Entries associated with the tag "Green Building":

"No building can be considered truly green unless it's in a green urban neighborhood" -- that's how the Chicago-based Congress for New Urbanism puts it in the press release announcing the 238 pilot projects that will test out the LEED for Neighborhood Developments standard.

Chicagoans involved in the development of these standards include architect Doug Farr, the Center for Neighborhood Technology's Sharon Feigon, and CNU's John Norquist and Susan Mudd. Chicago-area developments involved in piloting the standards are 108 North State (AKA Block 37), South Chicago LEED ND initiative, Prairie Crossing's Station Village in Grayslake, Briar Ridge in Northbrook, and Whistler Crossing in Riverdale. (Full list in PDF here).

The voluntary rating system will rank neighborhoods on standards grouped into three categories:

* smart location and linkage, including "brownfield redevelopment" (worth up to 2 points) and "reduced automobile dependence" (up to 8 points);

* neighborhood pattern and design, including "affordable rental housing" (up to 2 points) and "walkable streets" (up to 8 points);

* green construction and technology, including "solar orientation" (1 point) and "stormwater management" (up to 5 points).

Read all the pilot standards so far in a 161-page PDF here.

Gristmill has a list of some two dozen green building techniques arranged in a quick-read table with approximate energy and greenhouse-gas savings and more technical references for each. It's an educational list, not a substitute for the systematic thinking that goes into standards like that of the U.S. Green Building Council, nor a for seeing a bunch of ideas together in action like the Sullivans' Rogers Park rehab.

There are not only some materials and practices listed here I've never heard of (geopolymeric cement, anyone?), but some good thoughts -- be cautious about savings on building that end up requiring more energy in operations, because building operations keep on using energy and money for a loooong time.  Top of the list: rehabbing over building new. Reminder: no significant savings to be made on items that are a small part of the structure, such as wiring.

There are also reminders that in this enterprise as in all others, not all good things go together. There are tradeoffs. From a building standpoint, for instance, skyscrapers are very energy-intensive and so need to have operational efficiencies. But from a broader point of view, the alternative to skyscrapers is acres of low-rise sprawl, which consumes energy in transit and other ways.

As the comments suggest, some of these innovations will become more palatable if energy is priced according to its true costs -- but people have to know about them first!

Meanwhile, ENN reports on the American Institute of Architects' list of the ten greenest buildings in the U.S., and the midwest was entirely shut out.

Treehugger plugs the new issue of Dwell magazine, including this line -- which ought to be branded on the forehead of every politician who thinks it's cool to put techie-looking solar collectors on standard-issue buildings: "The big deal is the section on solar power, with the proper amount of attention to the low key, less dramatic but very important passive solar design. Passive solar does not get as much press because it is not a product, but a result of careful consideration of the site and careful design of the dwelling."

And speaking of products, is a $140 bag with a lithium battery pack and some solar panels really a green idea, as A Fresh Squeeze: Chicago Edition seems to think? Or is it just another yup toy?

Chicago's number one green-building architect isn't satisfied, according to a recent Grist magazine profile. Doug Farr's firm has produced more buildings that earned the platinum (highest) rating on the LEED green-building standard than any other architectural firm. (The number is two.) But a green building, after all, can be plunked down anywhere in a distinctly non-green way.

So Farr has been working on LEED-ND standards for entire neighborhoods. "There is so much effort that goes into designing and building this one small thing, this single green building," he tells Charles Shaw (who edits Chicago's edition of Conscious Choice, and was the subject of Mike Miner's Reader column for October 20). "The same amount of effort goes into planning two square miles of regular neighborhood, and that will serve us for the next 200 years. [The focus on individual buildings] just doesn't make any sense."

The firm's Web site briefly summarizes and maps (PDF) its work on the recent Chicago zoning reform, pushing "continuous streeetwalls [along sidewalks], high levels of window transparency, and entrances to shops at sidewalks. Any associated parking is to be located behind buildings, and auto-oriented uses, such as drive-thrus, will be prohibited on designated 'P Streets'" -- in other words, drawing a line against creeping suburbanism.

Farr's book -- you knew there was a book -- will be called Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design With Nature. There is already a shelf full of similar titles, but we can hope this one will be more specific.

No matter how good it is, though, it's really just a holding action. Farr knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men and women. No book and no set of standards will get very far as long as we can still afford not to go green. "There is no measure of shame or guilt that will stop people from unsustainable practices, only price will." When the prices go up, he aims to be ready.

• "This is a green home." I don't think so, and neither does Russ Finley of Gristmill. Money quote, which along with the picture says it all, but there's more in the story: "When we decided to build a new house on our property in Woody Creek, a few miles but a world away from Aspen, we knew we were engaging in inherently antienvironmental behavior, so we decided to go as green as we could." Used to be called greenwashing.
  

• "Your Boyfriend Is a Good Kisser." The Washington Post tells all about teens' sleazoid T-shirt sayings, but buries the lead: "The T-shirts highlight a paradox about this generation: Even as more teenagers absorb ubiquitous sexual messages, federal data show that they report having less sex than their predecessors."  Used to be called sublimation.

• "I was there." One of several priceless student excuses from the consistently depressing and compulsively readable Rate Your Students: "Student told me that he missed class because he was sitting in an empty classroom for an entire week (he told me he thought it odd that there were no other students present) and finally went to the department office and found out we had moved across the hall." Used to be called you flunk, moron.

When he's home, Erik Olsen is in Lakeview. When he's at work, he's at the city's Department of Construction and Permits, running the accelerated permit program for city buildings that meet some basic green standards. (As Olsen told me earlier this year, "Routine projects involving three or fewer units can typically be approved on a fast track within ten days, following a process that can be diagrammed on a Post-it.")

In his spare time he runs GreenBean, "a news and discussion forum dedicated to reporting on built, in-progress, and unbuilt green building projects in Chicago."  Projects--eight so far in the 312 and 773--are posted with owners' consent independent of the City of Chicago.

There's plenty of technical talk on the site-- hey, the guy's an engineer!--but Olsen, true to the blog medium, isn't all promotional all the time. He has both praise for and misgivings about One South Dearborn, for instance:

"Like essentially all new office towers in Chicago, this is an all-electric building, including electric resistance heat, which is almost never environmentally preferable (see here or here--scroll almost to bottom--to understand why). Although one man's rantings can't change the market in Chicago, I will always complain about this. For commercial office towers it isn't quite as egregious because they primarily require cooling, but the electric heat trend seems to be growing in residential buildings as well."

On a happier note, he has this to say about the Washington Park SRO (5000 S. Indiana). Its architect, Piekarz Associates PC, "had little prior green experience, but because of the owner's directive, was and is willing to learn how to meet the project's green goals. There are many other local architects with little green experience diving in head-first, and they are to be applauded for the efforts."

Over at Gristmill, Jason Scorse--an environmentalist who believes in market principles, and an economist teaching at the Monterey Institute of International Studies--posted his four favorite policies for cleaning up the world:

"Eliminate all natural-resource subsidies.  Subsidies to timber companies, fishermen, farmers, and the oil and gas industry are by far the most damaging environmental policies engaged in by governments around the world." These subsidies both encourage environmental degradation and make natural resources seem cheaper than they are, making it hard for alternatives to compete.

"Expand property rights in areas where they are weak or non-existent.  The areas in the world where we witness the greatest levels of environmental degradation (the oceans, many large tropical forests, and the atmosphere) are those where property rights are absent, unclear, or poorly enforced." Whether held by individuals, groups, or governments, make those rights clear.

"Empower society with information.  Basic environmental science is something that will be underfunded in a pure 'free market,' because it is rarely profitable; therefore, governments should do more to support scientific research."

"Enlarge green markets through government purchases.  Since governments are some of the largest buyers of natural resources in the world (e.g. paper, power, food), their purchases have a huge impact on markets and the environment."

There are some interesting comments both at Gristmill and at Environmental Economics, where Scorse also posted.

Meanwhile, back in Chicago, Adam Bilsky (aabilsky@comcast.net) of DePaul's Management of Public Services Graduate Program would like to know "what obstacles currently face supporters of green residential building in Chicago, and what action steps might remove them to stimulate market demand." If you'd like to help, take  his survey (confidentiality promised) before Thursday at surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=355372368977. It's not excessively long.