Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is an important issue for architects, specifiers and building managers in the UK.
Materials manufacturers will soon have to publish data on what contribution their materials make to IAQ,
following what is now becoming standard practice in Scandinavia. It is a critical issue when considering
ventilation. This is a short note drawing attention to the issues. The subject is a huge one, justifying a full
issue of the Digest in the future.
After a great deal of interest in ‘Sick Building Syndrome’21 in the mass media in the late 1980s, public
interest appears to have declined somewhat, though the fashion for solid wooden floors instead of carpets is
a result of a partial understanding of such issues among consumers. However the problem has not gone
away. As most of us spend 90% of our lives inside buildings, certainly in colder climates, the internal air
that we breathe is laced with a huge cocktail of chemicals and ‘natural;’ pollutants that can seriously affect
our health. Good ventilation is a key factor in reducing the impact of indoor pollution, but reducing the
chemicals at source is the most effective solution for green designers. Specifying green and ‘natural’
materials with low toxicity would appear to be one of the most effective ways, when coupled with an
effective ventilation strategy, of ensuring good IAQ.
Surprisingly there is little medical research into the impact of IAQ on health. Bodies such as the Medical
Research Council and the National Asthma Campaign do not appear to have given it sufficiently high
priority. A great deal of medical opinion links allergic and respiratory problems to genetic rather than
environmental causes. When environmental causes are blamed, these are largely attributed to external
pollution such as from traffic rather than IAQ. There are also powerful vested interests in the pharmaceuticals
world to promote the sales of inhalers and anti allergy remedies, one of the most lucrative sources of profits
for the drug companies.
It is possible that the lack of sufficient medical evidence has been one of the reasons why IAQ has not
been accorded a high priority in the construction industry. However research at the University of
Strathclyde in Glasgow is investigating the links between domestic environments and the increasing
prevalence of asthma.22 They attribute many of the problems to the reduction of ventilation rates, higher
levels of humidity and the air tightness of modern constructions. Recently an American authority in the
field, Hal Levin said, at the International Indoor Air Quality Conference in Edinburgh, that the weight of
scientific evidence demonstrates clearly that indoor pollution (rather than external) is one the main
influences on our health.23 A large amount of scientific work in the IAQ field is slowly beginning to
influence building regulations and manufacturer of building products, particularly in more progressive
countries such as Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands.24 The International IAQ conference in Edinburgh
in August 1999 had over 600 scientific papers, but it was stated that there has been a failure to transfer
much of this knowledge to a wider audience. Much of the research has been pre-occupied with developing
methods of measurement and analysis (which are crucial) rather than the effects of indoor air pollution on
building occupants. This failure to communicate was recognised at IAQ 99 and a workshop specifically
discussed linking IAQ research with the wider sustainable construction movement.
The main sources of Indoor Air pollution are;
building materials, paints, varnishes etc., technical equipment (printers, photocopiers etc.), cleaning
fluids, polishes etc., common products that are used indoors, body effluents, ambient air quality, including
pollution from outside and smoking.
Standards do exist for acceptable levels of some of these pollutants but they do not always take into
account the problems of people who are allergic or hypersensitive to certain materials. However building
codes in various countries tend to focus mostly on CO2, CO and NO2 and pay less attention to the levels of volatile organic compounds.25 This can largely be attributed to pressure from commercial interests that do
not want to see further controls on toxic emissions from their products.
While levels of pollution from tobacco smoke and cleaning materials can be controlled, VOCs and other
chemicals are concentrated into the actual fabric of buildings and this means removing the use of such
materials at the specification stage. Emission levels can vary widely depending on the finishes in buildings
and at different times in the life of a building. Studies at the Building Research Establishment have
identified 254 Volatile organic compounds emitted from building materials in the first year of the life of four
newly built houses and 71 during the second year.26 Other listings show a much larger range of toxic
materials found in buildings and clearly these will vary depending on the materials used in construction.27
Paints and flooring materials are the main sources, but other products can also be significant.28 Higher
temperatures, during the summer or from winter heating, lead to higher emission levels and while the
highest release is in the early life of a building many chemicals can linger for much longer. A wide range
of chemicals which are suspected of causing health problems including Toluene, Naphthalene, Xylenes,
Formaldehyde, Lindane and many more can be detected in conventional houses. Many of these chemicals
have been referred to in past issues of the Green Building Digest, particularly the issues on Paints for
Joinery, Adhesives, Interior Decoration, timber preservatives and so on and more information on them can
be found in the relevant digest. Many people are also sensitive to natural pathogens such as pollen, dust
mites and mould. It is important to ensure that the remedies to this do not introduce new VOCs into the
indoor environment. Also many anti fungal and mould treatments use biocides which in themselves are
toxic to humans.
Many of the environmental assessment systems for buildings did not include IAQ and toxic emissions in
their categorisation though the BRE Environmental Standard, Homes for a Greener World,29 introduced
measurements of Formaldehyde, Wood preservatives and Paint with lead in 1995 and has been largely
ignored. Much tougher standards are likely to be introduced in the future when the new BRE environmental
profiling system30 is widely adopted and ventilation standards in the building regulations will eventually be
related to the effect of materials on our health.

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Building characteristics
Whatever the climate, a building, such as a house, can be thought of as a mixture
of mass materials (e.g. brick wall, mud brick vault, concrete slab) and insulation
materials (e.g. fibreglass batts in the wall, thatched roof, expanded polystyrene
sandwich cladding panel). How a building performs depends upon the mixture of these materials, but it can be simply thought of in the following way. For the cave
dweller, who lived in a mass building with no insulation, the internal temperature
would settle at the annual average temperature. ForNew Zealand that was 13.1C
in 2005, the fourth highest such annual average on record1 and in the UK it is
8.5–11C2. This explains the old adage that a house with thick stone walls always
felt warm in winter and cool in summer, since that was what it was relative to the
outside temperature, even if the actual indoor air temperature around 10C or
even 13C did not represent comfort. Thus, having a lot of mass in a building
means the internal temperature will tend to be stable. The presence of insulation in
combination with mass will tend to raise the stable internal temperature above the
average annual temperature. The experience with Hockerton houses in the UK,
which have no space heating system apart from the gains from solar energy, the
occupants and the equipment inside, suggests that a 7–8C temperature rise above
the annual average can be achieved with a very high mass construction with
300mm of insulation to walls, roof and floor, and with the best available offthe-
shelf windows. The latter consisted of plantation-grown softwood frames with
triple-glazed units, along with krypton gas filling and low-emissivity coatings on
two of the glass layers (Vale and Vale 2000: pp. 187–194).
Conversely, the temperature inside a house that has minimal mass and insulation
will follow the outside temperature unless energy is put into the house in the form
of sunlight, or from the people and equipment housed in it. Temperatures over a
day are lowest in the night and highest around midday. In a lightweight house,
insulation will lift the internal temperature above the outside temperature.
However, the temperature in the house will still go up and down, following the
track of the outside temperature but a number of degrees above it. The level of
insulation will determine how much the temperature inside is lifted above that
outside. For an unheated house in New Zealand with 150mm of insulation in
walls and floor, and 200mm in the roof, the temperature was lifted about 7C
above that outside when the outside temperature was at its lowest. This meant the
minimum indoor temperature recorded in a bedroom was 14C (Vale and Vale
2001). The windows in this instance were double-glazed with one low-emissivity
coating in aluminium frames with no thermal break.
Although it is true to say that in New Zealand the majority of houses are of the
lightweight model, in many countries houses are a mixture of mass and lightweight
materials, often having masonry walls (mass), concrete slab ground floor
(mass), timber joisted upper floor (lightweight) and a timber frame roof (lightweight),
and hence their characteristic performance, if they are unheated, will
also be somewhere between the two extremes. It is important to have a basic
understanding of how buildings might behave. This is because it may fall to the
user to attempt to correct any shortcomings in the original design at points of major refurbishment in the building lifetime. During any refurbishment it is
unlikely that mass will be added to the building but it is often possible to add
insulation. However, before discussing this subject further, it is also necessary to
consider the behaviour of small buildings in hot climates and the behaviour of
large buildings.
In a hot climate, whether hot wet or hot dry, the aim is usually to keep the
building cooler than outside, although in some desert climates where the nights
are cold it is also desirable at times to try to raise the inside temperature above
that outside. From this it can be seen that in the hot dry desert climate with a
large swing in temperature between night and day, the very high mass building
is a good solution as it will maintain the annual average temperature. For
example, the mean annual temperature in Egypt is 20–25C3, which would
provide a good comfort temperature in a building. The classic high mass
building for this climate was made of mud brick, had few openings to keep
out the sun and formed part of a cluster of buildings to keep as much exterior
surface as possible shaded from exposure to direct sunlight. In a hot, humid
climate the temperature swing day and night and summer to winter is often less,
so there is less need of the tempering effect of mass, and the traditional building
was often lightweight, and open as much as possible to any cooling breezes to
help keep the occupants comfortable. In all hot climates the roof is an important
element in keeping out the sun. Often, ventilation paths would be open
under the roof in order to keep air flowing over its underside, with the aim of
channelling away any heat coming through. Roofs would also be insulated
against heat gain. In all warm climates a light-coloured roof is also an advantage
to reduce the solar gain into the building.
A small building is dominated by the performance of the surface, walls, roof and
floor, as the volume of space enclosed is relatively small. However, a large
building has less surface area for the volume enclosed, so its thermal performance
tends to be dominated by what happens in it – the gains from people and activities
– rather than by the skin, although large areas of glass cladding exposed to the
sun will have an effect on internal performance. Large buildings, with one
exception, also differ because they tend to be used during the working day and
so there is no necessity to maintain comfortable conditions during the night, the
time of lowest external temperatures in climates that need heating. The exception
is the apartment block, which, especially in Asia, is becoming the norm. The
improved performance of such buildings lies more with the designers and constructors
as the improvements to the life cycle impact that can be made by the
users are limited. Because this chapter is about the effect of the building user, the
remainder of the discussion will be centred on the home and the small-scale
building.

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Guidelines on dealing with the issues
This section aims to suggest guidelines and priorities for the users of buildings to
help reduce life cycle environmental impact.
1 As operating energy is the largest component of life cycle energy, its reduction
should be the priority, rather than worrying about embodied energy.

2 Insulation is generally the key to reducing operating energy and refurbishment
should see insulation as a priority. It is generally easiest to insulate the lightweight
elements of a building first and, for a heated building, this will reduce
energy use. Mass elements must also be adequately externally insulated even if
heating is used.

3 To make a comfortable building that needs no heating requires adequate mass
with adequate insulation on its external face.

4 Once the fabric of the building has been insulated, the windows should also be
upgraded. Adding layers to windows in the form of blinds, shutters and
curtains is a simple approach to improving window performance.

5 Avoid having a very ‘wet’ lifestyle, to avoid damage from moisture in the home.

6 If it is not possible to ventilate the house in the daytime by opening the
windows, some other form of deliberate ventilation system should be used to
remove moisture from the interior of the house.

7 Switching off a light when it is not needed is the simplest way to save energy.

8 Compact fluorescent lamps, although more expensive to buy, do make sense in
life cycle terms both for life cycle energy and life cycle cost.

9 Taking shorter showers is the quickest way to save the energy used to heat
water.

10 If a hot water system needs replacing, a solar water heating system with an
adequate storage tank might be an option to reduce the life cycle environmental
impact of a hot water supply.

11 Install Energy Star and European A-class rated appliances where these are
available.

12 Turn off appliances at the wall whenever possible.

13 Use natural finishes rather than those based on petroleum products.

14 Use of second-hand or antique furniture will reduce the overall life cycle
environmental impact.

Conclusion
None of the issues presented in the guidelines above should be a surprise as they
will be found in many discussions on how to make houses and other small
buildings use less energy and have less impact on the natural environment.
What life cycle analysis allows is the chance to set priorities, as it is possible to
see precisely what contributes to the making of the life cycle impact and the
relative size of the constituent parts. If there is one thing life cycle analysis
confirms, it is the importance of insulation in reducing life cycle energy use and
life cycle impact. Insulation is a boring subject, as the money spent on it is
generally not visible in the way money spent on a state-of-the-art kitchen is.
Nevertheless, at every stage of a building’s life its environmental performance
will be improved by the addition of insulation. Perhaps it is the case that building
designers as well as users have to learn to love increased levels of ‘invisible’
insulation within their homes.

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Green Building Design Competition

USGBC's Natural Talent Design Competition provides applied learning experience in the principles of integrated design, sustainability, and innovation, all of which are components of the LEED® Green Building Rating System™. Participants compete in local competitions, and the top winner of each moves on to compete for a national award at USGBC’s annual Greenbuild International Conference & Expo. Awards include green building scholarships, as well as travel and registration to Greenbuild, where finalists’ entries are displayed and final judging occurs. Now in its sixth year, the next Design Competition will take place November 11-13, 2009, at Greenbuild in Phoenix.
2009 Registration

Register for your local 2009 Design Competition and download the required Image Use Form.
2009 Local USGBC Design Competitions
Atlanta, GA
Boston, MA
Cascadia Chapter (Portland, Seattle, Vancouver)
Charlotte, NC
Chicago, IL
Cincinnati, OH
Colorado
Tampa, FL (Florida Gulf Coast)
Houston, TX
Idaho Chapter
James River Green Building Council (Virginia Beach, Norfolk, VA)
Kansas City Chapter
Los Angeles, CA
Michigan (West Michigan Chapter)
Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
New York, NY
Philadelphia, PA (Delaware Valley Green Building Council)
Puerto Rico (Caribbean Chapter)
Raleigh/Durham, NC (NC Triangle Chapter)
Sacramento, CA
San Antonio, TX
San Diego, CA
San Francisco, CA
South Florida Chapter
Upstate New York Chapter
Washington, D.C. (National Capital Region)
Wisconsin (Wisconsin Green Building Alliance)
2008 Winners
Started six years ago by USGBC’s Emerging Green Builders, the Natural Talent Design Competition is an annual contest for students and young professionals to practice sustainable design concepts around local community projects. Each year, participating USGBC chapters, affiliates, and host committees hold local competitions which each group’s winning project team participating in the national competition. The winners are selected at Greenbuild by a jury of distinguished design professionals. The awards are presented during the closing plenary.

2008 Competition
This year, 17 chapters hosted local competitions and sent their winning project teams to Boston to compete for the national prize. This year’s jury included: Bill O’ Dell (HOK), Ralph DiNola (LEED faculty and chapter leader), Chris Klehm (LEED faculty and chapter leader), and Bahar Armaghani (LEED faculty and chapter leader). USGBC awards 1st and 2nd place prizes as well as honorable mentions.

National 1st Place Winner received $5000
National 2nd Place Winner received $2000
Honorable Mention was announced at the discretion of the design jury

2008 Honorable Mention: Boston EGB, Team Redo_Rudolph,
Project: The Erich Lindemann Building
Members: Priya Jain, Dana Ozik, Matt Morong, Marta Morais Storz, Dana Ozik

2008 National 2nd Place: National Capitol Region EGB, Team Greensmith
Project: Urban Nomadic Shelter
Members: Arnold Smith and Arvi Sardadi

2008 National 1st Place: Cascadia EGB, Team Webber Thompson
Project Name: Eco-Laboratory
Members: Myer Harrell, Dan Albert, Brian Geller, and Chris Dukehart

Click Here for Previous Design Competition Winners

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2009 Design Challenge

Detailed information about the 2009 NCSBDC Design Challenge is available for download.

Please note: When you click on some of these links a dialogue box will open. It will ask, "Do you want to open or save this file?" Click on save. By not saving this file, you may lose your work. These files must be submitted with your team's design entry on the day of your school's local competition. Please read the Requirements document for official guidelines.

Required Files

• Design Challenge
• Requirements [download document]
• Summary Sheet for Binder [download document]
• Return on Investment template [download document]

Additional Files

• Frequently Asked Questions for 2009 [download pdf]

Competition site

The lot at 1725 Poole Road, is 0.96 acres and borders an existing CASA development project, Hope Crest.

Photo of the lot at 1725 Poole Road with neighboring building, Hope Crest.

Site plan for 1725 Poole Road

You can also view a site plan here.

Visiting the site
Design Competition students are strongly encouraged to visit the site. There will be several opportunities to tour the site with Griff Gatewood, Housing Developer at CASA during the semester. Two tours have been scheduled for January 21st and February 7th. To participate in these tours, please contact Griff Gatewood via email (ggatewood@casanc.com) or by phone (919-754-9960). If you are unable to make the scheduled tours, you are welcome to visit the site at your convenience.

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Upcoming events

April

April 27 - 29, 2009 - Paris, . France
Energy Efficiency Global Forum & Exposition (EE Global 2009)

April 27 - May 01, 2009 - Kansas City, MO
ACI Home Performance Conference 2009
The national ACHI Home Performance Conference returns to Kansas City, Missouri (Hyatt Regency Crown Center)

April 28 - 30, 2009 - Chicago , Illinois United States
Decon '09- The BMRA Biannual Conference
The National Conference of the Building Materials Reuse Association

April 28 - 29, 2009 - Phoenix, AZ
2009 National Apartment Association Green Conference & Exposition
At the The Phoenix Convention Center – LEED Certified.

April 28 - 30, 2009 - Shanghai, . China
EPTEE 2009 - The 10th China EPTEE Show for Water, Air, Waste, Energy and Recycling
The 10th China EPTEE Show for Water, Air, Waste, Energy and Recycling

April 30, 2009 - Boston, MA
An Evening Fundraiser in Support of Alternative Grad School
Please join us on Thursday, April 30 (6:00 - 8:00 pm) at the NEXUS Green Building Resource Center

April 30 - May 02, 2009 - San Francisco, CA
AIA 2009 NATIONAL CONVENTION AND DESIGN EXPOSITION
THE POWER OF DIVERSITY: PRACTICE IN A COMPLEX WORLD

May

May 03 - 07, 2009 - Houston, TX USA
Clean Technology Conference & Trade Show 2009

May 05, 2009 - Washington, DC
Living Green ˆ A Conference on Sustainable Urban Planning and Green Building
Swedish and U.S. experts will share their experiences and views from both countries on developing greener living spaces.

May 05 - 08, 2009 - Salt Lake City, Utah USA
2009 Natl. Mitigation & Ecosystem Banking Conference
Learn how the New Rule on Mitigation Banking is impacting the industry

May 06 - 08, 2009 - Portland, Oregon USA
Living Future '09: Cultivating Leadership
The Cascadia Region Green Building Council’s annual signature event focused on cutting-edge green design solutions. This year’s theme is “Cultivating Leadership.”

May 07, 2009 - Chapel Hill, North Carolina USA
Integrated Interiors Design & Product Selection
Maximize LEED points using the latest sustainable interior products and materials

May 08 - 09, 2009 - Santa Monica, California
Alternative Building Materials and Design Expo 09
Presented by the City of Santa Monica, this event features over 150 exhibitors displaying the latest in green building technologies and practices, landscape and water conservation products and interior design products and furnishings.

May 08 - 10, 2009 - Dallas, TX
NAHB National Green Building Conference
This year's conference is focused on how to "make green by going green." Attendees will learn how a shift to a greener business can lead to more profits in the long run and get perspectives on Green's future.

May 09 - 10, 2009 - Dayton, OH
Straw Bale Construction Workshop

May 10 - 15, 2009 - Warren, VT
Strawbale Design/Build
Learn to build a strawbale structure from start to finish!

May 11 - 16, 2009 - East Charleston, Vermont USA
Solar-Electric System Design and Installation Course
A complete overview of solar-electric systems that provides participants with the skills needed to site, design, and install a PV system.

May 17 - 22, 2009 - Warren, VT
Natural Plasters & Finishes
Learn to mix and apply beautiful, non-toxic paints, plasters and finishes from natural materials and pigments!

May 18 - 20, 2009 - Boston, MA
Alternative Energy & Building Efficiency Conference & Exhibition

May 18 - 20, 2009 - Chicago, Illinois USA
CleanMed 2009

May 18 - 20, 2009 - Washington, DC
2009 Building Opportunities Conference
Join us for three days of practical tools to create successful nonprofit shared space and services.

May 20 - 21, 2009 - Santa Barbara, California United States
Santa Barbara Summit on Energy Efficiency

May 21, 2009 - San Francisco, CA USA
Brightworks LEED-NC 2.2 Exam Training Workshop!
Sign up to pass the LEED-NC 2.2 Accredited Professional Exam.

May 23 - 29, 2009 - Philo, Ohio USA
The Complete Straw Bale Building Workshop
The Complete Straw Bale Building Workshop and more

May 24 - June 12, 2009 - Warren, VT
Ecological Design in the Built Environment Certificate Course
Yestermorrow's Core Class in Home-Scale Whole Systems Design, Ecological Planning, Design and Construction

May 27 - 29, 2009 - Las Vegas, NV
National Green Builders Products Expo
Join the National Green Builders Products Expo in the #1 trade show destination city in the world...LAS VEGAS!

May 28 - 29, 2009 - Austin, Texas
Corporate Sustainability Summit
Learn How Sustainability is Revitalizing Financial Performance from The Best Minds in Business

May 30 - June 03, 2009 - Gerald, Missouri
Green Building - A Systems Approach

June

June 01 - August 14, 2009 - Warren, VT
Natural Building Intensive Course
Learn to design and build a complete, handcrafted structure of natural stone, straw, timber, and clay from start to finish!

June 03 - 05, 2009 - Seattle, Washington
17th National Conference on Building Commissioning

June 04 - 05, 2009 - Gerald, Missouri
Passive Solar Heating and Cooling

June 06, 2009 - Gerald, Missouri
Straw Bale Design and Construction

June 07, 2009 - Gerald, Missouri
Natural Plasters

June 07 - 12, 2009 - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA
34th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference
Highly technical conference for the solar industry organized by the IEEE.

June 09 - 11, 2009 - Montreal, QC CANADA
Shifting Into The Mainstream: CaGBC National Summit 2009
Shifting Into the Mainstream

June 10, 2009 - Long Beach, CA
27th West Coast Energy Management Congress
AEE is your source on energy efficiency, renewable energy, and carbon reduction strategies and offers certification, seminars, conferences, books, journals, and tradeshows.

June 13 - 14, 2009 - Gerald, Missouri
Natural Building

June 16 - 17, 2009 - New York , NY
Green BuildingsNY
Greener Buildings. Greener Planet. Greener Future.

June 17 - 19, 2009 - San Francisco, CA
PCBC 2009 - PCBC at 50 + the Multifamily Trends Conference

June 17 - 19, 2009 - Warren, VT
Course in Green Development Best Practices
A practical, step-by-step tour through the world of green planning, design, construction, sales and operations.

June 18 - 20, 2009 - Beijing, . China
The International Green Building Expo

June 21 - 26, 2009 - Vancouver, WA United States
The Summer Sustainability Series - Sustainability in the Urban Built Environment
Summer Sustainability Series - fast paced , 5-day, mobile symposium

June 27 - 28, 2009 - Warren, VT
Green Home Design Course

June 28 - July 03, 2009 - Warren, VT
Regenerative Home Design Course
Learn the principles of regenerative design thinking, and gain an understanding of how to design buildings that function like living organisms.

July

July 05 - 10, 2009 - Warren, VT
Course in Designing Ecological Intentional Communities
Learn how to organize and plan your own ecological intentional community.

July 16 - 19, 2009 - Indianapolis, IN
CONSTRUCT2009/The TFM Show/CSI Annual Convention
Comprehensive Educational and Trade Show for Building Professionals

July 18, 2009 - Berkeley, CA USA
Which Shade of Green?
Select the right products and projects for an energy-efficient and sustainable remodel.

July 19 - 24, 2009 - Warren, VT
Deconstruction and Materials Re-use Class
Learn how to salvage building materials safely and effectively for whole-house deconstruction projects for fun or profit.

July 26 - August 01, 2009 - Warren, VT
Reuse: Recycle Art & Architecture Class
Look at, discuss and explore hands-on examples of materials re-use and recycling in both art and architecture as ways to work creatively with materials.

August

August 01 - 02, 2009 - Warren, VT
Green Remodeling

August 08 - 09, 2009 - Warren, VT
Efficiency by Design Course
An introduction to the principles of heat loss, heat gain, insulation and health and energy effects of materials in building envelopes.

August 09 - 14, 2009 - Warren, VT
Green Roof Design and Installation Course
Learn how to design and build green roof systems!

August 15 - 16, 2009 - Warren, VT
Green Building Materials
Learn about environmental impact, life cycle assessment, and indoor air quality ramifications for materials used in nearly all aspects of the home.

August 23 - 28, 2009 - Warren, VT
Permaculture for Home and Garden
Learn about Permaculture ideas that can improve quality of life, simplify needs, and increase family time by cooperating with ecological processes to create abundance and diversity.

August 30 - September 18, 2009 - Warren, VT
Ecological Design in the Built Environment Class
Yestermorrow's Core Class in Home-Scale Whole Systems Design, Ecological Planning, Design and Construction

September

September 06 - 12, 2009 - Warren, VT
Introduction to Cob Building Class
Learn to build an affordable earthen home out of cob!

September 13 - 17, 2009 - Syracuse, New York USA
Healthy Buildings 2009

September 14 - 18, 2009 - Washington, DC
GREAT Expo 2009: Global Renewal Energy Advanced Technologies Expo & Summit

September 20 - October 02, 2009 - Warren, VT
Permaculture Design Certification
This course covers the core Permaculture Design curriculum including applications of Permaculture in diverse settings, and techniques for meeting human needs that harmonize with ecological patterns.

September 20 - 23, 2009 - Indianapolis, IN USA
Greening of the Campus Conference VIII: Embracing Change
Bridging the culture and practices that support the commitment of colleges and universities to education for sustainability.

September 22 - 24, 2009 - Indianapolis, IN USA
Laboratories for the 21st Century (Labs21®) 2009 Annual Conference
A gathering of leaders in sustainable laboratory design and operation

October

October 05 - 09, 2009 - Las, Vegas
WaterSmart '09 Convention
Five core workshops, enabling attendees to become fully Accredited GreenPlumbers in just one workweek.

October 22 - 25, 2009 - New Bedford, MA
Bioneers by the Bay: Connecting for Change
Fourth Annual Bioneers by the Bay Conference Tackles Environmental Sustainability Crisis with Global and Local Solutions

October 31 - November 03, 2009 - Orlando, FL United States
HEALTHCARE DESIGN.08
The HEALTHCARE DESIGN conference is devoted to how the DESIGN of responsibly built environments directly impacts the safety, operation, clinical outcomes, and financial success of healthcare facilities now and into the future.

November

November 08 - 09, 2009 - Warren, VT
Trees & Wood
We will look at the global distribution of forests and their importance, the physiology of trees and wood, and the habitat and nature of trees commonly utilized in construction, cabinetry, and furnituremaking.

move your cursor to save this timeline, just in case youre interesting.

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NYC Green Building Events

Tour: Bronx Library Center LEED NC Silver

• When: Tuesday, April 28 2009 05:00 PM - Tuesday, April 28 2009 07:00 PM
  (today, 13:55 hours.)
• Where: 310 East Kingsbridge Road (at Briggs Avenue) New York, NY 10458 Directions: Travel time from Union Square is 53 minutes. D, B train to Fordham Rd.; follow signs indicating exit to Grand Concourse and 188th St. On Grand Concourse walk north one bl
• Duration: 02:00 hours.
• Sponsoring Organization: USGBC
• More information: More information »
• The Bronx Library Center is the first publicly funded building in the five boroughs of New York City to receive LEED certification, and the first branch in the New York Public Library System to be LEED certified. Thus the Center builds on the rich architectural tradition of The New York Public Library, while setting a standard for the future. Join us to learn more about a public client’s perspective on benefits and challenges of sustainable design for public construction. Sustainable design was integral to developing an environmentally responsible, healthy building that is welcoming to the community and technologically advanced. Features include a high-performance curtain wall, high-efficiency lighting with stepped daylight dimming controls as well as occupancy and CO2 sensors. Learn how sustainable features are integrated in public buildings, how the building’s energy costs were reduced from those of a standard code compliant building by more than 20%, and about the operational and regulatory issues specific to sustainable public projects. Tickets: $20 USGBC New York Members* $30 Non-Members

Transitioning into the Green Building Industry

• When: Tuesday, April 28 2009 06:00 PM - Tuesday, April 28 2009 07:30 PM
  (today, 14:55 hours.)
• Where: 217 Grand Street No 802 b/w Mott and Elizabeth St
• Duration: 01:30 hours.
• Sponsoring Organization: YRG sustainability
• More information:
• A panel discussion featuring representatives from: GreenOrder • Ateiler Ten • Studio Mapos • YRG Designed to help those interested in transitioning into the Green Building Industry understand the industry and what expertise is most valuable to local firms. The panel will answer questions as well as direct participants to the best ways to prepare for entering the industry. This event is free and open to the first 25 people who rsvp to lbenson@yrgsustainability.com

Master Class in Sustainable Design: Carolyn Steel

• When: Friday, May 01 2009 11:45 AM - Friday, May 01 2009 01:30 PM
  (in 3 days and 08:40 hours.)
• Where: Haworth Showroom 125 Park Avenue (please enter on 42nd street) New York, NY 10017
• Duration: 01:45 hours.
• Sponsoring Organization: USGBC, Hosted by Haworth Showroom
• More information: More information »
• Join us for a presentation of the career of London-based Architect Carolyn Steel, including the recent publication of her groundbreaking book, Hungry City: How Food Shapes Our Lives. Carolyn is an architect, lecturer and writer whose 20 years experience combines practice with teaching and research in urban design, breaking down traditional barriers between disciplines. A director of Cullum and Nightingale Architects, she was a Rome Scholar, has written for the architectural press, and has presented on the BBC’s “One Foot in the Past”. Her lecture course at Cambridge University, “Food and the City” is an established part of the Architecture degree program. Carolyn’s book, Hungry City, examines the development of cities through food. The book describes the organic life-cycles of cities, following food's journey from farm to table to waste and back, and asks how a new approach to the urban food network can improve the design of urban places. Carolyn examines the way in which modern food production has damaged the balance of human ecology, and reveals that we have yet to resolve a centuries-old dilemma one which holds the key to a host of current problems, from obesity and the inexorable rise of the supermarkets, to the destruction of the natural world. She shows how our lives and our environment are being impacted by contemporary food systems but explains how we can change things for the better. Carolyn will explore the impact sustainability has had on her multi-faceted career and what the future holds for those committed to greener, healthier communities. Tickets: $10 AIA HSW/SD: 1.0 Registration: 11:45am Lunch: 12:00pm Presentation 12:30 - 1:30pm

Weathering the Storm: Design firms are invited to a brainstorming session on sharing resources and cutting costs

• When: Tuesday, May 05 2009 08:30 AM - Tuesday, May 05 2009 10:00 AM
  (in 7 days and 05:25 hours.)
• Where: 200 Park Avenue New York, NY 10166 United States
• Duration: 01:30 hours.
• Sponsoring Organization: USGBC, Bovis Lend lease
• More information: More information »
• During this period of economic turmoil, “sustainability” has taken on new meaning. Many in the design community are looking for ways to share information, pool resources, and cut costs. One new resource is Exchange Point, a website where design firms can post and search for temporary staffing, desk space, collaboration opportunities, and more. We invite representatives of design firms to an open forum to further explore these and other ways to sustain and strengthen the green building community. Co-sponsored by USGBC New York, AIA NY, ASHRAE New York Chapter, and The Architect’s Newspaper. Attendance is limited to one representative from each design firm. Space is limited, please RSVP

Green Roofs, Alternative Energy, and Your Business

• When: Tuesday, May 05 2009 05:00 PM - Tuesday, May 05 2009 06:30 PM
  (in 7 days and 13:55 hours.)
• Where: Sustainable NYC, 139 Avenue A (between 8th & 9th)
• Duration: 01:30 hours.
• Sponsoring Organization: Sustainable NYC
• More information: More information »
• If your business wants save on energy costs, increase marketability of your building, gain aesthetic appeal, increase roof life span, insulate your building from sound, reduce storm water runoff and more then come to this introductory workshop on Green Roofs and alternative energy. This workshop will teach you about what a Green Roof is and how your business and your community can benefit from it (including economic benefits and incentives). Green Roof experts will show you examples of Green Roofs and discuss how they are installed. Furthermore, experts on alternative energy option in NYC will help you reduce energy bills and your businesses overall emissions.

1st Wednesday Technical Roundtable: Building Integrated Wind Power

• When: Wednesday, May 06 2009 08:00 AM - Wednesday, May 06 2009 09:00 AM
  (in 8 days and 04:55 hours.)
• Where: 200 Park Avenue, 9th Floor (Met Life Building; enter through Grand Central Terminal's main concourse) New York, NY 10166
• Duration: 01:00 hours.
• Sponsoring Organization: USGBC
• More information: More information »
• AIA Continuing Education Credit: HSW/SD 1.0 Join us for an up-to-date discussion of wind energy theory, wind resources, turbine types and sizes, siting and other practical considerations. Attendees will leave with a solid understanding of the benefits and constraints of wind energy in an urban environment. In cities where space for photovoltaic systems is limited, wind power is often a more feasible, effective option. The presentation will focus on systems currently entering the market, and on the widespread uncertainty regarding their performance. The conditions of building mounted turbines as distinct from those of stand-alone turbines will also be discussed. Fluctuations in fossil fuel prices, and planning pressure to provide on-site renewable energy are key incentives to explore the potential of building integrated wind power. New York's quest to produce clean power, highlighted by Mayor Bloomberg at the Las Vegas Clean Energy Summit last August, is a prime example of this. Panelists will explore all these issues and more, and field audience questions. Speakers: Adam Friedberg, Arup (Please check link for updates on speakers) Tickets: $15 USGBC New York Members* $25 Non-Members

Sustainability: The Exit Strategy-Small, local, open and connected An Evening with Ezio Manzini

• When: Wednesday, May 06 2009 06:00 PM - Wednesday, May 06 2009 08:00 PM
  (in 8 days and 14:55 hours.)
• Where: The Cherry Lane Theater 38 Commerce Street West Village, NY City
• Duration: 02:00 hours.
• Sponsoring Organization: o2 NYC
• More information: More information »
• Whether you've been tirelessly working away on sustainable design strategies for years, or have only recently joined the movement, you must be wondering, what do we do NOW? Design for positive social and environmental impact - let's admit it - it is easier said than done, even when the economy was booming, and the demand for shiny green things was on the rise. The more we seemed to dig deeper and learn about the environmental and social consequences of design, the more we struggled with the moral quandaries built into our systems of production and consumption. Sure, we could do better, but would better get us to where we need to go? Now that the global economy is on the precipice, can we rethink and reframe our goals? What IS our exit strategy? Ezio Manzini, author of Sustainable Everyday, Professor in Industrial Design at the Politecnico di Milano, and founder of o2 Italy, will join us for an evening conversation. Ezio has been on the journey towards sustainable design for over 20 years, and has noticed a growing trend to move beyond first measures of eco-efficiency, to seek larger vision of sustainability. Ezio will share his current vision for sustainability, to define our exit strategy as a community of designers: "Research on eco-efficiency has been successful, but has not improved the overall picture. Current products and services, taken one by one, use far less energy and materials than those of some decades ago. However, no indicator of aggregate consumption indicates a decrease: even in countries where research on eco-efficiency has been most successful. Overall consumption of environmental resources continues to grow. This clearly tells us that increasing improvements in the current system are not enough. The transition towards sustainability requires a systemic change. It is not a question of doing what we already do better. It is a question of doing different things in completely different ways. There is an emerging demand for visions of sustainability. This requires scenarios to show that is possible to move form the “less of the same” perspective to the “better and different” one. That is, the one where is proved that there are feasible, socially acceptable, even attractive, alternatives on different scales for various aspects of people’s lives. Where will this vision come from? The emerging features, as the cases of socio-technical innovation on which they are based, are characterized by four keywords: small, local, open and connected. We know that these same keywords are characterizing the contemporary society, when we look at it as a network society. To do that the role of the design community (can be crucial to feed the social learning process with the needed design knowledge: new scenarios (on sustainable ways of being and doing) and specific design contributions (to the development of viable solutions)." - Ezio Manzini

Brooklyn Green Buildings Tour by bike

• When: Saturday, May 09 2009 09:00 AM - Saturday, May 09 2009 04:00 PM
  (in 11 days and 05:55 hours.)
• Where: Details and exact times will be sent after you register.
• Duration: 07:00 hours.
• Sponsoring Organization: GreenHomeNYC
• More information: More information »
• In its seventh annual tour, GreenHomeNYC offers the public a unique glimpse at the inner workings and design details comprising exemplar Green buildings in Brooklyn and the Bronx. Guests on the tours will be hosted by the dedicated sustainability practitioners of these buildings, such as their expert architects, LEED APs, developers, engineers and owners. Learn about the challenges and accomplishments that were faced by the professionals involved with these commercial and residential buildings. Tour #1: Brooklyn Bicycle Tour Eco Brooklyn Show House - 22 2nd Street, Brooklyn Poly Prep Lower School - 50 Prospect Park West, Brooklyn Green on Dean - 357 Dean Street, Brooklyn 3rd and Bond - 111 3rd Street, Brooklyn Registration coming soon.

Bronx Green Buildings Tour

• When: Saturday, May 09 2009 09:00 AM - Saturday, May 09 2009 04:00 PM
  (in 11 days and 05:55 hours.)
• Where: Details will be sent after you register.
• Duration: 07:00 hours.
• Sponsoring Organization: GreenHomeNYC
• More information: More information »
• In its seventh annual tour, GreenHomeNYC offers the public a unique glimpse at the inner workings and design details comprising exemplar Green buildings in Brooklyn and the Bronx. Guests on the tours will be hosted by the dedicated sustainability practitioners of these buildings, such as their expert architects, LEED APs, developers, engineers and owners. Learn about the challenges and accomplishments that were faced by the professionals involved with these commercial and residential buildings. Tour #3: Bronx Bus Tour El Jardin – 754 Melrose Ave, The Bronx Rebuilder’s Source – 461 Timpson Place, The Bronx Globus Cork – 741 E. 136th Street, The Bronx Green Decatur - 2668 Decatur Ave, The Bronx Bronx Library Center – 310 East Kingsbridge Road, The Bronx

Brooklyn Green Buildings Tour

• When: Saturday, May 09 2009 09:00 AM - Saturday, May 09 2009 04:00 PM
  (in 11 days and 05:55 hours.)
• Where: Details will be sent after you register.
• Duration: 07:00 hours.
• Sponsoring Organization: GreenHomeNYC
• More information: More information »
• In its seventh annual tour, GreenHomeNYC offers the public a unique glimpse at the inner workings and design details comprising exemplar Green buildings in Brooklyn and the Bronx. Guests on the tours will be hosted by the dedicated sustainability practitioners of these buildings, such as their expert architects, LEED APs, developers, engineers and owners. Learn about the challenges and accomplishments that were faced by the professionals involved with these commercial and residential buildings. Tour #2: Brooklyn Bus Tour Atlantic Terrace – 669 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn 439 Metropolitan Ave – 429 Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn Queen’s Botanical Gardens Visitor Center – 43-50 Main Street, Queens Sterling Green – 580 Sterling Place, Brooklyn

High Performance Green Building Salon: Designing the Wind

• When: Thursday, May 14 2009 06:00 PM - Thursday, May 14 2009 08:00 PM
  (in 16 days and 14:55 hours.)
• Where: 76 Ninth Avenue, 11th Floor New York, NY 10111
• Duration: 02:00 hours.
• Sponsoring Organization: USGBC
• More information: More information »
• Just think of all those New York spring days when you’d love to open a window and get some fresh air. Maybe it will be a little noisy, maybe some papers will fly, maybe some dust will come in, but you will feel the warm breeze and be glad winter is over. Natural ventilation is an essential element to green buildings. But good airflow design doesn’t just come from having functional windows. Buildings need to be designed with careful consideration to ceiling heights, façade details, thermal mass, and opportunities for cross-ventilation. As architects and designers, we know how difficult it is to properly facilitate this simple, age old tradition, but how easy it is to enjoy. Join us for a wide-ranging discussion about designing buildings based on airflow and natural ventilation. Drinks and presentation followed by Q&A. Presenters: Matt Herman, Buro-Happold Engineers (Please check link for additional speakers) 6:00pm: Drinks 6:30 to 7:30pm: Presentation 7:30 to 8:00pm: Q&A Tickets $10 USGBC New York Members* $15 Non-members

GreenBuildingsNY

• When: Tuesday, June 16 2009 12:00 AM - Wednesday, June 17 2009 12:00 AM
  (All-day event!)
• Where: Jacob K Javits Convention Center
• Duration: All-day event!
• Sponsoring Organization: Reed Exhibits
• More information: More information »
• Green is red hot. GreenBuildingsNY, the only New York Metro area event focused on green and sustainable products for the building and design community, provides the best tools, resources and education to green up your buildings and your business. An easy-to-access and competitive source for local and national green building products and services, GreenBuildingsNY is an architects, developers engineers and builders best one-stop-shop for:

      * Low-impact building materials
   * Architectural salvage and reclaimed materials
   * Structural
   * HVAC
   * Energy conservation and regeneration
  

The Amazing Green Race of NYC

• When: Sunday, October 18 2009 12:00 AM -
  (in 172 days and 20:55 hours.)
• Where: Lower Manhattan
• Duration: No duration!
• Sponsoring Organization: TBA
• More information:
• Coming Soon

Read more!

WHY SHOULD WE USE WATER WISELY?
Four things are conspiring to make fresh water one of the most
valuable commodities in the twenty-first century:
1 increasing world populations;
2 climate change;
3 man’s ever increasing interference with the natural flow of
water;
4 pollution.
In 1990 the World Health Organization estimated that 1230 million
people did not have access to adequate drinking water. By 2000
this figure was estimated to have risen by 900 million people. Add
to this already chronic problem the devastating impacts of climate
change and the results can be catastrophic, even in the most
developed countries in the world. On top of these issues comes
another: the increasing household demand for water around the
world. In England and Wales alone household water use is
predicted to increase by 10–20 per cent between 1990 and 2021
under a medium-growth scenario without climate change. Per
capita demand for domestic water is predicted to rise owing to
the projected increase in use of dishwashers and other domestic
appliances, with a further increase of 4 per cent with climate
change owing to higher use of personal showers and garden
watering. Demand for spray irrigation of crops in Britain is
predicted to rise by 115 per cent with climate change between
1990 and 2021, with most irrigation water taken from rivers and
groundwater.
This increasing demand for water can be met either by increasing
the capacity of supply (e.g. by building new reservoirs), by
reducing the consumption of water or by re-using water where we
can.
WATER CONSERVATION
Water conservation becomes increasingly important as demand for
water increases and shortfalls in supply occur. A number of water
conservation measures can be used in the home with little impact
on the every day lives of householders. These can involve the
following.
Flow restrictors
Flow restrictors are readily available and can be fitted to many
appliances, but their use has to be appropriate. Where taps can be
left open by careless users and where items are washed under
running water they are a cheap way of reducing water wastage.
However, a more effective but more expensive solution would be
to install taps operated by proximity sensors.
Showers
The average amount of water used by a conventional shower is
approximately 30 l, whilst a bath requires about 80 l. Initially, it
appears that showering is more energy and water efficient, but the
fact is that households with showers use them more frequently
than households without showers use their baths. Also, pumped
and multihead showers are not so water efficient as conventional
showers. Real savings can be made if you choose your products
wisely.
Conventional showerheads can discharge water at between 0.3
and 0.5 l s–1. Low-flow showerheads can reduce this to below
0.2 l s–1 depending on the supply pressure. Research conducted in
the USA has shown that the use of low-flow showerheads can
save approximately 27 l per day per person (for a person who
mainly showers rather than takes baths). This equates to an energy
saving in hot water of 444 kWh per person per year for water
heated by gas (or 388 kWh for water heated by electricity). The
cheaper alternative to low-flow showerheads is to fit a flow restrictor
to the supply to an existing showerhead, although this may
increase the showering time.
WCs
WC cistern water displacement devices are available in all
countries, albeit only a stone or brick in some cases. More imaginative
in the UK, with a typical flush of 6–9 l, is the use of the
plastic bags, ‘Hippo’ and yellow sponges, ‘Soggy Doggy’, thathave been distributed free by water companies to encourage
their customers to conserve water. These devices either
displace or retain water within the WC cistern to reduce the
volume of water that is flushed. Water displacement devices
such as dams and bags are very popular in the USA where
cisterns are generally much larger and less cluttered than UK
cisterns. This is because American cisterns have traditionally
flushed over 15 l of water using compact cistern outlet valves:
‘flappers’. Unfortunately it has been found that some displacement
devices may actually increase the flushing volume if they
are fitted such that they obstruct the flush volume limiting
aperture in a siphon. If the entire volume of water in the cistern
is necessary to clear the WC pan, a reduced flush volume may
not be effective, resulting in the repeated flushing of the cistern
and hence an increase in the amount of water used, rather than
a decrease.
WCs can be flushed with water using compressed air assistance.
Some such cisterns use the pressure of the mains water
supply to compress a volume of air above the stored water. When
the water is released into the bowl it has a much greater velocity
than from a conventional gravity-operated cistern. These products
are used in parts of France and the USA. To be used efficiently
these cisterns need to be matched to WC pans that can use the
higher velocity water effectively. Another type of water and
compressed air toilet uses water to rinse the bowl and
compressed air to evacuate the contents. This type is used in
many types of building in the USA.
Composting toilets
Composting toilets use no water for flushing. In its domestic
form this toilet is usually electrically powered, heating the waste
material to enable composting action to occur. The major
problem with this type of toilet is its size; the smallest domestic
model is about twice the size of a conventional WC suite.
Large (greater than 15 m3) composting toilets do not usually
require the external input of energy for the process, as the
aerobic decomposition is sufficiently exothermic to be selfsustaining.
Large composting toilets may be environmentally
acceptable as they consume only a small volume of water,
require no drainage pipe work and produce compost that can be
used in the garden. However, the questions of adequate hand
washing facilities if there is no available water supply and the
safety of children using toilets with open chutes needs to be
considered.

Waterless toilets
Waterless toilets that do not compost the waste usually require
electricity to operate. Packaging toilets seal the waste into continuous
plastic sacks that require subsequent disposal. Incinerating
toilets burn the waste to produce a sterile ash that can be disposed
of in a garden.
Urinal flushing cistern controllers
Urinal flushing cistern controllers have been widely used in the UK
for some time. Water Byelaws for such appliances have to be
checked for each area. In the UK such Byelaws state the maximum
rate at which cisterns may be filled. Since 1989 new cisterns are
required to be refilled only when the urinal is in use. There are
various methods of sensing use and operation. Some use changes
in water pressure to identify operation of taps and therefore, by
association, the use of urinals; others use passive infrared (PIR)
detectors to detect movement of persons in the room; some
sense the temperature of urine in the urinal traps; and many use
various forms of proximity detector. The essence of these devices
is they all obviate the flushing of urinals when the premises are
not being used and are usually an improvement over the use of
the traditional ‘pet-cock’ that has to be set to drip water at the
required rate into the cistern.
Waterless urinals
Waterless urinals are being increasingly used in the UK. Most
modern designs feature some form of odour suppressant that
requires regular renewal. Claims for large water and maintenance
savings are made about these devices but the pipe work must be
installed and maintained correctly if prolonged service life is to be
achieved. An incinerating urinal is available from the USA, which
produces small volumes of ash. However, at a cost of over £1000
considerable water has to be saved to make it economically viable.
Controls
The use of an occupancy detector to isolate the water supply to a
washroom when unoccupied is another application of PIR technology.
This can minimize the waste in urinal flushing and that caused
by taps being left open. Automatic leak detectors are becoming
increasingly available in the UK. These devices are fitted into the
incoming mains and close when a leak is detected, preventing boththe waste of water and damage to property. Some operate by
sensing a high flow rate and others use conductivity detectors to
activate valves. Automatic closure taps can produce water savings
in commercial and public buildings where there is a risk of taps
being left open accidentally.
Domestic appliances
Presently, 85 per cent of households in the UK possess a washing
machine and 10 per cent a dishwasher. Together, these consume
about 12 per cent of domestic drinking water. The ownership of
these previously luxury goods is increasing. Water Byelaws govern
the maximum permissible volume of water used for a wash:
between 150 and 180 l for a washing machine (depending on drum
size) and about 196 l for an average dishwasher. Modern highefficiency
washing machines use far less water than this and an
AEG washing machine uses as little as 68 l of water for a 5 kg fill
and only 1.4 kWh for a hot and cold fill. This is around one-third of
the water used in a conventional machine. The Oxford Ecohouse
dishwasher is another AEG machine that uses only 15 l of water
and 1.2 kWh electricity for a 50°C biowash cycle. That is less than
one-tenth of a conventional machine.
WASTEWATER SYSTEMS
Wastewater is used water. Wastewater may contain substances
such as human waste, food scraps, oils, soaps and chemicals. In
houses, wastewater can include the water from sinks, showers,
bathtubs, toilets, washing machines and dishwashers.
Businesses and industries also use water for a wide variety of
other purposes.
Wastewater can include stormwater (rainfall) runoff. Although
many people assume that stormwater runoff is clean, it isn’t.
Contaminants such as hydrocarbons wash off urban surfaces such
as roadways, parking lots and rooftops and can harm our rivers,
lakes and marine waters.
We also waste water when we don’t use it wisely. For instance,
when we fill a glass of water to drink, we may run the water to
make sure it’s cold. It is perfectly clean but once it disappears
down the drain it mixes with sewage and polluted water from other
households, businesses and industries.
When we pull the plug in the bathtub or flush the toilet, few of
us give much thought to where the wastewater is going but wastewater
doesn’t just disappear when it leaves our homes and
businesses. There are three types of sewer systems:
1 sanitary sewers carry wastewater from sinks, toilets, tubs and
industry;
2 storm sewers carry runoff from rainfall, called stormwater;
3 combined sewers carry wastewater and stormwater through the
same pipe.
Together, these form our wastewater collection system.
• In the USA each day, the average person produces about
220–450 l of wastewater. That’s enough to completely fill a
bathtub two times.
• We all produce sludge. An adult is responsible for about 32 kg
per year.
• If everyone installed water-saving toilets and showerheads, we
could substantially reduce domestic water consumption.
• Each day, in the USA the average person uses 260 l of water
for domestic purposes. That’s about 7 million l of water in a
lifetime.
• A leaky tap will waste in excess of 90 l of water each day.
KEY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GREY WATER AND BLACK WATER
1 Grey water contains only one-tenth of the nitrogen of black
water. Nitrogen (as nitrite and nitrate) is the most serious and
difficult-to-remove pollutant affecting our potential drinking water.
As grey water contains far less nitrogen, it is unnecessary for it
to undergo the same treatment process as black water.
2 The medical and health professionals view black water as the
most significant source of human pathogens. Organisms that
threaten human health do not grow outside of the body (unless
incubated) but are capable of surviving especially if hosted in
human faeces. Separating grey water from black water
dramatically reduces the danger posed by such pathogens
because, in grey water the faeces that carry (and may
encapsulate) them are largely absent. However, other bacteria
are present in grey water and can cause rapid growth of any
faecal contamination present in pipes and septic systems. Care
must be taken to ensure that both grey and black water travel
rapidly through the pipes in buildings and that there are no
points in the system where they can stagnate.
3 The organic content typical of grey water decomposes much
faster than the content typical of black water. The amount of
oxygen required for the decomposition of the organic content in
grey water during the first 5 days (Biological Oxygen Demand
over 5 days or BOD5) constitutes 90 per cent of the total or
Ultimate Oxygen Demand (UOD) required for complete
decomposition. BOD5 for black water is only 40 per cent of the
oxygen required. BOD1 for grey water is around 40 per cent ofthe UOD; BOD1 for black water is only 8 per cent of the UOD.
This means that the decomposing matter in black water will
continue to consume oxygen far longer and further away from
the point of discharge than it will in grey water. This faster rate
of stabilization for grey water is advantageous for the prevention
of water pollution as the impact of grey-water discharge generally
does not travel as far from the point of discharge when
combined with wastewaters. This is especially true for sand and
soil infiltration systems. As grey and black waters are so different
it is better to separate them and, more specifically, to keep urine
and faeces out of the water altogether and to treat them
separately for the best protection of health and the environment.
Doing so also has significant savings for homeowners.

Read more!

Green Architecture spirit-
environmental classification systems can often be
conceived within a closed loop which accepts current levels of consumption of synthetic materials.
Economic growth requires more and more buildings and raw materials but this can be challenged by the
development of interest in the use of natural materials that are fully renewable with only limited amounts of
manufacturing and processing. A good example of such a natural material is Hemp.23 Hemp is a fibrous
material which can be grown in the fields with a minimal amount of fertiliser and no need for pesticides. It
grows very quickly to enormous heights and the resulting crop can be used in many ways. Oil can be
extracted which has a variety of therapeutic uses, even ice cream can be made from hemp. The fibre can be
spun into material for high quality clothes and at one time was the principle material for rope making. The
left over hurds or straw can be used in building construction and fibres combined with cement or lime. Such
a natural material is infinitely renewable and has no known toxic or polluting effect on the environment.
There is no waste and the energy consumed in planting and harvesting is minimal. If we could makebuildings using such materials we can significantly reduce the use of synthetic materials such as cement and
plastics and metals.
Of course the ubiquitous renewable material is timber, but it takes a long time to grow and thus requires
careful management. Hemp and other forms of straw and reeds grow much more quickly. Bamboo is
another material which has similar properties and uses to timber but regenerates and grows much more
quickly. Innovative buildings from bamboo have been developed in various parts of the world.24 It is also
possible to use earth as a building material, but unlike fired bricks or tiles, which require a lot of energy and
processing, earth can be used as it is dug up on site. We can thus imagine the possibility of creating
buildings which are largely composed of materials which are both natural in origin, locally sourced and
resulting in zero or nearly zero emissions. While the use of such materials may seem impractical at present,
the idea has to be seen as a challenge to anyone interested in green building.25
How can we argue that a building is green and environmentally friendly when it is still composed of
materials which have required a lot of energy, processing, waste disposal and transportation to get it into
place? Thus in the future we are likely to see far more discussion of the use of zero emission and natural
materials or at least their incorporation into more conventional buildings. The use of such materials,
particularly hemp and lime, bamboo and earth construction are likely to be subjects for future issues of the
Green Building Digest. Strawbale construction is dealt with in this book and is the best known example of
using a zero emission, fully renewable, virtually waste product as a replacement for materials such as
concrete blocks, giving very high levels of insulation.

What is Straw?
It is a natural raw material, the by-product of the harvesting of wheat, rice, barley, oats and rye. Straw also
comes from maize, millet, sorghum and hemp and other forms of crop such as sugar. Over 750 million
tonnes of straw are produced worldwide annually. About 60% of straw is baled with the rest ploughed in.
Of 17,000,000 hectares of farmland, 3,353,108 are devoted to cereal crops in the UK with nearly 2 million
devoted to wheat (1996). Between 2.75 and 3.5 tonnes of straw are produced per hectare, suggesting 10
million tonnes of straw are produced in the UK annually.6
At one stage straw came to be regarded as little more than an embarrassing companion to the grain crop.7
However straw is not necessarily a waste material. In organic farming straw is very important and it is the
emphasis on petrochemicals and artificial fertilisers that have reduced the need for straw. One authority
argues that the energy contained in straw is twice as great as the farm’s fossil fuel consumption,8 so it is
clearly important to make good use of this embodied energy. Straw has many uses; as a fuel for heating, for
paper and packaging, as a food, though it needs a lot of treatment for this. It was used in straw boards
(Stramit) and traditional mixed with earth for cob and pise construction.9
It is not right, therefore to call straw a waste material and as there are moves towards more organic
farming it will be used more as animal litter and thus as part of compost making. It can be ploughed back
into the soil. A great deal of straw is also used in mushroom farming. However the use of straw bales for
building in the short term is not likely to make a big dent in the supply.


Different kinds of straw?
Most forms of crop straw are suitable for building when baled. There are different strengths of stem, with
wheat possibly being stronger, but there can be great variations depending on weather, soil, levels of
fertiliser, growing time etc. As standards of straw bale building are established, such issues may become
important, but, the density and moisture content of the bales is more important than the type of straw used.
However not all straw is necessarily suitable, for instance there has been some experimentation with the use
ofHemp straw, but anecdotal evidence suggests that hemp is very tough and difficult to use with bale wall
techniques.10
Normally two string straw bales cost around £1–£2, but larger three string bales cost more. The large
round bales which are increasingly seen are of no use, but straw bale enthusiasts might consider acquiring,
borrowing or hiring a baling machine and re-baling straw obtained from whatever source. Often bales which
are normally produced by farmers in the field are not ideal for construction as they are too loosely baled. It is essential that straw is used for construction and not hay. Hay bales are made from plant material that
is green/ alive and not suitable for this application.11 However there are apparently buildings made of hay
bales in the USA and many people confuse the two referring to hay when they mean straw.

Read more!

ECOFEATURES
• Orientation and plan • Thermal mass • Winter solar heating • Summer cooling
• xeriscape
DESCRIPTION/BRIEF/CONCEPT
The Meir House is located in the first solar neighbourhood in Israel, Newe Zin, and
was designed as a prototype towards creating an energy-conserving urban buildingcode. It combines external insulation and internal thermal mass with open plan.
Through QUICK simulation prior to construction and monitoring post-construction,
the Meir House proves the success of an integrative approach to the design of a bioclimatic
desert house.
ECOFEATURES EXPLAINED
Orientation and plan
Considering the site’s geometry and climatic constraints, among them solar angles, air
temperatures and wind directions, the log axis of the house is east–West, with four
bedrooms and the living room to the south. The ground floor is exposed in all fourdirections. The kitchen, baths and laundry room are located at the northern part of the
plan and the garage serves as a western buffer. All spaces, excluding the garage, are a
single thermal zone. The house also includes a number of verandas and balconies
facing in different directions. Main fenestration is placed to the south, with smaller
openings to the north for cross-ventilation. However, all rooms have openings in two
directions to ensure appropriate ventilation. There are only a few, small, recessed
openings in the west façade. The second floor is exposed in all four directions.
Winds are north and northwesterly in the early noon and evening hours, whereas
at night and early morning they may turn northeast by southeast. Average maximum
windspeeds range between 40kmh1 in winter and 30kmh1 in summer. The environmentally
responsive open plan layout proved to be successful as far as heat transfer
and circulation are concerned.
Another advantage that the Meir House integrates with its form is weatherprotected
adjacent open spaces. The south and north verandas and the southeastern
balcony are protected from wind by the mass of the building to the north and west
and by the garden wall to the west. These spaces are shaded partly by overhangs,
partly by deciduous plants (such as vines and Prosopis), and partly by pergolas with
agricultural shading fabric that has a 75 per cent shading coefficient.
Thermal mass
The wide diurnal temperature fluctuations characteristics of the Negev Desert climate
dictate the use of thermal mass, both for internal temperature damping and for
energy storage. Based on simulation results, the construction optimises thermal performance
by using medium-weight exterior walls and heavy-weight interior vertical
and horizontal partitions. The exterior walls are 250 mm cellular concrete (YTONG)
blocks, painted with a high reflectivity ochre-coloured paint. The low conductivity
(0.2Wm1 C) of the YTONG blocks eliminates the need for traditional sandwich wall
sections or external insulation that demands precise construction. Floors are reinforced
concrete poured in place. The roof is cast reinforced concrete, covered by extruded
polystyrene, aerated sloped cement and waterproofing.

Climatic conditions and termites exclude the option of
wooden frames for windows and doors. Aluminium
frames encase double glazing for acoustical considerations
and are fitted with mosquito screens. To further
reduce solar gains in the summer, external aluminium
rolling shutters filled with insulation (expanded
polyurethane) and interior venetian horizontal and vertical
blinds are fitted.
Winter solar heating and solar water heating
Approximately 24m2 (30 per cent of the south façade or
approximately 14.5 per cent of the total floor area) and
8m2 of the east façada is glass, achieving a passive
approach to heating the house. The addition of a collapsible
greenhouse (2.25m2) on the balcony, made of
polycarbonate sheeting recovered from a dismantled
agricultural greenhouse, yielded winter temperatures of
35–36°C during the afternoon (while the ambient temperature
was 14–15°C) increasing the room temperatures
by 1–2°C with the help of a small fan that pushes
the air into the living spaces. Through passive designs,
orientation, thermal mass and the collapsible greenhouse, savings of almost 90 per
cent on electric back-up bought from the utility company were realised, compared
with a typical electrically heated house in the Negev Desert climate. The Meir House
includes solar water heating using a high-efficiency solar collector (7000 kcal for a
1.5m2 collection area) and 150 litre water heater.

Type Heat only, excluding Unit cost (NIS) Cost of electric (NIS)
bathrooms (kWh m2 a1)
Meir House 5.5 0.25kWh 250.00
Typical house 72.2 0.25kWh 3250.00
Savings 66.7 3000.00
Savings are US$750.

Summer cooling and stack ventilation
Although the higher windows provide solar access to the
northern parts of the plan (necessary in the winter), the different
height of spaces and operability enhance stack ventilation
and exhaust hot air from the upper strata (during the summer).
North- and south-facing windows enable cross-ventilation during
summer nights, when outside temperatures are below
thermal comfort. Mesh screens play a definitive role by cutting
windspeed down to 20–25 per cent of external windspeeds,
but these screens are a necessity, keeping out pests and
insects.
Xeriscape
An intense post-occupancy project was carried out to reduce
by landscaping the amount of wind-driven dust. By laying
stone paving, pebble ground covering, and planting drought
and salinity-resistant plants, airborne dust is trapped and kept on the ground. Plants are drip-irrigated by a computer, providing a relative humidity
sensor by-pass to the automatic operation mode.
LESSONS LEARNED/PITFALLS
Initially a ceiling fan installed over the two-storey living area was thought adequate to
create air movement when windows remained sealed at times when ambient temperatures
were greater than interior temperatures. This proved insufficient owing to
the large volume and complex geometry of the space. To correct this, a smaller fan
was added on the ground floor to supplement circulation. The open plan has proved
very efficient as a strategy for the creation of a thermally uniform house, but has
drawbacks regarding acoustics, privacy and smells transferred from the kitchen.


Architect:
Isaac A. Meir, 1992–1994
Owners:
Orna and Isaac Meir with their three
children
Location:
Sede Boqer Campus, Negev Desert
Highlands, Israel; 30°N, 34°E; 470m
above sea level
Climate:
Arid, with hot and dry summers; cold
winters; 1017 degree days per year
Area:
208m2

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