A roundup of what the construction industry -- and the plumbing and heating industry in particular -- is doing to make homes and buildings more eco-friendly.
The Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH) is offering builders and remodelers a roadmap with its PATH Guide to Green Building, which pulls together the essential principles of quality green practices in a comprehensive, easy-to-follow plan.
The guide outlines five green principles that, with homeowner education, comprise the key to effective green building: 1) resource and waste management; 2) energy-efficient system integration; 3) resource-efficient plumbing; 4) good indoor air quality; and 5) low-impact development.
To download the guide, visit PATH online at www.pathnet.org.
Last month at the International Builders’ show, the National Association of Home Builders launched the NAHB National Green Building Program. It features an online scoring tool at www.nahbgreen.org, which shows how to accrue points in seven categories: water, energy and resource efficiency; lot and site development; indoor environmental quality; global impact; and homeowner education. The program sets point requirements in each category for the bronze, silver and gold levels.
Homes are inspected and verified by local green experts and the documentation is sent to the NAHB Research Center for review. If the project qualifies, the home can receive national certification from the Research Center.
The Water Environment Research Foundation recently unveiled a new Web site, www.werf.org/livablecommunities, that gives landscape architects, designers, engineers, stormwater managers, elected officials and the public creative new ideas on sustainable stormwater practices. The site provides practical tools, frameworks for implementation and planning aids that can be adapted to any community or project.
A series of live green building webinars will be presented by the Mechanical Contractors Association of America in 2008 to help members compete in this expanding new market. A copy of each presentation will be archived for viewing after the presentation at www.greencontractors.us. The first live webinar will take place March 27, and will feature Jerry Yudelson, who will lead a session during MCAA 2008 on “Branding and Positioning Your Green Building Offering.” For more information or to sign up for the green webinar series, contact Sean McGuire at smcguire@mcaa.org.
HVAC Excellence and Ferris State University have teamed up to address the “green” educational needs of the HVACR industry. The first section of the program, “Green Mechanical Awareness,” was pilot-tested at the UA’s annual instructors’ workshop and through workforce development in Louisiana. The first technical module, “Combustion Analysis,” has been completed and covers the maximization of furnace and boiler energy efficiency.
The program has been adopted by the UA, the Green Mechanical Council, the Carbon Monoxide Safety Association, and the AC&R Safety Coalition for use in their educational programs. Contact HVAC Excellence at 800/394-5268, or Ferris State University at 866/880-7674 for further information.
The third issue of idronics, Caleffi’s semi-annual design journal for hydronic professionals, was released in January and focuses on solar heating technology. The publication is written by engineers and oriented towards innovative design techniques. “What’s New Under The Sun?” begins with a primer on solar heating fundamentals, then presents a wide spectrum of design concepts and hardware options for solar water heating and space heating. Download a free copy at www.caleffi.us.
The
Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing Concept
Home Omaha was purchased by first-time homebuyers Howard and Marcella Dial and
their family. The Dials purchased the house after qualifying for financial
assistance through the City of Omaha and HUD’s HOME Program, as well as $1,000
from the Nebraska Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
The
Concept Home was designed for flexibility (easy to update and expand for
different life stages, new owners or the latest technological innovations);
efficiency (easy to build and easy to live in) and sustainability (featuring
green, energy-efficient products, systems and materials). The Concept Home
meets Energy Star, Environments For Living and LEED for Homes
criteria.
The Mechanical Contracting Education & Research
Foundation and the U.S. Green Building Council
will work cooperatively on a study, “Identifying Key Design, Construction
and Operation Variables Affecting Energy Performance in LEED Certified
Buildings.” MCERF will provide up to $75,000 in funding for this project.
LEED-certified buildings have demonstrated significantly lower energy use than
their counterparts, but a statistically high variance in energy use exists in a
sample group, even within similar building types. The MCERF/USGBC study will
review the design, construction, operations practices and strategies of the
best and worst energy performers in this sample. MCERF and the USGBC will
develop detailed case studies on at least six of the buildings to provide
specific examples of why energy performance differs so broadly.
A
protocol for screening buildings will be developed and implemented during the
study to identify underlying variables influencing performance. A narrative
report and educational presentation highlighting the findings of the project
analysis and illustrative case studies will result.
EMCOR Group
recently announced that a project recently completed for Greentree Landfill Gas
Co. has been named the “2007 Project of the Year” by the Environmental
Protection Agency’s Landfill Methane Outreach Program.
The project at the Greentree
landfill site in Kersey, Pa., converts landfill gas into pipeline-quality
natural gas, which is then used to produce environmentally clean electric power
while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It is one of the largest such projects
in the country. EMCOR Energy Services designed and constructed the gas
compression and cleaning facility, an eight-mile pipeline and a blending and
compression station at the connection to National Fuel Gas Co.’s interstate
pipeline.
A new report from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
estimates $202.5 billion is the nationwide capital investment needed to control
wastewater pollution for up to a 20-year period. The 2004 Clean Watersheds
Needs Survey summarizes the results of the agency’s 14th national survey on the
needs of publicly owned wastewater treatment works. The estimate includes
$134.4 billion for wastewater treatment and collection systems, $54.8 billion
for combined sewer overflow corrections, and $9.0 billion for stormwater management.
The figures represent
documented wastewater investment needs, but do not account for expected
investment and revenues. The needs in this survey represent a $16.1 billion
(8.6 percent) increase (in constant 2004 dollars) over the 2000 report. The
increase in overall national needs is due to a combination of population
growth, more protective water quality standards, and aging
infrastructure.
Geberit’s “Sustainability Report 2007” presents an
overview of Geberit’s objective of a sustained improvement in the quality of
people’s lives through plumbing technology.
CEO Albert M. Baehny says in this report
that economic success, acting in an environmentally friendly manner and social
balance, are not a contradiction in terms. In fact, sustainability and social
responsibility are closely interrelated.
In related news, Geberit
North America has become a member of the EPA WaterSense program. In conjunction
to becoming an active partner of WaterSense, the company will incorporate
WaterSense communication products to its customers as part of its corporate
commitment to environmental stewardship. In this effort, Geberit plans to
cooperate with interior designers, architects and contractors to get the
message to corporations that plumbing systems can save water.
Watts Water Technologies announced its membership in the
United States Green Building Council. The company wished to demonstrate its
ongoing commitment to supporting green building initiatives, and working with
architects and engineers to earn LEED credits.
Chicago
Faucets also has joined the USGBC. Much of Chicago Faucets’ product
line is committed to water conservation and incorporates low-flow
aerators, adjustable metering cartridges sensor operated faucets.
IAPMO Research and Testing has completed certification testing on five
Vortens products. The results qualify the five
high-efficiency toilets (HETs) to receive WaterSense designations from the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency.
Vortens’ products
receiving the WaterSense designation in October 2007 include: 1) Tornado ADA
(pressure-assist elongated HET with 1 gpf/4 lpf); 2) Tornado (pressure-assist
elongated HET with 1 gpf/4 lpf); 3) Delfos (one-piece dual-flush elongated HET
with 1.6 gpf/6 lpf and 1.1 gpf/4 lpf); 4) Rhodas DF (dual-flush elongated HET
with 1.6 gpf/6 lpf and 1.1 gpf/4 lpf); and 5) Dali (dual-flush elongated HET
with 1.6 gpf/6 lpf and 1.1 gpf/4 lpf).
In other news, IAPMO
R&T recognized Neoperl as the first manufacturer to be
independently certified to meet the U.S. EPA WaterSense criteria for lavatory
faucets.
The City of
Milwaukee recognized Starline, a foundry of Chicago
Faucets, for its commitment to environmental performance and implementation
efforts toward conservation regulations.
The city regularly checks
regional companies to see if they are adhering to ecological wastewater
guidelines as part of their responsibility to water quality on Lake Michigan.
To ensure no chemicals enter the wastewater, Starline stores all dangerous
substances in double-walled containers.
Johnson
Controls has pledged to reduce its total U.S. greenhouse gas
emissions intensity per dollar of revenue by 30 percent from 2002 to 2012. The
company has committed to the reduction goal as part of the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency’s Climate Leaders program, which Johnson Controls joined in
2003.
Climate Leaders is an EPA
industry-government partnership that works with companies to develop
comprehensive climate change strategies. Partner companies commit to reducing
their impact on the global environment by completing a corporatewide inventory
of their greenhouse gas emissions based on a quality management system, setting
aggressive reduction goals and annually reporting their progress to the EPA.
Through program participation, companies create credible records of their
accomplishments and receive EPA recognition as corporate environmental leaders.
Johnson Controls plans to achieve
this reduction goal through a comprehensive action plan that institutes
energy-efficiency solutions in the company’s U.S. plants and facilities,
processes and fleet. Through the EPA audit process, Johnson Controls has
verified that it has already made good progress towards achieving this
aggressive GHG reduction goal by 2012.
The Plumbing Manufacturers Institute has entered into a
partnership agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency’s WaterSense
program. As a partner, PMI will support the goals of the EPA WaterSense
program, as well as promote the value of using water resources more efficiently
and the value of using WaterSense-labeled products and programs. Through this
agreement, PMI will be recognized for its involvement in the program and its
role in protecting the environment.
Barbara C. Higgens, executive director of
PMI, will serve as the authorized partner representative and Shawn
Martin, technical director of PMI will serve as the primary
contact.
Sammamish Commons, in the state of Washington, has become
the first project to earn a LEED point for the use of germicidal ultraviolet or
UVC lights in the air handling units. Notkin Mechanical Engineers (Seattle),
mechanical engineer for the project, applied for and received the Innovation in
Design LEED credit from the U.S. Green Building Council. The project utilizes
UVC Emitters manufactured by Steril-Aire Inc. downstream of the cooling coils
to improve indoor air quality and reduce energy and maintenance
costs.