March 23, 2009
by Environmental Building Strategies
in Green Building, Uncategorized
Tags: water
I thought I would share with you some fun/disturbing facts about water and why it should become a priority in our buildings.
1) An American taking a five-minute shower uses more water than the typical person living in a developing country slum uses in a whole day.
2) 3.575 million people die each year from water-related disease.
3) 84% of water-related deaths are in children ages 0 – 14.
4) 98% of water-related deaths occur in the developing world.
5) The water and sanitation crisis claims more lives through disease than any war claims through guns.
6) At any given time, half of the world’s hospital beds are occupied by patients suffering from a water-related disease.
Sanitation
1) Only 62% of the world’s population has access to improved sanitation – defined as a sanitation facility that ensures hygienic separation of human excreta from human contact.
2) 2.5 billion people lack access to improved sanitation, including 1.2 billion people who have no facilities at all.
3) At any one time, more than half of the poor in the developing world are ill from causes related to hygiene, sanitation and water supply.
Now some fun facts about buildings and waters in the US
Average Home Water Usage:
toilets 28%
clothes washers 21%
showers 17%
faucets 15%
leaks 14%
other 5%
It’s pretty amazing to me that 14% of our water use is because of leaks!
Here are some easy ways to help out
• Fix your leaks
• Install water saving aerators or spring loaded valves on all faucets.
• Install water saving shower heads.
• Retrofit flushometer toilets and urinals with low consumption valve replacement kits.
• Replace existing higher consumption toilets and urinals with Low Flush (ULF) toilets and urinals which use 1.6 gallons per flush (gpf) and 1.0 gpf respectively.
• If only replacing a limited number of toilets, replace heavily used fixtures located in high traffic areas first.
• When remodeling, such as for ADA compliance, replace fixtures with ULF models.
Just a couple suggestions for the year ahead.
I really do believe that we must stress the importance of our lack of water and create a sense of urgency out there. It is a problem that we can solve but we must take action soon. I want to thank organizations like the WORLD WATER DAY for advancing our knowledge and spreading the word about the shortage of water.
–The EBS Team
March 15, 2009
by Environmental Building Strategies
in Commissioning, Energy, LEED, Uncategorized
Tags: Green Building, LEED
The new version of LEED has some new and improved features and I wanted to discuss this idea of “weighting credits” that the USGBC has mentioned since GreenBuild.
To start with the new book is 674 pages – ridiculously big so plan on paying more for it than you did.
Secondly, they have decided to organize all Building Design and Construction into one book so CS, Schools and NC are organized under one structure. This gives that “bookshelf” type feel we’ve heard about. As far as ID+C I don’t know much and have no information about Homes (although I suspect there won’t be drastic improvements – except hopefully the cost issue).
Extra weight has been give to credits that matter towards Carbon Reduction and Global Warming. For instance high density and urban environments are given more credit through reduction in Single Occupancy Vehicle (SOV) reductions.
Also extra credits are assigned to the EQ 4 section. I am not exactly sure of the intent here except that if you know anything about what we breathe in buildings you know it’s an important issue.
Lastly the scale is 1-100. 40 is now the new benchmark to which we need to achieve in order to be minimum certified. Still necessary are skills like Energy Modeling and Commissioning so be sure that have those skills on board early in your project.
There is lots more to tell but I’ll wait till they roll it out to the public. Should be a couple weeks.
Until then…
The EBS Team
March 9, 2009
by Environmental Building Strategies
in Green Building
Typical issues with Residential Homes (new and existing):
1. Built 16″ On Center
2. Unconditioned plumbing lines (specifically hot)
3. High presence of IAQ (indoor air quality) issues
4. Lead, Mercury, asbestos, VOC’s, chlorides, formaldehyde, mold exist within YOUR home
5. Don’t believe me – get your blood tested – these chemicals don’t go away!
6. Lack insulation – over 50% of our stock has none in the walls and little in the ceiling
7. Air leakages (most homes have the equivalent leakage of having a window fully open year round
8. Unconditioned Basements/Crawlspaces (no vapor barrier) – Radioactive gas is an issue in some areas
9. Air is still our main source of heating spaces – water has 8 times the heat capacity of air
10. We still import materials from distant sources (most framing lumber comes from Brazil)
Typical issues with Commercial Buildings (new and existing):
1. Thermal comfort control – entire floors are conditioned at the same 70 degree temperature
2. Inefficient Lighting Sources – T12′s and too much light – use task lighting!
3. No connection to outdoor – stuffed in a cubicle inside a box (like a rat in a maze)
4. Inefficient use of fuel or electricity – they just consume so much.
There are so many more I could list but commercial buildings are so different in so many ways. For the most part residential construction can be understood – there aren’t too many different ways to do it and as far as existing goes, we always used to do it the same. Commercial buildings have several of the same air quality problems – in fact existing commercial space often has air quality that is 10 times worse than the air quality outside – and yes that includes the air in very urban settings.
At some point we need to realize how much our buildings consume and how much time we spend inside of them consuming those elements. Whether it be electricity, water, materials, food, or fuel we have built these structures and literally encapsulated our lives to the point where we feel uncomfortable outside of that protective shell. When will we start using the world to our advantage?
It is generally understood that you can’t F*%& with mother nature right? So why do we continue to try. We are sucking her dry of oil, water, materials and oxygen – what do you think she’s going to do? Well if you can’t think of anything lets me remind you of the recent Tsunami and Hurricane.
That being said why haven’t we adopted policies where we use her to our advantage. Everyday the wind blows, the sun shines and the skies rain right? I think I just solved every issue besides the materials one. From wind we can get energy and ventilation. From the sun we get our vitamins, energy, and light. From rain we get the water that is essential for all life. Hmmmm… Seems like a no brainer to me. Maybe architects will catch on before we implode.
The EBS Team
March 2, 2009
by Environmental Building Strategies
in Green Building, Uncategorized
Tags: green, Renewable Energy, sustainability, waste, water
So a couple things are on my mind this week. The main one is water however. To date this blog has focused quite a bit on energy, materials, and sustainability however we’ve lacked on the water subject.
Since Karolina let me on to this movie FLOW I’ve been newly recharged to change the world. I can’t express in words how important it is that you see this documentary. It discusses the critical nature of our current water supply in a global context.
It also discusses how multi-national corporations such as Coke, Nestle, and Pepsi are literally destroying aquifers where the “set up shop.” The worst part is they do this in places around the globe that can least afford it. Companies like Coke suck up water that would otherwise be provided for indigenous people and then bottle it and sell it back to them for profit. Lets just ask ourselves, “Does that make sense?” Does it make sense to pay ridiculous amounts of money for something that falls from our skies? Should we start paying for air? How about sunlight?
The greatest part about it is that this bottled water we drink is rarely ever better for our health and of course when you throw in the future impacts of the plastic bottle its stored in, you have a recipe for disaster.
Besides the film, I wanted to share some things the world is doing for water and its conservation.
In Orange County California, wastewater is being treated and discharged back into the ground water. It then is recaptured and used for drinking, showering and such. This is a really important concept because quite often wastewater and sewage is treated and dumped into our oceans. We are dumping potentially viable FRESH water in the salty oceans. An interesting note that Australia does this already – in fact I’ve heard that their President was shown on TV drinking a glass of treated water. Besides that they capture much of their rainfall and understand capture and reuse much better than Americans.
In other interesting news, Ben Block from Greener Buildings talks about how water efficiency is key to energy savings here. Also on Greener Buildings is an interesting article about a mobile transportation device for wastewater treatment. That article can be found here.
Thats about all I have for now – I will leave you with this interesting tidbit I learned…
An investment in wind power produces almost three times as many jobs as the same investment in coal power. And an investment in solar power produces almost four times as many jobs, and energy efficiency, almost thirty times as many jobs as coal power.
–The EBS Team
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