Bridge House

This “Bridge House” in South Australia is very cool.  I give credit to the owners who wanted to move from the city to “fulfill their dream”, but was the architect thinking about storage or did the client not have anything too store.  Did they just chuck their stuff in a dumpster before leaving their city life?  It is all about the whole picture if you truly want to be sustainable.

Read the full articles here:

 http://archrecord.construction.com/residential/hotm/archives/0907HotM/default.asp

http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/07/10/prefabricated-bridge-house-crosses-creek-sustainably/

Auto-Ban

 In an interesting move to become more environmentally friendly, the German town of Vauban has removed one of the largest facets of modern life — the automobile.  The entire town is extremely environmentally conscious; homes are powered by solar panels or co-generation engines. It has also become a popular tourist attraction as a few busloads of people arrive at the town each day to see it. This is a great step forward that should be looked at by urban planners – although it might not be totally practical in the United States due to the lack of speedy  and appealing public transportation and to some extent various climates . Planning a town around zero use of cars is an interesting planning idea; however, as a culture we have many hurdles to jump to reach the point where the majority of the population is accepting of such an idea and does not see it as a novelty.

 The original article can be found here: http://server1/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/autoban-german-town-goes-carfree-1720021.html

Iconic Skyscrapers Going Green

Two iconic skyscrapers, the Sears Tower in Chicago and the Empire State Building in New York, will be receiving major overhauls to reduce their energy consumptions.  The Sears Tower is aiming at a near 80% reduction in energy use, while The Empire State Building will reduce its consumption by 30%.  Hopefully these upgrades on city icons will lead to many further renovations on other buildings.

Read the full stories here:

http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/06/29/sears-tower-going-green-with-350-million-renovation/

http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/04/20/empire-state-building-to-receive-eco-renovation/

Water Tower Wind Power

Dr Majid Rashidi, a professor at Cleveland State University in Ohio, has
developed a wind turbine system that can be attached to existing
building water towers, or other circular towers. This would allow for
easy integration of wind turbines into existing urban buildings. The design
uses the curvature of the water tower, to increase the speed of the wind
reaching the turbines, making them more efficient in urban environments
then conventional turbines. Four conventional 6 ft diameter turbines are
hung from a rotating arm which allows the turbines to adjust to changes
in wind direction. Although the idea was created specifically for New
York City, it could be implemented in any urban environment that
presently has water towers on their buildings. In fact the Cleveland
Indians are expected to be the first to implement the system at their
home stadium in the near future.

Read the full article here.
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE55A5PD20090611

For images and diagrams click here
http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/ariel-schwartz/sustainability/next-step-
urban-wind-power-turbines-attached-apartment-building-w 

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/installing-curvy-windmills-o
n-rooftops-5265/

What Do You Mean By Green?

Who felt first that we need to go green? When exactly were we really green? When exactly will we be completely green? We are heading towards a future where everything will start all over again. Entire earth will sink in molten polar ice and a new nature will take shape mostly without ‘human’ help! Does anyone really feel that this cycle is going to reverse and the earth would be brand new again?

We are treating a cancer. Everyone knows that the planet is going to die one day. All our efforts are to prolong a diseased life. Shall we really do that? 

We learned to do everything that we can’t do with our natural physical ability. We can’t eat raw meat but we learned to cook. No other animal does that. We can fly, we can be under water, we can be in space, we can do anything..

We are the only species who kills for pleasure.. .

We are the only species who eats more than we need. ..

We are the only species who has ego. ..

We are the only species who faces the problem of obesity. ..

Has any other species learned to do something else in past 1000 years??

Have we really behaved as a part of this planet ever?? .. Why bother now??

 Whom are we really trying to impress by doing this part-green movement?? .. Earth?? Other species?? Our inner conscious?? Other non green industries?? Or a huge potential market for “GREEN” stuff?? Why green technologies should have patent if we want them to be applied on larger level?? We still use non degradable plastic only because we don’t have any cheaper alternative. Is anything really greener than money?? 

What do we really mean when we say Green? How green is Green? Really green or just greener than yesterday?  By building low energy building, are we trying to consume less energy or waste less energy? Why only buildings are held responsible for energy consumption? Why only architects and few other construction and industrial designers talk about Green? Why not doctors? Why not defense research and development? Why not genetic engineering? Why not space program? Why not every individual who gets a ‘to go’ coffee every day? Why we don’t question this ‘to go’ culture when we know that the Styrofoam box or cup of coffee we are carrying is going to be a piece of waste after 5 minutes? 

Why don’t we question? And if we do and the answer is not greener than the money, then what are we going to do.. if we know the answer to this question, then we all know how green the future is going to be ! 

Original text by: Satyajeet Patwardhan

Foundation In The Morning, Completed House By Night!

The Simpatico Homes are prefabricated homes specifically designed to take advantage of off-site manufacturing technologies.

Built to the same codes as site-built homes, modular designs are constructed in a dedicated factory where quality control measures ensure a superior product.  The homes are built in several smaller modules and are nearly 90% complete when transported to the site.  On “set day,” Simpatico Homes will transform an empty foundation in the morning into a full home structure by day’s end.  To learn more, click here.

Hearst Tower Leading The Way

 Foster and Partner’s Hearst Corporation Tower in Manhattan has been claimed to be the city’s first “Green” building ever since it has been completed in early 2006.  The skyscraper was constructed within an existing six-story cast stone façade of the original Hearst building in effort of preserving the landmark site.  It has received numerous awards for its successful design such as the 2006 Emporis Skyscraper Award for best new skyscraper, and the 2008 International Highrise Award.  Most importantly it has paved the way, and set a new standard for sustainable skyscraper design in New York City and around the world.

The Hearst Tower’s most recognizable feature is its exterior triangular framing system.  Not only is it good for aesthetics, but the unique framing system also uses 20% less steel than a conventional frame.  The steel that was used for the building is 80% recycled steel. The roof of the building is designed to collect water, where it is then kept in a storage tank in the basement.  That water is then used for heating and cooling the building, as well as irrigating plants and replenishing a cascading water feature in the first floor atrium.  Overall, these features reduce the energy consumed by the Hearst Tower to 25% less than New York City’s minimum requirement.  This gave the building the right to be LEED Gold Certified.

In such a large city like New York, it is extremely important that the methods for highrise design change.  The Hearst Tower has been a starting point for this change.  In these slow economic times, the amount of new construction in New York City has been slow as well.  However, the new highrises that have been constructed took the Hearst Tower as a leading example in sustainable design, and have far exceeded it.  Two buildings that stand out are the new Seven World Trade Center, and The Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park.  Seven World Trade Center earned LEED Gold not too long after the Hearst Tower was completed, and The Bank of America Tower is the first skyscraper to earn the certification of LEED Platinum.  These buildings have many of the same features as the Hearst Tower such as rain water collection systems, and recycled steel.  One Bryant Park far surpassed both of these buildings by including roof gardens which cool the roof temperatures, and even a wind turbine on the roof to produce energy to the building.

At such a time of need for sustainable skyscrapers, the Hearst Tower has set a prime example for the way they should be built in the 21^st Century.  New York City’s designs for sustainable skyscrapers have been moving in the right direction, and need to continue being as “Green” as possible.

Original text by: Brian Koval

Picture by: http://www.international-highrise-award.com/en/presse081.html

Bioplastics

Did you know that Bioplastic was invented in 1850 & Henry Ford made a car completely from Bioplastic in 1941?

Are bioplastics the wave of the future, no, they are here now & slowly being introduced into the mass commercial world. Like any new technology it has its drawbacks. The upside is the elimination of oil based plastics which as we all know do not biodegrade and are filling our landfills.

Main article:  http://www.metropolismag.com/story/20090513/just-one-word-bioplastics

Bioplastic info:  http://worldcentric.org/biocompostables/bioplastics

Snowboard topsheets made from beans (bioplastic): http://www.lib-tech.com/tech/index.html

Attic Ventilation

Dr. Joseph Lstiburek explains the finer points of Attic Ventilation.

Attics or roofs can be designed and constructed to be either vented or unvented in any hygro-thermal zone (Map 1). The choice of venting or not venting is a design and construction choice not a requirement determined by the physics or by the building code. The model building codes allow both vented and unvented roof assemblies. The applicable physics impacts the design of attic or roof systems as does the applicable building code but neither limit the choice.

Quality of Life vs. Environmental Effects

It is hard to think of a time in our history when we, as Americans, have been able to develop and “advance” the quality of our lives without polluting the environment at the same time. It is natural for the core to expand through population and economic growth. This expansion has also been tied into the development of the transportation systems in a specific area. Interestingly, Paris is one city that did not see growth in the suburbs, probably owing to a limited suburban railway system. Suburban sprawl is thought of as an essentially 1900’s phenomena, but it is interesting that the poor live outside of Paris’s city limits, which is opposite to what happened before the City Beautiful Movement.

  

Regardless of the inherent negative implications of the suburb’s during the industrial revolution, pollution from production happened even during the Roman empire. The gas from lead production was released into the air and was deadly. Generally, Suburban development is not a good thing, but the outcome of the pollution from companies polluting without real knowledge of the long term implications and danger is what is really causing us harm and is killing the planet. We can learn ways to deal with using our cars to travel out of these suburbs, by buying hybrids, riding mass transportation, etc. We can save energy in these Big McMansions by upgrading our windows, heating and cooling systems, etc.

 

At the end of the day we are living with way too many superfund sites across America; many of them are in my own home state. The other day I was walking by a stream that leads into the a watershed for one of NJ drinking water supplies and there were several large metal pipes at the bank of the stream. My husband and I tracked them back and emanated from a school’s parking lot. There was no separator on the system, just a few old metal pipes carrying the water to our potable water…something to think about.

 

By: Suzanne Sowinski, AIA, LEED AP