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Green Building News
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September 27, 2005 National Solar Tour Net-Zero House is Affordable, Too As part of DOE's Building America Program, NREL researchers designed the house using the latest research tools. The house features superinsulated walls, floors, and ceilings; efficient appliances; a solar water heating system; heat-recovery ventilation system to assure indoor air quality; compact fluorescent lighting; and windows coated with thin layers of metallic oxide to help keep heat in during the winter and out during the summer. The home's 4-kilowatt photovoltaic system is sized to produce excess energy in the summer to balance out winter consumption. Midwest Research Institute (MRI) and Battelle sponsored Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver's first net-zero energy home on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). MRI and Battelle manage NREL for DOE. NREL researchers will monitor the performance of the home for one year. This monitoring will be used to determine if the energy features of the home perform as expected and investigate potential improvements on the approach used to achieve zero energy. Additional sponsors of the net zero energy house include the Colorado Governor's Office of Energy Management and Conservation, Xcel Energy, Siemens Building Technologies and Altair Energy. Report Shows Green Building Costs Lower "Clearly, green building is affordable," said Anthony G. Worthan, MPH, AQS president and chief operating officer. "The outlook is even if improvements in people's comfort and productivity are taken into account and green buildings goals are incorporated as early as possible into the design process." The report is based on a review of major economic studies of buildings designed and constructed to meet LEED Green Building Rating System™ requirements. It addresses the issues most on the minds of those who may have an interest in developing, designing and constructing green buildings, but up to this point have been hesitant. In addition to concerns about higher first costs and lower returns on investment, the report also takes a look at building commissioning and building flush out, two important strategies for creating healthy indoor environments. "Many view building commissioning as an optional step that has no economic benefit. If planned and implemented properly, commissioning is an effective way to verify that the planning, design, construction and operation of the building are achieving set goals," Mr. Worthan said. The studies reviewed found that depending on the size of the project, commissioning costs may range from 0.3% to 4.0% of construction costs. Energy savings (up to 10%) can more than make up for these costs. Commissioning also can realize savings by significantly reducing or even eliminating costly change orders, reducing requests for cost information, ensuring proper system/component selection, improving building systems performance and reducing call backs, the report said. Flushing out a building with 100% outdoor air for a period of time prior to a building being occupied is an effective way to remove indoor air contaminants, such as volatile organic compounds, formaldehyde, particulates and fungi to name a few examples. While the ideal is to continually flush out a building during construction, it may not be practical for some projects. In these cases, a sound green building practice is to reduce the flush out time to two weeks at the end of the project, the report said. "The energy costs associated with a two-week flush-out period using 100 percent outside air vary based on building size and ventilation method, but usually run about $0.13 per square foot," said Mr. Worthan. States Sue Feds over Appliance Standards A coalition of 15 states led by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer sued the U.S. Energy Department on Wednesday, accusing the agency of failing to set efficiency standards for household appliances that would save enormous amounts of energy. The states and the city of New York said the DOE violated Congressional mandates to adopt stronger energy-saving standards within deadlines stated by law for a wide range of household and commercial products, including furnaces, water heaters, clothes washers, dryers, air conditioners, dishwashers, heat pumps, motors, ranges, ovens, motors and lamps. Congress established initial efficiency standards for most of the products, and directed the Department of Energy periodically to review and strengthen them. For the remaining products the Department of Energy is to establish the initial efficiency standards and also periodically strengthen them. The Department of Energy is six to thirteen years behind schedule and has not adopted any appliance efficiency standards since January 2001. Spitzer and Peter Lehner, head of the attorney general's environmental bureau, said that updating efficiency standards for appliances such as refrigerators, air conditioners and ovens could reduce U.S. electricity use by the equivalent of 3 percent to 12 percent over 25 years, based on 2002 usage, and the equivalent of the power generated by 13 to 42 power plants. Members of the coalition are: California, Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin and the City of New York joined the suit. Oregon Ups Solar Ante The new tax credits take affect January 1, 2006 and combined with existing utility solar incentives, Oregon promises to remain the leader of solar hot water and the gridtied PV industry in the Northwest, according to the Oregon Solar Energy Industries Association, (OSEIA). Solar in Oregon and the northwest has not been an easy sell, because of it's reputation for incessant rain. However, it's a little known fact that two thirds of Oregon gets as much sunlight as Florida. Even Oregon's least sunny location rivals the best locations in Germany, where photovoltaics installations are booming. "Bipartisan support from Oregon Governor Kulongoski and state legislators like Senator Westlund from Bend illustrates how Oregon is taking solar energy seriously," said Jon Miller, executive director of Oregon SEIA chapter. "They recognize that investing in our largest natural resource, solar energy, makes good economic policy." State solar incentives now include a residential tax credit up to $1,500 for solar thermal, $1,500 for passive solar space heating, and $6,000 for photovoltaics. The Business Energy Tax Credit (BETC) provides up to 35% of installation costs, and the State Energy Loan Program (SELP) can offer low cost financing for projects. "Federal, State and Energy Trust incentives makes Oregon one of the best supported markets in the United States", said Christopher Dymond, senior energy analyst at the Oregon Department of Energy. "Our state can also use the business energy tax credit to buy down up to 25 percent of the cost of new solar manufacturing facilities - Oregon is without a doubt, open for solar business."
September 1 , 2005 California Approves New Residential Lighting Standards LEED Goes Home "The residential market is a new area for LEED and USGBC," said Rick Fedrizzi, USGBC President, CEO & Founding Chair. "The homes market is in line with our mission of transforming the built environment on all levels. These LEED homes will help lower operating costs, increase home value, reduce maintenance issues and improve indoor environmental quality." In a new approach for LEED, the USGBC has created the LEED for Homes Providers who will provide support services to builders of LEED homes during the pilot phase. Providers are local and regional organizations that have been selected to provide technical, marketing and verification support services to builders. Through a highly competitive national process, USGBC selected 12 local Providers for the pilot. These providers were chosen based on their outstanding qualifications and proven experience in supporting builders in the construction of high performance, sustainable homes. Only these select providers will be eligible to work with the builders in the delivery of LEED for Homes during the year-long pilot. During the pilot phase, the LEED for Homes Providers will also be responsible for selecting the appropriate pilot projects. They will verify that the homes built under the LEED rating system meet the system's requirements. Home builders interested in taking part in the LEED for Homes pilot can submit an application online. Western Cities More Dense Than Eastern Top Ten Green Architects Named Three of the top-ten architects are headquartered in California, with one representative each from the Northwest, West, Southwest, Midwest, East, South, and Canada. Seven of the 13 architects honored are women; six are men. The list recognizes:
“We think our list shows that there are great leaders of the green building movement across the country,” says Editor in Chief Robyn Griggs Lawrence. “It was a hard process to narrow it down to 10. We’ll revisit the list next year as we make it an annual feature and welcome nominations.” To select the NH&G list, editors looked at the following criteria:
NH&G editors also recognized five green design trailblazers — architects and educators who have led the green design movement.
National Green Building Award Applications Accepted Entrants in the 2006 National Green Building Awards are eligible to compete in the following award categories:
Awards will be presented at the 2006 National Green Building Conference, March 12-14, in Albuquerque, N.M., and will recognize those who have made a significant contribution to the principles of residential green building. Information about the awards and applications can be found on NAHB's Web site. Entries must be received by December 23, 2005. A $300 fee is required for entries in all categories except Green Advocate of the Year and Green Program of the Year (New Program). |
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