carnegie. With the language lab, as in all educational settings, acoustics are fundamental, Bush says. If students can’t concentrate due to noise, they won’t be able to succeed. But what works for one student may be untenable for another, adds Mary Holt, executive vice president of creative for Carnegie. Someone may work best with a radio playing, while that would drive others, including Holt, to distraction. “Sound and problems with sound are very individual,” she says. “You’re trying to create solutions that are flexible enough to work for different people in different spaces.” For example, Carnegie worked with furniture manufacturer Vitra on its New York office. Vitra’s open layout allows for ample collaboration between employees. However, they needed to add some visual and acoustic privacy. That’s where Carnegie’s acoustic sheers came in. Installing Betacoustic drapes around a videoconferencing area as well as a customer-facing space dampened sound while preserving the light flow throughout the room.
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Carnegie’s Betacoustic acoustical sheers are transparent and voluminous.
A TALE OF TWO TEXTILES When you’re considering textiles from an acoustic perspective, there are two main types of products, Holt explains: acoustically transparent and acoustically absorbent. Carnegie offers multiple iterations of both varieties. So what’s the difference? Acoustically transparent: These allow sound to pass right through the fabric. Because the sound waves aren’t deflected, these textiles are used to wrap acoustical panels. The sound is able to pass through the fabric into the panel, which then absorbs it as designed. Acoustically absorbent: These fabrics absorb the sound. In the past, heavy velvet was the goto absorbent fabric. However, Carnegie has developed lighter, airier textiles in recent years that thoroughly absorb noise without sacrificing a modern aesthetic.
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CONSIDER INSTALLATION AND MAINTENANCE.
When choosing an acoustic solution, it’s important to consider not only the finished product but the process of getting there, too. For Greenhalgh, the installation process was stress-free. The panels were affixed using a heavyduty adhesive following the design created by her partners at Carnegie. And unlike other panel systems, Xorel Artform is easily cleaned by wiping the panels down, preventing a buildup of dust or grime.
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3 COLLABORATE WITH YOUR SUPPLIERS. Greenhalgh used Carnegie’s Design Ally program to determine exactly which color, texture, and pattern to use in the language facility, as well as in subsequent projects at the University of Virginia. Design Ally is exactly as it sounds: Carnegie’s design team supports and guides the client through the entire process to ensure the end result enhances their vision. By lending their expertise and perspective, the Carnegie designer helps bridge the gap between the client’s challenges and the product solution. The customer benefits from this knowledge, and Carnegie in turn gains an in-the-trenches look at how the textiles are being used in the real world—and what trends are on the horizon. “At Carnegie, we try to think of ourselves as the designer’s ally in every element of what we’re doing,” Holt says.
▼ AS SEEN IN You’ll find Carnegie’s work at: UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA VITRA MARRIOTT NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
PHOTOS: COURTESY OF CARNEGIE
RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA A University of Virginia classroom benefits from Xorel Artform.
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Carnegie’s Printacoustic draperies are wide-width, digitally printed, and acoustically absorbent.
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BE PREPARED FOR UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES. The move toward open-concept workspaces and sustainable design has revolutionized how people work. But it’s also equalled some unexpected results. The increased focus on daylighting means spaces often have large windows, which cause sound to reverberate, Holt notes. And quieter, high-efficiency HVAC systems are great for reducing energy bills, but their previous iterations, while noisy, may have been masking sounds in a productive way. Luckily, there are solutions to these new challenges. At the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s pediatric research center, which opened in 2017, there are no interior columns, allowing for an open and collaborative space. But Holt says researchers needed some quiet spaces within that environment. Carnegie’s acoustic sheers solved that problem. “We’re working differently and experiencing spaces differently,” Bush says.
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CHOOSE PLANETFRIENDLY SUPPLIERS AND PRODUCTS.
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PHOTOS: COURTESY OF CARNEGIE
Today’s specifiers expect manufacturers to make environmentally responsible choices. Carnegie’s commitment to sustainability means its products are all free of PVCs, and Xorel textiles are Cradleto-Cradle certified. In addition, Carnegie is the only certified B Corp in the industry, meeting rigorous standards in social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. Bush says these credentials are increasingly important. “Designers are searching for good products that are environmentally sound and certified,” she says. gb&d
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FRONT GREEN BUILDING UP & DESIGN
Up Front Typology Inner Workings Features Spaces Punch List
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46 Somewhere Like Home
Thoughtful, healthy design is of utmost importance at centers for palliative and hospice care.
48 Kid-Friendly
The Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital stands out with design elements that keep the building warm and intimate.
50 Mission: Net Zero Energy
This energy-efficient building accommodates medical professionals’ energy needs even in Massachusetts winters.
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PHOTO: COURTESY OF SASAKI, © EDWARD CARUSO
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TYPOLOGY
BUILDING F O R H E A LT H
HEALTH CARE CENTERS TAKE A SMARTER, GREENER APPROACH TO HEALING
BY SHAY MAUNZ One of the best ways to insult a building’s architecture is to say that it looks “institutional,” calling to mind dull, hard surfaces, artificial lighting, and the color beige. “The term implies a kind of lack of humanity,” says Robin Guenther, of Perkins + Will. For many people, hospitals and health care centers are thought to be the epitome of “blah” institutional design—and for a period of time in the 20th century, that was mainly true. Health care design prioritized time- and cost-efficiency over aesthetics and sustainable design features. After all, it was difficult to make the argument for a pretty building when lives were at stake. Not anymore. Today, there’s a new generation of hospitals and health centers that understand the link between our environment and the way we feel, and the way our feelings can influence health. “Now there’s a willingness,” Guenther says. “To look for a balance between efficiency and providing an environment to promote the best interactions between patients and caregivers and to promote optimism for the best outcomes.” These new buildings are light on potentially harmful materials, heavy on natural light, and go out of their way to be energy-efficient and foster a connection between patients, caregivers, and nature.
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SOMEWHERE LIKE HOME THIS HOSPICE CARE CENTER IS DESIGNED TO GIVE FAMILIES EVERYTHING THEY NEED.
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E4H Architecture was formed in 2016 when three of the country’s top health care architecture firms merged, and it has more than three decades of experience designing for health care settings—the E4H stands for “environments in health.” And yet, when the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health System hired the firm to design the Jack Byrne Center for Palliative and Hospice Care, they were in for a unique challenge. Of course, health care centers around the country provide hospice and palliative care to terminally ill patients at the end of life, but very few of them build inpatient hospice centers quite like this one. Born from a $10 million gift from the Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation in 2014, the center is designed to give famigbdmagazine.com
TYPOLOGY
PHOTOS: COURTESY OF E4H ENVIRONMENTS FOR HEALTH ARCHITECTURE
The answer came in the form of care that is critically important but a 30,000-square-foot facility that unprofitable, and they often rely opened in December 2017, with 12 on charitable gifts and associations single-occupancy patient rooms and with broader hospital systems to space for overnight guests. The censurvive. That’s why the design team ter has a kitchen and dining room placed a special emphasis on crewhere families can prepare and ating a building that will operate cost-effectively for years to come. enjoy a meal. There’s also a library, To that end, the building uses a a spa, a children’s play space, and geothermal heating and rooms for meditation, massage, exercise, and cooling system, which sigart therapy. “All of these nificantly reduces costs—a are attributes that you win for any new building, The center has don’t typically find in a but especially a health plenty of gathering hospital or that you can’t care center, where energy spaces, plus ample natural light. have at home with caregivloads are huge. Even the back-up power system is ers,” Rizza says. The entire an energy-efficient gas building is also designed to foster a connection boiler. with nature. Large windows provide When choosing building materiample natural light, and you’ll find als, the team carefully married its mandate to utilize green building stone and wood accents throughout. principles with the importance Each suite includes a private balcony. of cost-efficiency. Materials are The design team was committed low-maintenance and have long to efficiency, both to reduce the enlife expectancies, but they’re also vironmental impact and to ensure non-toxic and designed to be recythe center will remain financially viable years into the future. “The cled or reclaimed at the end of their ironic thing about talking about lives at Jack Byrne. Rizza says, “Why sustainability and the Jack Byrne would we use products that emit Center is that, in general, hospices toxic gas or are not friendly to the are operationally non-sustainable,” touch, if the environment that we’re Rizza says. Hospice centers provide creating is geared toward wellness?”
lies ample space and privacy during their loved ones’ last days, and to provide services catered toward their needs. It also acts as a hub for education and research on hospice and palliative care. Where do most people want to be at the end of their lives? “Many want to stay at home,” says Charles Rizza, an associate partner at E4H. But that’s not always practical because of the specialized care many patients require, from a bulky hospital bed to round-the-clock nursing assistance. Rizza says, “How do you design a facility that meets all these needs but hides a lot of it so you’re not seeing the technology, and has some of the components that make home so comfortable for patients and families?” gb&d
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KIDFRIENDLY DESIGNING FOR THE SMALLEST PATIENTS PHOTOS BY STEVE BABULJAK
When you step foot in the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, you don’t feel like you’re walking into a 521,000-square-foot facility with 149 patient beds and six operating suites, plus the most advanced technology available in pediatric medicine. That would all be too intimidating for the pint-sized patients visiting the hospital for treatment. Instead, the design team at Perkins + Will took care to make the building approachable even for the smallest visitor. “There was a lot of attention paid to the scale of the building,” says Robin Guenther, sustainable health care design leader at Perkins + Will. “So the children won’t feel like it’s cavernous and like they’re lost in it.” In the lobby, the ceilings reach 30 feet at their high point, but step down gradually until they reach a curving glass wall. Overall, the space is airy and bright but still warm and intimate, immediately putting children at ease. And as an added bonus, this strategy means there’s less space to control for temperature, a perfect blend of the team’s two priorities: sustainability and patient-centric design. When the design team spoke with the family of Lucile Packard, the building’s namesake donor, they came away with the directive to make “an unselfconscious building.” “We talked about that a lot, what that means,” Guenther says. “I think it means to not so much look to make an iconic building or a building that says, ‘Look at me,’ but rather to produce a building focused on the experience of being in it, so that what people remember is the experience of giving and receiving care.” On the building’s facade, a system of horizontal louvers and vertical fins breaks
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A system of horizontal louvers and vertical fins breaks the building into smaller pieces, visually shrinking it for almost a residential feel.
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TYPOLOGY
the building down into smaller pieces, visually shrinking it to a smaller, almost residential, scale. And those louvers and fins also serve as a green building strategy, acting as a fixed shading system designed around the angle of the sun. The shading design is different from every orientation of the building, so it’s optimized to reduce solar heat gain in the warm Palo Alto summers. Because this is water-starved California, the team went to great lengths to reduce water consumption on the property. The landscape features hardy, drought-resistant native plants and a specially designed blend of grasses that need little or no water. The plants will be irrigated using water from three sources: rainwater, condensate water that is extracted by dehumidifying the indoor air, and the distilled water that is used in dialysis equipment. Usually, that dialysis water is poured down the drain, but here it will be stored in two cisterns that are 40 feet wide and 70 feet long (combined, that’s about the length of an Olympic-size swimming pool) until it’s time to irrigate the landscape. gb&d
The team placed an enormous emphasis on fostering a connection with the outdoors, believing a connection with nature can improve moods, lift spirits, and promote recovery in sick patients. Every patient’s room has a planter box right outside the window, which, “Needless to say,” Guenther says, “putting planter boxes on a four-story building and irrigating them, it’s a commitment to an idea.” The boxes are maintained via a catwalk that runs between the planters on the building’s facade. A series of gardens exists for patients and caregivers throughout the property, and many of them incorporate play equipment and whimsical animal sculptures. The artwork inside the hospital is based in the natural world, and murals educate visitors about regional wildlife. The elevator bank is clad in century-old California redwood, salvaged from an airship hangar at Moffett Field in Mountain View. “We wanted the materials to tell the story of a building that belongs in Northern California and nowhere else,” Guenter says. march–april 2018
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Reduced plug loads, a wider indoor temperature range, enthalpy wheel heat recovery, and filtered fume hoods are among the green building features in this health and science center.
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TYPOLOGY
Mission: Zero Net Energy PHOTOS BY EDWARD CARUSO
When the team at the Watertown, Massachusetts–based architecture firm Sasaki set to work on the John J. Sbrega Health and Science Building at Bristol Community College, they faced one enormous challenge: Use no more energy each year than the amount of renewable energy that is produced onsite. Bristol Community College is working to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and was committed to achieving zero net energy in this new building, using a new 3.2-megawatt solar array built over a parking lot to supply renewable energy for the campus. The challenge was to design an energy-efficient structure that could accommodate the energy-dense uses of a training facility for medical professionals—including high plug loads for medical equipment, specialized ventilation, and lighting requirements—and stand up to the chill of Massachusetts winters. To do that, the team relied on a slate of technological solutions and green building strategies, including dramatically reduced lighting and plug loads, a wider indoor temperature range, enthalpy wheel heat recovery, which harnesses heat from the building’s ventilation system, and filtered fume hoods. Those energy-efficient filtered fume hoods, which filter chemical fumes in a self-contained system, were a huge energb&d
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gy-saver for the building, which has many labs in need of fume hoods. But as a relatively new piece of technology, they can also be controversial, and the team had to work hard on educating officials at the college about their benefits. “I’ve had people ask me why the chemistry building is the place to reduce energy, when safety is paramount,” says Thomas Simister, a senior associate at Sasaki. “I would completely agree with that, but also say that unless we push ourselves technologically and behaviorally, we’re not going to make a dent in our energy consumption overall. There are ways to reduce energy smartly, even in science buildings like these.” The team also worked carefully to design a high-performance envelope and then—critically—went to great lengths to ensure that it would be built to perform in the real world. “We spent a lot of time detailing all of the transitions around windows and doors and openings in the exterior to make sure the membrane is tight, so there’s not a lot of air leakage,” says Fiske Crowell, principal at Sasaki. “But it doesn’t matter what we detail if the contractor doesn’t build it correctly.”
During construction the team ordered a blower door test—essentially having the contractor put a big fan in the doorway to test for air leakage. As a result of those efforts, the house is practically airtight—and that’s in the real world, not just on paper. The team also got creative with natural daylight, carefully calibrating the orientation of the building for maximal light and solar heat gain. With a large wall of windows, the central concourse is bright and airy, and many of the internal walls are transparent, allowing light to filter into the back of the building to reduce reliance on artificial lighting. The building also uses a natural ventilation system, with red and green lights indicating whether it’s appropriate for the occupants to open a door or window. As a result of all these measures, the building uses no fossil fuels for heating and cooling, and is projected to use less than 20% of the solar array at Bristol Community College, paving the way for the entire campus to reach carbon neutrality. gb&d
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RENDERING: COURTESY OF SASAKI
A large wall of windows makes the central concourse bright and airy, and transparent internal walls allow light to filter to the back of the building.
GREEN BUILDINGTYPOLOGY & DESIGN
Up Front Typology Inner Workings Features Spaces Punch List
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54 Bright Ideas for Coworking
Transform any office with innovative solutions from lumenomics.
58 Making Buildings Better
A high-performance curtain wall system from YKK APP made this new Health Pointe facility in Michigan even greener.
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Smart solutions from lumenomics transformed a coworking space.
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BRIGHT IDEAS FOR COWORKING Seattle’s lumenomics uses lighting and roller shade system design to transform spaces, productivity, and livability for occupants. By Kate Griffith
When Marti Hoffer, lumenomics CEO, describes her passion for integrated lighting design, it’s clear that passion and purpose have met. Her preferred metaphor compares window coverings to eyelids, and when her own eyes sparkle with the enthusiasm of someone who has found her calling, it’s hard not to get caught up in the conversation. It’s harder still when Hoffer gives you a tour of her company’s most recent project—her baby—at Seattle’s Atlas Workbase. The coworking space is the latest hit in Seattle, where businesses like Amazon, Microsoft, and plenty of up-and-comers seem to vie not just for techie titles but for wellness work perks, too. Light, in this cloudy town, doesn’t typically lead those lists of
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WHY THIS MATTERS
Health, energy, and lighting are important aspects of building codes in every corner of the country. But navigating those codes can be tedious. With experts like lumenomics at your side from the start of a building project, health and energy codes translate to sophisticated design solutions that reduce a building’s energy needs and increase the happiness of its occupants. Any building can be designed sustainably—the point is to make it user-friendly. At Atlas Workbase, SunOrShade roller shades allow natural light to seep in as needed, OneSpace impersonates a skylight in the depths of a difficult space, lighting controls adjust brightness to suit any eye, and spectrumenhanced task lighting nurtures circadian rhythms and increases energy savings.
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workspace perks, but after more organizations get a feel for Hoffer’s work, perhaps it will. THE CHALLENGE
Atlas Workbase CEO and cofounder Bill Sechter called Hoffer into the project at the start to work on the space’s lighting solutions early on. With only one wall to provide natural light, and a deep space to be divided into 50 subspaces, the Atlas Workbase founders needed all the help they could get. Hoffer and the team behind her natural lighting design firm, lumenomics, provided the expertise Sechter knew he needed. “The key goals of our project focus on creating a space centered on health and wellness, ergonomics, and, with the challenge of the one wall, one of our top concerns was how we would light the space,” Sechter says.
LUMENOMICS’ FAVORITE FIXTURES Luminous Textile Philips OneSpace luminous ceiling
THE WORK
lumenomics’ effort that went into designing a lighting system from the Philips catalog—one that appeals to the needs of workers young and old and soothes their optic nerves—is obvious from the moment you walk in. Visitors are greeted at the door by a moving Luminous Textile. Colors flow in soothing, dynamic formations,
Chopstick Suspended LED ArcForm Recessed LED Jump Suspended Fluorescent TruGroove Linear Recessed LyteProfile LED downlights Calculite LED downlights eW Cove MX Powercore
foreshadowing the Atlas Workbase ethos of flexibility, productivity, and collaboration inside. Stepping past the welcome desk is like stepping on to the set of the latest office television drama. In a set design that features the latest in workspace furniture and configurations, it’s the lighting that makes everything pop. Single businesspeople on the go kick back in ergonomically designed chairs that take advantage of the “one wall,” as it’s been nicknamed, which looks out over Seattle. If the sun’s reflection becomes too much to bear, workers can adjust the SunOrShade window coverings using the straightforward Philips Antumbra user interface, and the glare is gone in a blink. Deeper into the space, conference rooms feature the Philips OneSpace luminous ceiling, which mimics outdoor natural light. The Philips Dynalite System customizes lighting in all of the 50 Atlas Workbase subspaces: Each room dims or brightens based on the time of day, programmed schedules, or room occupancy. Control panels make the complex work of keeping 50 spaces customizable for individual users easy and effortless. “Investing in light and user-friendly controls from day one affords so much ability to manage occupant comfort and productivity,” Hoffer says. And yet so often good lighting is barely an afterthought. Consequently, glare hurts older and more sensitive eyes, leading to strain and even injury. Poorly conceived controls don’t get used, and even the most sustainably designed buildings see their energy use go up. Work hours feel even longer. Not in Hoffer’s meticulously designed space. THE REACTION
“People tell us every day, ‘I’ve never had a more productive day of work,’” Sechter says. “I hear that all the time.” The difference is the ability his clients have to customize their space and create, with lighting as the main player, the environment conducive to their needs. “Because we invested in the health and wellness and client experience of our members, lighting has really added to Atlas Workbase and our experience here,” Sechter says. “People talk about our lighting.” gb&d gb&d
PHOTOS, CLOCKWISE: COURTESY OF GENSLER, LUMENOMICS, GENSLER
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MAKING BUILDINGS BETTER YKK AP meets complex design challenges with curtain wall innovations. By Julia Stone
PHOTOS BY JOSEPH STANFORD PHOTOGR APHY
Patients need a comfortable environment for the best care, and in a cold climate like that of Michigan, the need becomes even more apparent. Occupant comfort was a critical factor for a new Health Pointe facility in Grand Haven, and the project team sought a high performance curtain wall system from YKK Architectural Products (YKK AP) to achieve just that. Jim Boles, architect at AECOM, knew his team had to account for many extremely cold days in a row at the Spectrum Health integrated clinical facility, anticipated to open in spring. That’s why AECOM chose YKK AP’s enerGfacade® products—the YCW 750 XT curtain wall
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The AECOM team chose YKK AP products to stand up to the cold.
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and the ThermaShade® sunshade system—to minimize frost build-up while optimizing comfort and energy efficiency. Of course, sunlight helps patients, too, and the design team was committed to ample daylighting. YKK AP’s exterior glazing systems provide natural light without excessive solar heat gain. “There
"YKK AP YIELDS ONE OF THE BEST THERMAL PERFORMANCES, E XCE E DS OU R S TA N D A R D S , AND ALSO E XCE E DE D GREEN BUILDING C O D E S ." ã SEAN EASTER, S PE C T R U M H E A LT H
are a lot of studies that link natural light as a healing factor, and that was important to the design of the facility,” says Sean Easter, LEED AP architect and manager of planning and design at Spectrum Health. “YKK AP yields one of the best thermal performances, exceeds our standards, and also exceeded green building codes.”
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MAKING MANUFACTURING GREENER David Warden, brand manager at YKK AP, says the company takes two main approaches to sustainability. First, they develop and manufacture innovative products designed to block heat, provide insulation, and improve ventilation in commercial buildings. Then they take that one step further by making their manufacturing process as green as possible. YKK AP’s environmentally friendly manufacturing plant in Dublin, Georgia, is a prime example of how the company considers sustainability during production. With a 73% recycling rate, this plant is raising the industry’s green standards. YKK AP recycles all of its aluminum waste on-site and has reduced the amount of other material waste sent to landfills by 40%. The factory’s regenerative burners reduce the fuel used for melting and casting by 50%. The plant also captures and burns 93% of all solvent emissions from the paint line and uses innovative strategies for wastewater treatment. Furthering its sustainability initiatives, YKK AP became the first facade manufacturer to voluntarily offer third party-certified EPDs for all the products in its portfolio in 2015. EPDs, or environmental product declarations, make manufacturing methods more transparent, as customers can see the exact effects of products to aid them in their decision-making process. gb&d
Over the past 25 years, YKK AP America Inc. has transformed from a modest regional facade distributor in the Southeast into a technologydriven, sustainable building products manufacturer nationwide. Its parent company, YKK Group, was founded as a fastening product manufacturer in Japan, but now the international company creates a range of products—from pressurized space suit zippers to car seats to fireresistant shutters. As the U.S. division of the architectural products group of companies, YKK AP is known for its energy-efficient commercial fenestration solutions and innovative residential doors and windows. ENGINEERING FOR EFFICIENCY
“We’re providing sustainable framing solutions for the entire building envelope that improve its strength, energy efficiency, and longevity,” says David Warden, brand manager at YKK AP. The company’s enerGfacade® line provides the highest level of thermal performance, exceeding even the industry’s most stringent green standards by cutting back on waste, controlling energy costs, and simplifying installation. The product line is both sustainable and affordable, and upgrading a building’s framing system can be a seriously cost-effective step toward LEED certification. YKK AP’s thermally broken curtain wall significantly improves the insulation of the building envelope. The YCW 750 XT is part of YKK AP’s high-performing aluminum fenestration system series, which features multiple thermal barriers to minimize total heat loss. This curtain wall system is combined with customized sun-shades to reduce solar heat gain. The ThermaShade system is also the only sunshade on the market that includes a thermal barrier in the anchor bracket. “Adding the sunshade improved solar heat gain without deteriorating the thermal performance by 5% or more like traditional anchor options,” Warden says. “With our YCW 750 XT system, even the pressure plate fasteners do not bridge or compromise the thermal break.” Fortunately, the facade system also leaves room for creativity when it comes to design, as YKK AP offers a range of installation and aesthetic options. “YKK AP was able to get us the matching march–april 2018
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finishes and accommodated our glass types,” Easter says. “The blend of exterior materials—curtain wall, brick, and metal panels—works well and fits the community and setting.” HOW WE DID IT
In the Grand Haven project, Boles says the curtain wall around the perimeter of the building was the biggest challenge due to the condensation resistance factor (CRF) requirements. AECOM chose the YCW 750 XT curtain wall and ThermaShade sunshades because the combination offered the best CRF and U-value. Ultimately, he says the curtain wall ended up being a straightforward part of the project. YKK AP’s accurate anchor conditions helped ease the installation process, too. “YKK was very attentive to detail in creating anchor conditions during the engineering stage,” says Bryan Dennis, glazing contractor at Architectural Glass & Metals, who was installing YKK AP’s fenestration systems at Health Pointe in winter. Dennis says the engineering documents his team received from YKK AP helped in terms of efficiency when they were in the field as well. YKK AP handled all the shop drawings and developed 15 anchor conditions for the project, all of which were the perfect size and design for the building. “To have a curtain wall manufacturer catch all of the different conditions was impressive,” Dennis says. THE FUTURE IS GREEN
A blend of curtain wall, brick, and metal panels makes up the exterior of this Michigan project.
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YKK AP aims to become an even more sustainable manufacturer, and Warden says customers can expect even more energy-saving products from YKK AP in the future. “We have a goal to become 75% recycled-based on all processes by end of fiscal year 2018. That means all waste produced in Dublin Plant and emissions.” The company also plans to utilize Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) and Life Cycle Analysis data to refine and manage the manufacturing stage to better the overall environmental product performance. “We continually look for ways to improve from an environmental standpoint,” Warden says. gb&d gbdmagazine.com
GREEN BUILDING INNER WORKINGS & DESIGN
Up Front Typology Inner Workings Features Spaces Punch List
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64 The Glass Expanse
Milgard Windows & Doors offers up some of most transformative solutions with clear benefits.
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FEATURES
THE
G L A S S
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE MOST TRANSFORMATIVE WINDOW AND DOOR SOLUTIONS
OF 2018 WITH MILGARD
By K AT E G R I F F I T H
EXPANSE
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and few products do as much for a building and its occupants as good windows and doors. Ventilation, natural light, connection to the outside world— not to mention points of egress in situations of emergency—those seemingly simple panes of glass offer a link to the world beyond that keeps us from minding whether we’re stuck inside. Yet so often they’re an afterthought: inconceivable window placements on the sides of McMansions, flimsy panes purchased in bulk to save a few bucks in large apartment projects, long spans of glass that look lovely but hardly function. A window’s a window, right? A door’s a door. Not so much. “Typically there are two things that motivate architects,” says Kevin Anez, director of product management for Milgard Windows & Doors, a West Coast manufacturer with more than 50 years in the business of made-toorder natural light products.
CLEAR BENEFITS “The first thing that motivates architects is performance from a thermal perspective and a structural
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engineering aspects, perspective,” he says. we think a lot “And the second is about ergonomics,” design language. How Milgard puts many hours into testing says Kevin Vilhauer, does a product tie its products— into a design intent engineering manager from materials to of a home?” But what for the Milgard door performance. team. “That’s why our often gets overlooked, SmartTouch® lock has he says, is everyday practicality and things been so successful.” like venting configuThe SmartTouch feature allows a window or door to ration and end-user operations. That unlock in the direction it’s opened, is, how easy is it to actually use those with a smooth, easy motion and windows and doors the way they’re particular care paid to how users intended? “A lot of times people grip their handles and move to get focused on the look or energy open the pane. efficiency of a window, but we need “By partnering with a nationally to think about how we interact with recognized health nonprofit, we products, too.” were able to test the SmartTouch At Milgard, that sort of thinking window lock with people who have translates into hours upon hours a hard time gripping and operating of product testing for window and certain types of hardware,” Vilhauer door options that run the gamut says. The final product was so well of materials, styles, performance accepted by people with different requirements, and operability disabilities that it fits in with the measures. “Beyond the functional
PHOTOS, THIS PAGE AND PREVIOUS SPREAD: COURTESY OF MILGARD
RODUCT PERFORMANCE IS INTEGRAL to sustainability,
FEATURES
TOP 5 MILGARD INNOVATIONS FOR 2018 More contemporary styles are expected to lead sales going into 2018, as well as evolving color palettes featuring darker, richer tones, according to Kevin Anez, director of product management for Milgard Windows & Doors. Their top innovations this year are:
CUSTOM MOVING GLASSWALL SYSTEMS Moving glass wall systems offer a great way for homeowners to replace old doors, add new doors, and create a connection to nature with vast panoramic views, Anez says. ESSENCE SERIES ® INSWING & OUTSWING PATIO DOORS Essence inswing and outswing patio doors add another option to the Essence line of windows. “The line’s broad range of features, best-in-class warranty, and competitive price make this product an innovative addition to the Milgard portfolio,” Anez says. ESSENCE SERIES ® RADIUS CASEMENT The combination of concealed hinges with seamlessyet-durable sashes and frame materials helped win the Essense Radius Casement a Window & Door Magazine Crystal Achievement award. SDL GRIDS FOR ALUMINUM PRODUCTS SDL (Simulated Divided Light) Grids give aluminum windows a fresh look for a spring renovation. “Customers often choose aluminum windows and doors to maximize their viewing area,” Anez says. Now they can combine contemporary sightlines with a more traditional look. TUSCANY ® SERIES VINYL The Milgard proprietary blend of vinyl, combined with advanced hardware systems and a Full Lifetime Warranty, make Tuscany vinyl windows and doors a great customer value. (See milgard.com for complete warranty details.)
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latest building trend to ensure residents can age in place. Beyond ergonomics, Vilhauer and his team test product features like air filtration, structural resiliency in the face of hurricane force winds, and, of course, durability. Vilhauer’s team also cycle tests its locks more than 250,000 times. Additionally, forced-entry is tested, giving the tester a time limit and a set of tools to break into windows and doors. “Our objective is to design our products so that they are safe and secure,” he says.
SECURE AND STYLISH Annealed, tempered, and laminated glasses offer varying levels of security and insulation. Design options range from contemporary to traditional styling, and feature materials range from vinyl to aluminum, fiberglass, and wood, so homeowners and building designers can find
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OUR OBJECTIVE IS TO DESIGN OUR PRODUCTS SO THAT THEY ARE SAFE AND SECURE.”
anything to suit their needs and price points. “Vinyl is a great material to work with, and it’s recyclable,” Anez says of one of the award-winning and most popular products Milgard manufactures. “What makes our product different is that we use a special blend of PVC that gives us a consistent wall thickness, which is important in maintaining certain performance categories.” In 2017, Milgard was recognized as the brand most used in the western U.S. for both its vinyl and fiberglass window products in the Hanley Wood BUILDER brand study. Also in 2017, Milgard windows contributed to a Gold Nugget Award for Best Zero-Net Energy for a California home. But these winning windows and doors aren’t for new builds alone. One of the best ways home owners and architects can spruce up the sustainability and design aesthetics of their spaces is by changing out the windows. “You notice right away the clarity of looking through new glass,” Anez says. “And going from a single pane product to a double pane translates to reduced heating and cooling bills.” gb&d gbdmagazine.com
PHOTO: COURTESY OF MILGARD
FEATURES
GREEN BUILDINGFEATURES & DESIGN
Up Front Typology Inner Workings Features Spaces Punch List
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73 A Timber Revolution
London’s Dalston Works is the largest building made of cross-laminated timber.
75 The Building That Gives Back
Sustainability meets community at Bloomberg’s new European headquarters.
77 Building Hope
Maggie’s Centre Barts in London helps cancer patients heal in a healthier environment.
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WHER WILL SPACES LONDON
THERE IS A
THERE IS A
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BEST GREEN BUILDINGS
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A TOUR OF SOME OF
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PHOTO BY NIGEL YOUNG
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PHOTO: COURTESY OF GENSLER
he city of London has its eye on the future. Ranked the fifth most sustainable city in the world on the Sustainable Cities Index from Arcadis, it continues to raise standards for green building and living practices. Mayor Sadiq Khan has a vision to turn London into the world’s first National Park City, with a goal of being zero-carbon by 2050. The city strives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 60% by 2025—encouraging architects and builders to think along the same lines. The city maintains more than 35,000 acres of public green spaces—40% of its entire area. There are more than 700 green roofs in central London alone. “I’ve set out my plans to improve London’s environment by fighting pollution, tackling waste, and promoting cleaner energy so we can make London a healthier city that adapts to the impacts of climate change,” Khan says. The city has one of the most sustainable mass transport systems in the world. In 2003, city officials introduced the transit tax to encourage use of public transport and reduce car emissions. Likewise, the city is encouraging architects and builders to look at the effect they are having on the environment during the design and construction process, as well as the life and daily functions of those spaces. Many of the buildings recently completed by area architects and visionaries are testaments to the city’s commitment to do better—to not only employ sustainable construction practices, but to also design buildings that have a positive impact on their surroundings. For this series we had the pleasure of speaking with architects who designed a center for cancer patients and their families to receive support, Maggie’s Centre Barts; a residential building called Dalston Works; and the office of Bloomberg’s European headquarters— the most sustainable office building in the world.
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You’d never know this 10-story residential building was made of CLT. It’s covered in brick in keeping with the neighborhood.
A TIM BE R RE VOLUTION PHOTOS BY DANIEL SHEARING
The architects who designed Dalston Works—the world’s largest building constructed out of cross-laminated timber—are in the early stages of what they call a revolution in construction. “It is well understood now that if you live in a building made of healthier materials you are happier, you sleep better,” says Andrew Waugh, partner at Waugh Thistleton Architects and the lead architect on the Dalston Lane project. “We have known this about food for awhile, but we are just starting to understand this with buildings.” The 10-story, 121-unit residential building was erected on what was once a neglected brownfield site, and it’s built almost entirely of cross-laminated timber (CLT). The use of CLT significantly reduced the carbon footprint of the building gb&d
in both material production and onsite energy consumption. Waugh sees it as taking the responsible approach to architecture. “As a practice we look to build in a way that reduces the impact of construction on the environment,” he says. “A building’s carbon footprint is generally measured in terms of its energy use while (occupied), but we are concerned about the footprint of the building materials themselves, which is rarely taken into account.”
THE HUMAN APPROACH Construction using CLT—a renewable resource—is faster and cheaper than using traditional building materials. The timber is sourced from sustainably
managed forests—when one tree is cut down, five more are planted, Waugh says. Harvested wood products also act as a carbon reservoir—storing carbon for the life of the material. “Architecture is about humanity. It is about far more than choosing the color of the windows. It is about understanding the implications of your actions as an architect,” Waugh says. “The production of concrete and steel are responsible for 18% of the greenhouse gases in the world. It’s about fulfilling your professional role as an architect and refusing to be marginalized.” CLT is a solid wood panel made from layering boards in alternating directions, bonded together with structural adhesive. The alternating fibers and solid composition of CLT make it a march–april 2018
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P R OJ E CT LOCATION London, UK SIZE 14,280 square meters COST Approximately £24 million COMPLETION June 2017 AWARDS Highly Commended for Architects Journal Sustainability Prize 2017; Private Housing Project of the year and Solid Wood Project of the year in Structural Timber 2017; Highly Commended in NLA Housing 2017 and Offsite 2017
TEAM ARCHITECT Waugh Thistleton Architects LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT Tyrens PRINCIPAL DESIGNER BPM Group GENERAL CONTRACTOR Regal Homes Construction STRUCTURAL ENGINEER Ramboll and PJCE
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lightweight and strong alternative to other construction materials. Dalston Works weighs approximately one-fifth of a concrete building of the same size. The reduced weight of CLT allowed architects to make the building larger—and complete it faster—to accommodate London’s need for more high-quality, high-density urban housing, according to Damien Cartmell, managing director of construction at Regal London, developer of Dalston Works.
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CLEANER CONSTRUCTION When constructing Dalston Works, all CLT components including floors, walls, stairs, and shafts were prefabricated and then transported to the construction site. Prefabrication meant less noise and dust onsite, creating a healthier work environment for construction workers, who were able to put up a whole floor in a week using a cordless screwdriver. It also meant less waste and • • • • • • •
onsite deliveries—which were reduced by an estimated 80%. Using CLT allowed the building to be constructed faster than if traditional building materials were used—saving an estimated eight months, Waugh says. Onlookers would never know the building is made of CLT by looking at it. Cartmell says the entire building is encased to reduce fire risk and meet the requirements for a residential building. The outside of the building—done in clad brick with steel balconies—was designed to fit in with other buildings in the neighbor-
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THE BUILDING TH AT GIVES BACK
hood. “Brick is very fashionable in London right now,” Cartmell says. “Brick weathers well and adds to the perceived robustness of the building. It is the best of both worlds—timber on the inside with beautiful aesthetics on the outside.” The building is airtight with a natural ventilation system to help it maintain temperature. It currently operates off a single generator but will later be plugged into a local heat network. Varied roof heights, alternating between five and 10 stories in wave-like structure, are oriented to maximize the daylight received on each of the apartments’ balconies and in communal spaces.
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Sustainability meets community at Bloomberg’s new European headquarters—completed in October 2017 in the heart of London. The 10-story facility earned a 98.5% BREEAM rating, the highest score for an office building to date—leading some to call it the world’s most sustainable office space. The facility was designed to encourage interaction both within the office and the surrounding community, says Michael Jones, senior partner at Foster+Partners and the project architect. “Sustainability was something that underpinned every part of the project, and not just in simple terms but in its broadest sense—the wellbeing of people,” Jones says. “There are lots of elements of the building that make life better for people in the city. It’s about giving something back and not just occupying a site.” The facility is composed of two buildings united by pedestrian bridges, taking up a full city block. The bridges cross Watling Street— an ancient Roman road that runs through the site—and the home of the Bloomberg Arcade. The arcade sits under a covered colonnade with restaurants and cafes at ground level. It’s become a key route for people traveling around the city. At the ends of the arcade and front of the building, public plazas are designed to provide civic meeting places for community members. “The building is
located in one of the most dense parts of the city and there are very little breathing places,” Jones says. “We set the building back to create these public spaces and offer a place for people to pause for a minute and alleviate the crowds.” The outside of the building is done in sandstone with a series of 117 bronze fins that offer more than a unique design element— they’re an integral part of the building’s natural ventilation system. The fins vary in scale, pitch, and density according to the orientation of the building’s outer walls and solar exposure. The “breathable” walls open and close based on weather conditions, resulting in a reduced dependency on mechanical ventilation and cooling equipment. “People respond better to environments that change, that ebb and flow with the temperature and sounds and light,” Jones says. “The breathable walls are like opening a window at home. You feel better. It’s the same kind of effect on a much larger scale.” It’s hard to miss the building’s distinct three-dimensional loopedramp—it flows across the whole building. The ramp has a two-prong effect, as it’s designed to encourage conversation while not impeding the flow of people and also acts as a chimney. Natural air flows up the ramp to the building’s atrium and out onto the roof.
MORE S U S TA I N A B L E OPTIONS
G Eat & Drink Acornhouse Restaurant
A Stay
The Andaz Hotel
B Play
Chelsea Physic Garden
Borough Market
Hackney City Farm
The Duke of Cambridge Pub
Thames Barrier Park London Wetland Centre
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SPACES LONDON
NIGEL YOUNG
A three-dimensional looped ramp flows across the building, encouraging interaction among occupants.
P R OJ E CT LOCATION London, UK SIZE 1.1 million square feet COST £1 billion COMPLETION October 2017 AWARDS Outstanding BREEAM Rating
Building visitors enter into the “vortex”—a space defined by three inclined, curving timber shells—where everyone can catch a ride on the building’s highspeed custom-designed exterior-facing elevator. The elevator takes visitors to the heart of the building—the sixth floor—a communal place everyone travels through. “The inside is driven by collaboration and interaction and supports teamwork in the best way possible,” Jones says. Petal-leaf aluminum ceiling tiles assist in the heating, cooling, lighting, and acoustics of the building. The large surface area and high heat-transfer efficiency of the petals, combined with a chilled water coil that sits behind the tiles, reduces energy use—making for a first-of-its kind integrated cooling system. The tiles also assist in the reflection
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of light. Rather than using a traditional office fluorescent light system, the building has 500,000 LED lights—using 40% less energy. “The tiles are a pivotal part of the design and really pushed the boundaries of existing thinking,” Jones says. The Bloomberg building uses an estimated 73% less water than the typical office building. Collected rainwater from the roof, cooling tower blow-off, basins and showers, is treated and recycled to be used in the building’s vacuum flush toilets—creating a net-zero flushing system. The toilets also use significantly less water than the typical toilet—0.6 to 0.8 liters compared to the standard five liters. An on-site Combined Heat and Power generation center supplies heat and power in a single efficient system, estimated to reduce energy consumption by 35%. The CHP generation center converts
natural gas to power and uses any wasted heat generated in the process for heating and hot water, or to generate cooling. Photovoltaic cells on the roof of the building convert light energy into electricity to supply additional power to the building—enough power to run eight residential homes. In addition, carbon dioxide–detecting controls that adjust airflow based on occupancy are installed around the building. On a typical floor there are around 775 workstations and 68 carbon dioxide–detecting sensors. The Bloomberg building is also a zero-landfill facility—and has been since construction began in 2010. Instead of going to the landfill, waste is composted or converted to energy. The workplace uses a waste system that allows a greater proportion to be recycled, including a new system for recycling coffee cups.
TEAM ARCHITECT Foster+Partners CONSTRUCTION MANAGER Sir Robert McAlpine LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT Charles Funke Associates STRUCTURAL ENGINEER AKT II M+E ENGINEER SWECO LIGHTING ENGINEER Tillotson Design Associates QUANTITY SURVEYOR AECOM
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SPACES
BU I LD I N G H O PE A cancer center uses light and color to soothe families. A HE A LT HY E N V I RONM E N T helps people feel better. That was the philosophy when designing Maggie’s Centre Barts—a drop-in facility in downtown London where people suffering with cancer and their families can receive emotional and social support. Architects designed a distinct structure with a variety of sustainable features to create a healthy, home-like atmosphere for the sick to find solace in hard times. “The goals went hand-inhand in this case,” says Dominik Sigg, associate at Steven Holl Architects and the project’s lead architect. “When the building feels healthier, people will like it better. As opposed to large mechanical systems that are not very intuitive for users.” The center is located next to historic St. Bartholomew’s Hospital—the oldest hospital in London, founded in 1123. The site’s history presented a challenge for architects who didn’t have a lot of space to work with but wanted to create a comfortable, welcoming environment full of natural light. “The site itself was very important to us, but it was also very challenging with a lack of light and views, and the emotional context … the way we wanted to make people feel,” says Laura Lee, chief executive of Maggie’s Centres. “Stephen Holl created an environment where you come in and immediately feel you are in a safe place away from the dominance of the hospital. It is a unique approach they took with the materials and the color … Immediately you have a place you are curious about and distracted and happy to be in. You can grieve more easily and are more open to
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PHOTOS: ©NAARO, COURTESY OF STEVEN HOLL ARCHITECTS
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P R OJ E C T LOCATION London, UK SIZE 6,534 square feet COST £7.5 million COMPLETION December 2017 AWARDS 2017 Progressive Architecture Award
TEAM ARCHITECT Steven Holl Architects ASSOCIATE ARCHITECTS JM Architects LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT Bradley-Hole Schoenaich GARDEN DESIGNER Darren Hawkes CONSTRUCTION MANAGER Sir Robert McAlpine ENGINEER Arup LIGHTING CONSULTANT L’Observatoire International PLANNING ADVISOR DP9
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difficult conversation. The building helps make our job at Maggie’s easier.” Maggie’s Centres are typically built horizontally, but because of the space limitation, the Barts location was built vertically. For the building’s exterior, designers used a polychrome insulating glass—designed specifically for the project by manufacturer Okalux—with an acid-etched finish for a white matte look, rather than the shiny glass typically used in corporate buildings, Sigg says. The glass has colored inserts organized horizontally—like a music staff— inspired by the “neume notation” of medieval music. “Neume” originates from the Greek word “pneuma”—meaning vital force. “This was about creating hope and joy of living in the face of fear,” Lee says. “It is very much about what music does to the spirit and a physical way to bring that emotional piece out.” The design of the glass minimizes solar gains while maximizing the amount of natural light. Internally, the architects used zoned LED lighting to be efficiently controlled based on needs at various times of the day. A green roof and rooftop terrace—where visitors can participate in meditation and yoga, among other things—were installed to increase the biodiversity of the site and improve air quality, a factor that is “not very good locally in the heart of London,” Sigg says. PHOTO: IWAN BAAN, COURTESY OF STEVEN HOLL ARCHITECTS
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•• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• were •also designed to reduce storm •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • water•runoff • • • • • •and • • • •the • • •urban • • • • • heat • • • • •island • • • • • • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• effect•• •while having aesthetic benefits. •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • “There just ecological advantag• •• •are • •• •• ••not •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • •• •• •• •• •roof; • •• •• •• ••it • •• •• •• •a • ••nice es to •having •• •• •• •• •• ••a •• •green •• ••is •• •also •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• thing• •for the user. The roof is on a• slope • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • •• can • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • so you see it from the vantage point • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• •• •• •• •• •• ••and •• •• •• •it of the•• •••terrace, becomes part of the • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • garden.” • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• To •give •• •• •• ••the •• •• ••center •• •• •• •• •• ••more •• •• •• •• ••of •• ••the •• •• ••com•• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • forts •of• •home, Sigg says the building is • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • •• •• •• ••ventilated • •• •• •• ••windows. • •• •• •• •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • naturally •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •with •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •You •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• •• •• •any •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• won’t•• •••find large mechanical system • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • here.•Instead, the center is connected to • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •central • •• •• •• •• •• ••heating • •• •• •• •• •• ••to the hospital’s •• •• •• •• •• •• •system •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• allow• •for more efficient heating of• •the • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • building. •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• • •• •• •• •• •• •• •chose • •• •• •• •• ••simple Architects •• •• •• •• •• ••materi•• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• als when the building’s • •• •• •• ••designing •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • interior. • • • The • • • • walls, • • • • • •ceiling, • • • • • • •and • • • much • • • • • • • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • of the built-in and loose furniture are • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • made• •••from bamboo—one of the fastest • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • •• •• ••renewable • •• •• •• •• •• •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • growing •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• ••resources. •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• ••By •• •• •using •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• bamboo, pride in • •• •• •• •the • •• •• •architects • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• ••take • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • •• •• •• •• •• •an • •• ••industry • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • supporting with a posi• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• tive environmental impact, Sigg says. • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Bamboo absorbs large quantities of • •• •• ••also • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • carbon • •dioxide, • • • • • • • thus • • • • helping • • • • • • • remove • • • • • • • it • • • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• from•the atmosphere. •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • •• •• •• •• ••concrete • •• •• ••used • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Exposed •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •was •• •• •• •• •to •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• construct the branching frame of the • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• building, potential to be • •• •• •• •increasing • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• ••the • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • •• •• •• •• •according • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •to • •• •Sigg. • •• •• •• •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • used •as •• ••thermal •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •mass, •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• • • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Using• ••concrete allows the building to • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • •• •and • •• •• ••store • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • absorb heat, releasing it later— • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • •• •• to • •• •• •• •• •spikes • •• •• •• •• ••in leading •• •• •fewer •• ••heating •• •• •• •• •• •• ••and •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• cooling requirements. gb&d • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •gbdmagazine.com • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • gbdmagazine.com • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• • • •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •
GREEN BUILDING & DESIGN
Up Front Typology Inner Workings Features Spaces Punch List
gb&d
80 WSLA Insights
Catherine Luthin looks at the viability of distributed energy resource projects.
81 Improving IAQ
Interior designers and mechanical engineers work together for better air.
82 Designing for Prisons
What can U.S. designers learn from European countries to improve prison design?
84 Person of Interest
The International Dark-Sky Association’s Pete Strasser dispels myths about light pollution.
86 Lessons Learned
ZGF Architects’ Marty Brennan talks daylighting.
88 In the Lab
You can learn a lot from an acrylic panel injected with algae.
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PUNCH LIST WSLA INSIGHTS
Identifying Incentives DER projects remain viable, regardless of which federal policies remain intact
2017 WSLA WINNER
Catherine Luthin President and founder, Luthin Associates
Energy efficiency and renewable projects are no longer skipping down the same yellow brick road as they were this time last year. Similar to the Cowardly Lion, some are inching courageously forward despite doubts from customers and the industry, while others have stepped off the
road altogether—at least until the way forward becomes clearer. Changes at the federal and state levels are creating a less certain future, but Dorothy assures me that the basic reasons for pursuing distributed energy resource (DER) projects remain viable, regardless of which federal policies remain intact. While relatively little federal energy grant money is distributed directly to commercial and industrial customers that implement energy projects, some of it was routed to them in the past via state agencies and utilities receiving federal funding. If that earlier support is cut back, some programs may not be renewed or remain robust. As New York pushes its Clean Energy Standard (under which programs like NY-SUN are supported), the NY Public Service Commission (PSC) and New York State Energy Research and Development Authority have been revisiting
“ While local utility DER rebates are almost as high as a year ago, new tariffs for all New York state utilities are appearing that redefine the value of excess power.” 80
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how future incentives and rebates for DER may be provided. For instance, support for Combined Heat and Power (CHP) projects is now limited to systems with capacities of 3 MW or less. The imminent shutdown of the Indian Point nuclear power plant in New York has created uncertainty regarding forward capacity and power pricing after 2020, even as two nearby gas-fired plants and a 1,000 MW power line from Canada may be arriving at about the same time. Add to that the recent PSC order re-valuing various aspects of DER, and it is as if a flock of flying monkeys is swirling around your head. While local utility DER rebates are almost as high as a year ago, new tariffs for all New York state utilities are appearing that redefine the value of excess power from resources like photovoltaics (PV), CHP, and energy storage. Recently, net metering rewarded owners of such systems at the full supply value of utility electricity regardless of when that excess was fed back into the grid. That process created an incentive to build large systems that could provide much of the valuable power beyond what is needed by a host facility for many hours each year. However, now a “value stack” that consists of separate variable values for energy, capacity, demand reduction, societal benefits, among others, will determine the level of remuneration to each DER system. For example, under one alternative, if a PV system produces low kW due to a heavy rainstorm that is coincident with the grid-wide peak, it will be paid for only
the capacity it produced at that particular hour, for each month in the following year. The energy it produced will now be paid at the hourly locational based marginal price (LBMP), rather than the utility’s monthly billed supply price. Fearing that its financial positions could suddenly go under, one local PV developer has pulled back on several community solar projects. Despite these uncertainties, others are pushing ahead, finding ways to quantify, and where necessary, financially hedge any potentially negative impacts. With a little luck and a great deal of number crunching, we may all finally get to a truly “green” Emerald City. gb&d
Catherine Luthin is the founder of Luthin Associates, which helps clients develop and implement energyrelated initiatives like competitive energy purchasing, energy conservation projects, and bill auditing services. Since 1992 she has been actively involved in regulatory proceedings at the FERC, NYISO, and the New York Public Service Commission. She is a 2017 recipient of the Women in Sustainability Leadership Award.
gbdmagazine.com
PUNCH LIST
Improving IAQ How interior designers and mechanical engineers can work together for better air
Ariane Laxo Interior Designer Corinne Wichser Mechanical Engineer
Design professionals know the impact indoor air quality can have on the cognitive and physical health of building occupants, yet design and engineering disciplines often work in silos to try to achieve healthy indoor air quality. A collaborative approach can result in sustainable buildings and healthier indoor air quality that can meet or exceed design benchmarks. MATERIAL SELECTION AND MECHANICAL SYSTEMS
Indoor air quality goals set by LEED and WELL go above current design practices. Pollutants like carbon dioxide, particulate matter, formaldehyde, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) impact the health and well-being of building occupants. But the typical standard of care does not involve considering the impact of design decisions on levels of these pollutants, and testing for pollutants does not play a role in standard practice. While CO2 and particulate matter are a product gb&d
of occupancy and the outdoor environment, levels of both formaldehyde and VOCs are directly connected to materials specified by the interior designer. Additionally, the methodology to dilute and remove these pollutants is a result of the filtration and ventilation design strategy implemented by the engineering team. Mechanical engineers design ventilation rates based on ASHRAE 62.1 code compliance, and material selection for a particular space is not considered. Energy performance goals can drive ventilation rates even lower if an occupancy monitoring system that controls the level of CO2 in the space is in use. This system—demand-controlled-ventilation— will provide more ventilation if CO2 levels increase above a certain threshold. While this strategy ensures CO2 doesn’t reach problematic levels, it doesn’t consider the impacts of formaldehyde and VOCs due to material selection. Interior designers, on the other hand, focus on a space’s functionality and appearance, achieving owner goals within budget. By specifying materials with low or no formaldehyde and VOCs, interior designers impact indoor air quality and may reduce the burden on the mechanical system for diluting and removing contaminants. COLLABORATIVE DESIGN PROCESS
Utilizing an integrated approach that brings all team members to the table at the start of the planning and design process, design teams can better define project goals, share knowledge, and strategize. Owner expectations and requirements of indoor
air quality can be determined, guiding the team in material selection and ventilation control design. While ASHRAE, LEED, and WELL share some goals, they have unique requirements that may conflict with each other, emphasizing the importance of communication across disciplines to coordinate standards and develop strategies that achieve the targeted benchmarks. Through this collaboration, materials, furniture and finishes selection, and installation can work in tandem with the design of mechanical and air-filtration systems to reduce off-gassing and other airborne contaminants. Products declared Red List–free by the International Living Future Institute establish a good starting point for healthy materials and finishes. Beyond the Red List, material selection will depend on project type, from hospitals to commercial properties, community centers to workplaces. The best mechanical systems for a space also vary depending on use, and mechanical engineers and interior designers can work together to determine a comprehensive approach. In a high-activity space like a gym, outdoor-air ventilation may be increased beyond typical levels to ensure occupant comfort and offset smells from rubber athletic flooring. A daycare center will require durable, low-maintenance materials and an air-filtration system to reduce airborne containments and odors that could impact children’s health. MEASURING RESULTS
Post-occupancy testing can verify that the targeted bench-
marks for healthy indoor quality have been met. Testing should utilize the methodologies outlined by standards like WELL, which requires post-occupancy testing for certification. If certain levels are below expectations, remedial steps can be taken, including a flush-out to clear the air from residual construction contaminants, conducting third-party commissioning to verify all systems are operating as intended, identifying and replacing potentially non-compliant products, or adjusting ventilation and filtration systems to better address the indoor environment. The remediation strategy is best designed through an interdisciplinary approach to diagnose the situation and determine next steps. Ultimately, when a project’s mechanical engineer is working alongside the interior designer to establish the targeted levels for indoor air quality and the design strategy to achieve those goals, indoor air quality—along with the owner and user experience—can all be improved. gb&d Ariane Laxo is an interior designer at HGA Architects and Engineers, where she co-chairs the firm’s sustainability council and represents HGA in the AIA National Resilience Initiative. Corinne Wichser is a mechanical engineer at HGA Architects and Engineers, where she specializes in sustainable operations in existing buildings through retrocommissioning, energy audits, energy models, LEED facilitation, WELL certification, and sustainable planning. She is a member of HGA’s Sustainability Council.
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PUNCH LIST
Designing for Prisons Can American designers learn from European countries focused on rehabilitation to make real change in the U.S. today?
Lea Hershkowitz Interior Architect
In the United States, over the course of five years, 50% of released prisoners will return to prison, according to a Stanford Law School report. This rate of recidivism is evidence that our penal system is broken. A new system focused on compassionate rehabilitation rather than punishment must be considered. The U.S. prison population is uniquely burdensome compared to other countries. The Center for Prisoner Health and Human Rights says the 2.2
million people imprisoned in America account for a quarter of the population of people incarcerated worldwide. And one in 31 U.S. residents is under the control of the criminal justice system. Prisoners make up an invisible class of citizens— politically unrepresented and removed from daily life. Though this invisible class constitutes a significant percentage of our citizenry— and economy at $50 billion per year—in the design world, architects are seldom hired to devise socially productive, rehabilitative prisons. And yet, from 1990 to 2005 the
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government built more than 500 new correctional facilities, an average of nearly one new facility every 10 days. The cultural shift toward designing healthy, rehabilitative prisons can be led by the world of architects and designers. In Norway, after declining in 2010, incarceration rates have slowed in concert with the reprogramming and redesigning of prisons to be centers for learning, healing, and growing. Halden Fengsel, a maximum-security prison in Halden, Norway, by Erik Moller Arkitekter and HLM Arkitektur, is designed with light-filled spaces, natural ventilation, arts programming, and recreational activities for inmates. With light wood finishes and modern furniture silhouettes, Halden Fengsel feels less like a jail and more like an upscale dormitory. The landscaping generates clear and open sightlines into nature from the interior space. With growing evidence that views of nature decrease convalescence and increase well-being, the landscaping is essential to the success of a scheme alluding to freedom. All the while the very near, and very real, multistory concrete perimeter wall fades into the background of the campus’s coniferous forest. Natural light, air, and open circulation are, to anyone who has gone without them, clear measurements of freedom. Even Dostoyevsky, writing in the 19th century, wrote, “Low ceilings and tiny rooms cramp the soul and mind.” If we focus our expectations as a society toward healing prisoners rather than solely punishing them, the ways in which we choose to design spaces will inherently evolve
in more fluid and open ways. OOIIO Architects designed a
female prison centered precisely on this concept—how to make a prison feel less stagnant and more free. The intent to generate mobility and movement, traits not often included in prison design but important for physical and psychological well-being, are palpable in OOIIO sections. The plan feels open and breathable, in part through the inclusion of vast green roofs and walls. These green elements change with the season, making prison life less monotonous and more human, according to OOIIO. The opportunity to make a positive and lasting difference through design in the lives of those who need it most is all around us. More than 50% of prisoners suffer from untreated mental illness, according to an article in The Atlantic, while 50% of prisoners are classified as non-violent, according to a report from Stanford Law School. Can American designers learn from European nations successfully focusing on rehabilitation and begin to make a systemic change in the U.S. today? Initiatives like the WELL Building Standard and Fitwel provide market evidence that in the U.S., consumers, developers, and designers are investing for the future in health and wellness. In fact, according to Fitwel and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 49% of building
owners are willing to pay more for buildings if they’ve proven to have a positive impact on health. The market is driving up demand for health and wellness-based architectural
PHOTOS: ERIK MØLLER ARKITEKTER; HLM ARKITEKTUR
strategies. It is imperative that the structures and systems that need this transformation most, such as prisons, not get left behind while commercial and residential buildings move in this important, beneficial direction. The more we invest in the health of our systems, the more we invest in the personal health of our societies, local and at large. gb&d
Lea Hershkowitz is an interior architect with a master’s of design from the Rhode Island School of Design, where she currently teaches research design. Lea’s graduate thesis from RISD developed an architectural strategy to reduce prison recidivism by infusing prisons with learning and healing via healthy, innovative, in-prison manufacturing.
gbdmagazine.com
PUNCH LIST
Facts and figures in this story come from Stanford Law School reports, The Center for Prisoner Health and Human Rights, Politifact, and prisonstudies.org unless otherwise noted.
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Person of Interest Pete Strasser Today Strasser keeps his finger on the pulse of the lighting industry, monitoring how changes in lighting technologies affect the natural environment. “I look for win-win situations where people get the necessary lighting with the least amount of harm.” The thing is, lighting—or light waste or skyglow (the artificial brightness of the night sky that’s caused by light pollution)—has become an issue. “Ideally, our mission is the return of the nighttime sky to levels people haven’t seen for 100 years.” But as the nonprofit kicks off its 30th year, it looks beyond the stars to even more environmental concerns. gb&d: When did light pollution become an issue?
“It’s irresponsible to take a finite resource and use it in an illogical manner.” Interview by Rachel Coon
When Pete Strasser joined the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) in 2005, his background may have been in plant pathology, but his passion for astronomy and photography also made him a good fit as IDA’s new technical director. “I understood light and its impact,” he says.
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Strasser: It’s hard to say. I have a turn-of-the-century woodcutting that talks about how lighthouses can draw birds in and cause disruption. The problem has been noted as long as there’s been artificial light at night, but whether it’s been seen as something that warrants tremendous concern is an ongoing battle. People need to be aware that you can have both proper lighting and minimal impact. I live in Tucson, a municipality of more than a million people, and I can see the Milky Way from my driveway. Just because there are a lot of people doesn’t mean there has to be bad lighting practices that obscure the heavens and waste resources and money. gb&d: How has light pollution changed? Strasser: It’s increased. A recent German study found light pollution is rising at about 2% a year. It would have been worse if there hadn’t been regulations and ordinances put into place, but there are plenty of places on the planet where putting up bright lights is seen as an accomplishment.
gb&d: Why is this important to you? Strasser: It’s irresponsible to take a finite resource and use it in an illogical manner. Any light, any energy not devoted to the task is waste. We try to become as efficient as possible. It simply hasn’t occurred to everyone yet that putting a circular lollipop on a pole and putting a bulb inside to light the streets—when half the energy and cost is not doing that—is silly. People think we have the luxury of waste or that it’s not an issue, but it’s fiscally irresponsible to waste. gb&d: What’s the connection between light pollution and energy waste? Strasser: Lighting should be where you need it, when you need it, in the amount necessary, and no more. Having a light on in a parking lot all night when no one’s there—that’s waste. If you have a parking lot and people are there, but it’s five times brighter than necessary, that’s waste. The notion of where, when, and how always falls into play—and where comes into the design of light itself. If you have an acorn-type fixture lighting a street, half of the energy consumed is shining upward, not going toward the task. Why spend half a streetlight bill doing something it’s not supposed to do? A streetlight should light the street, not the undersides of airplanes. gb&d: Explain the connection between carbon emissions and light waste. Strasser: It depends on the source. Anytime a fossil fuel is used to generate electricity to light a non-efficient product, you’re adding CO2 to the atmosphere for a nonsensical use. The Department of Energy says 15 million tons of CO2 are emitted each year in order to power residential outdoor lighting in the U.S. and about 35% of that is wasted as skyglow. gbdmagazine.com
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Learn more at gbdmagazine.com
gb&d: Are LED lights the solution? Strasser: There are good LEDs and bad LEDs. They are so much more efficient than previous sources, but when it comes to energy efficiency, they’re not the be-all and end-all. LEDs are cheaper to use, so people are using more of them. Now is the time, with this change in technology, to evaluate our lighting practices and see if we can, in fact, change. In Tucson, for example, we reevaluated the area’s lighting plans and found we were overlighting our streets. We switched to LEDs, we are still meeting the recommended practices of the Illuminating Engineering Society, and we’re putting out only 40% of the light we did before—and no one’s noticed. Only about 5% of municipalities across the country even seek to meet these recommended levels, but if there’s actual design being done to specification, people are surprised they don’t need as much light as they thought they did.
PHOTOS: COURTESY OF PETE STRASSER; PIXABAY
gb&d: Is reducing light waste an attainable goal? Strasser: There are a couple things to consider. For the last decade, twice every year during the bird migration period, St. Louis, Toronto, and Chicago have asked high-rises to turn off lights that don’t need to be on at night. You can see pictures of city lighting before the migration and during when the lights are out, but what they don’t show are the pictures two weeks later when the migration is done and everyone’s turned the lights back on. Why? It’s been identified that those lights could be turned off without any harm. IDA’s challenge is overcoming the inertia of the way things are done and of what people expect. If a person expects to see blinding light in order to feel safe, overcoming that can be impossible. gb&d
About 35% of light is wasted by unshelded or poorly aimed outdoor lighting.
People also have the notion that if they don’t see the light source, if they don’t see glare, then it’s not bright enough or it must not be safe, when in fact that kind of glare can make an unsafe situation. Everyone’s heard the phrase “lurking in the shadows.” Glaring conditions create the shadows in which people can lurk, so more lighting isn’t always safe. Better lighting is safe. There’s a small city in Canada called Notre-Dame-des-Bois that had one street with a bunch of 175-watt lights. On the same day, the city changed all of the bulbs to 70 watts and no one even realized the intensity had been cut by half. The same thing happened in Tucson; people just didn’t notice. gb&d: Are we afraid of the dark? Strasser: Absolutely. Light is a sign of prosperity. One of the strangest examples I’ve ever heard: There’s this picture of the world at night from space and the brightest spot is Belgium.
I visited, and every square-inch is illuminated. I asked why and people said, “Because we won.” “We won what?” I’d ask. “World War Two.” We’re talking 70 years ago, it was important to them that, when the Nazis left, they could turn the lights back on—and that’s the way they do things. How do you overcome something like that? It takes generations of saying, “Maybe we don’t need to be so excessive.” You can have a well-lighted place that’s not dark but also without any light pollution. It just takes the skill of a lighting designer—one of the least utilized experts in the field, they’re half engineer and half artist. They’re careful with where they place lights— you know it’s going to be well done and won’t pollute as much as someone putting in a lowest-bid installation of floodlights. Yet, what’s the most common thing we see? Lowest-bid installations. Not everyone recognizes worthwhile upfront costs can save money in operations and get you a much better looking building. gb&d march–april 2018
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Marty Brennan LESSONS LEARNED
sense of a daily routine and connection to the natural world, the installation saves energy. A report by the Department of Energy’s
Interviewed by Margaret Poe
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory found that the
u Consider how we evolved.
For the vast majority of human history, people depended on the sun to shape the rhythm of their days. We didn’t deviate far from this cycle until the development of modern lighting systems just a century ago—a blink of an eye in evolutionary time. “From an evolutionary standpoint, we evolved outside,” says Marty Brennan, an architect and expert on daylighting— and so it makes sense that our physiology is attuned to these natural cycles of light and darkness. At a cellular level, our circadian rhythms need to be in sync with our environment, as a growing body of research by Brennan and others is demonstrating. u Never stop exploring.
Brennan’s work leads him into various disciplines, from history to anatomy to design to behavioral health. He first began researching circadian lighting at the University of Washington, where he “fell in love with daylight.” He became fascinated by the idea of simulating and quantifying it in order to give designers the tools they need to create healthy spaces. For optimal health, people need their circadian rhythms to reset every day, and daylight is essential to that process. It starts in the morning, Brennan says. That’s when you need a hefty dose of blue light to advance your circadian clock. As the day wears on, the light should soften and become more of a redder hue— think of the warm light of a fireplace. In the hours before bed, exposure to blue light
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For optimal health, people need their circadian rhythms to reset every day. In the morning you need a dose of blue light, and as the day wears on, the light should become more of a redder hue.
Project architect and daylighting specialist, ZGF Architects, Seattle
can be disruptive, as it blocks the secretion of the hormone melatonin, which makes you feel drowsy. u Credit those who came before us. Brennan often
reflects on how we built our schools and workplaces 100 years ago. Before the advent of modern HVAC, architects relied on time-tested practices like tall ceilings and windows to allow in natural light and ventilation. In many ways, they knew a lot more about what humans needed then, he says, simply through observation: plenty of daylight to feel refreshed, awake, and productive. u Rely on nature to help us heal. Brennan’s team put their
knowledge into practice in a lighting project at Swedish Medical Center-Ballard’s Medical Behavioral Health Unit in Seattle. The leaders at
the 22-bed unit, which offers mental health programs, knew they wanted to incorporate biophilic elements in the space. Brennan says they approached the project with a central question: “How can we design a behavioral health ward by nature that’s more relaxing and more conducive to healing?” Given the space’s lack of daylight, they turned to the next best thing, Brennan says: tunable LED lighting. Each day, the lighting gradually gets brighter as noon approaches, when the ward features bright blue light. It winds down throughout toward sunset, when the light becomes dimmer and warmer. In addition to giving patients a
dimming provided by this system reduced annual energy use by an estimated 41%. u Buy-in is essential. A
growing awareness of biophilia means some clients come to ZGF knowing they want a circadian-based solution, Brennan says. Others aren’t familiar with the concept, so he educates them on the benefits of integrating elements of the natural world into the space. “You need every person onboard,” Brennan says, from executives to contractors to maintenance staff. Tunable LEDs are more complicated than traditional light bulbs, since the whole system needs to dimmed and adjusted in harmony. It’s a learning curve, but one that can be eased by mocking up a diagram of the system. u The sky’s the limit for realworld applications. Circadian
lighting is now being used on the International Space Station to boost astronauts’ alertness and performance. In 2016 NASA replaced the old fluorescent bulbs with LEDs that can be adjusted in both brightness and intensity to help reset the astronauts’ circadian rhythms—an effort aiming to reduce fatigueinduced accidents and improve their sleep. Back on Earth, the Seattle Mariners are deploying the same technique in their locker room in the hopes of combatting jet lag and boosting the players’ energy before they hit the diamond. After the game, it shifts to a warm light to help them relax. One cheeky twist? The away team’s locker room has none of these benefits, Brennan says. gb&d gbdmagazine.com
PHOTO: COURTESY OF MARTY BRENNAN
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In the Lab
Thora H. Arnardottir The BioCentric Design Group and the BioCatalytic Cell By Laura Rote
Acrylic panels filled with algae spin in a mesmerizing array, catching visitors’ attention as they stop and wonder, “What is it?” Part art, part science project, it’s called the BioCatalytic Cell, and the possibilities for what it could be are endless. The BioCatalytic Cell looks at how using a living organism can generate energy. The cells could even be used as a battery source, for example, a possibility that’s being researched. The project was designed by Thora H. Arnardottir and fellow students Jessica Dias and Christopher Wong at the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) as part of a seminar guided by Paolo
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Bombelli, a post-doctoral
researcher in the biochemistry department at the University of Cambridge, where the technology behind the system was created. In late 2016, Arnardottir and classmates were tasked to develop an easily assembled “kit of parts” that could show instant results. “Using living algal cells would provide an easy organism to maintain while allowing students to perform their own tests on the energy-generating abilities through the photosynthesis process,” Arnardottir says. The group created an adaptive energy-sensing cell to harness the algae’s ability to harvest solar energy and generate electricity via the
photosynthesis process. The biological solar cells are also called bioelectrochemical systems (BES), or biophotovoltaic (BPV) devices. But how does it work? Each cell panel rotates to agitate the algae and generate electricity through a network of conductive anode and cathode meshes with a carbon catalyst to transfer electrons from the cell surface to the electrode that harvests them. Connected tubing within the transparent structure allows the power output to sense the energy output and monitor the conditions in which algae can generate energy. The prototype is used as a biosensor to monitor and determine the best environmental
gb&d: What is the BioCentric Design Group? Arnardottir: The group was formed while we were studying for our master’s at IAAC. We randomly ended up in a group project in our first term studio called “Active Public Space: Eco-Machines” led by Claudia Pasquero and Carmelo Zappulla, and we worked on a project that focused on bioluminescent bacteria and bio-computation and how it reintroduces energy production into the public space. The glowing bacteria was no longer luminescent only in the squid it lives in but on the skin. The bacterial light was activated by a person’s movement, thus the human body and the piece itself developed a symbiotic relationship. This collaboration continued as we realized we all have a similar passion to engage in a more symbiotic relationship with nature, by understanding the natural patterns and processes and utilizing it in our design. gb&d: How can something like the BioCatalytic Cell make a difference in the real world?
conditions for algae to generate energy, testing three different algae cultures in various environments. Today the BioCatalytic Cell is on display at IAAC, and a smaller version continues to be tested. But what was initially a student project ultimately became a bigger deal, as the students were invited to exhibit it at the London Zoo in June 2017 before the project traveled back to Barcelona for an exhibit with the Creative Europe Programme of European Union. We recently talked with Arnardottir to find out more about the BioCatalytic Cell project, the BioCentric Design Group that formed as a result, and the world of possibilities that lies ahead.
Arnardottir: This project sources living matter that grows in abundance to generate and harvest energy from the sun. In future iterations, for example where the casement material and electronic components could be more ecofriendly, this proposal could replace existing expensive solar panels with a cost-effective and natural solution. gb&d: What was the biggest surprise to come out of this project? Arnardottir: How engaged people are with it. It comes as a pleasant surprise how genuinely interested people are in getting to know how we can produce renewable, sustainable bio-energy with living organisms. We did not fully realize ourselves how incredible it is to see this green algae produce energy until we saw numbers on the multimeter. Although the power output from this setup is only able to generate approximately 55 millivolts per panel, it is enough to power an environmental sensor and be used to determine the more favorable conditions for this type of algal energy to be produced in.
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Thora H. Arnardottir and Jessica Dias are part of the BioCentric Design Group, working with living organisms to create energy and start conversations.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF BIOCENTRIC DESIGN GROUP
gb&d: You mentioned the group wanting to look at how harnessing solar energy through photosynthesis could be implemented into existing infrastructure. How can it? Arnardottir: Future iterations of the cell itself could be implemented into existing public space infrastructure, not only to harvest solar energy but to encourage public engagement with the species and spark an interest in new biotechnologies. We can implement this type of urban interaction in places that require some form of sun shading, as the panels would provide an obstruction from the sun and at the same time utilize it for generating electricity via the photosynthesis process. gb&d: What does the future hold? Arnardottir: For us, the unique selling point of biodesign is that it intersects with many disciplines. The use of living systems and organisms in biodesign is not only to imitate nature but harness the machinery of those living systems to modify products or processes that can make
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our built environment more in line with nature. Our work is characterized by working with living organisms and other biomaterials, but we aim to synthesize biology and digital fabrication in the emerging field of biofabrication. We wish to encourage more designers and citizens to include biology in their work and expand their knowledge about the natural world around us. gb&d: What else is the BioCentric Design group working on? Arnardottir: We’re all working on different projects. One we are doing is with Physarum polycephalum, or slime mold, with a Berlin artist and a Barcelona glass designer, on slimy bio jewelry. The slime is a bright yellow, single-celled organism that branches out in search of nutrients. Through communication between the cells, a constant feedback loop demonstrates a spatial intelligence for finding the most efficient route to the nutrient source. We want to showcase their ability in a wearable piece. Hopefully this will spark a connection between “us” and “them.” gb&d
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Directory & Index
IN CONVERSATION with Andy Cohen Continued from p. 17
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B BioCentric Design Group, 88 Bloomberg, 75 Boles, Jim, 58 Bombelli, Paolo, 88 Brennan, Marty, 86 Bristol Community College, 51 Burwasser, Bob, 34 Bush, Heather, 38 C Canplas Industries, 22 Central Coating Company, 34 Cohen, Andy, 12 Crowell, Fiske, 52 Custom Craft Distribution, 18 D Dalston Works, 73 Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health System, 46 Dennis, Bryan, 58 Easter, Sean, 58 E4H Architecture, 46 Erik Moller Arkitekter, 82 F Foster+Partners, 74
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G Gensler, 12 Globalcon, 15 Greenhalgh, Jennifer, 38 Guenther, Robin, 45 H Haubenschild, Mark, 30 Hess, Melanie, 18 HGA Architects and Engineers, 81 Hoffer, Marti, 54 Hollist, Jonathan, 26 Holt, Mary, 38 I Illuminating Engineering Society, 84 Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia, 88 International Dark-Sky Association, 84 J Jack Byrne Center for Palliative and Hospice Care, 46 Jackson + Park Design, 38 John J. Sbrega Health and Science Building, 51
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N Neumann Monson PC, 16 Nolan, Luke, 34 O Okalux, 72 OOIIO Architects, 82 P Perkins + Will, 45 Pilon, Daryl, 34 R Rizza, Charles, 47 S Sasaki, 51 Sechter, Bill, 54 Sigg, Dominik, 72 Simister, Thomas, 52 Southeast Technical Institute, 26 Standard Solar, 34 St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, 72 Steven Holl Architects, 72 Strasser, Pete, 84 Swedish Medical Center-Ballard’s Medical Behavioral Health Unit, 86
already started designing parking structures with flat floor plates, rather than the traditional sloped design, and we are putting the ramps on the outside of the structure so that later on you can take the ramps off and adapt it for office space or housing. There are millions and millions of square feet of parking that are going to have to be adapted for other uses. With any new buildings we are designing today, we better make damn sure they are adaptable. gb&d: How do you respond to the folks who don’t believe most vehicles will soon be autonomous? Cohen: There are often naysayers in the audience when I give my talks, and when we do the Q and A at the end they say, “Come on, do you really think this is going to happen in 10 or 15 years?” That’s when I give them the analogy of the horse and buggy. When the Ford Model T came out it only took four years to go from predominantly horse-powered transportation to vehicles dominating the streets. There was a tipping point. gb&d: How do you think that tipping point for autonomous vehicles will start?
T TSP, 26 U University of Iowa, 16
K Khan, Sadiq, 70 Klobassa, Michelle L., 26
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L Lee, Laura, 72 LMN Architects, 16 Lowell, Katie, 30 Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, 48 M Maggie’s Centre Barts, 72 Monson, Chris, 18 Mont-Mégantic Observatory, 84
V Vilhauer, Kevin, 64 Vitra, 38 Voxman Music Building, 16 W Warden, David, 58 Waugh, Andrew, 76 Waugh Thistleton Architects, 76 Winter, Faith, 22 X Xorel Artform, 38 Z ZGF Architects, 86
Cohen: The first wave will be deliveries. All UPS, FedEx, and Amazon deliveries will be driverless. I believe one of the reasons Amazon bought Whole Foods is as distribution points for their delivery service. Everyone is going to see these driverless delivery vehicles marching around the city and are going to wonder, “Hey, why aren’t we getting around that way, too?” gb&d: Hopefully the fact that autonomous vehicles could be vastly more sustainable than our current transportation system will be a motivating force that helps to usher in the transition. Cohen: The opportunity for sustainability is huge. Here we are designing net zero buildings, but the way we are getting to them is completely archaic. I like the idea that we can create an integrated city, where both buildings and transportation systems are sustainable. An incredible opportunity is coming our way. gb&d
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