First LEED Silver Certified Home in Greater Boston

In August of 2007, Miller/Boehm Architects collaborated with construction mangers Marc Truant & Associates to construct Greater Boston's first LEED Silver certified home in Newton, Massachusetts. The key components of the project's sustainable design include:

• Redwood deck constructed from recycled materials:

+Reclaimed staves used from twenty foot diameter wine vats.

• Underground rainwater storage system:

+Available 32,000 gallon capacity offsets summer irrigation demand.

• Solar electric system:

+Photovoltaic 9.9 kW.
+Generates up to 10,000 watts daily.
+Feeds electricity to grid when the home's demand is low.

• Gray shingle exterior from sustainable source:

+Cedar trees grown in a managed forest in Maine.

• Construction recycling rate:

+87% for all waster materials.







More at Marc Truant & Associates, Inc

LEED Leads Market

According to a study released by the CoStar Group, the sale prices and rental rates of buildings with either LEED® certification or the Energy Star® label are higher than that of traditional buildings.

The study reveals:

LEED building pricing:
$171 per square foot higher than non-LEED buildings
LEED rental rates:
$11.24 per square foot higher than non-LEED buildings
LEED occupancy rates:
3.8% higher than non-LEED buildings

Energy Star building pricing:
$61 per square foot higher than non-Energy Star buildings
Energy Star rental rates:
$2.38 per square foot higher than non-Energy Star buildings
Energy Star rental rates:
3.6% higher than non-Energy Star buildings

Andrew Florance of CoStar has remarked that this study purports a "strong economic case for developing green buildings." The large margins on pricing noted, particularly that of LEED building pricing being $171 per square foot higher than its counterpart, should encourage future investments in green residential and commercial development.

For information on how the CoStar study was conducted, visit USGBC.org

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Efficiently Inefficient Solar Parking Lots

If you're concerned that maybe the shopping strip down the street wasn't such a great idea after all--worry not! Envision Solar is helping to justify unsustainable practices by providing the façade of sustainable solutions. The "Envision Solar Grove" is a canopy of photo voltaic solar panels that covers a parking lot.

My first thought when finding out about the solar canopy was: GREAT! Sure hope my gas guzzling SUV will fit under one of these things! And--as provided by the Envision Solar gallery--here you have it:



Yes, your SUV will fit under the solar panels. With all that energy saving, heck, why not upgrade to a Hummer!

Although solar canopies do provide a source of alternative energy, by no means should sustainablility be associated with parking lots. Frankly, the construction of a parking lot that vehemently parades the title "Solar Grove" is a step backwards in green building.

Envision Solar

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Offshore Wind Farms a White Elephant?

Although the wind turbine industry continues to surge, the availability of construction commodities is steadily plunging. The economic viability of sea-based wind farms has been hindered by the decreased availability (thus rising prices) of:

+Steel, aluminum, and copper
+Construction vessels (such as The Resolution in Lincolnshire, depicted to the right)
+High-voltage cables needed to link wind parks to the electricity grid
+Cranes
+Sea-bed platforms

This combination of material shortages and rising costs has delayed the European Union's $120 billion investment in offshore wind turbine projects--including the London Array. The proposed London Array, which was intended to supply enough energy for approximately 25% of London's homes, would have consisted of 341 wind turbines located on Britain's southeast coast.

According to the Danish wind power consultant BTM Consult APS, "The price of offshore turbines rose 48 percent to 2.23 million euros ($3.45 million) per megawatt in the past three years." Since land-based turbines require less installation materials, onshore turbines are becoming the reality of wind energy industry's future. Comparatively, "land-based rotors cost 1.38 million euros per megawatt after rising 74 percent in the same period."

Despite this bleak outlook of wind energy's future, the steadily rising demand for turbine construction may encourage industrial companies to focus on the emerging wind energy industry. A boom in industry will allow the supply to become more compatible with demand, thereby reducing costs and securing the stability of the wind energy industry's future.

More at Bloomberg.com

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Green Thumbs

Have you ever wanted to be a groundhog?
Are you trying to hide from Google Earth's aerial views?
Want to build "green," but have strong ambitions to confuse local birds?
Concerned that your roof isn't post-modern yet?

Then turn your roof into a "green roof."



"A green roof system is an extension of the existing roof which involves a high quality water proofing and root repellant system, a drainage system, filter cloth, a lightweight growing medium and plants."

Continued at Green Roofs for Healthy Cities

The city of Chicago's Guide to Rooftop Gardening illustrates the composition of a typical green roof:



A green roof serves as a more efficient form of insulation than traditional reflective or tarred roofs. Green roofs absorb and store daytime heat, and then distribute the heat at night to provide warmth for the home. This process reduces a buildings reliance on costly interior heating and cooling systems. Green roof systems retain rainwater (anywhere from 50-90%), thereby minimizing the runoff of destructive stormwaters that could otherwise contribute to flooding or overflowing sewers. Not only is the lifespan of the average green roof substantially greater than traditional roofs, but the green roof acts as a form of sound insulation as well. Sounds like you won't have to hear your roof-mounted wind turbine after all.

A variety of green roof models exist. Here's a break down of some reoccuring green roofing plans.

Located on top of a nursing home, this is the in-it-for-economic reasons AND NOTHING ELSE EVER green roof. Everyone who works and lives in the building probably wishes it didn't exist:



Located on top of a corporate building, this is what I refer to as the can you believe we can actually afford this? model. Mostly a novelty, but does serve to provide space for leisure and stress-relief:



The HI WE HAVE A GREEN ROOF in Fukuoka City, Japan:


And the regular ol' quaint and charmin' rooftop garden--just like playing in the garden behind your house when you were a kid (but this time someone's watching you from the window and it's not your mother):

Finally, You Can Live In Your Storage Container

Ever realized that the rent you pay for your bedroom is more than the monthly fee of a self-storage container twice the size? While many have taken initiative to relocate behind vertically opening front doors (and perhaps faced legal repercussions), you can now live in storage containers without living in perpetual fear of the U-haul guy.

EXTREME MAKEOVER: STORAGE CONTAINER/HOME EDITION!

THEN!


AFTER!


"A Detroit-based group hopes to use empty shipping containers to build one of the most unusual -- and certainly one of the most innovative -- residential projects in southeast Michigan.

The project would stack empty containers four high, cut in windows and doors, install plumbing, stairways and heating, and add amenities such as balconies and landscaped patios."

Continued..


Sustainable living: now at the price of living in what may be a McDonald's Play Place. Throughout the U.K., "Container Cities" are emerging as a green, affordable, transportable/prefabricated alternative to traditional construction materials . While the ideals may be there, this design is an absolute eyesore. As seen below, this "Container City" expresses a blatant Greener Than Thou mindset. Such developments fail to incorporate any aspect of the local architecture or culture within its design.


More at ContainerCity.com



Unlike Container's City resemblance to an epic game of Special Edition Jenga, architect Pierre Morency's "Container Cottage" manages to reflect the structure's environment within the design of the storage container residence. Interestingly, Morency primary intention was to "ensure that the black-painted metal boxes
remained identifiable yet were subtly transformed into something family
friendly and fun for two adults, three kids (the couple also have a
young daughter) and a sheepdog." Of course, those whom live in storage container structures will forever be known as "those people who live in storage containers". Social approbation may not serve as the best primary motivator for environmentally-conscious actions, but it's getting somewhere--and that may be a place where I kept my stuff last year.


More at Azure Magazine

"Efficient Building In Seattle Requires No AC"

"This new building in Seattle by Weber + Thompson requires no air conditioning. To achieve this feat, the architects made use of numerous passive cooling elements throughout the building. Passive cooling means no electricity or other fuel is needed — instead strategic shading and orientation is used, rather than high-tech gadgetry."

Continued..

"First Zero-Carbon House in UK Unveiled"

In the UK, various companies are building cutting-edge green homes as part of the Offsite 2007 Exhibition. Yesterday saw the official launch of a “zero emissions house” called the Lighthouse built by the Kingspan company. It will be the first home to meet the UK government environmental standard, level six of the Code of Sustainable Homes, which all new houses must meet by 2016.

Continued..