Askthefm’s Weblog

If you are looking among the various websites suggesting ways to create sustainable buildings you might be amazed at the choices that are available.

Now I have found houses made of all kinds of materials, some of which frankly I can’t see a building inspector in California giving the green light to.  Some of the oldest technology is to be found in building a straw house.  I believe the information presented as far as the insulation values and such however I would be worried about the structural integrity over time.  What appears to be a pretty comprehensive site on this subject is here: http://www.greenbuilder.com/sourcebook/strawbale.html. It is interesting to note that the site clearly shows that there are regulatory problems with this tyoe of construction and all of the associations listed are found in places where earthquakes are very rare.

Another technique that has gotten some press is with used tires and packed earth.  This is different from the rammed earth buildings I have posted about earlier. (http://askthefm.wordpress.com/2008/06/19/rammed-earth-buildings-not-for-me-but-maybe-for-you/)  One of the highest profile advocates of this technique is Earthship Biotechture (http://www.earthship.net/).  They are currently building a demonstration project in the Netherland Antillies during the month of July 2008.  This type of building seems like a good fit for this area as it is massive and is often shown built into the side of a hill.  It would probably survive the the severe weather found in the Carribean.

Now if you aren’t quite this adventerous there are plenty of sites to help you build a converntional house with recycled, used or otherwise sustainable materials. SustainableABC.com (http://www.sustainableabc.com/recycled.html) has a California centric directory for these materials.  Another good one is PlanetReuse.com (http://www.planetreuse.com/how_it_works) that looks to work like a Craig’s List type setup for extra, used or available building materials.  It appears to have current listings in most of the 50 states.

Now if you just want to look at some of this houses, this site shows examples of the five more common types of recycled architecture: http://weburbanist.com/2007/10/23/5-kinds-of-creative-recycled-architecture-cans-bottles-and-other-unusual-building-materials/

On the up and coming front I found a recent patent (http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/5241795.html)

Abstract

The invention relates to building materials made from paper sludge,
repulped waste paper, or virgin paper pulp, mixed with clay and portland
cement, or animal protein adhesives, or manufactured resins or polymers.
Specifically the invention relates to a building system using this
material in the form of building blocks that are glued together during
assembly and are intended to be used for above grade exterior and interior
walls. A block design which increases the R-value and other building
products made of this material are covered in this invention. The material
of this invention has unusual compression strength properties such that;
when an imposed load limit is reached which begins to compress the
material, the material does not break apart, but rather compresses
slightly and allows considerably more load to be imposed without failure
of the material to hold the superimposed load.

It will be interesting to see what this stuff actually is…..

Lastly here is my canidate for the house built out of the most unsual material, the Agate House.

Frome the waymarking.com website: (http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM14DV)

“It is not so much the shape that makes this building unique, but its on-of-a-kind building material. It is petrified wood! The location is Petrified Forest National Park, where, 225 million years ago, a lot of tall trees were washed into a floodplain, where a mix of silt, mud and volcanic ashes buried the logs. The sediment cut off oxygen and slowed the logs decay. Silica-laden groundwater seeped through the logs and replaced the original wood tissues with silica deposits. Eventually the silica crystallized into quartz, and the logs were preserved as petrified wood. Since the quartz rock of the petrified logs was a lot sturdier than all the other building materials (clay and sand stone), petrified wood was an obvious choice.”

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Solar water heating is a pretty mature technology at this point. I suppose that it isn’t surprising that it might become a standard feature of new residential construction.  However ti has now become mandatory for all new construction in Hawaii.  That is residential construction, new homes.

I think that overall I am in favor of this for a couple of reasons.  First is that it will generate economies of scale by making it a requirement and thereby making the overall cost less. Second is that it simply makes sense to employ every affordable technology to reduce our footprint on the planet. the fact that it can be packaged as a selling point is a bonus.  The full article is here on Metaefficient.com (http://www.metaefficient.com/news/solar-water-heaters-now-mandatory-in-hawaii.html#more-1519)

For those of you who might need a primer on solar hot water here is the government’s site that covers it pretty well: http://www.eere.energy.gov/consumer/your_home/water_heating/index.cfm/mytopic=12850

There is also another way to harness the thermal energy for your building.  There is a new product called Solar Duct that allows you to pre-heat air that would then be used to heat the building.  (http://solarwall.com/posts/from-solarwallr-to-solarduct-conserval-launches-new-rooftop-line62.php)

Also from the same company is a configuration that combines the heating of air and conventional solar panels.  This setup helps the effciency of the panels by lowering their overall temperature. (http://solarwall.com/media/download_gallery/SolarWallPV-T_Spec.pdf)

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What with all of the attention being paid to all things “green” these days, one of the items I see most frequently mentioned are cleaning supplies.  I am not sure if this is because these chemicals have gotten such bad press in the past that they are trying real hard to seem safe and relevant.

Now if you put the words “green cleaning products” into your search engine of choice you will get back a great many sources for these items ranging from Simple Green (http://www.simplegreen.com/), which I recommend by the way, to articles on how to make your own cleaning supplies.

The main reason to even think about this for commercial buildings has to do with indoor air quality and minimizing the residents of a buildings exposure to toxic chemicals and fumes.  Previously the focus was on changing your chemicals out to supposedly safer alternatives.There is however some discussion about the value of making this change as is covered in this Live Science article: (http://www.livescience.com/environment/070806_green_cleaners.html).

The LEED certification guidelines coming out this month steers away from just substituting chemicals to get your credits but is emphasizing a complete approach to green cleaning.  On ENN.com (http://www.enn.com/business/article/37513) there is an article that covers this change. There is also another article on Cleanlink.com that go even more in depth on this issue: (http://www.cleanlink.com/hs/article.asp?id=5609&keywords=green,%20leed).

The current thinking is that you should develop a complete janitorial program with environmentally sensitive cleaning agents, best practices to insure a clean building and energy efficient equipment. The main difference I have found is that with the “green” alternatives in chemicals you have to take a little more time and use a little more elbow grease.  Although “Seventh Generation” (http://www.seventhgeneration.com/) is working to make their products the equivalent in effectiveness .

Lastly as a general rule chemicals that are rated by Green Seal (http://www.greenseal.org/) qualify under the LEED and most other rating services guidelines and generally are of good quality and good value.

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The news broke to day that over in London England hackers succeeded in cloning or duplicating the cards that most Londoner’s use to ride on mass transit.  These so called Oyster Cards are a version of smart card that is used in a great many other places for access control to secured areas.  The Dutch government has issued a country wide security alert due to the fact that they use the same or at least very similar technology at most of their government buildings!

Both Wired Magazine (http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/06/hackers-crack-l.html) and the Evening Standard in London have articles on this story (http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23454596-details/Oyster+card+cloning+fears/article.do).

This is just the latest problem with this technology to come to the surface.  The main problems with these systems is that they are often specified incorrectly and sometimes just installed poorly.  Also they are only as good as the people who have administrative access.  I took over the management of a fairly simple system at a large corporate site and was amazed that the functionality of the software wasn’t even fully enabled and the previous administrator had made no real effort to audit the system.  I spent a very hectic 3 weeks auditing the system, inventorying the access rights of several hundred employees and getting the reporting module actually working!

There is a very good white paper on some best pratices for these systems here: (http://www.smart-id.com/documents/Access_Control_Industry_Best_Practices_wp_en.pdf).

The news is full of successful attempts to bypass these systems. Another story from Wired magazine: (http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/08/open-sesame-acc.html)

Now I am not saying that I am dead set against using these devices, just that you need to realize that they are far from perfect or fool proof.  Just like any other similar system such as a burgler alarm they need to be designed carefully, used with their limitations firmly in mind and monitored constantly.

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I know that there has been a lot of coverage in the news and on various blogs including my own about all of the new and wiz bang new things you can get for your building to make it more energy efficient. However with all of this concentration on the newest and most high tech a lot of buildings aren’t taking care of the basics to save energy and money!

These basic items are truly low hanging fruit not only easy to do but with return on investment times calculated in months if not days in some cases.

First let’s talk about lighting, plain old fluorescent tubes.  It is estimated that and very large percentage of the total electric load of a commercial building is found in the lighting.  If you haven’t changed out those old T-12 light fixtures or at least modified them to use T-8 bulbs with electronic ballasts, do this first and do it now!  The cost to upgrade is around $100 a fixture which can be recovered in as little as 12 months.

Next on the lighting hit parade is parking lot lighting.  These fixtures tend to be big and expensive to run if you are in retail environment.  It is common for these fixtures to be left on all night and for them to be run by a simple time clock.  There are several suggestions I can offer here.

First is to add to the time clock circuit a photocell.  It works like this.  In the circuit the photo cell is inserted between the time clock and the activation relays.  This dynamically adjusts the on and off times of the system to the ever changing sunst and sunrise times.  Estimated cost $200, ROI 30days.

Also you should look at your lighting plan and see if there are lights that can safely be turned off at closing time.  A photometric analysis may be required for a good set of data to make this decision.  However the savings here could be pretty large as sometimes these light may be up to a 1000 watts each.  After you have determined if any can safely be turned off you will have to do some rewiring of the lighting array, perhaps adding another time clock and photocell. Estimated Cost $1000  ROI 3- 6 months.

Now with all the publicity I hope that you have changed out all of those incandescent bulbs for compact fluorescents or even LED bulbs.  However if you haven’t get started!

Another often overlooked task that helps with the electric bill is air conditioning and heater maintenance. Changing filters and cleaning condenser fins can net as much a 20% efficiency boost for the system.  Also if it is in your capital budget look into changing out your oldest unit with a new higher SEER rated unit.

Lastly tonight I would suggest considering and old solution that hasn’t gotten much good press lately, window tinting.  At least in California you get no credit under Title 24, our energy efficiency code, but that doesn’t mean that if won’t do you some good.  Window tinting has several advantages including lessening heat load on your building by 1-2%, lengthening the life of the textiles in the office spaces and in earthquake prone areas providing some extra security against flying glass.

I hope that these suggestions help you and if you have any questions specifically about the calculations on the ROI or other related questions please drop me a line at the email address below!

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I have been looking for some time into ways to reduce my utility bills.  I have of course looked a solar power in its various forms and have decided to wait a little longer.  However if I can find a wind turbine small enough and with a low enough start up speed I may be a buyer.

I am especially interested in the vertical axis models.  All reports of these suggest that they are more effcient and generate more power at lower startup speeds.  A recent article covering the American Wind Power Associations’s recent conference suggests much promise very soon.

http://cleantechnica.com/2008/06/20/vertical-axis-turbines-the-future-of-micro-wind-energ/

I mentioned in an earlier post about Jay Leno, the Tonight Show host installing one of these on his private garage.  The maufacturer of that particular unit is here: http://www.pacwind.net/

My problem is that most of the micro sized units need a start speed of around 8 mph and of course a fairly constant wind.  Now I live some what near the beach in Southern California and get a fairly constant breeze every afternoon and early evening.  The wind I get on this regular basis does not provide enough for the current crop of equipment to generate any useful amount of power on a regular basis.

A good listing of these are to be found here: http://cleantechnica.com/2008/03/21/the-five-best-micro-wind-turbines/

This is where my interest in the vertical and horizontal units comes in. In many cases these configurations have a lower start speed ( as low as 4 mph), require less overall space and are more friendly to local birds.

The two most interesting sites on these types of turbines that I have found are:

BroadStar, an English firm: http://www.broadstarwindsystems.com/home.php

And Windside, a Finnish firm: http://www.windside.com/products.html

Lastly I have a recommendation for a book on the subject that I have ordered:

Wind Energy Basics by Paul Gipe: http://store.sundancesolar.com/wienbagutosm.html

This is subject I am continuing to follow and hope along with you that it advances significantly soon and becomes affordable to the masses.

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Buildings Magazine has put out the 100 best products for year issue and among them are some flooring products that look pretty darn good and claim to be made completely from recycled materials.

The first up is Sustainable Flooring’s Strandwood Product (http://www.sustainableflooring.com/?index=strandwoven).  Here is the description from the website:

Our Strandwoven wood line encompasses three main products: Aspen, MSB, and Timber, and can be best described as the re-engineering of densified and compressed wood. Our goal is take weed species, post-industiral scraps, and economically–challenged woods, and use a bit of healthy technology to create unmatched aesthetics and superior products.

From the pictures on the website it looks like a good product and should be very durable as well.

Next up is a a product from FritzTile (http://www.fritztile.com/#9877949936143315923) using recycled glass from various bottles and other post consumer glass content.

Both of these products should qualify for LEED and Greenpoint Rated credits and look beautiful doing so.

Now there are other types of flooring that qualify potentially as sustainable options.  Included here would be cork and bamboo flooring.  Of course our earlier manufacturer Sustainable Flooring also offers both of these options (http://www.sustainableflooring.com/index.php?index=home).

Also I have found a great explainer at BuidlingGreen.com for those interested in how bamboo flooring is made. (http://www.buildinggreen.com/auth/article.cfm?fileName=061005c.xml)

It is also interesting that Treehugger.com gives bamboo flooring a less than superior rating from an overall green perspective.  The full article can be found here: (http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/09/bamboo_flooring.php).

Cork flooring on the other hand is seemingly mostly ignored by the green rating sites.  It supposedly has high marks in acoustic dampening and abrasion resistance.  However I imagine that it design differences would be limited and as such would be of limited use except in specific situations.

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I came across an article today about rammed earth as a home building material and was intrigued.  I am pretty sure that my local city officials might have a problem with it from and earthquake stand point (note: I live in Southern California) It seems that it might make a pretty good alternative from a green building stand point in other parts of the USA.

In the article on Green Upgrader (http://greenupgrader.com/2156/rammed-earth-home-building-with-compressed-dirt/#more-2156) it does mention that you can add steel reinforcement as you would in concrete for strength however…..

As I read on however on another site which at first glance seems pretty extensive (http://www.greenhomebuilding.com/rammedearth.htm) I was getting more interested until I got to the bottom of the page where I found this disclaimer:

Disclaimer Of Liability And Warranty
I specifically disclaim any warranty, either expressed or implied, concerning the information on these pages. Neither I nor any of the advisor/consultants associated with this site will have liability for loss, damage, or injury, resulting from the use of any information found on this, or any other page at this site. Kelly Hart, Hartworks, Inc.

By this time I am getting wary again but I find this site: Rammed Earth is for Everyone (http://rammedearth.blogspot.com/) and judging from the pictures and testimonials on the site maybe this will work in some areas and those walls inthe pictures sure look a strong like concrete.

Then I get to Adobe Builder (http://www.adobebuilder.com/) and on the front page we are into disclaimers and warnings again.  This site specifically warns that many states have a great deal of restrictions on adobe and rammed earth buildings, especially California.

“So yes, you can do it, legally speaking. In areas without codes, you have more freedom, but you should still build to a recognized standard. If your building department has little experience with earth walls, they may require that your plans be stamped by a licensed engineer or architect. In many areas of the Southwest, prescribed codes allow you to build to a standard, without a professional stamp. This is the case in Arizona and New Mexico, and portions of Utah, and Colorado. At present, Texas has few restrictive codes, and California, the most restrictions.”

Now I could tell you all about how the cost for this type of construction is very competitive with traditional construction methods and that it also has many green advantages including a very stable temperature inside the building due to the massive wall structure usually required for this process.

However based on the obvious drawbacks in many parts of the country and some potetial dubious methodologies I am hard pressed to recommend even spending the time to research this further.  There are many simpler ways to reduce a buildings footprint realtive to its impact on the environment both locally and globally. Perhaps if the process is revamped and improved such that it is more main stream realtive to building codes I would be willing to relook at the subject, but for now I would recommend staying away from this as an option to build a house or other building.

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Recently high technology companies are all seeming to be jumping into the solar area.  Okay I know that 2  of the 3 I am referring to today are both very experienced in silicon technology so this sort of makes sense I guess….

IBM, that bastion of computing power has not one but two initiatives in the news lately. The first has to do with light concentrating and more importantly solar cell cooling technology. The press release for this one is dated May 15, 2008 and can be found here: http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/24203.wss

The second venture by Big Blue is joining up with Tokyo Ohka Kogyo (TOK) a semiconductor processing company to work on the technology where you essentially print solar cells (copper-indium-gallium-selenide (CIGS) cells).  This is similar to the technology put forwad by Nanosolar and others.  (Previous post: http://askthefm.wordpress.com/2008/05/08/new-solar-technologies-on-the-horizon/)  Full story via Ecogeek.org (http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/1768/83/)

Not to be left out of the party, Intel the giant computer chip maker has created a spin off company with some other investors called SpectraWatt, Inc.  Construction has already started on a factory located in Oregon that expects to be shipping product and parts in a year.  Full story at CNET.com (http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-9969631-54.html)

Lastly Google recently announced that it was investing $10 million in a company called eSolar.  eSolar’s claims are very concise:

“To serve the renewable electricity needs of utility-scale energy providers, eSolar has developed a market disrupting solar thermal power plant technology. Generation can be scaled from 25 MW to over 500 MW at energy prices competitive with traditional fossil fuels.”

Full story here (WWW.Solveclimate.com) http://solveclimate.com/blog/20080117/breakthrough-concentrated-solar-power-all-over-southwest-us

The claim seems pretty strong to me, but I have been surprised before.  All in all pretty exciting stuff!

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Now I am in favor of there being more green buildings and the more efficient we can be the better off the planet, our companies and all of us are.  However I am unsure if going to the trouble of acquiring a certification really provides and adequate return on the investment of time and money required.

That brings us to the newly revised LEED-EB or LEED for existing buildings. The original program had many issues, some of which were simply growing pains inherited from conversion of the original LEED new construction program.

Now I have read a couple of articles lately on this subject and they make points about how the consultant and the process will help the facility manager find overlooked opportunities and similar advantages, but I am skeptical.  One fo the articles is here at Building Operating Management magazine: (http://www.facilitiesnet.com/8967bom).

Also you can read all about it at the USBGC site: http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=221

Now the other piece I read gets into the important at least for me part the actual additional cost of teh process. This source figures that the total cost of getting a building certified comes to $2.48 per square foot!  I don’t know about you but I would have to have missed a whole lot of efficiency issues to recover that kind of cost even the intermediate term of 5 - 10 years.  You can read his full article here: http://reallifeleed.blogspot.com/2008/05/leed-eb-fees-explained.html and the report for the Leonardo Academy that he references can be found here: http://www.leonardoacademy.org/download/Final%20Report%20on%20the%20Economics%20of%20LEED-EB-2008-4-23.pdf

Finally I think I can sum this post up by saying that I agree with the column by Jeff Crane in Today’s Facility Manager magazine found here: http://www.todaysfacilitymanager.com/tfm_08_04_fmfrequency.php and his basic proposistion is that your CFO isn’t going to pay for the extra cost for certification if he can use that extra money to make the building even more efficient and save even more money!  That is a very hard argument to win and I don’t think I could easily be induced to even try.

As always I thank you for your time and interest. Please take the time to Digg, or add to the other social network of your choice to help me spread the word about these issues. Please forward any questions or suggestions to: askthefm@gmail.com

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