Building New Traditions UsingTraditional Concepts – asustainable building workshop

David Eisenberg, DirectorDevelopment Center for Appropriate

Technology

Susan Buchan, Green Building ProgramManager

Pima County

3.28.2008

The Building Blocks of Green Building Programs

-LOCATION & SITE-WATER-ENERGY-MATERIALS-INDOOR ENVIRONMENTALQUALITY-EDUCATION & TRAINING-INNOVATION

Site & Location

SITE: A place fitted or chosen forany certain permanent use oroccupation.

Sou

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: Old

Eng

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ry

Typical site development in theSouthwest:• Scrape the site flat.

• Push rocks, vegetation, and topsoil to theside. Burn or dump this “debris” onto anadjacent site, or landfill it.

• Control stormwater by getting it off the siteand into the municipal drainage system asquickly as possible.

• After construction, spread gravel over thesite and add sparse landscape plantings.

The “Scrape it Clean”method of sitepreparation has becomeso commonplace, fewdevelopers ever considerother methods &techniques.

In the process, topsoil,vegetation and organismsunique to the site are lost.Soil biologists estimate itcan take ten years for asite to regain its’ formercomposition after blading.

Thoughtless land development canalso alter the natural hydrology of asite.

If the site shaping is done with adesire to get as much stormwater aspossible off the site and into stormdrains, the micro-habitat may neverrecover.

Erosion, loss of fertile topsoil, loss of sitewater recharge opportunities, andreduction in biodiversity andvegetative coverage may all resultfrom site development techniquesthat place more value on the speedof the operation than the quality ofthe land left behind.

LOCATION:INFILL is Green

• Existing Utility Infrastructure• Proximity to Public

Transportation,Employment, Shopping

• Sense of Community• Reduces Pressure on

Existing Natural OpenSpace

• Redevelopment Potentialfor Blighted Areas

Sustainable Site DesignPrinciples

• Get to know the place

• Preserve the natural hydrologyof the site

• Provide additional opportunitiesfor groundwater recharge

• Value topsoil, cacti & nativetrees/plants; use appropriateplantings for landscaping

• Leave as much open space aspossible

Site Development Principles• Balance cut and fill. Do as little as possible of either.

Design the building to work with the existing topography.Avoid building on desert slopes of over 15%.

• Protect remaining vegetation: Use wire cages aroundcacti and trees. Move plants that are in the buildingfootprint. Fence or flag a no disturbance boundary. Useone driveway into and out of the site. Wash concretetrucks into containers, not out on to the soil.

• Move graded topsoil to an area where it can be coveredand protected.

Site Hydrology Principles• Watch for the

natural coursewater takes on site

• Slow the runoffdown

• Direct runofftowards raingardens &rainwaterharvesting systems

• Minimize erosion• Provide filtering,

reduce pollutants

WATER

WATER: acommonchemicalsubstancethat isessential toall knownforms of life.

Source: Wikipedia

Where does the rain go?• Hydrologists estimate that as much as 90% of

the rain that falls on the desert is lost to the sitethrough runoff and evaporation. Proper sitepreparation can ensure that much of the waterthat falls on a site stays on the site.

Water Use• 40-60% of domestic water

use in Arizona is for outdooruses: landscaping, pools,irrigation, and washing cars,pets and sidewalks.

• It is estimated that 1/3 ofwater delivered to homes inArizona is lost throughundetected leaks.

• Rural areas and tribal landsare expected to suffer thegreatest water shortages aspopulation growth in AZcontinues to stressgroundwater levels.

WATER : Precious & ScarceWATER : Precious & Scarce

• If the world's water supply is compared toone gallon freshwater would make up 4ounces or 3 percent, and readily accessiblefreshwater would make up 2 drops. (Miller,G.T. 1998. Living in the Environment, 10thEdition. Wadsworth Publishers, Belmont,California)

• Just a 10 percent improvement in efficiencyof water delivery for irrigation systems couldconserve enough water to double theglobal amount available for drinking.www.solstice.crest.org

• Rainwater Harvesting• Low Flow Fixtures• Greywater Harvesting• Xeriscaping &

Hydrozoning• Reclaimed Water• Energy Efficiency• Reduce Leaks!

Going Blue-Green

Rainwater Harvesting

Source: Scott Calhoun, ZonaGardens, CivanoSource: Richard’s Rainwater, Austin TX

Unlike greywater, rainwater will likely be lost to the regionalwatershed unless it is slowed and retained.

A 1-inch rainfall on a 1000 sf roof generates 600 gallons ofwater.Active rainwater harvesting

systems usually consist ofroof guttering connected tocisterns that can be installedabove or below ground.

Dual Flush Toilets:40-50% watersavings overconventional toilets

Composting Toilets:90-100% watersavings overconventional toilets

Horizontal AxisWashers: Use 25-50% less water thantop loaders

The toiletis thelargestwater userof anyappliancein thehouse…

Water-Efficient Fixtures

Greywater Harvesting

• Greywater is water from thebath, shower, washingmachine or bathroom inhomes. Greywater can supplymost, if not all the irrigationneeds of a domestic dwellinglandscaped with vegetationof a semiarid region.

• Blackwater is water fromtoilets or kitchen sinks and isnot plumbed into a greywaterharvesting system due topublic health concerns

Source: Graywater.com

Xeriscaping & Hydrozoning

Xeriscape™ at Tucson Water’s Hayden-Udall Treatment Plant

Xeriscaping is the use ofnative low water use

plants in the landscape-can beautify the areas

around a building &provide habitat for

native species.

Hydrozoning is thepractice of grouping

plantings according towater needs. Anirrigation systemdesigned with

hydrozoning in minduses water more

effectively & maintainsa healthy landscape

The Water-Energy Link

• Production of electrical power results in oneof the largest uses of water in the UnitedStates and worldwide. Water forthermoelectric power is used in generatingelectricity with steam-driven turbinegenerators. Surface water is the source formore than 99 percent of total thermoelectric-power withdrawals.

• In 2000, thermoelectric-power withdrawalsaccounted for 48 percent of total water use,39 percent of total freshwater withdrawals forall categories, and 52 percent of freshsurface-water withdrawals.

• Three quarters of a gallon of water is requiredfor every kilowatt hour of electricitygenerated by a coal-fired power plant.

Source: Energy Information Administration

Water Waste through FaultyInfrastructure, “Unaccounted” Losses

Most municipalities report a 10-20% loss of water forreasons that are unaccounted for – leaks and cracksin the system are most likely the culprit.Source: ADWR

ENERGY

The United States has5% of the world’spopulation, 8% offossil fuel reserves,but uses 25% of theenergy consumedglobally.

Most of the energy we use today started as solarenergy. Fossil fuels are derived from the fossilizedremains of dead plants & animals that used the sunfor photosynthesis or ate plants that did.

We have an opportunity to shortcut the process,especially in Arizona, the state blessed with thelargest concentration of solar radiation reaching its’surface.

Energy ConservationUse Less Energy

Energy EfficiencyUse It Wisely

Renewable EnergyUse Clean Sources

Energy ConservationThe most important environmental issue is one that israrely mentioned, and that is the lack of a conservationethic in our culture.Gaylord Nelson

Photo: Rich Legg

Buildings account fornearly 40% of energyuse, and 20-45% of allenergy use in buildingsoccurs when they areunoccupied.

Affordability & Energy Utilities

• “Inability to pay utilities is second onlyto inability to pay rent as a reason forhomelessness.”

Karen Brown, Ex Dir, Colorado Energy Assistance Foundation.JamesBenfield, Ex Dir, Campaign for Home Energy Assistance.

Energy Efficiency

Efficiency is doing things right;Effectiveness is doing the right things.-Peter Drucker

• Properly designed mechanical systems• Task lighting/Individual thermal

Controls• Occupancy sensors• Properly sized HVAC Units

Energy Efficiency

Renewable Energy For Arizona

• SOLAR• Wind?• Geothermal?• Biomass?

Solar Potential is nearlyuniformly promisingthroughout the state,therefore the potentialto use the SolarPhotovoltaic Resourcesfor energy production ishigh.(NREL)

AZ SolarPotential

Arizona’s insolation (ameasure of solarradiation energyreceived on a givensurface area in a giventime), exceed that of anyplace in the UnitedStates.

Two of the most promisingtracks of contiguous windylands in the state appear tobe on the Navajo Nationnear Cameron, and ineastern Arizona nearSpringerville (Arizona WindAtlas, NAU)

AZ WindPotential

As confirmed by Arizona’snew high-resolution windenergy map, Arizona has asignificant wind resourcethat is developable on thecommercial scale. This windresource, however, hashistorically been under-reported.

Map prepared by Patrick Laney and Julie Brizzee,

INEEL for US DoE, based on data from Geo-HeatCenter Geothermal Database, 2002 & NOAA,1982.

GeothermalPotential in

AZ

AZ BiomassPotential

The biomass resource mapsshow county-level estimatesof biomass resourcesavailable for biofuelsproduction or biomass powerstations. The map includesonly the resources availablefrom crop and forest residues.They do not includemanaged crop or forestresources, urban residues,municipal solid waste (MSW),or landfill gas (LFG). (AZ SolarCenter)

MATERIALS

Materials

•Reclaimed/Salvaged

•Recycled

•Rapidly Renewable

•Local

30% Post Consumer Content

Indoor Environmental Quality The air inside buildings can contain 10-15 times

the toxins & pollutants when compared to theair outside the same building.

• Off-gassing of materials, especially paints,carpets, & furnishings

• Air Handling Intake location• Inadequate fresh-air ventilation• Molds & Pollen• Tobacco smoke• Overheating/overcooling• Radon• Asbestos

Getting to good air

1. Eliminate at Source2. Filter3. Ventilate

The National Energy Management Institute estimatesover 300 billion dollars is lost in annual sick timeattributed to poor indoor air quality.

Indoor Environmental Quality

Effects of Poor IndoorEnvironmental Quality• Loss of Productivity in Workers – from 6-16 %

in recent studies. Often the indoor air qualityissues are imperceptible to occupants.

• Visitor satisfaction –poorer scores reportedwhen small amounts of VOCs areintroduced into atmosphere for as little as 5hours.

• Increased sick time• Increased worker stress and dissatisfactionJ. V. Bakke, D. Norbäck, G. Wieslander, B.-E. Hollund, E. Florvaag, E. N.Haugen, B. E. Moen. Symptoms, complaints, ocular and nasalphysiological signs in university staff in relation to indoor environment –temperature and gender interactions. Indoor Air  doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0668.2007.00515.