Design for Green Building

1. Design for Green Building Corinne Marzullo April 23, 2001

2. Why build green • Benefits • Materials • Case studies • Conclusions

3. Why Build Green • U.S. consumes 20,000 pounds per year of active materials • Active materials include: • Virgin forest products • Fuels • Steel • Glass • Cement • Plastics

4. Why Build Green • 90% become waste in less than one year • Non-hazardous industrial waste could be reduced from 11 billion tons to 4.5 billion tons by design decisions and improved recycling

5. Benefits of Building Green • Reduce environmental impact • Respect their sites • Use fresh water efficiently • Good indoor air quality • Resource and energy efficient • High environmental performance • Make use of construction material wisely • More durable/less maintenance • Lower operating costs

6. Respect Their Sites • Well-designed building • Shape and orientation • optimized to take advantage of sunlight, site, and natural features • Oriented on an east-west axis • Existing buildings can benefit from the landscape • Deciduous trees along a southwest to northwest feature can reduce the impact of solar heat gains

7. Use Fresh Water Efficiently • Homes use hundreds of gallons of water each day • Reduce water use by about half compared to homes constructed in 1980’s • Low-flush toilets • Well insulated hot water piping • Low-flow shower heads and faucets • Dishwashers and clothes washers that have water-miser features

8. Efficient Use of Fresh Water Cont’d. • Main solar heated tank • Instantaneous water heaters • Planned plumbing • Catchment systems • Use native plants with high drought resistance • Use drought resistant grass • Use lawn chemicals and fertilizer sparingly

9. Good Indoor Air Quality • Free of unhealthy levels of indoor air pollutants • Radon gas • Excess moisture • Mold and mildew • Formaldehyde • Passive tobacco smoke • Particles and dust • Mite allergen

10. Good Indoor Air Quality Cont’d. • Low cost ventilation techniques • Boost indoor air quality • Benefit allergy sufferers • Reduces their discomfort • Lower air leakage and fewer spores, pollen grains, and less duct

11. Reduce Energy Waste • Air tight construction • High levels of insulation • High performance windows and doors • Using efficient electric lighting and plug-in appliances • Upgrading to high efficiency furnaces, heat pumps, and boilers

12. Reduce Energy Waste Cont’d. • Building orientation • Collect winter solar heat • Avoid summertime sun • Solar energy • provides a significant amount of natural light • passive solar heat gain • natural ventilation • Up to 65 – 75 % of utility bills could be saved compared to a conventional home

13. Conventional Homes • Misuse water, energy, and materials • Not oriented for passive solar heating • Poorer indoor air quality • Use toxic substances • Not designed for re-use and disassembly

14. Materials to be Chosen • Value-engineered products • Advanced framing and composite truss joists • Durable materials • Thermal mass • Natural materials • No exposure to toxic or dangerous working conditions

15. Materials to be Chosen • Products not heavily packaged • Reduce waste • Minimize construction site and landfill disposal problems • Water-based paints, adhesives, sealants, and finishes • Reduce use of petrochemicals • Simplifies cleanup

16. Dimensional Lumber • Wood used in constructing the wall, floor, and roof framing • Advantages of wood • Tolerant to novices • Very attractive • Special tools are not needed • Disadvantages • Termite or moisture failure

17. Engineered Wood • Recycled wood materials • Laminated wood chips • Strands and fingerjointing • Products • I-beams • Laminated beams • Fingerjointed studs

18. Engineered Wood Cont’d. • Advantages • Waste wood and entire trees can be used • Minimizes waste • Uses smaller dimensional wood • Less than 2x10 • Allows smaller trees to be used • Higher tolerances in stability, consistence, straightness, and strength are more precise than dimensional lumber • Maintenance free • Slip resistant • No warping, splintering, cracking, rotting, or refinishing

19. Engineered Wood Cont’d. • Disadvantages • General public is not aware of this product • Cost is higher than for standard lumber unless ordered in large quantity • Limited sources • Cost will go down as public becomes more aware • Highly competitive because of labor savings and reduced job site waste

20. Composite Decking

21. Engineered Sheet Materials • Made of recycled content or reconstituted materials • Recycled content sheet products • Include any percentage of recycled material • newsprint • Agricultural byproducts • Wood waste • Reconstituted materials • Use chipped or stranded small-diameter trees • Bound together into forms suitable for building

22. Engineered Sheet Materials Cont’d. Examples • Hardboard made from waste wood • Wallboard made from perlite, gypsum, and recycled post-consumer newsprint • 100% recycled newsprint fiberboard • Fiberboard made from straw

23. Engineered Sheet Materials Cont’d. • Advantages • Most of the products are derived from manufacturing processes which are more material-efficient than past processes • Newer recycled content and reconstituted materials are fabricated in modern facilities that are efficient and compliant with strict environmental regulations • Disadvantages • Cost more than traditional sheet materials • Shipping costs for small quantities are quite expensive

24. Engineered Siding • Reconstituted and recycled content • Steel and aluminum • Primarily fabricated from recycled material • Advantages • Offers superior longevity compared to wood siding • Require much less energy in a recycled form • Steel is a strong, termite resistant, nonrenewable resource • Offers some fire protection • Cost is competitive

25. Flyash Concrete • Defined by the ACE Committee 116 as “the finely divided residue resulting from the combustion of ground or powdered coal, which is transported from the firebox through the boiler by flue gases” • By-product of coal-fired electric generating plants

26. Flyash Concrete Cont’d. • Technical Benefits of using high volume flyash • Higher compressive strength over time • More durable concrete • Less permeable concrete • Less shrinkage • Less creep • Lower heat of hydration • Less migration of bleed water to the slab surface • Better pumpablilty

27. Flyash Concrete Cont’d. • Technical drawbacks • Slower rate of compressive strength gain • May be more difficult to finish • One more product to control at the point of batching • Environmental and non-technical benefits • Costs less than cement • Saves the energy required for making cement • Reduces the emissions of global warming gasses • Usefully employs a waste product

31. Earth Materials • Brick & Stone products • Caliche • Soil blocks • Rammed earth

32. Locally Available Earth Materials • Advantages • Reduces energy costs and materials costs due to reduced transportation costs • Brick and stone • aesthetically pleasing • Durable • Low maintenance • Provide excellent thermal mass • Can be used to provide radiant heat for interior use • Weather well which eliminates the need for refinishing and sealing

33. Earth Materials Cont’d. • Caliche block • Soft limestone material • used for applications similar to brick and stone • Special structural and finishing characteristics • Rammed earth • Walls made from moist, sandy soil • 30% clay and 70% sand • Advantages of both • used for structural walls • offer great potential as low-cost material alternatives with low embodied energy • Can be produced on-site • fireproof

34. Cost for Earth Materials

35. Floor Coverings • Carpeting and padding • Cement materials • Stone and Marble • Sheet goods • Vinyl and linoleum • Tile • Rubber • Cork • Wood

36. Carpeting and Padding • Recycled-content carpeting • PET • Nylon • Wool • Recycled-content padding • Old padding • Reclaimed carpet fibers • Rubber-based recycled padding

37. Carpeting and Padding • Advantages • Materials avoid landfill • PET • Durable • Stain resistant • Nylon • Durable • Aesthetically pleasing • Wool • Durable • Flame resistant • Provides excellent indoor environmental quality

38. Carpeting and Padding • Disadvantages • Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) • Present in the binders • Formaldehyde Outgassing • Rubber-based recycled padding can outgas • Excellent medium for dust mites and microbial agents • Carpet emissions will dissipate within 48-72 hours with proper ventilation

39. Alternatives to Commercialized Carpets • Carpet tiles with tackless installation • Aid in spot replacement • Longer life • Fusion-bonded carpets • Use heat instead of adhesives • Reduces VOCs

40. Natural Carpets • Made from grasses, cotton, and wool • Advantages • Minimal treatment • Use renewable resources • Durable • Aesthetically pleasing • Disadvantages • Costly

41. Cementitious Materials • Provide opportunities for integrating the floor finish with the building structure • Durable • Low maintenance • Provide the opportunity for using recycled materials

42. Stone and Marble • Low-embodied-energy materials • Low maintenance • Durable • Regional sources save transportation costs

43. Sheet Goods • Available in rolls or tiles • Require adhesives for installation • Vinyl and Linoleum • Advantages • Low cost • Durable • Low maintenance • Disadvantages • Extremely difficult to recycle

44. Sheet Goods Cont’d. • Recycled-content tile • Waste glass • Light bulbs and auto windshields • Byproduct of feldspar mining • Higher priced than average tile products • Rubber • Highly recycled content • Cork • Excellent sound-absorbing material • recyclable

45. Recycled Tire Rubber Flooring

46. Cork Floor Tiles

47. Wood • Provide optimal environmental benefits • Renewable and long lasting material • Easy maintenance • Aesthetically pleasing • Reuse and disassembly

49. Bamboo Flooring

50. Roofing Materials • Shingles, tile, and roof panels • Slate, clay, and cementitious roof materials • Advantages • Very durable • Disadvantages • Very heavy • Clay roof materials are costly • Fiber-cement composite roof materials • Advantages • Lighter (325-500 pounds per square) • Use fiber materials resourcefully • Some use waste paper and wood fiber • 60-year warranties