A MAGAZINE OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS
MADE TO ORDER Hospitality Serves Up Better Performance
ECO-STRUCTURE.COM JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011
Actions speak louder than words. At CENTRIA, we build on your concern for the environment and blend it into everything we do. Whether it’s maximizing product life cycles through the purchase of materials with high-recycled content or minimizing jobsite waste by custom-engineering our products for each project, we’re taking action to help you build for tomorrow.
We are…Distinctively ecoCENTRIA. Circle no. 11 or http://ecostructure.hotims.com
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Introducing COMMERCIAL DESIGN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, COMMERCIAL DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION Patrick J. Carroll pcarroll@hanleywood.com PUBLISHER, COMMERCIAL DESIGN Russell S. Ellis rellis@hanleywood.com; 202.736.3310 EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, COMMERCIAL DESIGN Ned Cramer ncramer@hanleywood.com
MARKETING MANAGER Lucy Hansen lhansen@hanleywood.com CIRCULATION MANAGER Mary Leiphart mleiphart@hanleywood.com
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HANLEY WOOD BUSINESS MEDIA PRESIDENT, MARKET INTELLIGENCE/E-MEDIA Andrew Reid PRESIDENT, EXHIBITIONS Rick McConnell
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VICE PRESIDENT/CIRCULATION AND DATABASE DEVELOPMENT Nick Cavnar VICE PRESIDENT/PRODUCTION Nick Elsener VICE PRESIDENT/MARKETING Sheila Harris EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/E-MEDIA Andreas Schmidt GENERAL MANAGER/ ONLINE COMMERCIAL CONSTRUCTION Kim Heneghan
Welcome to the new IPS: New Look New Facility
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CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Frank Anton CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Matthew Flynn SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT/ CORPORATE SALES Paul Tourbaf VICE PRESIDENT/ CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT & BUSINESS MANAGEMENT Joe Carroll VICE PRESIDENT/FINANCE Shawn Edwards VICE PRESIDENT/ FINANCIAL PLANNING & ANALYSIS Ron Kraft VICE PRESIDENT/ GENERAL COUNSEL Mike Bender
All contents of this issue of ECO-STRUCTURE are copyrighted by Hanley Wood LLC. Reproduction in whole or in part prohibited without written authorization. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States.
Same Great Company At IPS, our panels offer quick and easy installation, design versatility, appealing aesthetics, energy efficiency and longevity. We also provide excellent service and support, before and after the sale. That combination of superior products and outstanding service is what sets IPS apart and gives our customers the opportunity to be successful. Look to IPS for all of your insulated metal panel needs. For more information, visit us online at www.insulated-panels.com/IPSintro or call us at (800) 729-9324. CIRCLE NO. 25 or http://ecostructure.hotims.com
ECO-STRUCTURE is the independent, unbiased source for green-building information. The magazine intends to foster an open dialogue about today’s vital green-building issues.
HANLEY WOOD LLC is publisher of Aquatics International, Architect, Architectural Lighting, Big Builder, Builder, Building Products, Concrete & Masonry Construction Products, Concrete Construction, The Concrete Producer, Custom Home, EcoHome, The Journal of Light Construction, Masonry Construction, Metalmag, Multifamily Executive, Pool & Spa News, Pro AV, Professional Deck Builder, ProSales, Public Works, Remodeling, Replacement Contractor, Residential Architect, and Tools of The Trade magazines. DISCLOSURE / ECO-STRUCTURE occasionally will write about companies in which its parent organization, Hanley Wood LLC, has an investment interest. When it does, the magazine will fully disclose that relationship. PRIVACY OF MAILING LIST / Sometimes we share our subscriber mailing list with reputable companies we think you’ll find interesting. However, if you do not wish to be included, please call us at 888.269.8410.
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CONTENTS January/February 2011
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FEATURES Renew, Restore, Recycle 40
In Oregon’s Willamette Valley, the Allison Inn & Spa aims to cultivate the well-being of its guests and its land.
Green and Gorgeous 44
An iconic Philadelphia high-rise finds new life as a sustainable luxury hotel.
Good Eats 48
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A San Francisco restaurant whose motto is “organic, fresh, local” finds the same winning combination in its design.
On the Cover: The Plant Café Organic, designed by CCS Architecture. Photo by Kris Tamburello. JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011 ECO-STRUCTURE
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CONTENTS
27
DEPARTMENTS Viewpoint 8 Greenscene 10 Products 37 Deep Green 19
The Center for Environmental Innovation in Roofing offers a multifaceted definition of what it means to go green on top.
Technology 23
At one time more hype than reality, fuel cell systems are powering hundreds of buildings nationwide. This page, clockwise from top: Courtesy William McDonough + Partners; Karen Moskowitz; FXI Building Products Corp. Previous page, clockwise from top: Derek Reeves, GGLO; Peter Kubilus; Kris Tamburello.
Flashback 27
Ten years later, the Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies at Oberlin College continues to evolve.
Perspective 33
Jason McLennan, CEO of the Cascadia Green Building Council and International Living Building Institute, and founder and author of the Living Building Challenge.
Ecocentric 56
Can a place that houses equipment to work the land be kind to its surroundings as well? De Leon & Primmer Architecture Workshop provides a simple, low-tech approach.
ECO-STRUCTURE.COM
Visit us online for more news, articles, and products. Among this month’s highlights: Green Experts: Giving Green a Sporting Chance: Designing sports and recreation centers to exceed LEED certification. Green Experts: Greening the Colorado Convention Center. Perspective: David Orr, the Paul Sears distinguished professor of environmental studies and politics at Oberlin College. Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/ecostructure Become a Facebook fan at facebook.com 6 ECO-STRUCTURE.COM
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33 AN AIA MAGAZINE
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Circle no. 76 or http://ecostructure.hotims.com
IT’S OFFICIAL
VIEWPOINT A Good Concept Gone Bad?
In what seems to now be a tradition, a slew of year-end lists and predictions for 2011 flooded my e-mail inbox and Twitter feed over the final weeks of December and the early days of January. The most interesting item, however, wasn’t related to architecture and design. It was Advertising Age magazine’s list of the “jargoniest jargon” of 2010, words the magazine’s editors wished people would no longer use. I was intrigued, especially when I got to number eight: “sustainability.” It is, the editors noted, “a good concept gone bad by mis- and overuse. It’s come to be a squishy, feel-good catchall for doing the right thing.” I agree that, like “green,” “sustainability,” in a big picture sense, is overused and diluted— a buzzword that in many cases is used more as a marketing tool than as a term that truly addresses environmental impact. But is it so overused that it should be removed from our lexicon? The problem, of course, is that there is no accepted definition of sustainability. Consider the differences in the built environment alone. In many cases, the LEED rating system has come to symbolize sustainability, but debates around lackluster post-occupancy performance continue to dog the system’s long-term reliability. For some projects, sustainability may be defined by how a structure compares to local codes and standards, or how much energy or water is saved in comparison to a traditionally designed building. Yet others have argued that a building is sustainable simply if it reuses an older structure because the greenest building you can build is the one that you don’t. Consider, too, the wide range of environmental commitment across markets. This is a discussion point that pops up each year when we set about working on this, our hospitality-themed, issue. For a long time, sustainability in the hospitality realm seemed to translate to more superficial efforts such as giving guests the option of not having their sheets and towels changed every day. One of the arguments, it seemed, was that luxury would 8 ECO-STRUCTURE.COM
have to be sacrificed for better environmental performance. Luckily, many firms and hoteliers continue to work toward dispelling this myth, as evidenced by our feature projects this month. Yes, our two featured hotels, the Allison Inn & Spa and Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants’ Hotel Palomar, offer guests the option of reducing the facilities’ laundry loads by reusing sheets and towels, but they also incorporate mechanical and structural efforts that aim to reduce their footprints. At the Allison, outside of Portland, Ore., vegetated bioswales, a green roof, and settling ponds combined with the site’s irrigation system help manage stormwater and reduce potable water use, while solar panels, solar hot-water collectors, and a more insulated and sealed building envelope reduce energy use. In Philadelphia, Kimpton continues its corporate dedication to green, repurposing a historic oece tower into a sleek, new, LEED Gold–certified boutique property. Getting back to Advertising Age’s suggestion that “sustainability” spend some time on our vocabulary backburner: I disagree. It isn’t that we should stop using the word— it’s that we should be smarter about how we interpret it. We should learn to ask deeper questions about what exactly sustainability means in each use. This will continue to be a goal of cos-trufforffuc into 2011. Here’s hoping it’s one of yours, too.
You may notice a few tweaks as you flip through this issue of ECO-STRUCTURE—and we couldn’t be more excited about them. This issue marks the official debut of a partnership with the American Institute of Architects, through which ECO-STRUCTURE is now recognized as “A Magazine of the AIA.” (Check out our new cover logo.) The relationship stems from a larger five-year integrated media partnership between the AIA and our parent company, Hanley Wood, which was announced in May 2010. The agreement, which officially went into effect on Jan. 1, 2011, addresses print and digital platforms, the AIA Annual Convention, and other initiatives. On the editorial side, ECO-STRUCTURE’s sister magazine, ARCHITECT, is now the official publication of the AIA, and two other sister publications, ECOHOME and RESIDENTIAL ARCHITECT, also share the honor of being selected as “A Magazine of the AIA.” What does this mean? From all four publications, you’ll continue to receive trusted, independent editorial content. At ECO-STRUCTURE, we remain dedicated to building performance and forward-thinking design, and will continue to feature inspiring projects, day-to-day business issues for those in the green realm, and new technology, products, and industry news. We’ll continue to revisit older structures to see how they’re performing, and will continue to seek out thought leaders who are pushing sustainable design to the next level. One other benefit under the agreement is that AIA members will automatically receive ARCHITECT, and can now elect to receive ECO-STRUCTURE’s digital edition as part of their AIA membership. (They can choose to get the digital editions of ECOHOME and RESIDENTIAL ARCHITECT as well.) You’ll also now see in each issue of ECO-STRUCTURE a dedicated AIA department, AIArchitect, which the institute writes and designs itself to communicate with its green-minded members, knowledge communities, and components. While the editorial team will certainly be communicating with the AIA to discuss industry issues and trends, these two elements—our editorial content and AIA’s dedicated content—will remain independent of one another. Given the AIA’s long-standing commitment to supporting sustainability in architecture, we’re honored to be included in this new partnership, and look forward to what the collaboration can bring to our readers and those in the field who are pushing environmental design forward. AN AIA MAGAZINE
1968 Social environmental movements take hold.
WHO SHAPES THE FUTURE OF GREEN DESIGN? You do.
1978 Earth Day brings awareness to Earth’s need for continual care.
What was once a quiet evolution has become a revolutionary force. Your desire for sustainable design has helped redefine the meaning of green. Since we began making nora® rubber flooring over 50 years ago, we’ve evolved with you.
1988 1,000 communities in America initiate curbside recycling.
1998 EPA launches voluntary programs for energy, water, indoor air quality, waste and smart growth.
2008 U.S. Green Building Council member organizations grow to 15,000.
Your concern for the environment continues to create new standards for designing in harmony with nature. It is why we continually explore ways to blend the best of technology with greener thinking.
It starts with you. You and your challenges. You and your world. You and nora.
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Circle no. 43 or http://ecostructure.hotims.com
GREENSCENE Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems and Health Care Without Harm in 2004.
Text ECO-STRUCTURE staff
LEED IN EVOLUTION Since hosting its annual Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in Chicago in November 2010, the USGBC has launched a number of modifications and additions to its LEED green building rating system. Among them:
1.3
• LEED Automation debuts. For the first time, LEED Online, the online tool through which users submit documentation for LEED certification, can interact with third-party technology platforms with the goal of streamlining and creating capacity for the certification process. The system will perform three key functions: automating various LEED documentation processes, delivering project teams a unified view of their projects, and standardizing LEED content consistently across multiple technology platforms. The new system is built with common Internet standards and languages such as HTTP, XML, and simple object access protocol.
BILLION
The total square footage of LEED-certified commercial projects as of Jan. 10, 2011.
10 ECO-STRUCTURE.COM
• LEED for Healthcare passes by member ballot. With an 87 percent approval rate, LEED for Healthcare passed after seven years of development. The system focuses on healthcare projects such as inpatient and outpatient facilities and long-term care facilities. The system was developed from the Green Guide for Healthcare document and pilot program released by the
• LEED for Retail launches. The ninth version of LEED was launched at Greenbuild and applies to high-performance projects such as apparel stores, banks, big box stores, electronic stores, and restaurants. The launch followed a three-year pilot program and merged two previously piloted systems —LEED 2009 for Retail: New Construction and Major Renovations and LEED 2009 for Retail: Commercial Interiors. The system is designed to recognize that retail environments have different occupancy characteristics and hours of operations, different parking and transportation considerations, different water and energy consumptions, and may be part of a larger multitenant complex. • The LEED Volume Program is introduced. Designed to streamline and speed up the certification process for high-volume property owners such as national retailers, hospitality providers, and governments, the system allows owners to define criteria for grouping similar buildings and the prototype LEED credits they’d like to pursue. The program also aims to facilitate bulk purchasing and advance material ordering, reduced consultancy requirements, more eecient internal processes, greater speed to market, and more precise documentation of corporate sustainability efforts. • Wood certification benchmarks remain unchanged. In December, it was announced that proposed changes to wood-certification benchmarks within the LEED systems had failed to obtain the required two-thirds majority vote for passage. As a result, only wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council will continue to qualify for LEED points. In addition, shortly before this issue went to press, the USGBC completed the first public comment period for proposed updates to LEED that build upon LEED v3 (LEED 2009). A second public comment period will be held from July 1 to Aug. 15, with final ballots projected for August 2012. AN AIA MAGAZINE
Energy Efficiency a Focus in 2011
GREENSCENE
Energy efficiency will be a growing focus in the commercial building market in 2011, predicts a new white paper from Pike Research, a research and consulting firm focused on clean technology markets. The paper, “Building Efficiency: Ten Trends to Watch in 2011 and Beyond,” is available for free download at pikeresearch.com.
AMONG PIKE RESEARCH’S PREDICTIONS FOR 2011 ARE: 1. Energy codes will keep raising the bar and enforcement is catching up. Energy codes are becoming more stringent, more municipalities and states are adopting more-stringent codes, and compliance and enforcement also are improving. 2. Mandatory disclosure rules will incentivize building owners to invest in energy efficiency. 3. The pace of building certification will increase, led by LEED.
6. 2011 will not yet be the year of the LED. While technology continues to improve, the study warns caution as cost still remains a significant initial barrier to adoption. 7. The connection between efficient buildings and the smart grid will continue to grow. 8. An increasing number of financing options will continue to emerge to support building-efficiency programs. Among them: government grants, government-backed loans, tax incentives, performance contracting, and utility rebates.
4. Building energy management systems (BEMS) are in high demand. Specifically, the paper predicts that BEMS will be more prevalent in offices, universities, and healthcare buildings. The largest market according to the study, remains office buildings.
9. Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing will continue to struggle to overcome concerns about how it is structured, but it should continue to slowly move ahead in commercial applications.
5. The U.S. energy service company (ESCO) market will see moderate growth and ESCOs in Asia Pacific’s developing markets will advance rapidly. The study notes highest potential in China and India.
10. Systemic conditions, policy choices, and practical considerations will continue to present barriers to energy efficiency, but investments in training, access to information, and technology will gradually overcome many of them.
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CIRCLE NO. 96 or http://ecostructure.hotims.com
In the 2010 Fall Product Spec Guide, the images accompanying the product descriptions for Kawneer’s Trifab 451UT framing system (1); Centria’s Smart-R Wall Solution (2); Coalesse’s SW_1 chair (3); Kim Lighting’s Archetype LED (4); Karastan Contract’s Pretty Concrete broadloom carpet (5); and Boyd Lighting’s Phantom sconce (6) were incorrect. The correct images are shown here. eco-structure and archffitect regret the errors.
Circle no. 64 or http://ecostructure.hotims.com
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Ready or Not
january/ february 2011
A new green code is about to change the way we build. john sc hneidawind
illustration: elizabeth charrow
a game-changing juggernaut is steadily making its way through the building code development and approval process. The International Green Construction Code (IGCC)—some call it the “Green Code”—promises to bring considerable change to the design and construction industry when adopted as early as 2012. Over the next several months, this code will evolve through public comment, making now a critical time for the profession to get involved. In 2009, the International Code Council (ICC) began developing a code with the goal of addressing green building design and performance in new and existing commercial buildings. This code will formalize performance by creating mandatory frameworks for both minimum and advanced green building. IGCC is being designed as an overlay to the existing ICC codes, with local, state, and federal laws in mind. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) teamed up with the ICC at the outset to make sure that the final code is the right tool for the profession at a time of unprecedented change and economic challenges. The ICC has, among other things, embraced the AIA’s commitment to a 2030 carbon neutrality goal as a part of the code’s goals. In addition to helping develop a code that advances sustainability and accurately reflects the role of architects in the building process, the AIA is in the midst of a major effort over the next two years to educate the profession about the IGCC and all its ramifications. And for good reason. For the first time, sustainable design will be codified.
As currently envisioned, the IGCC will finally mainstream a design philosophy that has often been viewed as aspirational. As with any major development, the IGCC has both advocates and detractors. Those in favor of codifying green design believe it will place architects at the forefront of the nation’s efforts to conserve energy, enabling them to initiate a new era of sustainability. Tom Liebel, AIA, LEED AP, principal of Baltimore-based Marks, Thomas Architects, sees the IGCC as a major asset to the profession’s efforts to develop an approach to sustainable design. Liebel says the IGCC acts as a baseline upon which other sustainable building design certifications, such as the United States Green Building Council’s LEED rating, can complement. IGCC will permit architects to add another layer of expertise to the fundamentals of health, safety, and welfare. “Overall, I think the IGCC has the potential to be a great tool,” Liebel says. “A lot of jurisdictions want to mandate green, but so far the tools are rating systems like LEED that take what is a voluntary checklist and try to make a code out of it. LEED is not written in the imperative, while building codes are. “What LEED has forced people to do is to think about sustainable design,” Liebel adds. “One of its greatest strengths is that it breaks down a complex set of decisions into smaller, comprehensible pieces. I see the IGCC doing the same thing. What the IGCC will hopefully be able to do is what jurisdictions want LEED to do: Define a minimum green building standard, and make that the de facto standard.”
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What the will hopefully be able to do is what juristictions want to do: Define a minimum green building standard, and make that the de facto standard. The comment period for the second draft of the IGCC—issued in November 2010—ended in January. The second draft includes changes incorporated from the first public hearing. Hundreds of interested organizations and parties are engaged in the code development process, from architects to building-product manufacturers to building owners. A code development hearing will take place in May. A final comment period and public hearings will take place in November. The new code should be finalized and published by March 2012. After that, it’s up to each state to choose to adopt the final version. Jessyca Henderson, AIA, resource architect and director of AIA Sustainability Advocacy, oversees AIA’s participation in the development of the IGCC. As the AIA point of contact for codes- and standards-related activities, Henderson urges practitioners to become active in this final phase of the code-approval process. “It’s imperative that our profession makes its views known as often and as many times as possible,” she says. “We have a great deal of work ahead of us.”
n
Stay on top of developments with the IGCC and learn how to become involved through the AIA by visiting www.aia.org.
AIAPERSPECTIVE
hoto: ron soloon
january/ february 2011
The IGCC mandates specific responsibilities and liabilities, something LEED certification does not entail. And unlike LEED, the green code is enforceable. If a design doesn’t meet the specifications of the state where the IGCC has been adopted, the architect could be liable for failure to comply. Enforceability means increased responsibility and the associated risk-management issues await architects, who must now add energy efficiency to the list of health, safety, and welfare responsibilities. The IGCC’s critics say that’s just their concern. They contend that architects shouldn’t be the ones exposed and bearing the responsibility for whether a building saves energy. “The biggest problem with the green code today is that it should be directed toward owners of buildings, not the design professional,” says Jim Sealy, FAIA, owner of Dallas-based Jim Sealy Architect and a 45-year industry veteran. Sealy argues that mandating building performances—and making the architect responsible for achieving that performance—is misguided. He believes that existing building codes already include sustainability requirements that will make a building energyefficient. “The owner should be determining what they need in the building, not the designer,” he says. “Putting this off on the design professional is not where this belongs.” Several professional practice issues will be subject to closer examination as the IGCC moves through the approval process. Developing a deeper understanding of the standard of care is one issue the IGCC—as drafted—could affect. The architect’s professional standard of care has established legal parameters well understood nationwide, and is rooted in an assumption about the delivery of architectural services. Once the IGCC is adopted, determining the standard of care is predicated on a critical mass of architects having adopted sustainable design as everyday practice. If the IGCC calls for additional responsibility, opportunity, and potential liability for architects, do these new expectations require an enhanced standard of care? Can practitioners look forward to uncompensated risk and higher professional liability premiums? The AIA has initiated a discussion with liability insurance carriers.
Clark D. Manus, FAIA, President one of the first lessons you learn in high school geometry is that parallel lines do not meet. The rest of life is a record of many exceptions. Take the main feature of this issue of AIArchitect—the emergence of an International Green Construction Code (IGCC). Once the code is published in 2012 and begins to be adopted, it’s going to be a game changer. It will affect how architects think about design and how we practice. It will likely make its mark on the standard of care. That’s why the American Institute of Architects (AIA) has been a central player ensuring that the architect’s voice is at the table. But change from what? What do we know now about how well green design is working? To meet whatever the new target turns out to be, we need to know where we stand. Many firm practices profess to design green, but do the results measure up to the hype? Identifying a baseline for the profession is a key first step toward reaching consensus on a definition of high-performance design. Currently, more than 130 firms of all sizes have signed on to the AIA 2030 Commitment to reduce energy consumption in their portfolios. They are measuring predicted annual performance, so that a baseline can be established. The resulting data will be available in May at the AIA National Convention in New Orleans. This, like the IGCC, also has gamechanging potential. Armed with this data, architects may finally be able to show clients how green design pays dividends in lower energy costs and a cleaner environment. Which brings me back to the matter of intersecting parallels. Recognizing that buildings account for approximately 40 percent of the energy consumed in this country, and an even greater percentage in our cities, the AIA has been working with its members and allied professionals on a number of fronts. These include two complementary initiatives—the shaping of a fair, realistic, and consensus-based green code while developing a process through the firm commitment to benchmark how well architects are doing and to target areas of improvement. What it comes down to is this: The AIA is taking an integrated approach to advocate and prepare architects for the world of the 21st century, a world that more than ever needs the expertise of architects to meet the needs of a growing and changing planet. The partnership between the AIA and Hanley Wood that begins with this issue is an exciting piece of this multidimensional campaign of advocacy, knowledge sharing, and public and client outreach. The partnership brings together the parallel communities of those served by this magazine, as well as , EH, and . We have a great deal of important work ahead. And it’s important that we’re now doing it together. Clark D. Manus, FAIA, 2011 President
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Circle no. 33 or http://ecostructure.hotims.com
DEEP GREEN
What is a Sustainable Roof? THE CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INNOVATION IN ROOFING OFFERS A MULTIFACETED DEFINITION OF WHAT IT MEANS TO GO GREEN ON TOP. Text James L. Hoff Illustration Henry Obasi
The challenge of defining a sustainable roof is similar to the task of blind men describing an elephant. One man mistakes a massive leg for a pillar, another perceives the trunk to be a snake, while others mistake ears for giant fans and tusks for pointed spears. And just as each individual perception fails to grasp the grandeur of the entire elephant, first impressions about sustainable roofing tend to fall short of revealing the true potential of the world’s rooftops. Words that currently describe sustainable roofs create as much contradiction as clarity. Sustainable roofs may be described as “warm” and “cool.” They may not only be “energy efficient” but also produce “clean energy.” Frequently, sustainable roofs are
described by a particular color they exhibit: “white” to reflect the sun, “blue” from captured stormwater, “green” from a living carpet of plants, and “black” from the sheen of solar panels. But behind these descriptions lies the fact that modern roofs serve many functions and impact the environment in many different ways: • ENERGY Sustainable roofs can both save and produce energy. The potential energy savings available through the use of properly insulated roofing systems could exceed 700 trillion Btu each year, while the solar energy potential of our nation’s roof surfaces could exceed the power of over one dozen Grand Coulee dams. • WATER For hundreds of cities relying on JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011 ECO-STRUCTURE
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DEEP GREEN
As public recognition of the complex role of rooftops has grown, limited descriptions of roof system sustainability based on a single characteristic are merging into a more comprehensive approach.
20 ECO-STRUCTURE.COM
antiquated combined sewer systems, the capture of rooftop stormwater can play a significant role in reducing the amount of pollution that goes into our waterways. The use of this water for landscaping and other building-related needs also can reduce overall demand on municipal water sources. • AIR AND CLIMATE In addition to saving energy during the air-conditioning season, cool roof surfaces help mitigate heat-island effects in urban areas, reducing air pollution and global warming. • MATERIALS Roofing waste accounts for over 40 million tons, or 5 percent of all solid waste generated annually in the United States. Improved use and reuse of roofing materials offers one of the best opportunities to reduce landfill waste throughout the world. • SERVICE LIFE Far too often, building deterioration starts with a leaky roof that leads to marred interior surfaces, mold growth, and structural damage. Developing new standards of roof system durability and roof asset management may significantly increase a building’s service life. As public recognition of the complex role of rooftops has grown, limited descriptions of roof system sustainability based on a single characteristic are merging into a more comprehensive approach. An excellent example of this trend is the roof on the Jerry F. Costello National Great Rivers Research & Education Center Confluence Field Station in Alton, Ill., which recently received the Center for Environmental Innovation in Roofing’s 2010 Innovation in Design award for its comprehensive contribution to roofing sustainability. The facility serves as a laboratory and classroom for researchers and students to study the ecology and management of large rivers. Sustainable features on its roof include: • Rooftop vegetation featuring native plants to minimize the impact on local ecology • Roof-mounted solar tubes that supply over half of the building’s lighting requirements • Roof-mounted solar panels for supplemental building power • A comprehensive stormwater retention system to provide irrigation for the building site • High-efficiency roof insulation to minimize building heating and cooling requirements • A high-performance roofing system designed to extend building service life • Rooftop classroom and meeting facilities to expand the usefulness of the roof space For the design professional, the multifaceted approach to sustainable roofing exemplified by the Costello Confluence Field Station poses a number of challenges. There are new technologies to understand and harness, and these technologies require new design skills to effectively integrate them into the overall roof design. In terms of renewable energy, for example, new technologies might include solar energy systems and roof daylighting, which in turn might require skills with solar energy modeling and electrical and
lighting system design. New water-retaining roof technologies might require knowledge of climate modeling and landscape design, and examining energy efficiency in light of new high-efficiency materials might require new knowledge of heat, air, and moisture modeling. With this in mind, effective systems integration emerges as perhaps the most critical challenge. What are the consequences of pursuing many different green strategies within a single building system? Will the use of certain technologies degrade or negate the effects of other technologies? What are the trade-offs and how can the overall sustainable contribution of the roofing system be optimized? Because of the increasing complexity in sustainable roofing, more sophisticated design and decision tools are needed. In response, the Center for Environmental Innovation in Roofing has developed a voluntary, consensus-based guideline for sustainable roofing systems called RoofPoint. Similar to the goal of whole-building programs such as LEED and Green Globes, RoofPoint’s mission is to serve as a guideline for selecting environmentally innovative roofing systems, as a checklist to identify the ways roofing systems provide economic and environmental benefit, as an assessment system to compare roofing alternatives, and as a platform for a comprehensive certification program to recognize and reward environmentally responsible roofing practices. RoofPoint is organized into five functional areas representing the primary environmental contributions of modern low-slope roofing systems: energy management, materials management, water management, life-cycle management, and roofing innovation. Each functional area is then broken down into credits such as roof daylighting, recycled content, roof maintenance programs, and innovation in design. Each credit has specific strategic goals and measurable criteria, and points are awarded based on how a system meets these goals and criteria. These points can then be tallied for a final score to help determine the level of sustainability of the overall roofing strategy. Currently, RoofPoint is being implemented in a pilot program sponsored by the member companies of the Center for Environmental Innovation in Roofing, and we plan on releasing a more robust public version by the end of 2011. RoofPoint is one step toward showcasing the roofing industry’s vital role in supporting energy security. Commercial rooftops cover over 50 billion square feet of developed space in North America, and if effectively utilized, this vast area of roof surface can deliver enormous benefits, through both energy efficiency and the production of clean energy. ▪ James L. Hoff is research director for the Center for Environmental Innovation in Roofing in Washington, D.C. To learn more about RoofPoint, visit roofpoint .wikispaces.com or roofingcenter.org. AN AIA MAGAZINE
Are you prepared to manage the complexities of a LEED Project? Earn your Construction Document Technology (CDT) certi⇒cate and get your construction documentation in order! Final Registration Deadline February 25, 2011
Are you prepared? “The CSI certified professional possesses the unique skills necessary to develop the technical documents that permit the seamless integration of LEED’s specific requirements into a project. Whether it is the requirements for a construction waste management plan or low VOC content for paints, coatings or adhesives, the CSI certified professional intuitively knows how and where these requirements fit into the contract documents. In addition, because the CSI certified professional prepares and works with the documentation process every day, they are well-suited to orchestrate the process necessary to submit for LEED Certification at the completion of the project’s construction.” Ross Spiegel, FCSI, CCS, CCCA, AIA, LEED AP Former President, CSI CSI Liaison to the U.S. Green Building Council
Site development, water efficiency, energy use, building materials, interior building systems, construction wastes and increased recycling—it’s all in the documentation when you are building to achieve LEEDTM certification. Whether your role is in specifications, contract administration, or product representation, LEED is a real issue. CSI’s Construction Document Technology (CDT) certificate helps you manage complex sustainability building issues – a plus in a highly competitive market.
Advance to the next level— earn your CDT In today’s increasingly competitive environment, you need to demonstrate your commitment to your profession and stand apart from your competition. Earning your CDT can help pull your resume to the top of the heap. With CDT after your name, you will belong to a select and highly respected group of construction professionals known for their comprehensive knowledge of the preparation and management of construction documents.
REGISTRATION INFO Registration is now open for the spring CDT and advanced certification exams (CCCA, CCS, CCPR) March 28 – April 9, 2011. The early registration deadline is January 28, 2011 and the final registration deadline is February 25, 2011. Learn more or register at www.csinet.org/certi⇒cation
The Construction Speci⇒cations Institute Circle no. 92 or http://ecostructure.hotims.com
Circle no. 83 or http://ecostructure.hotims.com
TECHNOLOGY
Blooming Boxes AT ONE TIME MORE HYPE THAN REALITY, FUEL CELL SYSTEMS ARE POWERING HUNDREDS OF BUILDINGS NATIONWIDE.
Text Anne Rawland Gabriel Illustration Jameson Simpson
On the eco-trade show circuit five years ago, Jennifer Gangi could provide a raft of technical information for fuel cells, but lacked referrals to give to interested architects and builders. Although the principle of fuel cell technology was discovered in the late 1830s, it wasn’t until the 1950s and 1960s that work began on it in earnest. Heading into the 2000s, there were small demonstration projects, but no commercialized products or systems. Not anymore. “Now I can point to a flurry of namebrand corporations that have completed fuel cell projects,” says Gangi, the program director for Fuel Cells 2000, an independent Washington, D.C.– based advocacy group. “And, there is a wider range of vendors with fuel cell products to offer.” In fact, fuel cells are helping to power hundreds of buildings, according to Gangi. One example is eBay’s June 2009 installation of five 100kW Bloom Boxes, developed by Bloom Energy in Sunnyvale, Calif. Located on concrete slabs at grade level just outside eBay’s new Building 17 in San Jose, Calif., the tidy row of SUV-sized fuel cells takes up 3,000 square feet. By contrast, the 3,248 rooftop solar panels atop five buildings, including the LEED Gold–certified Building 17, which was designed by Chicago-based Valerio Dewalt Train Associates (VDTA), cover a whopping 55,000 square feet. Since fuel cells run 24/7, the boxes —which, according to Bloom, typically generate power at 8 to 10 cents per kWh—will provide 15 percent of JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011 ECO-STRUCTURE
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www.decorcable.com CIRCLE NO. 10 or http://ecostructure.hotims.com
TECHNOLOGY the campus’ electricity per year, according to eBay. Bloom anticipates the boxes will pay for themselves in three to five years, and, according to VDTA, when combined with the solar panels, they will help to reduce the campus’ total power consumption by 33 percent. What’s in the Box While Bloom touts its new ceramics-enabled technology as superior, it’s only one of about six types of fuel cells currently available. Fuel cells are classified by the electrolyte used. So, while Bloom’s products are classified as solid-oxide fuel cells, other options used in buildings are phosphoric acid, proton exchange membrane, and molten carbonate fuel cells. Each type has advantages depending upon the type of fuel source used. Some rely on biogas, while others use natural gas. Regardless, all rely on chemistry rather than combustion. According to Fuel Cells 2000, every type of fuel cell consists of two electrodes and an electrolyte. The electrodes are located on each side of the electrolyte, and all three are then enclosed in a casing. Similar to the electrochemical process in everyday batteries, oxygen passes over one electrode and hydrogen over the other, generating electricity, water, and heat. “In principle, a fuel cell is similar to a battery,” Gangi explains. “But, a fuel cell doesn’t run down or require recharging. As long as hydrogen is supplied, it keeps running.” Most types of fuel cell systems run on hydrogen-based fuel, which can come from hydrocarbon-based fuel cells— such as natural gas, methanol, or gasoline —or even renewable methods such as landfill-created biogas . This is made possible by including either a fuel reformer or fuel processor as a system component, which extracts the hydrogen from the fuel of choice. Although individual fuel cells are small and generate only about 0.7V— about enough to power a 60W incandescent light bulb — a fuel cell system is a “stack” of individual cells. “Cells are stacked until the desired power output is reached, making fuel cell systems very flexible and scalable,” Gangi says. The heat produced by a fuel cell system also can be reclaimed. Systems that do this are called combined heat and power plants (CHP). These systems can even produce cold air when an absorption chiller is installed. The water used in the process turns into vapor. As noted by the Whole Building
Design Guide, a program of the National Institute of Building Sciences in Washington, D.C., fuel cell systems convert about 40 percent to 50 percent of the available fuel to electricity, and 85 percent or more for CHP systems. This compares with 20 percent to 40 percent for traditional fossil fuel –fired power plants. In addition, fuel cells emit 60 percent less carbon dioxide than combustion-fired piston engines at a significantly reduced noise level (about 60 decibels at 100 feet). Indeed, some leading hotels with fuel cell systems have located them next to tennis courts without disrupting players’ concentration. Architecturally Speaking From a design and installation perspective, the architects of eBay’s Building 17 report that the fuel cells were an unremarkable energy source — they primarily required running a gas and water line. “Otherwise, we just had to find a route for bringing the electrical infrastructure into the main utility room,” says Anthony Caliz, a VDTA associate and director of the firm’s California office. The real challenge for incorporating the 7-foot-tall boxes was timing. “The green energy push began when the project was 75 percent finished,” Caliz says. “Since the boxes are like having five cars parked in front of a building, forever, it would’ve been better to integrate them earlier, during the design phase.” In the end, the boxes were placed outside the building’s windowless data center to minimize sight line impact. “For the next project, Building 16, we’ll have a chance to plan ahead and be more strategic,” Caliz says. Yet another obstacle was that the fuel cell manufacturer was a start-up. “At the time, Bloom lacked an implementation team,” Caliz says. “So, the project became more orchestration than architectural design.” Today, the company has an implementation team in place, according to Bloom’s Asim Hussain, director of product marketing. And, it provides “turnkey installation and provisioning.” Regardless, eBay’s boxes have proven nearly maintenance-free, says Caliz. “The units have their own internal sensors, which Bloom monitors,” he explains. “Techs are in the field to fix even the smallest issues, well before anyone knows there is a problem.” ▪ Anne Rawland Gabriel writes about technology from Minneapolis-St Paul. AN AIA MAGAZINE
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Circle no. 81 or http://ecostructure.hotims.com
Barney Taxel, courtesy William McDonough + Partners
FLASHBACK
Life as a Tree Text David R. Macaulay
TEN YEARS LATER, THE ADAM JOSEPH LEWIS CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES AT OBERLIN COLLEGE CONTINUES TO EVOLVE. What if a building could act like a tree? That question intrigued William McDonough, FAIA, as he embarked on an assignment nearly 16 years ago to design a living structure “that produces oxygen, sequesters carbon, fixes nitrogen, is photosynthetic, accrues solar energy as fuel, makes complex sugars and food, changes colors with the seasons, creates microclimates, and self-replicates while purifying water,” he recalls. McDonough, founder of William McDonough + Partners, was inspired by Le Corbusier’s idea of a house as a “machine for living.” “We could then move to the next question, which would be: ‘What if a building could be a living thing?’ ” he says. “And if it was, what would it mean to design in support of nature, what principles would we need to operate under?” Together with David Orr, the Paul Sears distinguished professor of environmental studies
and politics at Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio, McDonough realized his vision in January 2001 with the opening of the Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies (AJLC). It was declared one of the 30 milestone buildings of the 20th century by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and was a 2002 AIA COTE Top Ten Green Project. Conceived as a demonstration project and educational venue, the AJLC’s design would also serve as a catalyst for the emerging field of sustainable design. Planning for the center began in 1995, after Orr came to Oberlin College as its environmental studies chair. His first priority: to establish a new facility for the program. The final result would take a change in the school’s administration and would require a multimillion dollar fundraising effort, yet Orr’s original design intent became clear: to construct a new building JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011 ECO-STRUCTURE
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that was “deeply instructive.” First, Orr assembled a design team comprising experts in education, architecture, renewable energy, and current technologies — including William McDonough + Partners in Charlottesville, Va., as design architect and Philadelphiabased Andropogon Associates as landscape architect. In large part, this supported Orr’s driving principle of ecological design, envisioning the new center as an integrated building-landscape system orchestrated to change and improve in performance over time. That process also became an educational venture, featuring 13 public design charrettes that served to solicit community, faculty, and student ideas for the building’s program and performance. “We realized people needed something really special to inspire them into a new design framework,” McDonough recalls. After 10 years in operation, the Lewis Center has served as a source of inspiration as a net-energy exporter, powered by sunlight, generating zero discharge. The 13,700-square-foot building highlights a range of energy-efficient features now considerably more common, such as passive
solar design, natural lighting, high-efficiency electrical lighting, natural ventilation, energy-recovery ventilation, an enhanced thermal envelope, integrated thermal mass, recycled materials throughout, and a groundsource heat pump system. A constructed wetland and 7,500-gallon rainwater cistern manage all stormwater on-site. An indoor, solar aquatic Living Machine processes all of the building’s wastewater. Occupants control heating and cooling in offices, while a combination of occupancy, CO2 , and lighting sensors ensure comfort in classrooms. Since its completion, the Lewis Center has grown in size and scope. To capture high-resolution data for research, ongoing commissioning, and education, Oberlin partnered with the DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory to install 150 environmental sensors throughout the building and landscape. This datamonitoring system provides real-time feedback on the performance of solar arrays, energy consumption by each of the major end-uses within the building, weather conditions, soil temperature and moisture, on-site rainwater storage, biological activity, and the flow of water within the on-site AN AIA MAGAZINE
Barney Taxel, courtesy William McDonough + Partners
The building’s Living Machine is a wastewater purification system that treats the building’s blackwater. Wastewater is fed into the machine, where microorganisms and plants break down impurities. The water is then pumped to a tank for reuse in toilet flushing and landscape irrigation.
3F>= @3D=:CB7=<7H32 3F>3@73<13 B63 >=E3@ =4 7<<=D/B7=< Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a design revolution out thereâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and nowhere is it more evident than at the AIA 2011 National Convention and Design Exposition. Re-invented, re-energized and charged throughout with frontline innovation, AIA Expo2011 is now a vivid and powerful showcase of new technology and leading-edge resources thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s changing the way we plan, design and envision the future. Take it all in. 53B / B/<570:3 433: 4=@ E6/BÂşA B= 1=;3 in The Avenue, AIA Expo2011â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s high-energy epicenter, featuring the Innovation Gallery as well as numerous networking and learning experiences. 3F>/<2 G=C@ AC>>:73@ 0/A3 Visit more than 800 exhibitors to explore new design ideas, compare products and get answers to your questions. 0C7:2 / ACAB/7</0:3 4CBC@3 Learn whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new from 100+ exhibitors displaying the latest green technology and products. 47<2 E6/B G=C E/<B 3/A7:G /<2 3447173<B:G See, do and learn more in less time; dedicated product pavilions streamline your expo experience. 7<1@3/A3 G=C@ 23A75< 9<=E:3253 Earn all your learning units (LUs) at one time in a stimulating environment, both on and off the expo ďŹ&#x201A;oor. /1B <=E Take advantage of early discounts: Register and book your hotel by 4/11/11. www.aia.org/convention Questions? 800-242-3837 or infocentral@aia.org
Circle no. 2 or http://ecostructure.hotims.com
YOU CAN SEE THE FUTURE FROM HERE Meet the professionals in sustainability and whole systems thinking For the 36th consecutive year, the people who are making the built environment Sustainable will be gathering for three days of workshops, networking and sharing
Passive House and Deep Energy Retrofit full day master class workshops Keynote address by David Orr, sustainability expert and the guy who is making college campuses green Sixty-four fully accredited, dynamic conference sessions Hands-on demo area showcasing the best techniques for high performance building 160 exhibitors with the newest technologies, products and services Join us. Register now at nesea.org/buildingenergy.
BUILDING ENERGY 11 CONFERENCE + TRADE SHOW FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY AND GREEN BUILDING PROFESSIONALS
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Circle no.45 or http://ecostructure.hotims.com
PERSPECTIVE When he was a teenager growing up in Ontario, Canada, Jason F. McLennan decided he wanted to become a green architect. With this in mind, he carefully crafted an environmentally conscious career path. Several decades later, he is CEO of the Cascadia Green Building Council and the International Living Building Institute; the author and founder of the Living Building Challenge; co-creator of the Pharos Project, a building-material rating system; and founder and CEO of Ecotone Publishing. He has written four books, including The Philosophy of Sustainable Design. ecostructure recently spoke with McLennan about his journey so far and the path ahead. Tell us a bit about your new book, Zugunruhe: The Inner Migration to Profound Environmental Change, and how that concept plays into sustainability. Zugunruhe is a German word that biologists use to describe a phenomenon that exists in many animals that migrate. It means migratory restlessness. Before geese migrate, they go through this process called zugunruhe where their behaviors change as they prepare themselves for this great journey. I’m using that as a metaphor to talk about how the green building movement is our own zugunruhe. We’re preparing for a great journey, a great change in the way we as a species live on this planet. The heart of the book is a series of lessons for someone experiencing his own zugunruhe and realizing that he wants to be part of the change. These people want to get into green building and the movement, but no one has taught them how to be a change agent or how to be effective. In that sense, the book is self-help meets green building. It’s about the inner change that you have to begin with before you can create outer change. What sparked your own interest in sustainability? I grew up in a northern Canadian mining community, which was one of the most ecologically devastated landscapes in the world. Sudbury, Ontario, was kind of a moonscape, especially when I was growing up. I remember wondering why other places looked very different and much healthier. Growing up I had a chance to participate in Sudbury’s greening campaign, which continues to this day and has won a United Nations commendation for environmental restoration. I got to plant a lot of trees and help heal the soil in my community. I saw trees I planted grow up in front of my eyes and the landscape change from this barren moonscape to a much greener place. I saw bodies of water rebounding and being restocked with fish. We didn’t use the word sustainability back then, but environmentalism was pretty strong in me from an early age.
The Green Migration Interview Katie Weeks Portrait Karen Moskowitz
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011 ECO-STRUCTURE
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PERSPECTIVE
As the CEO of the Cascadia Green Building Council and the International Living Building Institute, as well as the author of the Living Building Challenge, how would you define a sustainable building? It’s certainly not defined by a single issue. In my first book, The Philosophy of Sustainable Design, I talk about sustainable design as a design philosophy … where we’re seeking to minimize or eliminate negative environmental impact while maximizing benefits for humanity. It’s about creating a great
habitat for our species while also protecting and restoring habitat for all species. It is about people, too. The whole point of building a sustainable building is to create an artifact for our use. It has to be successful in that area as well — it has to be a beautiful design that works. But while trying to do a beautiful building that works, we’re also trying to minimize or eliminate negative environmental impact. In terms of the environmental impact of buildings, what do you consider to be the most pressing concern facing architects and allied professionals? Unfortunately, there’s not just one most pressing concern. Sometimes people focus on just a single issue that they’re passionate about, such as climate change, but the problems we face are so interconnected and so great that we can’t afford to have a singular response. We have to try to solve multiple problems with the same solution. We need to be concerned about climate change, but we also need to be concerned about the rise of toxic chemicals in the environment, water scarcity and quality, habitat and species loss, and air pollution. We also need to be concerned about things that weren’t traditionally in the environmental camp such as social justice and equity. In a sense, the pressing concern is that our professions have to be incredibly educated about a lot of different things and then try to understand how to navigate through these issues in terms of decisions such as: What materials should I choose, how should I design this building? What was the impetus behind crafting the Living Building Challenge? There were several reasons to launch the Challenge. One is that we need a greater sense of urgency in the movement. We need to accelerate the rate of positive change. Sometimes we have a tendency to rest on our laurels or get proud of how far the green building movement has come in the last few years. It has made big strides, but given the rate of environmental change on a global scale, our response has been inadequate. The Challenge conveys a sense of urgency on how far we need to push ourselves. We aren’t going to be successful with light green solutions. The next piece was that we felt our movement didn’t have a very clear sense of what the end game looks like, and without a clear sense of destination, you can’t properly chart a course. Once people have a sense of where they should head, it’s amazing how fast they will figure out how to get there, even if it’s a really challenging destination. Until we put out the Challenge, there weren’t buildings that were both net-zero-energy and net-zero-water. The standard gave them somewhere to go. How did you decide how far to push the targets in that first iteration? We tried to be as holistic as possible in terms of the areas of impact, and we also wanted it to be
CIRCLE NO. 36 or http://ecostructure.hotims.com
AN AIA MAGAZINE
achievable. I wrote it knowing that everything in the Challenge had been reached individually, but they had not been reached together. This past fall, the first Living Building certifications were issued. What’s next? Our ultimate end goal is to change the way we build. We need to rethink our cities and our buildings and everything in our communities so that we can stick around on this planet. More pragmatically, in the short term we want to see examples of this kind of performance in communities everywhere. We need living buildings in every building type in every community. What do you think most sets the Challenge apart from other green building systems such as LEED? One main difference, of course, is requiring a minimum of 12 months of operational data. That’s one of the biggest things: that we deal with actual measured performance. We think that’s really important. Interesting enough, we also deal with subjective issues that no other program deals with. For example, we’re the only program that also says beauty is important to performance, and we look at things like food and transportation in version 2.0 of the Challenge. Another difference is we have one unified standard that crosses building scales and applies to all projects. You can do a living building park, a living building remodel, a living building house, or a neighborhood-scale project, and they all follow the same standard. What you do to achieve the requirements changes dramatically and it’s up to the design team to figure out how to do that in each context. So the responses are infinite, but the system is simple. How do you judge those more subjective elements? It depends very much on each element. The beauty petal is the one people often are most interested in. The criteria in that petal are softer than when related to energy, which you can specifically measure. Our purpose in examining beauty is not to be beauty judges. What we’re trying to find is intention and whether the project teams are designing with the intention of creating a place of beauty. In our standard, the owner, the occupant, and the architect have to submit essays as to why the building was designed for human delight and why it will be a great building. If the occupants hate the building and the architect thinks it’s great, there’s a good chance they won’t get that petal. It isn’t based on what I think is beautiful. It’s more about perspective and intention. Is it going to be a building that people will take care of? When you don’t take care of something, it doesn’t operate efficiently and is more quickly torn down or not properly maintained. Beauty is important to performance. ▪
CIRCLE NO. 1 or http://ecostructure.hotims.com
The HYBRID System: Combines the best features of all green roof systems: • Speed of Installation of Modularity • Natural Function and Natural Beauty of Built-In-Place Systems • Prevegetation of Carpet Systems • Material Diversity of 2.5 - 6” Deep Systems
Soil to Soil Contact Means Shared: Moisture • Nutrients • Beneficial Organisms
For more information on the Living Building Challenge, visit ilbi.org.
LiveRoof.com (800) 875-1392 CIRCLE NO. 29 or http://ecostructure.hotims.com
BIM B
2011 EVERGREEN AWARDS
CALL FOR ENTRIES
ECO-STRUCTURE’S ANNUAL EVERGREEN AWARDS RECOGNIZE OUTSTANDING BUILDING PERFORMANCE AND DESIGN. ALL WINNING ENTRIES WILL BE FEATURED IN THE SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER ISSUE OF ECO-STRUCTURE AND ONLINE @ ECO-STRUCTURE.COM FOR CATEGORIES, DEADLINES, AND ENTRY INFORMATION
eco-structure.com/evergreen
Products Text Laurie Grant
Hansgrohe’s Croma showerhead and hand-shower collection incorporates EcoAir injection technology to provide a low-flow rate of 2 gallons per minute and a cleaning system that resists limescale and debris. Several models are available, including the Croma E 100 Green Vario-Jet showerhead and hand-shower and the Croma E 75 Green 3-Jet showerhead and hand-shower. Both are offered in chrome and brushed nickel. hansgrohe-usa.com; 800.334.0455. Circle 100 ecostructure.hotims.com
EcoPath is a 100-percent recyclable entryway matting solution with biobased content. EcoMax and EcoRib are suitable for indoor and outdoor applications, while EcoClassic is strictly an indoor product. The mats are backed with EnviroCel, a recycled high-performance backing that contains 60 to 70 percent recycled content. BioGrip, the secondary backing, is 100-percent post-consumer recycled fleece with 70 percent nonskid natural rubber. The line also contains biobased components from soybeans. ecopathmats.com; 888.845.9276. Circle 101 ecostructure.hotims.com JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011 ECO-STRUCTURE
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PRODUCTS
Novabrik’s mortarless brick technology features high-strength concrete bricks that overlap and interlock to create a strong, water-resistant brick veneer. A rainscreen, it prevents water from penetrating the wall from the outside, and the mortarless construction promotes airflow in the 3/4-inch wall cavity to remove any moisture coming from the inside and helps to prevent mold decay. It is available in a split or smooth surface and in nine colors, and measures 4 inches by 8 inches in size. novabrik.com; 866.678.2745. Circle 102 ecostructure.hotims.com
Masonry Ecolink Products Group’s Eco Metallic is a twocomponent epoxy designed to simulate a mottled metallic appearance. It bonds well to many substrates, including concrete, masonry, metal, and wood. Eco Metallic can be topcoated with the company’s Eco Pro polyaspartic sealer to provide a 100-percent UV-stable coating. ecolinkgroup.com; 855.326.5465. Circle 103 ecostructure.hotims.com
38 ECO-STRUCTURE.COM
Roofing Firestone Building Products’ SkyScape is a vegetative roof system featuring double interlocking trays. Available in a modular tray or multilayered system, SkyScape provides an insulating layer that makes building heating and cooling more efficient, protects roofing materials from UV and heat stress degradation, and extends the service life of the underlying roof system. Trays are 2 feet by 2 feet and 4 5/8 inches deep. When fully saturated they weigh 23 pounds per square foot. www.firestonebpco.com; 800.428.4442. Circle 104 ecostructure.hotims.com
Georgia-Pacific’s DensDeck Roof Boards can be used in myriad roofing systems for new and re-roof applications as cover boards, overlayments, and underlayments. Their fiberglass mats enable the boards to withstand delamination, deterioration, warping, and job-site damage. Other qualities include fire-resistance, strength, moisture-resistance, and dimensional stability. Roof boards are 4 feet by 8 feet and have thicknesses of 1/4, 1/2, or 5/8 inch. gp.com; 800-225-6119. Circle 105 ecostructure.hotims.com
Designed with high-performance urethane polymers, the Leaf Defier family of gutter protection from FXI Building Products Corp. improves stormwater management, enhances building durability, and helps prevent pest infestations by allowing water and fine particulates to flow freely through gutter systems. The systems, which are inserted into gutters, are fire-resistant to 482 F and incorporate an environmentally safe biocide and fungicide to resist the growth of organic compounds. leafdefier.com; 866.795.4770. Circle 106 ecostructure.hotims.com JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011 ECO-STRUCTURE
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RE IN OREGON’S WILLAMETTE VALLEY, THE ALLISON INN & SPA AIMS TO CULTIVATE THE WELL-BEING OF ITS GUESTS AND ITS LAND.
NEW, STORE, CYCLE
Text KJ Fields Photos Derek Reeves, GGLO (except where noted)
Just outside Portland, Ore., the highway spills between rounded hillsides of vineyards and farms that until recently were rife with visitors and low on lodging. Roots run deep here — not only in terms of grapes, orchards, and generations of other agriculture, but also in pride for stewardship of the land. When Joan Austin, owner of the Allison Inn & Spa, decided to build an 85-room hotel, spa, event facility, and restaurant in the small suburb of Newberg, she brought environmental and contextual sensitivity to the table. Delivering a consummate guest experience remained a vital priority, however, and the resulting combination allows visitors to relax in luxury while treading lightly on the earth. The Allison is inexorably connected to its surroundings, its name derived from Lake Allison, which was created by glacial floods from Lake Missoula nearly 12,000 years ago. Jory, the inn’s restaurant, shares its name with the region’s mineral-rich soil that imparts character to the Willamette Valley’s acclaimed wines. To integrate the large property unobtrusively into the landscape, Austin originally conceived the inn as a series of cabinlike structures, but efficient operations demanded a single building. In response, the design team from Seattle-based GGLO nestled the four-story structure into the hillside so that it appears as a single story from the entrance, and the drive up the hill was carefully constructed to offer only glimpses of the building to soften its visual presence. JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011 ECO-STRUCTURE
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Photo 1: Barbara Kraft Photography Photo 4: Courtesy Springbrook Properties
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Agriculture was an important consideration on the 32-acre site as well, notes James Bradley, AIA, a principal at GGLO. “We looked for opportunities to bring agriculture onto the site and worked on not controlling the land and nature,” he says. A half-acre chef ’s garden serves the restaurant, and five acres of vineyards will produce 12,000 bottles of wine per year when fully mature in a year and a half, roughly three years after they were planted. The landscaping includes nine acres of native meadow grasses and wildflowers such as perennial ryegrass, sweet alyssum, and baby blue eyes. “These grasses can be cut in specific places for a manicured look, and the changing wildflowers lend a dynamic seasonal experience for returning visitors,” Bradley explains. While there are a few telltale signs that something sustainable is happening at the Allison — such as a 268-panel photovoltaic (PV) array that produces about 55kW above the east guest room wing and central living room — most of the green features imperceptibly enhance the visitor’s experience. Completed in 2009, the 150,000-square-foot project achieved LEED-NC Gold certification using a host of features. Few guests suspect that 28 percent of the building materials contain recycled content. More than half of the wood-based materials in the flooring, wood paneling, and built-in casework hail from Forest Stewardship Council–certified forests; rapidly renewable aspen fiber flooring lines the spa. Regionally sourced mossy rock from Montana lends a distinguished ambiance to the lobby, spa, and building exterior. “As evidenced by the small number of LEED certifications, hospitality is a late adopter of green practices,” says Alicia Daniels Uhlig, GGLO’s director of sustainability. “However, the Allison celebrates its sense of place and shows that sustainability is synonymous with quality and comfort.” Large, thermally broken, double-pane, low-E windows with views to the Willamette Valley keep guests mindful that they are in a lush locale and reduce heating load. A shallow pool that separates the hotel and spa entrances appears as if it trickles through the terraced landscape and reappears as a water feature inside the spa. A 10,000-square-foot vegetated roof plus open-cell paving installed on a fire-access road that circles the building as well as on the entry driveway mitigate stormwater runoff. The team installed an irrigation system that will link up with a reclaimed water supply that the City of Newberg is in the process of creating, which will eliminate the need to use potable water in the Allison’s landscape irrigation. Low-flow fixtures in public areas and guest rooms combine with the restaurant’s highefficiency kitchen equipment to help the project reach a 37 percent water-savings target compared to a conventionally designed building. GGLO’s team emphasized energy reduction. Guest rooms, laundry, the restaurant’s kitchen, and the spa require ample hot water. Nearly 4,000 square feet of solar hot-water collectors on the roof help offset this demand. Combined with the PV array, the solar features reduce the facility’s projected energy load by an estimated 19 percent. The team also increased energy efficiency with variable refrigerant volume heating and cooling. Lighting in the offices and other back-of-house areas are linked to occupancy sensors, and hallway lights drop to 50 percent illumination between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. Projections indicate that the combined measures will realize a 48 percent reduction in utility cost savings compared to a conventionally designed building. The soft and hard costs of integrating features to reach a LEED Gold rating was 1.4 percent of the project budget, but after Oregon energy incentives were implemented, that dropped to a mere 0.3 percent. If the anticipated energy savings are realized, the cost will drop to 0.15 percent in a short payback period. The Allison’s owners tended to operations with the same care as its construction. “Waste is a huge issue in hospitality, and the owners were very committed to reducing waste from the very beginning,” says Pierre Zreik, managing director for the inn. The Allison eliminates the prolific use of plastics by giving guests small reusable glass drinking bottles and filtered water in every guest room and suite. The bottles are sanitized, refilled, and sealed after the guests check out. Large refillable bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and body lotion adorn showers. Each floor has three recycling bins to separate paper, plastic, and glass. And the restaurant also makes its own sparkling filtered water so patrons can indulge in effervescence without container waste. If they choose to do so, guests that stay more than one night can place a card on the bed directing staff to not wash the sheets daily. Zreik says almost half take advantage of this option. “Guests respect the differences here,” he notes. “In fact, about 45 percent of our hotel business is companies coming for meetings and retreats, and many won’t even consider staying unless the hotel has a green initiative.” To further reduce waste, the inn and restaurant sort leftover food and two farmers arrive daily to collect waste bread, vegetables, and trimmings for livestock feed. In public restrooms, individual fabric towels for hand drying add a touch of luxury and eliminate paper waste. “The Allison helps us educate and inform others that hospitality can be truly sustainable,” Bradley says. “Once I saw how successful it was, I wish we’d pushed the boundaries even further. I’m very encouraged by how sustainable design will become the new norm for hospitality projects.” ▪ KJ Fields writes about sustainability and architecture from Portland, Ore. To see a slide show of the Allison Spa & Inn, visit eco-structure.com.
LEED FOR NEW CONSTRUCTION POINTS Sustainable sites: 9 of a total of 14 possible Water efficiency: 3 of 5 Energy and atmosphere: 15 of 17 Materials and resources: 7 of 13
49 Indoor environmental quality: 10 of 15 Innovation and design: 5 of 5
TOTAL LEED POINTS
*GOLD CERTIFICATION UNDER LEED-NC VERSION 2.2
Regionally sourced and recycled materials make up a good chunk of the Allison Inn & Spa’s material palette. Mossy rock from Montana is used on both the four-story exterior (previous spread) and the interior, where it’s combined with rapidly renewable aspen fiber flooring (1). A water feature trickles between the entryway and the 15,000-square-foot spa, which includes 12 treatment rooms, various lounges, saunas, and a pool. On the exterior, a 268-panel PV array (2) produces about 55kW to help reduce energy pulled from the grid, while a 10,000-square-foot green roof (3) helps manage stormwater. Inside, the 85 guest rooms (4), which include 20 suites, maintain a relaxed, refined vibe. JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011 ECO-STRUCTURE
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*
GREEN AND GORGEOUS
AN ICONIC PHILADELPHIA HIGH-RISE FINDS NEW LIFE AS A SUSTAINABLE LUXURY HOTEL.
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Photo 3: David Phelps
Text Jim Schneider Photos Peter Kubilus (except where noted)
The hospitality industry often has struggled with the question of whether sustainability and luxury can coexist. How can hotels do right by the Earth and provide guests with a high-end, comfortable experience? It is a challenge that San Francisco–based Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group took on with its new Hotel Palomar in Philadelphia. Long a proponent of practicing sustainability through adaptive reuse and renovation, the hotel chain chose the iconic Architects Building in Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Square neighborhood for the Palomar. Built in 1929 and designed by a group of prominent local architects, the 26-story Art Deco high-rise had long since fallen into disrepair. The Palomar project was the perfect opportunity to save an important piece of building stock. The architects at Gensler’s Morristown, N.J., office pushed for LEED certification from the beginning. “The client was progressive and interested in pursuing LEED, but there was a degree of skepticism,” recalls Matt Wolfe, job captain in Gensler’s hospitality studio and LEED manager for the project. “They were curious about the ROI and unsure of the costs, but they knew there was importance and value in it.” “The building needed to be sustainable, but it couldn’t look or feel as though we compromised luxury,” says Jack Paruta, AIA, senior associate with Gensler and project architect for the hotel. “It needed to be a four-star boutique hotel experience and we had to be creative about how we integrated our green practices.” The team originally targeted LEED Silver certification, but the 156,000-square-foot, 230-guest-room project was able to earn LEED Gold under LEED-CI. The interior designer, Los Angeles–based Powerstrip Studio, was charged with using regionally manufactured materials, as well as low-VOC paints, sealants, adhesives, and wall coverings. The project earned the 20 percent recycled content credit in LEED, and more than 90 percent of the construction debris (1,330 tons) was recycled. The façade underwent a partial exterior renovation, with the original single-layer glass windows being replaced with high-performing insulated windows with a low-E coating. The new windows had to match the existing windows in sight lines, composition, and color, as was required by the State Historic Preservation Office and the National Park Service in order to qualify for historic tax credits. On the mechanical side, a water source heat pump helped the hotel HVAC system exceed ASHRAE 90.1 2004 by 40 percent. Ninety percent of all equipment and appliances, including the TVs, alarm clocks, and kitchen equipment, are Energy Star rated. “Achieving a 20-percent reduction in water was one of the biggest challenges,” Wolfe admits. (A savings of 20 percent equates to 290,000 gallons of water saved per year.) “In a hospitality setting, a shower head is the largest consuming water fixture,” Wolfe continues. “The client’s charge was to be sustainable without compromising the guest experience. The two things guests remember about a hotel stay are the shower and the bed.” Several different shower heads were mocked up and tested until one was found that met guest expectations while achieving a 2-gallons-per-minute flow requirement that the design team had set as a project goal. The project targeted a minimum 15 percent reduction in lighting power density over a similar building constructed to code. “Kimpton looks for these hotels to be moody and design-oriented, bringing a certain feeling to the interiors,” Wolfe says. “We explored a variety of compact fluorescents, but they didn’t work because the owner wanted dimmable fixtures. We wound up using a type of halogen bulb. It performs slightly under a CFL, but is higher performing than an incandescent.” With the right fixtures and artful lighting design, the hotel was able to achieve an 18 percent reduction in lighting power density. The narrow floor plates of the Architects Building presented some challenges, but also allow daylight to reach approximately 90 percent of the interior spaces. A third-party agent was brought on board to provide enhanced commissioning. “They did installation and functional checks on the facility and assisted in training and writing the systems manuals for the facility,” Wolfe explains. “The operations team was very excited because often their buildings aren’t running at optimal performance.” The overall performance of the building is being tracked, but the data hasn’t yet been thoroughly processed. “We are working on that right now,” Wolfe says. “We are looking at an Energy Star rating and whether LEED for Existing Buildings would be a viable next step.” One very quantifiable measure of success for any hotel is the occupancy rate. In this regard, the Hotel Palomar Philadelphia has been doing quite well. “Over the past year they’ve continued to exceed the typical occupancy rate,” Paruta says. “We’ve received a lot of positive feedback. It’s rewarding to take a lifeless building and bring it back to productive and vibrant use. It was an important project, not only for our client and Gensler, but for the city of Philadelphia.” “One of the things drawn from this project is that green can be gorgeous,” Wolfe says. “We were able to achieve a luxurious, bold, artsy environment. It was great to see the client go from being mildly skeptical to really becoming advocates.” ▪ Jim Schneider is a contributing editor to eco-structure and the editor of Metffilmffig. For a slide show of the Hotel Palomar, visit eco-structure.com.
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Typical Floor Plan
The small floorplates of the historic building presented a programmatic challenge that resulted in 12 guest rooms per typical floor (3). The façade (previous spread) received a partial renovation to repair original brick and terra-cotta, while the lobby (2) was outfitted with Art Deco materials to give a chic and luxurious sense of history. The entry stairway (1) connects the lobby with a secondfloor restaurant. JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011 ECO-STRUCTURE
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GOOD EATS A SAN FRANCISCO RESTAURANT WHOSE MOTTO IS “ORGANIC, FRESH, LOCAL” FINDS THE SAME WINNING COMBINATION IN ITS DESIGN.
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Text Lydia Lee Photos Kris Tamburello (except where noted)
If there was a LEED-system equivalent for certifying restaurant menus, The Plant Café Organic in San Francisco would get a Platinum rating. Unlike other establishments, which might proudly trumpet “organic arugula” or “grass-fed beef,” The Plant’s contemporary California-Asian cuisine comes with asterisks — very few asterisks — that mark the nonorganic ingredients. (Pressed for an example, co-owner Mark Lewis says, “Tamarinds. We searched and searched, but there are no organic tamarinds being grown anywhere in the world.”) Aside from a few outliers such as the aforementioned tamarinds, ingredients are also locally sourced, which means no tomatoes for sandwiches in the winter. Lewis and partner Matthew Guelke, two former tech guys, joined up in 2005 to launch a new wave of responsible eating. “We like to say we run a private nonprofit food organization,” Lewis says jokingly. With environmental consciousness on the brain, Guelke and Lewis turned to San Francisco’s CCS Architecture to create an equally sustainable restaurant design. The firm’s principal, Cass Calder Smith, AIA, had designed one of the first LEED-certified restaurants in the U.S., the Wild Goose on Lake Tahoe, Calif., about 10 years ago. The collaboration with Guelke and Lewis has now resulted in three Plants, all representing Smith’s aesthetic, which relies on the honesty of unvarnished industrial and natural materials for longstanding appeal. The Pier 3 location is the second of The Plant’s three branches, and its splashiest: It’s right on the waterfront, close to the city’s landmark Ferry Building. Like its neighbor, The Plant at Pier 3 is also an adaptive reuse project, a vivid new life for a historic turn-of-the-century warehouse. “I think that reusing buildings — and not adding more than you need to — is a very big part of sustainable architecture,” Smith says. “You look at the footprint of what it takes to build things, and it’s pretty significant. And if you start with a pretty sparse program, you can use a lot of restraint in the design. The SoHo lofts [in New York City] are probably the most sustainable concepts around, where you recycle a building and keep the spaces pretty much as is. This is sort of the restaurant version of that.” In this case, the warehouse was divided by an open breezeway that once allowed railroad cars to load goods right onto boats docked at the pier. With the help of a creative kitchen designer, Robert Yick, Smith took advantage of the bifurcated space to separate the kitchen from the dining room. The result is a relaxed, JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011 ECO-STRUCTURE
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Previous page: Kelly Barrie
In the main dining room (previous spread, 1), large windows allow in daylight and connect to the outdoors. Focusing on reusing materials, the restaurant tables are made out of reclaimed hickory, accompanied by rustic schoolhouse chairs painted gray. A wall of air plants and recycled-content concrete tile acts as art while hinting at the restaurant’s commitment to going green. A wood-fired oven (2) helps serve up organic, locally sourced food. Adding to the materials palette of renewable and recycled materials is green flooring made from coconut shells (3), low walls made from locally sourced hickory, and cold-rolled steel. Like many buildings along San Francisco’s Embarcadero, The Plant offers indoor and outdoor dining options (4) to connect to the Bay. The wood-slat ceiling (5) enhances the room’s acoustics while also relating to the design of the first location for the brand, also designed by CCS Architecture.
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elegant 1,400-square-foot dining area across the way from a bustling kitchen and a casual counter-service café with mezzanine seating. Inside the lofty, 18-foot-tall dining room, Smith used a palette of natural and recycled materials. He left the raw warehouse space’s original wood timbers and steel girders untouched for their vintage character. The long bar, with a tile backsplash, zinc countertop, and concrete tile toe-kick, is designed for durability, while an open pizza oven (gas-burning to minimize pollutants), creates a warm ambiance. Smith added a soffit of wood slats overhead to help with the acoustics, and raised the main floor, made out of rugged ipe, 8 inches so that diners could have a view of the water through the original windows, which had to remain untouched due to the structure’s historic status. Restaurant tables are made out of reclaimed hickory, accompanied by rustic schoolhouse chairs painted gray. Off the back of the space, Smith also added patio seating, designing a steel-framed extension covered with an outdoor awning. A living wall on the café’s north side is planted with wispy tillandsias, which require only an occasional misting. Guelke and Lewis wanted to produce as much energy as possible, so they installed a 300-square-foot, 6kW solar array, the largest that could fit on the available roof space. It supplies about 20 percent of the restaurant’s electricity. The restaurant is also the first in the U.S. to use electrolyzed water for cleaning. A water electrolyzer increases the acidity of regular tap water so it has the germ-killing potency of bleach. The acidic water has been approved by the city’s health department in lieu of soap for all the kitchen’s hand-sanitizing stations; the dishwasher is awaiting a retrofit. “Since we opened the first Plant, we’ve been constantly researching what we can do to be greener, from recycling cut wine bottles as drinking glasses and old books as check presenters, to bringing in the latest technologies we come across,” Guelke says. “The restaurants as a whole are as green as we can make them.” “The Plant would have qualified for LEED, and we started off by going through the checklist,” says Smith. “It’s a synthesis of many things: simplicity, restraint, practicality. If you do these things with the right amount of knowledge, you end up being pretty sustainable.” In the end, the complexity and fees associated with the LEED process deterred the team from officially seeking certification. Now, Guelke and Lewis are working to bring The Plant to more people. Their first franchise will be an outpost in a most unlikely realm: San Francisco International Airport’s newly refurbished Terminal 2. To that fast-food arena, they’ll bring their sustainable fare, accompanied by sustainable design guidelines. Look for The Plant’s signature veggie burger to take off with travelers at the beginning of 2011. ▪
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Lydia Lee writes about architecture and design from Menlo Park, Calif. JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011 ECO-STRUCTURE
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SPECS
Group, shawhospitalitygroup.com; Vicki Simon Rugs,
Appliances: Bar Glass Washer World, barglasswasherworld
vickisimon.com
.com; Hobart, hobartcorp.com; Sub-Zero, subzero.com
Cladding: Guinett Masonry, guinettmasonry.com;
Building management systems and services:
Prodema, prodema.com
Johnson Controls, johnsoncontrols.com
Curtainwalls: Kawneer, kawneer.com
Carpet: Shaw Contract Group
Flooring: Daltile, daltile.com; Oregon Lumber Co.,
Ceilings: Armstrong
oregonlumber.com
Fabrics: Concertex, concertex.com; Maharam, maharam.com;
Glass: Hartung Glass Industries, hartung-glass.com
Valley Forge Fabrics, valleyforge.com
Green roof: American Hydrotech, hydrotechusa.com
Furniture: Cheng Meng, chengmeng.com; Royal Custom
HVAC: Innovent Air Handling Equipment, innoventair.com;
Designs, royalcustomdesigns.com; Vanguard Concept
Trane, trane.com; VRF Solutions, mitsubishipro.com
Offices, vcoffices.com
Insulation: CertainTeed, certainteed.com
HVAC: ClimateMaster, climatemaster.com
Interior walls: Dietrich Metal Framing,
Lighting: Énergie, energielighting.com; MP Lighting,
dietrichmetalframing.com; Georgia-Pacific, gp.com
mplighting.com; Philips Lightolier
Lighting control systems: Philips Lightolier, lightolier.com
Millwork: Sloan & Co., sloanandcompany.com
Lighting: Aqua Creations, aquagallery.com; Casella,
Paints and finishes: Sherwin-Williams
claruslighting.com; Chapman Manufacturing Co.,
Plumbing and water systems: Toto USA, totousa.com
chapmanco.com; Charles Loomis, charlesloomis.com; Gulassa
Roofing: Carlisle SynTec, carlisle-syntec.com
& Co., gulassaco.com; Hubbardton Forge, hubbardtonforge
Signage: DM Design; ES&A Sign & Awning Co.,
.com; Holly Hunt, hollyhunt.com; Ingo Maurer, ingo-maurer
esasigns.com
Architect, interior designer, landscape architect:
.com; Louis Poulsen, louispoulsen.com; Philips Forecast,
Wallcoverings: RJF International Corp., koroseal.com
GGLO, gglo.com
forecastltg.com; Vibia Lighting, www.vibialight.com
Windows and doors: Dorma, dorma-usa.com;
Owner, developer: Springbrook Properties,
Masonry, concrete, stone, and bluestone pavers:
EFCO Corp., ecfocorp.com
springbrookproperties.com
Guinett Masonry
Accessibility: Endelman & Associates, endelman.com
Micro weather station system: Rain Bird, rainbird.com
Acoustics and audio visuals: Listen Acoustics,
Paints and finishes: Sherwin-Williams, sherwin-williams.com
listenacoustics.com
Photovoltaics: Kyocera, americas.kyocera.com
Arborist: Walter H. Knapp Silviculture & Urban Forestry
Plumbing and water systems: Kohler, kohler.com;
GREEN TEAM
Civil engineer: Cardno WRG, wrgd.com
Moen, moen.com; Sloan Valve Co., sloanvalve.com
Architect: CCS Architecture, ccs-architecture.com
Construction manager: Compass Builders,
Roofing: EcoStar, ecostar.carlisle.com; Siplast, siplast.com
Client, owner: Mark Lewis, Matthew Guelke
compassbuilders.com
Site and landscape products: Invisible Structures,
MEP engineer, electrical engineer: ACIES Engineering,
Contractor: Lease Crutcher Lewis, lewisbuilds.com
invisiblestructures.com
acies.net
Elevator: Lerch Bates, lerchbates.com
Solar hot water: Heliodyne, heliodyne.com
Structural engineer: John Yadegar & Associates, jyasf.com
Envelope: RDH Group, rdhbe.com
Wallcoverings: Innovations USA, innovationsusa.com;
General contractor: Fine Line Group, finelinegroup.com
Food concept: John Hurst Design
Romo, romo.com; Metro Wallcoverings,
Lighting designer: Luminesce Design, luminescedesign.com
Fountain designer: Fountain Technology & Design
metrowallcoverings.com
Geotechnical: GeoDesign, geodesigninc.com
Windows and doors: Arcadia Architectural Products,
MATERIALS AND SOURCES
Hardware: Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies Northwest,
arcadiaproducts.com; Lynden Door, lyndendoor.com
Acoustical systems: Custom by CCS Architecture
MORE AT ECO-STRUCTURE.COM
THE ALLISON INN & SPA GREEN TEAM
w3.securitytechnologies.com Hospitality consultant: Waterford Hotels and Inns, waterfordhi.com Kitchen and laundry: Marshall Associates,
THE PLANT CAFÉ ORGANIC
Carpet: C.J. Welch North, cjwelchnorth.com
THE PALOMAR HOTEL
Ceilings, millwork: Arnold & Egan Manufacturing Co. Cladding: Arnold & Egan Manufacturing Co.; Eclipse Design, eclipsedesigngp.com
marshassoc.com
GREEN TEAM
LEED enhanced commissioning: BEA Consulting
Architect: Gensler, gensler.com
Flooring: Eureka Valley Floor Co.
Mechanical, electrical, plumbing, lighting, technology, and
Owner, operator: Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants,
Furniture: CCS Architecture; Danao Outdoor, danaooutdoor
energy modeling: Glumac, glumac.com
kimptonhotels.com
.com; Design Workshop, designworkshop.us; Holsag,
Pool: Water Technology, watertechnologyinc.com
Civil engineer: Langan Engineering & Environmental
holsag.com; Pacassa Studios; West Coast Industries,
Spa: Health Fitness Dynamics, hfdspa.com
Services, langan.com
westcoastindustries.com
Specification writer: Technical Resources Consultants
Commissioning agent: Dome-Tech, dome-tech.com
Lighting control systems: Lutron Electronics Co.,
Structural engineer: Kramer Gehlen & Associates, kga.cc
Exterior restoration: Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates,
lutron.com
wje.com
Lighting: Resolute, resoluteonline.com; Tom Dixon,
Food service: Federighi Design, federighidesign.com
tomdixon.net
Acoustical system, ceilings: Baswa Acoustic, baswa.com;
Historic tax credits: Heritage Consulting
Masonry, concrete, and stone: Pacassa Studios
Armstrong, armstrong.com; Newmat, newmat.com
Interior designer: Powerstrip Studio, powerstripstudio.com
Metal: Eclipse Design
Adhesives, coatings, and sealants: Custom Building
Land use attorney: Blank Rome, blankrome.com
Paints and finishes: Dunn-Edwards Corp.,
Products, custombuildingproducts.com; Dow Corning,
Lighting designer: Ohm Lighting, ohmlight.com
dunnedwards.com
dowcorning.com; Franklin Adhesives & Polymers,
MEP engineer: X-nth, x-nth.com
Signage: Ewingcraft
franklinadhesivesandpolymers.com; Hilti, hilti.com;
Purchasing agent: PWS Purchasing, pwspurchasing.com
Site and landscape products: Flora Grubb Gardens,
Laticrete, laticrete.com
Structural engineer: O’Donnell & Naccarato, o-n.com
floragrubb.com
Building management systems and services: Siemens
Vertical transportation: Syska Hennessy Group, syska.com
Structural systems: John Yadegar & Associates
MATERIALS AND SOURCES
USA, usa.siemens.com Carpet and rugs: Atiyeh International, atiyeh.com; Shaw
MATERIALS AND SOURCES
Contract Group, shawcontractgroup.com; Shaw Hospitality
Acoustical system: GE, ge.com; Siemens, siemens.com
52 ECO-STRUCTURE.COM
Fabrics: Designtex, designtex.com
Wallcoverings: Heath Ceramics, heathceramics.com; Sonoma Cast Stone, sonomastone.com Windows and doors: Horton Automatics, hortondoors.com
CON G RAT UL AT IO N S
to Hanley Wood’s Jesse H. Neal Award Winners BUILDER
Winner, Best Educational Content, 2010 Finalist, Best Single-Theme Issue, 2009 Finalist, Best Online Article, 2009 Finalist, Best Subject-Related Series of Articles, 2008 Finalist, Best How-To Article, 2008 Finalist, Best News Coverage, 2008 Finalist, Best Single-Theme Issue, 2008 Finalist, Best Subject-Related Series of Articles, 2007 Finalist, Best How-To Article, 2007 Winner, Best Single Issue, 2006 Finalist, Best Web Site, 2004 Finalist, Best Subject-Related Series of Articles, 2004 Finalist, Best Single Issue, 2004 Finalist, Best Staff-Written Editorials, 2004 Finalist, Best How-To Article, 2004 Finalist, Best Subject-Related Series of Articles, 2001 Finalist, Best Single Issue, 2001 Finalist, Best Single Issue, 2001 Finalist, Best Staff-Written Editorials, 2000 Finalist, Best Single Issue, 2000 Winner, Best Web Site, 1999
REMODELING
Finalist, Best Profile, 2010 Finalist, Best Department or Column, 2004 Winner, Best Department or Column, 2000 Winner, Best Department or Column, 1999 Finalist, Best Feature Article, 1999
CUSTOM HOME
Winner, Best Department or Column, 2007 Finalist, Best Department or Column, 2006 Winner, Best Department or Column, 2001
AQUATICS INTERNATIONAL Winner, Best Single Article, 2009 Winner, Best Single Article, 2007 Finalist, Best News Coverage, 2003
POOL & SPA NEWS
Finalist, Best Technical Content, 2010 Winner, Best Single Article, 2006
ARCHITECT
Finalist, Best Single Article, 2010 Finalist, Best Commentary, 2010 Finalist, Best Single Issue, 2010 Finalist, Best Single Issue, 2009
ECOHOME
Finalist, Best Profile, 2010 Finalist, Best Web Site, 2010 Finalist, Best e-Newsletter, 2010 Winner, Best Start-Up Publication, 2009
PUBLIC WORKS
Finalist, Best Single Article, 2009
residential architect Finalist, Best Single-Theme Issue, 2008 Finalist, Best Single-Theme Issue, 2007 Finalist, Best Single-Theme Issue, 2006 Finalist, Best Staff-Written Editorials, 2005 Finalist, Best Single-Theme Issue, 2004 Winner, Best Staff-Written Editorials, 2003
Hanley Wood is committed
MULTIFAMILY EXECUTIVE
that serves the information
Winner, Best Subject-Related Series of Articles, 2009 Finalist, Best How-To Article, 2009 Finalist, Best Online Article, 2009 Finalist, Best Feature Series, 2006 Finalist, Best Single-Theme Issue, 2005 Finalist, Best News Coverage, 2005
TOOLS OF THE TRADE
Finalist, Best How-To Article, 2005 Winner, Best Department or Column, 2002 Finalist, Best Staff-Written Editorials, 2001
BIG BUILDER
Winner, Best Department, 2009 Finalist, Best Single Article, 2009 Finalist, Best Single Issue, 2009 Finalist, Best Single Issue, 2007 Finalist, Best Single Issue, 2005 Finalist, Best Single-Theme Issue, 2005
AFFORDABLE HOUSING FINANCE
Winner, Best Subject-Related Series of Articles, 2008 Winner, Best Single Issue, 2008 Finalist, Best Single-Theme Issue, 2007
REPLACEMENT CONTRACTOR Finalist, Best Single Issue, 2007
to publishing quality content
needs of the construction industry professionals. Our editors have once again been honored by the most prestigious editorial awards program. Join us in congratulating them.
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FIRESTONE Page 16a-b www.firestonebpco.com/roofing/ greenroofing
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KALWALL Page 2 Circle No. 75 www.kalwall.com (800) 258-9777
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LUTRON ELECTONICS
PINE HALL BRICK
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WESTERN RED CEDAR Page 14 Circle No. 64 www.wrcla.org (866) 778-9096
Page 7 Circle No. 76 www.lutron.com (888) LUTRON1
MBCI Page 18 Circle No. 33 www.mbci.com/EcoRetrofit
METL-SPAN Page 30 Circle No. 36 www.metlspan.com (877) 585-9969
MULE-HIDE Page 34 Circle No. 4 www.mulehide.com (800) 786-1492
NESEA BUILDING ENERGY Page 32 Circle No. 45 www.nesea.org/buildingenergy
NORA RUBBER FLOORING Page 9 Circle No. 43 www.nora.com/us/green35 (800) 332-NORA
PETERSEN ALUMINUM INC. Page 4 Circle No. 79 www.PAC-CLAD.com (800) PAC-CLAD
ECO-STRUCTURE’S ANNUAL EVERGREEN AWARDS RECOGNIZE OUTSTANDING BUILDING PERFORMANCE AND DESIGN. ALL WINNING ENTRIES WILL BE FEATURED IN THE SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER ISSUE OF ECO-STRUCTURE AND ONLINE @ ECO-STRUCTURE.COM FOR CATEGORIES, DEADLINES, AND ENTRY INFORMATION
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ECOCENTRIC
Raising the Barn Text Murrye Bernard Photo Roberto de Leon
CAN A PLACE THAT HOUSES EQUIPMENT TO WORK THE LAND BE KIND TO ITS SURROUNDINGS AS WELL? DE LEON & PRIMMER ARCHITECTURE WORKSHOP PROVIDES A SIMPLE, LOW-TECH APPROACH.
56 ECO-STRUCTURE.COM
Although they met as graduate students at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Roberto de Leon, AIA, and Ross Primmer, AIA, decided to practice in Louisville, Ky. Inevitably, the barn typology of the region has influenced the work of De Leon & Primmer Architecture Workshop, including its design for the Mason Lane Farm Operations Facility. This facility, which provides space for servicing and storing farm equipment, as well as seasonal storage for grain and hay, is a contradiction in the countryside: agricultural structures that house equipment used to work prime farmland but that also have a reduced environmental impact. The architects gained LEED Silver certification by carefully siting the buildings, avoiding complicated technical systems, and focusing on passive strategies. Two structures — dubbed Barn A and Barn B —are angled to encourage stormwater drainage along pitched, pervious surfaces into nearby rain gardens. This V-configuration allows a tree line to act as a natural windbreak between the buildings and conceals the barns from view of a nearby road. Maintaining dark sky conditions was a priority since the farm serves as an astronomical observation site for the University of Louisville. De Leon & Primmer aimed lighting towards the center of the courtyard. CFLs are connected to a timer system that features manual override, allowing for a quick switch between farming and star-gazing modes.
The architects employed passive strategies and humble, low-maintenance materials for both barns. The enclosed, 7,540-square-foot Barn A (left in the photo above) features a prefabricated wood truss frame clad in corrugated metal wall panels. On the interior, a grid of utilitarian materials including Homasote, OSB, and particle board is refined; nailing guidelines created a decorative pattern, eliminating the need for finish materials. A radiant heating system is embedded in the concrete floor slab and fueled by a boiler that burns wood debris from the farm to maintain comfortable temperatures for workers, even when the barn doors are open. In contrast, the 9,160-square-foot Barn B (right in the photo above) features an airy envelope, comprised of multilayered bamboo latticework. The architects drew inspiration from the stacked pattern of square hay bales that are stored within. Though bamboo seems an unlikely choice for a barn, it was harvested only 35 miles from the site and proves a breathable and resilient material, withstanding the occasional ding from farm equipment. The twisted, galvanized rebar ties that hold the bamboo together can also be adjusted with an awl as the stalks expand or contract. De Leon & Primmer’s practical approach worked: energy-modeling software measured a 34.2 percent reduction in energy use over traditional construction for the facility, with cost savings of 34.8 percent. ▪ AN AIA MAGAZINE
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