Building Capacity

Continuous Air Barriers in Multi-family Buildings

Alistair Jackson, CSBA and LEED for Homes QAD discusses a recent development in multi-family building performance.

With the implementation of the Washington State Energy Code of 2009 came the requirements (Section 1314.6) that multi-family buildings in Washington State include a continuous air barrier in the building envelope and, more challengingly, test that envelope for infiltration performance.  Projects that chose to pursue certification under the LEED for Homes Midrise Pilot ran into a similar requirement in that program a year or more before the WSEC implementation and so got a head start on the process.

The value of a tight building envelope has been broadly accepted in the world of single family construction for several years, supported by sound building science, as an effective way to reduce space conditioning energy, improve thermal comfort and improve moisture management.

In multi-family buildings, this broad acceptance has not yet occurred.  Part of the reason for this is the common assumption that multi-family buildings are dominated more by internal loads than by envelope loads (because of the skin to volume ratio), so the thermal and air-exchange loads of the envelope have tended to take a back seat to mechanical conditioning, ventilation and lighting issues.  In reality, however, the taller form of these buildings leads to significant pressure differences from bottom to top that can drive much greater air exchange across the building envelope for a given surface due to stack effect.   This must be countered by larger mechanical systems to keep the building balanced and comfortable. 

By improving air barrier continuity and hence controlling the leakage through the envelope, we tip the first in a line of dominoes that topple, one by one, towards better overall building performance.

Generally speaking, there are two approaches to creating a continuous air barrier in a building envelope.  The more “conventional” approach, originating in single family construction and long supported by Energy Star, RESNET and others, is to use rigid, self-supporting components of the building assembly – such as sheathing, framing, gypsum board, – to form the air barrier, ensuring continuity by sealing them together with resilient and often flexible materials (glues, caulks, foams) to form an air tight box.  This is a reliable approach as long as the craftspeople assembling the building understand the intent of the details and install them carefully.

On the scale of a six story midrise building, however, with 300 residential units in it and multiple transitions between wall assembly types, across floor plates, and so forth, this approach can prove challenging to manage and implement.

More recently, the availability of high-performance building wraps or membranes, designed originally as weather resistive barriers, has led to the exploration of using these products to also serve as a continuous air barrier – we’ll call this an “exterior membrane air barrier” system.  Manufacturers are providing installation guidelines for their products as an “Air Barrier System” with additional details that go beyond weather barrier requirements – notably addressing sealing to the structure, sealing of lap seams and fastening systems. 

This “exterior membrane air barrier” approach is attracting a lot of attention among the current raft of multi-family projects pursuing LEED for Homes Midrise certification. We’ve seen systems using Vaproshield and Tyvek CommercialWrap D on recent project specifications. With many of these projects using a qualified envelope durability consultant, there’s good confidence of a successful implementation. 

To date, we have been cautious about this approach because we’ve seen, first hand, that efforts to properly seal lap seams between sheets and at openings can be challenging and that the typical, liberal application of regular staples to fasten the wrap to the sheathing results in an equally liberal distribution of torn perforations in the wrap rendering it useless as an air barrier.  Furthermore, some wrap products can degrade with prolonged exposure to sun and wind, resulting in reduced performance over the long term.

So adapting this material and system requires some changes in approach and in understanding of the intent.  As we have seen in the past with changes of construction practice, adoption follows the typical bell curve – early adopters jump in and figure it out, then practice percolates into the mainstream.  Both the rigid air barrier approach and the exterior membrane approach demand attention to detailing to be effective. What remains to be seen is how quickly the construction sector will build the capacity to properly implement the details to a standard that will deliver performance. 

The good news is that the addition of a performance testing requirement means we'll see real measurements of the effectiveness of this new approach.  Assuming that the market place can actually deliver the capacity for large building infiltration testing (another story) by the time these buildings are completed, we should get good empirical data on the various approaches to creating a continuous air barrier fairly quickly as buildings are completed.  I’m on the edge of my seat . . .

Alistair Jackson, CSBA is a Principal at O’Brien & Company. He was involved in the development of the original LEED for Homes Pilot Rating System and is, among other things, the Quality Assurance Designee (QAD) for O’Brien & Company’s role as LEED for Homes Provider. He is a strong advocate for market-led innovation and market transformation towards sustainability. He is also a father of two – and impatient for change towards a better future.

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Part 2: What’s The Story? Developing a Green Building Education Plan - Elizabeth Powers, LEED AP BD+C, CSBA Reports on Developing a Green Building Education Plan

This is Part 2 of a two- part blog. Before you read this blog, please take a moment to skim last week’s article (Part 1).

Now that you’ve got a good storyline for your green building education plan, let’s talk about how to put together an effective presentation and earn credit for it in LEED or other rating systems.

It is fundamental to good storytelling to know your audience. A building’s green building education program should be geared toward the audiences to which the building most directly relates or the groups of people that are most interested in stories about that type of building. There are usually two or three groups to target which will involve using different communication tools with different messages. Let’s look at two examples.

For a university campus academic building, the most direct audience is the faculty that teaches or works in the building and the students that take classes there. Communication tools with this group should be physically linked to working and learning in the building, like building signage, electronic kiosks, and visible sustainable design features. The messages can share what features were built into the building, the benefit of those features, and how they, as building users, can help keep the building green.

Other audiences include alumni and funders, potential students, and the nearby community. Communication with these groups is more likely through electronic media or one-time events like grand openings or potential student tours. The messages for alumni and funders can demonstrate responsible use of funds by reducing operating costs and how building features improve teaching and learning. Potential students (and their parents) are also concerned about costs, but more likely want to hear how green building supports a good education. The environmental stewardship message fundamental to green building will resonate with alumni, funders, students and the community.

For a residential apartment building, the obvious primary audience is building tenants. Good ways to reach this group are electronic kiosks or a display of building features in the lobby, an informational brochure provided on move in, and building newsletters. For prospective tenants, your green building message is a sales tool. You can use signage on sample green features in a leasing center or model unit, create a take-away brochure, and develop a tour script for use when walking prospects around the building. The message for current and prospective tenants is that the building is efficient, helping them save on rent and utilities, and is better for the environment than other apartment buildings. As any building, the education should also enable the tenants to live green in the building by explaining how to use, take care of, or benefit from green features, and providing additional ideas of activities they can engage in on their own. A good example is providing all new tenants a green cleaning kit upon move in that also points out the durable, easy to clean finishes used in the building.

A secondary audience for all buildings is the greater real estate, design, and construction community. This group is the audience most likely to be interested in how many LEED points the project received and how it was done. As this group is often responsible for developing green building education, a lot of what is produced is about the LEED story on the project. This can be a good story on a project, and the role of LEED should not be excluded from the story, but think carefully about what makes this LEED project unique from others and what elements of LEED the targeted audiences care about. A good way to reach out to the building industry audience is web based case studies and tours with local green building organizations. These industry case studies and tours can share detailed lessons learned about green design and construction practices and LEED documentation.

The process of identifying the audiences and communication tools for stories is a natural set-up for putting together a package that will earn a LEED Innovation point, meet the Living Building Challenge education imperative, or earn the Sustainable Sites Initiative credit. Let’s look specifically at the requirements for LEED.

To take advantage of the educational value of the green building features of a project and to earn a LEED point, any approach should be ACTIVELY instructional. Two of the following three elements must be included in the educational program:

• A comprehensive signage program built into the building's spaces to educate the occupants and visitors of the benefits of green buildings. This program may include windows to view energy saving mechanical equipment or signs to call attention to water-conserving landscape features.
• The development of a manual, guideline or case study to inform the design of the buildings based on the successes of this project. This manual will be made available to the USGBC for sharing with other projects.
• An educational outreach program or guided tour that focuses on sustainable living, using the project as an example.

 Following this structure, the first step is to decide if you will do a building signage program. This is probably the most durable and long lasting tool in your communications tool belt and can support a tour program as well. More engaging signage like window or “truth” walls, or electronic kiosks showing energy and water usage make a “signage” program one of the most effective education elements.    
In some cases, a signage program may not  make sense, as with buildings that have a very small audience or limited public access. In that case, a good approach is provide an overview sign next to the LEED plaque in the building lobby or put information from a case study on an electronic kiosk.

   A building case study does make sense for almost all projects, although there may be different versions distributed to different audiences. For the audience most likely to learn about the building on your organization’s website or marketing, use your storylines to organize and write the most effective case study for your that audience. [Example Left – BSCS] For sharing the technical details and lessons learned with the building industry, we recommend completing a project profile in the High Performance Buildings Database. This comprehensive resource is recommended and used by the USGBC and others to produce case studies and stories about green buildings. Its detailed structure is a great way to make sure you collect and organize all the green building information about the project.

The third option for the LEED innovation credit, an educational outreach or tour program, is a good place to leverage what you’ve already done in preparing signage and/case studies to do additional outreach. If you conduct a grand opening or LEED plaque event, distribute hard copies of the case study or make a brochure and do a building tour. Collaborate with local green building or industry organizations to provide another tour or two, or to do case study presentations, and you have the foundations of a educational outreach/tour program.  Round it out with an article in the local media, ongoing green building blurbs in a newsletter, or an annual tour.

The above elements can be combined in ways to best match your building’s purpose and audiences, whether it is hands-on with signage and tours, or more arms length with digital case studies, presentations, and newsletters. Whatever the method, remember that a green building education program is most effective and engaging when it tells a unique story that is compelling and appropriate for the audience(s) you are trying to reach.

Elizabeth Powers is Principal/Owner of O'Brien & Company, a mission-based firm in its 20th year focused on achieving sustainability in the built environment. Powers leads the green building consulting services team and is a regular contributor to the Building Capacity blog. O'Brien & Company publishes the blog as well as a monthly newsletter. For the most current edition of the newsletter, please see www.obrienandco.com/news-and-events/newsletters

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What’s The Story? Elizabeth Powers, LEED AP BD+C, CSBA Reports on Developing a Green Building Education Plan

LEED, the Living Building Challenge, the Sustainable Sites Initiative and other rating systems offer opportunities to earn credit for, or require, the development of a green building education plan. The intent of the credits is to inspire and educate others by sharing the feasibility and benefits of green building. Too often however, the materials produced to meet the letter of the requirements are just a litany of LEED credits or building features, without drawing any lessons or meaning from the accomplishments. Whether a project is doing green building education for credit or out of a desire to pass on lessons learned, and whether the program will be big and splashy, or simple and low-tech, it is worth taking moment to craft an effective and compelling education plan for your project. Not only will this actually accomplish the intent of the rating system requirements, it yields better results in getting press coverage, marketing your project, developing community support, fundraising and even gaining support from building occupants and users in keeping your building green.

The foundation of such a plan is a good story. Every project has unique characteristics, challenges, and accomplishments that can teach others important lessons about green building. O’Brien & Company has found that project teams often need a little guidance in finding the heart of their story and understanding the lessons of the project.

This article talks about developing a good story. Next week, the blog will address developing content and deciding on the types of educational media to use.

When tasked with developing a green building education plan, don’t start by looking at the LEED scorecard, instead, go back to the origins of the project. Pull out the eco-charrette report, owner’s project requirements (OPR), or other documents that defined the vision and goals for the project. Reflect back – what were you trying to accomplish on this project and how did it play out?

Try writing down the three most significant challenges or accomplishments of the project as the story lines. Ask yourself and your team - When did the project get stuck on accomplishing the goals, and how did you get beyond it? What green approach failed on the project and what did you learn from it? What will you always remember about this project? What green feature will you definitely incorporate on your next project? What are you most proud of when you drive by the completed project? You could do this with the project team and stakeholders as charrette-style brainstorming exercise and see what themes emerge. Then you can pull out the LEED scorecard as another lens to think about the unique story of your project.

The best stories may not be individual building features, but human stories that resulted from the project. Here are some examples of stories that still stand out for me from one of our earliest LEED projects, Merrill Hall by the Miller Hull Partnership. This project accomplished the following:

• A diverse community of stakeholders came together to seek alternative funding and enable the Center for Urban Horticulture to rise from the ashes of a fire (literally) and create a building that exemplified their mission of stewardship.
• The project inspired a student group to lobby for green building standards campus-wide, leading to adoption of a LEED requirement for capital projects.
• The design opened the space to the surrounding natural environment and created a great outdoor living room for more collaboration and education.

Do you feel your project is more boring than this? Think it won’t lead to wholesale change like Merrill Hall? Maybe, but there is still something to be learned. Here are some of the fun stories from the more mundane projects we’ve worked.

• A contractor figured out how to collect rainwater from a nearby hillside to pressure test waste water tanks at a waste water treatment plant instead of using large quantities of municipal water which saved resources and a lot of money.
• An industrial park building put in bike racks and shower and restrooms for tenants (something tenants usually have to build themselves) to earn LEED points, one of several LEED features that attracted tenants and caused the park to lease out quickly.
• An office building renovation of a 1960’s building earned LEED Gold after starting out with a stretch goal of LEED Silver.

The message from these examples is that your project is unique, has a story to share, and people can learn from every green building. Tune in next week for discussion on how to turn these stories into a “credit-worthy” green building education plan.

 

Elizabeth Powers is Principal/Owner of O'Brien & Company, a mission-based firm in its 20th year focused on achieving sustainability in the built environment. Powers leads the green building consulting services team and is a regular contributor to the Building Capacity blog. O'Brien & Company publishes the blog as well as a monthly newsletter. For the most current edition of the newsletter, please see www.obrienandco.com/news-and-events/newsletters

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Sweet Sustainability on the Ancient St. James Way: Kathleen O'Brien Reports in From Her Trek

Many of our local readers know I recently completed a 200-mile trek with my husband John along the St James Way in France. The Way, a path taken by pilgrims since the first century, and ending at the St James Cathedral in Santiago Spain, is comprised of several routes that begin in France. We were walking along Via Podensis, which passes through Conques, Cahors, Moissac, Aire-sur l'Adour and Navarrnx. We planned our trip to begin at the start in Le Puy en-Velay and end (for now) nearly halfway to the Spain border, in Moissac. Our purpose was spiritual and contemplative, and it was certainly that. But it was me that was there, so I couldn't help but notice how frequently "sustainability" was part of the landscape. Let me share just a few observations, keeping in mind that our terrain ranged from medium-sized cities to towns to places where cows and sheep outnumbered the local population.

1. Function is as important as form. No offense to the historic preservationists among us , but the French just don't seem so "precious" about their old buildings. Patterns in the stone show where doorways and windows have been "moved" to make buildings more functional, and there seemed to be no shame in covering clay tile or slate roofs with photovoltaic and/or solar hot water installations. We saw old inns, homes, and barns with new energy efficient vinyl windows (yes vinyl!) framed by beautifully maintained wood shutters. The combination of old and new, and obvious regard for reuse was really quite stunning.

2. History is a part of life. On the GR 65, which is the nationally protected hiking route that coincides with the Via Podensis, there are many, many sites that have historic and sometimes sacred value. Often these are off the road, so somewhat protected. But sometimes they are in the middle of modern life. In Cahors, we learned there were ruins of a Roman amphitheatre in the middle of town. We went to the location on the ville map where it was supposed to be and found a multi-level underground parking garage. We were confused. Was this just a place to commemorate the ruins? Would we find interpretive signage telling us of what once was -- a popular technique in the U.S.? No, on the first level down, the car park actually shares space with the ruins, complete with tags from the original dig. There's also an electronic screen showing the latest news alongside the ruins. The ground level is a plaza used for community events. Talk about creative land use!

3. Green Building is in! We stopped for lunch at Ecoasis (one of the gite d'etapes that serve pilgrims and hikers on the Way). Ecoasis opened just this year in Grealou and was featured in June as part of the Quercy Energies 2011 Programme, for its "ecoconstruction, efficacite energetique, et energies renouvelables".  Several of the new gite d'etapes along the Way do have solar power installations and dual flush toilets, but this place went much further. The gite's composting toilets, solar hot water and photovoltaics, rainwater capture, plant-based waste water treatment, "ecologique" paint, organic food garden and husbandry were a sight for sore eyes (and sore feet!). After a delicious lunch and time to rest our feet we asked if they had space for us that night. They did not, but were able to connect us with the owner of another "sustainable" gite 5 km down the road that was a restoration of an old ruin. It also had composting toilets, solar power, and other green building features. We slept in a naturally ventilated (of course) yert dortoir (dormitory) that night. Further down the road, the owner of our gite d'etape in La Bastide told us over a simple dinner her husband had prepared for us, that she worked for a "green builder." She was very proud; they had just completed the first certified Passive Haus in the Quercy Departement. "Passive Haus, have you heard of it?"

4. Waste not. Given the rampant reuse of buildings, it's not surprising that the three R's are important in the French countryside. No matter how small the city or town, you would eventually run into a set of bins for the community to use for recycling paper, metal, and plastic goods.  I also noticed that educational signage attached to these bins, and signage about the environment in general -- such as those concerning protection for waterways -- were well done. And dual flush toilets are pretty much everywhere, except in public WCs where it seems the flush is meant to sanitize the entire building and you while you are there. Finally, I was excited to see that homes for sale are "rated" for their energy efficiency. 

5. Someone (owners, utilities, or both) is absolutely gaga about efficient lighting, and especially sensors. This is where it got a bit much. I decided early on that there was a "trip" factor planned into any building. Even new buildings seemed to have changes in floor levels in the oddest places. This was especially a problem when hallways were dimly lit to save energy. I can't tell you how many times I stubbed my toes on the way to the shared salle de bain because of the low light levels at night, which were only triggered if you knew how to wave your hands just right. The worst situation was in a cafe's water closet. The light went out and the closet went absolutely pitch black. I tried waving, dancing, and clapping. It occurred to me then -- My god, it's on a timer! Which it turns out was outside in the hallway out of reach. Yikes. As my friend Katrina says, sustainability is all about the right strategy, right place.

Kathleen O'Brien is founder of O'Brien & Company, which is celebrating its 20th year this September. For information about the celebration,  visit our website announcement.

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Squire Park’s First Woonerf Project Completes a Street - O'Brien & Company's Nora Daley-Peng ASLA, AICP, LEED AP BD+C, Interviews Bill Zosel

I recently reconnected with William (Bill) Zosel, a long-time resident of Squire Park who has been active in the neighborhood’s planning efforts for decades. We met for coffee at the newly opened Ba Bar restaurant, which is immediately adjacent to the soon-to-be constructed E. James Court woonerf and Woonerf Park.

I first met Bill five years ago when I provided urban designer services on Squire Park Reclaiming the Streets for the People Project. That project emphasized ‘street reclaiming’ as a way of expanding the sense of place beyond the walls of buildings into neighborhood sidewalks and streets. The goal of ‘street reclaiming’ is to connect neighbors and build community vitality. Among the list of community-generated ideas of how to make Squire Park’s neighborhood streets greener, friendlier, and safer was the concept of creating a collection of three woonerfs within the south-end of 12th Avenue. Through the dedicated efforts of neighborhood leaders and combined funding through Seattle Parks and Green Spaces Levy and Pro Parks Levy Opportunity Funds that idea is becoming a reality.

Q. Please tell me more about the E. James Court woonerf and the Woonerf Park project.

A. The concept is to convert E. James Court into a woonerf and to flank the entrance of the woonerf with a community park. This is a modest, one-block woonerf, so co-locating it with the park helps anchor it to 12th Avenue and visually-expands its presence.

Q. What makes this project a woonerf?

A. It is a street that gives priority to pedestrians and cyclists over cars. It is really about transforming the street into a social gathering place rather than a through way for travel. Cars can still snake through the street and even park on the street. On-street parking is actually a device to slow down traffic.

Q. I understand the competition for funding was pretty stiff. What set this project apart?
Image Credit: Design by Hewitt for Seattle Parks and Recreation

A. First off, the project met all three of the Parks’ criteria for funding – the project is in an area that is rapidly growing, that lacks parks, and has an underserved population. Beyond this, it is about maintaining a healthy diversity of community residents along the edge of Seattle University’s campus. It is great to have Seattle University in our neighborhood but we also want to retain the existing single-family homes that add so much character this neighborhood.

Q. What is the main design concept for the woonerf and park?

A. The big idea is to create a community gathering place that is flexible enough to accommodate two people meeting for coffee up to 500 people assembling for an outdoor concert. On an ordinary day, the park provides a variety of seating options for individuals and groups. During a special event, the woonerf can be temporarily closed to create a large venue for a festival. The design allows access for food trucks and a plaza area that is big enough to double as a performance stage.

Q. What about the edges of the project?

A. Creating active edges is very important in making this project a success. The Douglas at Seattle University is being constructed on the north side of the E. James Court. This is a mixed-use development with retail on the first floor and student apartments above. We are fortunate to have the same design team – led by Hewitt – to seamlessly join The Douglas and woonerf projects. Immediately to the south of the park is the newly opened Ba Bar restaurant. The hope is that students, residents, employees, and restaurant patrons will all use this park.

Q. What is the paving design for the woonerf and park?

A. The concept is to use the crisp edges of the adjacent streets and sidewalks to frame the softer, rounded landscape forms. Parts of E. James Court’s existing concrete will be saw-cut, removed, and repurposed as paving for a runnel that conveys stormwater through the park and woonerf to a storm drain on 13th Avenue. The paving in the park will have aripple pattern that will look different from different perspectives. From some vantage points, it will appear ordered and from other angles it will look free-flowing. The ripple paving pattern will also help channel stormwater to the runnel.                            

Q. Can you elaborate on some of the other sustainable design features?

A. Our neighborhood is working on a Pollinator Pathway project along Columbia Street from 12th Avenue to 29th Avenue. The intent is to create a pathway for pollinating insects through a series of native gardens in sidewalk planting strips. The woonerf and park project is including plants from the Pollinator Pathway plant palette to assist in this effort.

Q. What types of furniture will be in the park?

A. We would like to provide a moveable and fixed seating options. Moveable furniture allows park users to manipulate their environment such as arranging furniture to be in or out of the sun. Another neat concept is to provide community table where neighbors could gather for a potluck.
Image Credit: Design by Hewitt for Seattle Parks and Recreation

Q. What will make this park special?

A. We want this place to be intriguing. The design includes a variety of elements that keep people interested in what is going on overhead and underfoot. The design team includes public artist Ellen Sollod . Through a collaborative process, the team developed ways to bring light, movement, and texture into the space. The Cloud is an overhead canopy that reflects color and light. The canopy is a metaphor for the sky and is composed of off-the-shelf stainless steel convex mirrors of varying sizes. These are the same mirrors used in parking garage applications. The Pillow is a spongy blue seating/climbing area directly underneath The Cloud. The Pillow is a metaphor for water. It is made of the same spongy material used in playgrounds. Using these ordinary materials in non-traditional ways creates another layer of intrigue.

Q. What would you have done differently?

A. We weren’t able to completely eliminate the curb separation between the sidewalks and the street. Woonerfs use other ways to protect pedestrian-only zones from auto traffic such as plantings, street furniture, and public art. Our project masks the curbs with rounded landscape forms. The design does eliminate curbs for the portion of the woonerf that runs through the park, making it a level plane for pedestrian movement.

Q. What makes a street complete?

A. It is an open invitation for people to use the street to meet and mingle. I think we can’t stop at the street. We need to make complete neighborhoods.

Q. What’s next?

A. The goal is to make woonerfs a hallmark of this neighborhood. We have two more nearby streets – E. Barclay Court and E. Remington Court - that make excellent candidates for woonerfs. We want to take what we learned from E. James Court woonerf and replicate it. Maybe even push the boundaries of what is possible further.

O'Brien & Company is turning 20! 
Come join us in celebrating 20 years of Building Capacity! 
Save the Date:   September 15th, 4-7pm!

 

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Solid Waste Developments - Alistair Jackson, LEED AP Homes, Considers the Options

Every once in a while, there comes a fundamental shift in how we approach things in the green building world. Such a change is happening right now with regard to solid waste management.

Construction waste management was one of the sectors where O’Brien & Company entered the green building world 20 years ago today, helping jurisdictions figure out how to help builders reduce the amount of construction waste going to the landfill. For as long as there have been green building rating systems, there has been a reward for diverting a larger percentage of construction waste from the incinerator or landfill. Whether by donation for reuse or by recycling into another product, keeping waste out of the landfill has been seen as a good thing. The co-mingled and source-separated recycling industry that has resulted has developed very efficient systems for  separating and tracking materials and has dramatically reduced the amount of construction waste going to the landfill as trash. A huge success, right?

Over time, however, our conscience has begun to ache as we have come to understand that most recycling is really down-cycling and, more recently, that much of what we claim is recycled actually ends up, yes, in a landfill. It may be as alternate daily cover (ADC) or Industrial Waste Stabilizer (IWS), or it may get burned as a Wood Derived Fuel (WDF), but its landing place is still often times a landfill. For waste receivers, this has meant that they need to document and report the ultimate disposition of their diverted recycling streams.

The latest wrinkle in this evolution has been a LEED for Homes’ v2008 update that requires that the estimation and documentation of diversion must relate to the specific loads coming from an individual project, not from a receiver’s monthly average diversion reports. Some receivers (such as Allied Waste and CDL) tip each load onto a sorting floor to separate recyclable material, making this an easy task. Alternately, some of the larger receivers (such as Recovery One) have sophisticated continuous flow sorting systems. Inbound loads are tipped into hoppers that feed sorting belts, making it impossible to differentiate one load from another. In pursuit of greater efficiency and lower cost of service, we have lost access to one aspect of transparency. Two projects delivering to such a facility during the same month can achieve very different proportions of recyclable vs. non-recyclable waste, yet will get the same diversion results (and so the same LEED points, by extension). Do we want efficiency or transparency?

And what of the real goal? Are we trying to reduce waste to the landfill? Or are we trying to reduce the amount of high value material we consume without generating value from it? At our roots, the prioritization of the old adage, “Reduce Reuse Recycle” rings true. Is it really sound practice to generate larger than average volumes of waste as long as we can claim it is being recycled? At O’Brien & Company, we don’t think so.

The real goal is to reduce the amount of waste that is created . . . period! Unfortunately, it has been difficult to develop fair, dependable ways to do that – after all, how do you measure what you don’t buy, use, or throw away?

LEED for Homes was one of the first rating systems to offer a metric and reward for waste reduction – offering an optional credit for reductions in waste generated per square foot of construction, below a baseline derived from NAHB’s national average statistics. For projects run by teams with good resource conservation practices and those located in areas with poor recycling infrastructure, this option has been a boon. A focus on eliminating waste from the jobsite results in less material being purchased and handled, less space taken up for staging, and less time and cost associated with removing it from the site to its ultimate destination whether it be landfill or as raw materials inbound to some manufacturing facility.

At a time when construction process efficiency has become an essential part of survival, it would seem that a shift from measuring what we throw away to measuring what we don’t buy would be a big winner. In reality, however, there are structural and systemic challenges to making the shift from waste diversion to waste avoidance. Now, with the tide running in our favor, is the time to address them.

In the next blog on this topic, we’ll be talking about real world examples of the steps builders have taken to help this transition, both within their own operations and in association with their building business partners. Look out for it!

Alistair Jackson, LEED AP, CSBA is Principal in Charge of O’Brien & Company’s Residential Technical Services, and is a LEED for Homes, Energy Star and Built Green Verifier, LEED for Homes Faculty and ARCSA certified Rainwater Harvesting designer. Alistair is a frequent contributor to the Building Capacity Blog and was also a major contributor to the Northwest Green Home Primer.

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"Extreme" Collaboration: Crossing boundaries to achieve sustainable goals mark these initiatives

A number of sustainability initiatives in the Northwest illustrate the power of "extreme" collaboration. Initiated through the research of a PhD student studying the climate change mitigation efforts of jurisdictions within King County, the Cities Climate Collaboration gained momentum through staff members enthused by the idea of learning about and from neighboring cities’ efforts. These champions formed the basis of what has grown into a steering committee, comprised of city and county staff and partner organization representatives.

King County showed early support to the effort, and wrapped planning efforts together with ongoing initiatives, such as the Sustainable Cities Roundtable (now in its third year) and Green Tools. The Collaboration was formally launched on June 9th at a special event Roundtable, where King County Executive Dow Constantine (shown in photo) officially pledged support as a signatory along with several other Mayors. Six mayors have now signed the pledge.

As signatories to the Pledge, King County cities will partner on climate change outreach, coordination of standards, strategies and goals, climate mitigation solutions, and -- sealing the deal as an action-oriented effort – funding commitments for shared resources.  The Collaboration is unique in that the group is grounded in local efforts, experience, and action, but tethered by common higher level commitments such as the US Conference of Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement, and ICLEI membership.

Another noteworthy collaborative model that has emerged includes the City of Seattle’s 2030 District – a public-private partnership effort of property owners, managers, design professionals and City of Seattle to create the nation’s first High Performance Building District. In this case, it’s an effort largely driven by a committed private sector group who in other respects might be seen as competitors – each working to maximize energy savings to their best ability in order to achieve an aggregate energy savings across the entire portfolio of properties within the district. After incubating for a year, 2030 District officially launches this week. Its visionaries hope to become a replicable model for similar collaborations in other cities.

Finally, at a national scale the Emerald Cities Collaborative (EEC) leverages the expertise, assets and skills of the public and private sector to create clean economy cities. Seattle and Portland are two of several early municipal partners who have signed on to the EEC. The EEC is a national non-profit based in Washington, DC that pools the resources of 21 national partners – organizations targeting green economies, the environment and community development – along with local partners such as non-profits, labor and industry groups, workforce development, and training centers, and city signatories to forge energy efficiency and sustainable development solutions at the local level. 

Working together towards a common goal is not unusual. What is unique about these initiatives is the willingness to cross economic, political, and social boundaries that have hitherto seemed uncrossable, making their efforts much more robust, and more ambitious goals attainable. As the father of evolution Charles Darwin said, “In the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed.”

Andrea Lewis, CSBA, LEED AP ID+C is Senior Project Associate at O’Brien & Company. She has provided assistance to King County’s Green Tools and Sustainable Cities Roundtables initiatives since 2009 and is a regular contributor to the Building Capacity Blog. King County Photo by Ned Ahrens.

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Living Building Results from a Living Vision: HPA’s learning laboratory starts with a charrette

In 2007 O’Brien & Company facilitated a strategic visioning process for the staff, students and stakeholders of an independent school with a strong commitment to “Go Green.” Today, HPA’s leadership points to that process as the foundation for successful completion of its new Energy Lab, a living, learning laboratory. A Little Background:

Hawaiʻi Preparatory Academy (HPA), founded in 1949, is an independent coeducational school providing a full range of opportunities for students from kindergarten through grade 12. The school is located in Waimea on the island of Hawaiʻi (the Big Island). Their main, 200-acre campus is located at the foot of the Kohala mountains, with views across the rolling paniolo (Hawaiian cowboy) country to Mauna Kea to the south.

Visioning Process Plants the Seed

A desire for a more integrated, comprehensive approach to sustainability was the natural outcome of the work of a small group of campus enthusiasts who began meeting a year or so earlier and who had already achieved some success with the installation of solar street lights and solar water heating on campus.

The visioning work, facilitated by Kathleen O’Brien and Elizabeth Powers of O’Brien & Company in 2007, marked the beginning of a campus-wide integrated process, aligning the passion, energy and intention of the students, faculty, staff and parents towards a vision of a sustainable school in a sustainable community with clear goals and metrics for measuring success along the path of progress. Topics covered all aspect of campus operations: food, transportation, buildings, and natural resources (such as energy and water), and discussions went beyond operations to integrating learnings into curriculum and into community relations.

We met in the old Parker Ranch House and the walls for each room were literally covered by the end of the day with ideas that eventually were organized and compiled in a report for the committee to work with. A blown-up campus map provided a canvas for participants to answer the question: What would it look like for HPA to “Go Green?”

HPA wanted to be a major leader in the region’s sustainability efforts – a goal made all the more meaningful by the fact that their region is a collection of islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, which once supported a population of more than one million people without any input from the outside world, but is now dependent on a continuous IV drip of oil tankers to meet its energy needs. Says Bill Wiecking, a participant in the early visioning process and now Energy Lab Director, “The Big Island can serve as a model for the planet: this is all we have, we must learn to use our resources wisely, while thinking about forever.”

One of the strategies that emerged from the visioning work was creation of an Environmental Energy Lab that would focus on locally-appropriate strategies towards achieving energy independence. The learning laboratory would offer a fully integrated curriculum, real-time reporting of performance and a forum for learning about project management – not a one-off but a model that could be replicated across the state of Hawaii and beyond.

The Seed Bears Fruit

As a testament to the strength of that vision, Bill Wiecking’s passion, and the commitment of HPA’s stakeholders, the new Energy Lab, designed by architect David Croteau of Flansburgh Associates recently earned certification under the Living Building Challenge – the most rigorous rating for sustainable building.

The building is finely tuned to respond to its environment. Form and orientation evolved to balance complex flow dynamics that drive the natural ventilation system, designed by Buro Happold with access to daylight and views that are critical to creating an optimal learning environment – it is, first, a classroom, after all. Not a singular effort, this building forms the blueprint for future structures on the campus – an integrated, optimized response to a complex system.

At the award ceremony in May, 2011, David Croteau spoke of the challenges of designing and constructing a Living Building in Hawaii. Between the Red List of unacceptable materials and the limitations of transportation distances for different resources, just writing the specifications for the project was a major effort. But seemingly insurmountable barriers were overcome because everyone’s values were fully aligned around the larger goals. The value that the building represented as a model was so great it justified extraordinary steps to ensure the coherence of the story it had to tell.

Without the clarity that came from the Go Green visioning, that unity of purpose might not have existed. Bill Wiecking said of the process, “Our school had a nascent "Go Green" movement for years before our first charrette challenged us to reach for something beyond our grasp. This workshop had many outcomes besides the kernel of our energy lab project: recycling, energy auditing, farming, materials awareness. As a school we are uniquely vulnerable to supply disruptions, with energy and food costs among the highest in the country. We are well motivated, and now we have a place to study sustainability using tools and techniques years ahead of any other school, presenting educational opportunities beyond the scope of anything we might have envisioned several years ago (prior to 2007).”

Posted by Alistair Jackson & Elizabeth Powers, principals and owners of O’Brien & Company, Inc, a green building consultancy founded 20 years ago in the Seattle area and publisher of the Building Capacity Blog. See also Elizabeth’s article on Living Buildings in the Northwest in the O'Brien & Company June 2011 newsletter.

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Washington Business Alliance: A sustainable approach

While “greening” the built environment is our primary focus, O’Brien & Company has always had an eye on the larger purpose -- a sustainable future that offers an economically vital and environmentally sound quality of life for all. This focus is why we have supported the concept of a business alliance that takes a holistic, solution-oriented approach to promoting business interests. O’Brien & Company has participated in the Washington Business Alliance (WaBA) from its beginnings, recently formalizing this participation in full-fledged membership.

Like other WaBA members, we believe that creating a high standard of living for all is directly correlated to a good business environment and essential to the vital economy central to a sustainable future.

For O’Brien & Company, in addition to including the environment among its five working committees (the others include health , fiscal governance, education, and transportation), WaBA appeals because of its approach: identifying and testing strategies through replicable demonstration projects, advocating strategic legislation that is based on field-tested successful outcomes, and overall taking a entrepreneurial approach to solving our state’s most challenging problems.

Our firm has had great success working with groups that do not agree on everything, but do agree on things that matter. Hence we now enjoy successful green building programs around the country that bring together government, industry, and environmental advocacy groups. Similarly, WaBA is working with groups that may appear to be in total disagreement but in fact do have areas where their goals intersect. In particular, WaBA hopes to help business and government identify common ground and goals, and facilitate progress towards those goals.

WaBA was modeled after the Oregon Business Association, with a Washington flavor of course. The primary difference is a cross-platform approach among the issues. According to Roz Solomon, Chief Operating Officer, WaBA wants to give businesses an opportunity to engage in public policy in a new way, through a range of topics, rather than specializing in one area or issue, or advocating for one industry. The organization will be advocating for integrated policies that can garner broader support because of its reliance on demonstrated results.

Only for-profit businesses and former business executives may become members of WaBA (hence the entrepreneurial lens), but the organization actively partners with non-profits working in its five issue areas. The idea is to maximize the opportunity for innovative solutions. “Businesses know how to solve problems,” says Roz Solomon and “we have some critical problems to solve.”

In a recent conversation with Solomon, she shared a couple of demonstration projects WaBA is considering:

• On-Site Primary Care: The idea is to establish health care clinics in office buildings (or other work venues) where employers band together to self -insure and fund the clinic. WaBA’s role would be to establish the project’s objectives and metrics, and to advocate for regulatory waivers to test the program. (Metrics might include less absenteeism, more productivity, better overall health, easy access to family doctors).
• Business Leadership Training for Principals: In this case, early research revealed that schools in which performance was high -- despite high levels of poverty in the school population and low English language competency -- enjoyed strong leadership from principals. These outliers led to the idea that leadership training for principals provided by successful local business leaders could translate into higher student performance. This approach has the added advantage of connecting schools to businesses – and students entering the workforce to potential employers – prior to graduation.

According to Solomon, “by redefining business interests to look at the whole system, thereby gaining an understanding how issues are inter-connected and don’t exist in silos, we are more likely to find solutions and less likely to end up in adversarial positions.”

Like most states, Washington’s government is engaged in a struggle to regain economic stability. The fear that naturally rises in such dire situations often drowns out strategic thinking. Government needs better access to business-driven solutions. Kudos to WaBA, and similar organizations around the country, that are asking the right questions and working strategically for long term solutions.  It's smart, and it's sustainable.

Posted by Donna Trost, General Manager and part owner of O’Brien & Company, a woman-owned enterprise founded in 1991 to promote sustainability in the built environment. The Building Capacity Blog is a weekly publication of O’Brien & Company.

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Don’t Touch My Building: Yvonne Kraus, LEED AP balances energy efficient adaptive reuse with historic preservation

As the green building industry’s focus has shifted toward adaptive reuse and retrofitting the existing building stock, the debate about balancing retrofit needs with historic preservation guidelines has moved to the forefront.

In our current work developing an Energy Efficiency & Conservation Strategy with the City of Ellensburg, this issue is salient. Ellensburg has a historic downtown with an active historic preservation interest group, but this real estate is significantly underutilized. Although street level spaces in the downtown are mostly maintained and leased, upper stories are virtually abandoned. Retrofits could improve energy performance and make these spaces more desirable for tenants who now look for space in modern developments outside of the City core. At the mere mention of revising building codes to allow for incorporation of renewables on existing buildings, however, a protest arose at the thought of installing PV panels on historic buildings.

So do we touch historic buildings to make them more efficient? What can we do, and how do we best balance historic preservation needs with adaptive reuse and energy efficiency goals? These questions have been on my mind for several months now. During a recent trip to The Netherlands, Germany, and Austria, I kept my eyes open to see how these countries are addressing this issue. There’s a visible juxtaposition of old rural villages and brand new renewable energy technology in much of the countryside(s) I visited. In The Netherlands, old wooden windmills sit next to sleek new wind farms and historic straw roof farms have incorporated on-site solar. In Germany, PV blankets the roofs of old barns and farms, and Germany’s solar incentive program has been so successful that the government has had to place it on hold to catch up with demand. In Austria, the roofs of many farms and inns in the 1,000 year old village of Soelden are dotted with solar hot water and PV panels. In my opinion, there is a true beauty in this mix of old and new. Not to mention efficiency and excitement for the future.

Adaptive Reuse is conventionally defined as the process of adapting old structures for new purposes. Much of the debate surrounding adaptive reuse pertains to whether it makes sense to keep the building and retrofit it, or tear down and build new, but that’s another issue that we’ll explore in a future article. New buildings are now designed with rigid and strong exteriors, yet flexible floor plans interiors making adaptive reuse in the future more likely.

Historic Preservation is part of a national movement to protect buildings that are least 50 years old and are associated with, or significant for, historic people or events, architecture, craftsmanship, or design; or are valuable for historical research. At the federal level, the National Park Service (NPS), part of the U.S. Department of the Interior, oversees the National Register of Historic Places which is an official federal list of districts, sites, structures, buildings, and objects that are deemed worthy of preservation. It’s important to know that the National Register is primarily a tool to recognize historic properties - it does not mandate how they must be treated. A listing thus helps to protect a property but it does not restrict property owners. This is where the state and City regulations come in: they can add restrictions to a listed property, and they do this through State Historic Preservation Offices (“shippoes”). Shippoes were federally mandated to carry out provisions of the Act of 1966 and their role is to locate and record historic resources, nominating these resources to the National Register, and providing technical assistance and consultation. There are also some State Historic Registers (Washington State has one: the Dept of Archeology & Historic Preservation) as well as municipal programs that recognize local historic sites or districts, and these come with their own sets of regulations that often go beyond federal regulation in restricting what private property owners can do.

When sustainability planners ponder adaptive reuse, both on old buildings and those on the historic register, the issue of embodied energy comes up. According to the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, about 80 billion BTUs of energy are embodied in a typical 50,000-square-foot commercial building. That’s equivalent to 640,000 gallons of gasoline, which is wasted if you tear the building down. On top of that, demolishing that same 50,000-square-foot building creates about 4,000 tons of waste. Construction of the replacement building will take additional energy in construction, natural resources, greenhouse gas emissions, and waste. Preservation Green Lab (see resources) is conducting a study that will provide more information on this topic, and we’ll report on this study in the near future.

According to Patrice Frey’s research for “Building Reuse: Finding a Place on American Climate Policy Agendas,” Older buildings can actually be remarkably energy efficient because of their quality of construction, their downtown or central locations, and their use of passive heating and cooling methods. When the GSA examined its buildings inventory in 1999, it found that utility costs for historic buildings were 27% less than for more modern buildings. We need to hold on to buildings that are well designed, that meaningfully link us to our past, and that have plenty of good use left in them.

When considering adapting historic buildings with a sustainable design, consider these key factors:

1. Don’t break the rules. Bottom line, there are standards you must follow outlined in the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation. The standards seem rigid, but there’s significant flexibility as long as you are consistent with the character of the building. Consider it a “design challenge.”
2. Lengthen your planning horizon. This applies whether you are adapting or constructing new, but after a trip to Europe this is at the top of my mind.
3. Be passive. Old buildings relied on passive strategies. Maintaining a passive approach will save money, keep renovations simpler, and make O&M easier.
4. Embodied energy. We’ve already touched on this. We’ll discuss the science behind this in our next post on this topic.
5. Verify operating energy. In doing energy modeling of an existing building, you might find it’s better than you thought it would be. Don’t assume it’s an energy hog because it’s old.
6. Work with your local preservationists. It’s best to develop an overarching strategy to your project, to determine what’s sacred, and what’s open to change. And provide opportunities to learn how historic buildings and sustainability goals overlap.
7. Don’t make assumptions about windows. There may be other ways to amp up a building’s energy efficiency. In the ongoing renovations of the historic Empire State Building the developers took the creative path of upgrading the existing windows rather than replacing them. Floor by floor they are removing  windows, “re-manufacturing” them on-site using local labor (meaning more green jobs!) The result are windows that test to R-8 and “fit.”
8. Take advantage of resources. See below .

Resources:

• Preservation Green Lab: National Trust for Historic Preservation.
• The Sustainability Initiative, National Trust for Historic Preservation.
• The American Institute of Architects Historic Resources Committee.
• The Association for Preservation Technology
• International Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives
• The National Park Service Technical Preservation Services.  
• Historic Preservation and Green Building: A Lasting Relationship Feature - Environmental Building News January 2007. 
• Building Reuse: Finding a Place on American Climate Policy Agendas. Patrice Frey, Paul Anderson, Monica Andrews, and Carl Wolf. National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Yvonne Kraus, LEED AP and CSBA and Senior Project Associate for O'Brien & Company, Inc. specializes in green building program development, community and corporate sustainability strategies, and LEED for Existing Buildings: O&M. She is the Project Manager for the City of Ellensburg’s Energy Efficiency & Conservation Strategy (EECS), and led the development of the Economic Sustainability Strategy for the City of Kirkland (adopted), and of the Sustainability Strategy for the City of Sammamish (under consideration for adoption). The photo of Ellensburg's downtown was taken by Bob Bengford of Makers Architecture, leading a Land Development Code Update for the City concurrent to and integrated with the EECS project.

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