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Today
It ain’t easy being ‘green’ Certification standards and the market require sophisticated, thoughtful design and implementation in order to achieve top rankings.
development side, it sometimes takes a few years for those gains to be reflected in the market. “The project area required for an array that might get a project to net zero, for example, often exceeds the available site or roof area of the project,” she says. “There is definitely a trend toward alternative means of onsite renewable energy generation, such as a bio- gas fuel cell or biofuel generator, or wind turbines mounted to a building parapet, or piezoelectric tech- nology that harnesses vibration energy. We’ve even seen a couple of examples of algae powering build- ings. Solar is by no means left behind; it is only to ev- eryone’s benefit that the diversity of renewable ener- gy options expands to address energy demand around the globe 24/7/365.” Landreneau says other interesting trends she’s seen include: ❚ ❚ Load reduction strategies. Such as phase change materials employed in ceiling systems, wall board, and even furniture (now that the open-office trend is firmly entrenched) to regulate interior temperature and cool- ing loads. A colleague at HOK just completed a study assessing the use of PCMs in a solar chimney to enable natural ventilation at night. ❚ ❚ Increased options for alternative financing. Such as power purchase agreements for solar and geother- mal systems, water purchase agreements for biological wastewater treatment systems, property assessed clean energy bonds for low interest loans that finance ef- ficiency improvements and renewable energy projects (and that stay with the property rather than borrower), and sustainable energy utilities. ❚ ❚ Healthy materials and materials transparency are becoming important as we learn more about the See GREEN , page 8 “In the past, being more efficient than code or getting LEED certification (or comparable) was perceived as green. Now, the market has become more sophisticated and the magnitude of our environmental challenges has become more apparent.”
By LIISA ANDREASSEN Correspondent
I t used to be that adding a few solar panels to a build- ing would catapult it into the eco-friendly category, but that’s no longer the case. The landscape is chang- ing, and A/E firms are taking notice. What does it take to be “green” today? At KJWWEngineering Consultants (Rock Island, IL), a 470-per- son global engineering design consulting firm, Paul Parry, a principal and client executive, says that firm leaders have noticed a big change in “green” over the past couple of years. Formerly, green design and construction generally meant making a building somewhat eco-friendly, in- corporating fairly efficient systems, and recycling as much as possible. Now, the firm is seeing a big push for integrated optimization design with very efficient systems and increased renewables. In addition, LEED v4 includes a new integrative pro- cess credit, which mirrors the intent of integrative design: to support high-performance, cost-effective project outcomes based on the interrelationships among systems, including building envelope, lighting, and HVAC. “There is also a movement toward giving social equity equal importance in triple-bottom-line assessments.” GREEN TRENDS. Solar is still the big renewable, according to Parry, but geothermal and wind energy are continu- ing to grow in popularity. In addition, more radiant energy is being used in buildings to reduce transport energy. Anica Landreneau, global director of sustainable con- sulting, HOK (St. Louis, MO), a 1,600-person global de- sign, architecture, engineering and planning firm, is an expert on sustainable design best practices and the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED rating systems. She works with public- and private-sector clients on campus and master planning, individual buildings, and real estate portfolios. Landreneau says that, while solar energy is cer- tainly gaining some efficiencies on the research and
Paul Parry, Principal & Client Executive, KJWW
Engineering Consultants.
Anica Landreneau,
Global Director of Sustainable Consulting, HOK.
Lincoln Pierce, Principal, KJWW
Engineering Consultants.
THE ZWEIG LETTER JU
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