Hi HVAC Efficiency: 3 Part Series: Part 1: Innovations Offer Reductions In HVAC Energy Consumption But Are Often Ignored.

Hi HVAC Efficiency: 3 Part Series: Part 1: Innovations Offer Reductions In HVAC Energy Consumption But Are Often Ignored.

In recent years, the industry has devoted a great deal of effort to reducing the amount of energy used to operate buildings. During that time, a variety of innovative HVAC technologies and design strategies have been developed and proved in a wide range of projects. Those approaches, however, are often ignored when HVAC options are being weighed. That's unfortunate: Wider use of those HVAC strategies represents a substantial opportunity to cut energy consumption, since more than one third of the energy used in a building is for heating, cooling, and ventilation.

Those strategies are also crucial for projects aiming to achieve net-zero energy use. A net-zero energy (NZE) building is one where the total energy consumed over a period of one year, minus renewable energy generated on-site, is equal to or less than zero.

Designing a very efficient HVAC system, whether it's for a net-zero building or not, can be a significant task, and it is best accomplished through an integrated, holistic design approach. This approach requires the commitment and contribution of owners, architects, engineers, contractors, and other specialists. Building owners and facility managers play an integral part even beyond the design stage: Even the best-designed projects rely on the user's motivation to operate the building with a high level of energy efficiency — especially when striving for net-zero energy.

The appropriate selection of HVAC systems offers many opportunities to achieve great efficiency. But the first step in designing an efficient HVAC system, regardless of whether the project's goal is to achieve net-zero energy use, is to cut the demand for energy. This is accomplished by reducing building internal loads, by improving building envelope performance to reduce solar heat gains and conductive losses, and, at the same time, by maximizing the use of daylight.

Depending on the climate, cooling demand can be reduced by increasing building insulation and installing high-performance glass. Light-colored, reflective surfaces on roofs and walls and radiant barriers within ceilings are also important to avert solar radiation.

In recent years, there have been developments in dynamic building envelope technology that can alter performance in order to withstand peak periods. Smart glass or self-tinting products are controlled based on an electric signal. Phase-change materials can be installed in drywall in order to maintain surface temperatures during extended hot periods.

Internal electrical loads for lighting and power systems should also be reduced as much as possible to increase efficiency. About 39 percent of building energy use goes to lighting and office equipment. Reducing internal electrical loads also cuts the demand for cooling: For each kW consumed, a percentage of waste heat must be cooled.

PART 2: Consider These Passive Or 

Energy-Efficient Active HVAC Systems:

Once heat gain is reduced, passive HVAC systems or more energy-efficient active systems can be installed to satisfy occupant comfort.

Passive systems are effective in net-zero buildings because they allow the user to maintain comfort in a space without the need for energy. Common passive techniques include natural ventilation and the use of thermal mass.

Natural ventilation relies on outdoor air and appropriate high/low window placement to ventilate, bring in fresh air, and relieve hot air. Exposed thermal mass can often be provided in the form of concrete, water, or other materials to evenly regulate surface temperatures, even when exposed to heat. Exposed thermal mass is often used in conjunction with natural ventilation in order to pre-cool surfaces at night and store this coolth for daytime use.

Passive systems have two limitations: They can be slow to respond to changes in load, and they can have limited capacity. This makes the load-reduction strategies even more important. In mixed-mode buildings, passive systems are supplemented by active HVAC systems to operate during periods when outdoor temperatures are high or low.

Energy-Efficient Active Systems:

When it comes to active-system design strategies, it's important to remember that any measures that can help occupants maintain comfort without turning on building HVAC systems should be considered. Local personal workstation cooling systems or high-volume, low-velocity ceiling fans may allow facility staff to increase building temperature set-points while maintaining comfort. The premise of "adaptive comfort" is that people can accept a wider range of temperature if they have the means to make adaptive, local adjustments such as altering air velocity, modifying clothing levels, or changing the activity schedule.

For heating applications on small- to mid-sized commercial net-zero projects, electric heat pumps are often the preferred means for generating heat. The reason is that they can take advantage of electricity from on site renewable sources (e.g., from photovoltaics or wind turbines); that's why net-zero projects use natural gas heating systems less often than other types of projects. Other sources of heat, such as solar thermal collectors, are common ways to offset the electrical heating requirements.

Radiant systems, such as chilled or heated floors and ceilings, are effective for net-zero applications both in heating and cooling. These systems temper the environment without needing a fan to circulate air. Air-plus-water systems, such as active chilled beams, can also offset fan energy. A pump is required to circulate water; however, water is a much more efficient medium for transferring heat or cold than air.

For applications requiring large quantities of air, either due to ventilation or cooling demand, a means to offset fan energy should be considered.

The conventional method for doing this is to reduce supply air volume during temperate periods using a variable air volume (VAV) system. A VAV system uses a variable frequency drive in conjunction with the fan to modulate speed. Because fan power depends on airflow and static pressure, some systems look to save energy by reducing static pressure. An underfloor air distribution (UFAD) system can accomplish this goal by moving low-velocity air through a raised floor cavity to reduce the length of high-velocity air ducts. A UFAD system also supplies air at a higher temperature than VAV systems and often uses outside air to provide free cooling, leading to greater efficiency.

For larger applications, central plants employ water-cooled chillers with heat rejection from cooling towers. For this size of net-zero project, efficiency would be the driver for all mechanical components. There are opportunities, however, to use natural energy sources such as geothermal heating/cooling to modulate temperature in the HVAC fluids.

PART 3: Net-Zero Energy Buildings: Waste Heat Recovery And Renewable Energy:

Waste heat recovery and renewable energy are important strategies in net-zero energy buildings.

Because natural gas systems are less often used in net-zero buildings, there are fewer opportunities to recover energy from the heat-intensive processes. If natural gas is not used for heating, a project is unlikely to use fuel cells or micro-turbines, eliminating the ability to recover waste heat from those energy-generating systems.

On many projects, waste heat sources occur within the exhaust air streams or in condenser exhaust from heat pumps or chillers. Depending on the use of the incoming air and the quality of the outgoing air, heat can be transferred using air-to-air heat exchangers, air-handling-unit run-around coils, and thermal energy wheels. These systems either directly or indirectly transfer heat from one air stream to the next.

Another source of waste heat is the exhaust air from heat pumps or condenser water from chillers. If there is a simultaneous demand for heating (possibly in domestic hot water), this waste energy can be reused as a heat source.

Renewable Energy and Building Automation:

The steps outlined are important in another way for projects aiming to achieve net-zero energy use. Those projects decide which renewable power generation system (photovoltaic cells, building-integrated wind turbines, bio-fuel, or some other means) best matches the building demand and profile for the project type and region. Measures that reduce demand also help to reduce first cost of the generation system, and make it easier to deal with the source's intermittent power production. The protocol we've outlined makes it easier to size energy-generating systems at an appropriate and affordable capacity.

Building occupants also play an integral role in efforts to achieve energy efficiency, especially in net-zero buildings. If the user is unaware of the energy consumption in relation to the building energy generation, there is little chance of achieving a neutral energy balance (i.e., net-zero energy use) at the end of the measurement period. Building dashboards allow the user to monitor building energy consumption and to better understand when manual systems should be operated. For instance, the building dashboard may notify the user when outdoor air temperatures are acceptable for opening a window or inform the user when energy conservation may be needed on a cloudy day.

The design of a highly efficient HVAC system, especially for a net-zero project, is a complicated puzzle that requires all members of a project team to engage in the process. More than ever, there is reliance on all members to cooperate, motivate, and inspire their counterparts to achieve the common goal of energy neutrality. The reward is a net-zero building that can meet the needs of the present while having "zero" impact on the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Bruce McKinlay, PE, LEED AP, is a principal with Arup in Los Angeles and leads the firm's commercial property market in the Americas. He has collaborated on numerous sustainable projects where an integrated design approach has led to greater energy efficiency. He can be reached by email by clicking the following link here.

Jamey Lyzun, PE, LEED AP, is an associate at Arup and has 14 years of experience on projects. He has applied many of the techniques outlined in this article to assure that integrated strategies at the design phase can lead to low energy and sustainable outcomes during operation. He can be reached by email by clicking the following link here.

Hi Report: Green Buildings Market Grows to $260 Billion; Driven by Higher Rents, Values!.

Hi Report: Green Buildings Market Grows to $260 Billion; Driven by Higher Rents, Values!.

Construction of green buildings rose to 325 million m² of new floor space in 2013, representing a $260 billion market, according to Lux Research, with growth driven by economic benefits rather than environmental motivations.

Growth has exceeded expectations as green construction marches toward a significant share of the mainstream market. In the United States, for example, green buildings command an estimated 20 percent of new construction.

“Green buildings are driven not by utility savings, but by upticks in rental income or resale value,” said Alex Herceg, Lux Research analyst and the lead author of the report titled, “Cash Is King: Assessing the Financial Performance of Green Buildings.”

“Those factors, along with government incentives, can make the financial case for green buildings, delivering predictable internal rates of return (IRRs) north of 5 percent,” he added.

Lux Research analysts studied utility savings, rental rates, resale value and government incentives in green buildings and their impact on IRRs.

Among their findings:

• Green certification fuels growth. Lux Research’s analysis found that buildings with LEED Gold certification outperform their baseline peers. For instance, higher rental income added $4.1 million in value to a model 80,000 ft² commercial building in Los Angeles.

• IRRs get a boost from subsidies. Incentives like Germany's subsidized interest rates for energy-efficient homes, or government cash rebates in India, can lead to an IRR of 5 to 6 percent over 15 years.

• Energy efficiency codes offer market opportunity. While green building standards like LEED helped build market demand for green buildings, building energy efficiency codes such as ASHAE 90.1, IECC and ECBC India can create a much larger market opportunity. In Germany, Lux Research estimates that new floor space compliant with the EnEv 2009 code was 50 million m², or about 36 percent of overall new construction, in 2013.

The report, titled “Cash Is King: Assessing the Financial Performance of Green Buildings,” is part of the Lux Research Efficient Building Systems Intelligence service.

Hi' Air Movement: A HVAC Moment: Winds of Change.

Hi' Air Movement: A HVAC Moment: Winds of Change.

The selection of appropriate equipment is essential to improving air movement.

The importance of air movement in the buildings of the GCC cannot be understated. It is debatable whether this region would have flourished as it has done in recent decades without it.

The provision of fresh and cool air to the structures in which we live, work and play has made the region a much more habitable place, especially in the scorching extremes of summer.

The existence of this fundamental MARKET demand has, of course, made the region a happy hunting ground for many local and global players in the MEP and HVAC industries,but the fecundity of the market has also increased competition, spurred innovation and changed the expectations of the air-conditioned masses. 

No longer will stepping in out of the heat to feel a cool breeze suffice. End-users now demand maximum comfort.

“Air movement can provide desirable cooling in ‘warm’ conditions, but it can also increase the risk of unacceptable cool draughts,” 

explains Hassan Sultan, director of mechanical department at MZ & Partners and former president of the ASHRAE Qatar Oryx Chapter.

“Noticeable air velocities can be perceived as providing freshness and pleasantness to the breathing air, but they may also be perceived as annoying. HVAC DESIGN innovations, energy conservation concerns, and new laboratory data on draughts have brought substantial attention to the issue of acceptable levels of air movement in the comfort standards.

“Air movement is one of the six main variables affecting human thermal comfort,” 

Sultan continues,

“which is the main goal of HVAC SYSTEM design and execution in buildings, especially in the Gulf region. The other five are air temperature, mean radiant temperature, relative humidity, metabolic rate and clothing insulation,” he adds.

With some of these variables obviously beyond the control of HVAC SYSTEM designers, their ability to harness air movement takes on even greater significance. 

The consequence of failing to achieve this can be a headache for an end-user, client/owner, and at least one member of the consultant-contractor team that delivered the system.

“Poor design and selection of air distribution terminals leads to draughts in some areas, stagnation in others, cold and hot spots and excessive noise – all these conditions have a bad effect on the well being and performance of the occupants,” 

explains Raef Hammoudeh, head of mechanical engineering for KEO’s design division in the UAE.

Looking at such problems in the GCC’s building stock, Hammoudeh says that part of the issue is to do with a misguided focus or lack of attention from mechanical engineers as to what is really important in HVAC SYSTEM design.

“In the majority of projects, design engineers and contractors tend to concentrate their efforts on the provision of the chillers, air handling units (AHUs), ductwork and so on, and very little time or design effort on ensuring that the air distribution systems within buildings are selected to provide optimum distribution within the spaces or to ensure the thermal well being of occupants,” he says.

fzal Basheer, senior mechanical engineer at Two Fold United Electrical and Mechanical Contracting, SHARES Hammoudeh’s dissatisfaction with the regional industry’s approach and believes that failures at the early design stages are often responsible for failure of installations themselves.

“[The potential for air movement problems] needs to be addressed before the actual installation of the system,” says Basheer.

“It is not only the building services systems, in terms of additional HVAC units or additional power requirements, that need to be addressed. If additional plant equipment is required, plant room or ceiling space must be available. 
If the equipment in the plant room needs to reach the required zone, slab openings or shafts must be available, which might not have been ACCOUNTED for at the design stage.”

Another piece of advice Basheer offers to system designers relates to the common air movement problem of odour circulation, which he says can be achieved by electrostatic precipitates and activated carbon AIR PURIFIERS.

“Consultants and clients need to make this mandatory by outlining it in the employer’s requirements and consultant design drawings,” says Basheer.

“What can be seen in several instances in the region is that if they have not been shown in the contract documents, the contractor doesn't install the odour management systems. Later on, if due to the foul smell the contractor is asked to come back to install the same, more often than not what is installed is more or less a quick fix due to spatial constraints and other design constraints that had not been ACCOUNTED for earlier.” 

A more fundamental criticism of those in the region responsible for designing its HVAC SYSTEMS and delivering optimum air movement comes from Khalid A. AlMulhim, Saudi Arabian ASHRAE Chapter officer and HVAC/utilities engineering consultant at Saudi Aramco.

“Designers are not aware of the latest ASHRAE and other industrial related standards,” he says. “They lack knowledge in the minimum requirements for different applications such as OFFICE buildings, hospitals, malls, laboratories, libraries, worship places, airports, computer centres, restaurants etc.

"They do not comply with minimum ASHRAE standard requirements in design, selection, installation and COMMISSIONING. This will lead to many technical issues, including but not limited to the system performance, commissioning, start up, maintenance and client satisfaction etc. If things are done right from the first step, everyone will save time and money.”

To address this gap in technical knowledge AlMulhim encourages the industry to push for widespread training to familiarise designers, as well as contractors and clients, with the latest industrial and international standards such as those of ASHRAE, the Air Movement and Control Association International (AMCA), the Associated Air Balance Council (AABC), the National Environmental Balancing Bureau (NEBB) and the SHEET METAL and Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association.

Nevertheless, KEO’s Rammoudeh suggests that standards of HVAC design and installation are slowly improving, due in part, he says, to the efforts of some of the larger consultants and contractors to deliver HVAC SYSTEMS in accordance with recognised standards such as the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE), ASHRAE and Building Services Research and Information Association (BSRIA).

On a more local basis, he also cites the growing influence of Abu Dhabi’s Estidama sustainable design rating and the increased interest in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) in the UAE, both of which stipulate standards for internal air quality.

Notwithstanding the value of such standards to maximising the control of air movement, AlMulhim accepts that there may be a case for more bespoke regional ASHRAE standards given the distinctive climatic conditions experienced in the GCC.

“The ASHRAE standards related to air movement are largely sufficient for the Middle East environment,” he says. 

“However, special attention should be given during design to building infiltration, ventilation and AIR FILTRATION in order to overcome our harsh, hot, dusty and humid environment. So building infiltration, ventilation and filtration design standard requirements may need to be developed for our HVAC systems in the region. In addition, preventive maintenance programmes for HVAC systems are neglected in our region, where best practices and guidelines for these need to be developed as well.”

Two Fold Contracting’s Basheer is another advocate for more targeted regional HVAC standards, particularly for contractor’s handling of ducting.

“In the GCC, there is no stringent building codes for duct installations as there are no supervisory authorities like we have for power services and water services,” he says.

“Most GCC building codes fail to address air flow for comfort cooling. A duct system with terrible air flow can pass code inspection in several cities, and probably countries, as long as it is properly sealed and insulated. 
Too many contractors assume that as long as the JOB passes consultant or client inspection, it must be a good duct system. It is important to realise that when we depend on visual inspections to set the benchmark for good and bad, we are building to the lowest level allowed rather than the highest possible quality.”

Meanwhile, Hammoudeh also highlights regional contractors’ failure to take a more active role in ensuring that the HVAC systems being installed here are capable of providing good INDOOR AIR QUALITY. 

“They need to achieve this,” he suggests, “by making the correct sizing and selection of the entire air handling systems, installing the system in accordance with good standards that contribute to the proper cleaning, flushing, control, commissioning and adjustment.” 

Moreover, AlMulhim makes the point that contractors are perhaps given too much leeway by some consultants when it comes to procurement, deviating from specifications for costly but high-quality air system components and selecting 

“manufacturers that may not meet the industry codes, standards and certifications that have been specified in the construction documents”.

AlMulhim also raises the issue of contractor execution and delivery. “There is a lack of quality workmanship among some local contractors. 

They have a limited understanding of the importance of work quality on the site and complete the construction without implementing the standards that are defined in the construction documents as a minimum mandatory requirement to govern the installation of air movement and HVAC SYSTEMS,” he says.

If this delivery of design problem can be resolved, then it will be to the system designers themselves to push the industry forward in the quest for complete air movement control. 

KEO’s Hammoudeh says that at the upper end of modern HVAC DESIGN and the technology, there is no lack of fresh thinking being applied to the problem.

“New HVAC systems designs are using energy efficient, VARIABLE SPEED MOTOR technology for fans and pumps,” he explains.

“They use energy recovery HEAT EXCHANGERS between the supply and extract air streams, amd variable air volume (VAV) air distribution terminals to match the ventilation and cooling provided to each space with the requirements of that space. 

Supply and extract air volumes are adjusted in tandem to maintain the pressure regime in the zone using sophisticated automated controls.

Other COOLING SYSTEMS are also being introduced into the region such as underfloor cooling, radiant panel cooling and displacement ventilation. 

Furthermore, consultants are now are working more closely with manufacturers to ensure the equipment selections adhere to and compliment the design intent for the system.”

AlMulhim is slightly less enthusiastic about the work being done in regional HVAC design, particularly to advance thermal comfort in the Middle East, saying that thinking is often limited to VAV and VARIABLE FREQUENCY DRIVE (VRD) systems, as well as advanced temperature and pressure controls. However, he does highlight some “new innovation” taking place in induction low temperature air diffusers.

The importance of diffusers’ role in controlling air movement is something MZ & Partners’ Sultan also underlines. 

He encourages greater collaboration between the decision-makers in this area and a more considered approach before decisions are made.

“The design must include an adequate supply of ventilation air to the breathing zone of the space and a proper selection of diffusers,” says Sultan.

 “As the choice of diffusers is based on the mechanical engineers and architect, both the engineer and the architect need to work together to make the final selection.

In addition, the ideal selection is dependent on the type and operation of the air supply to the diffuser. Calculation of the air quantity required by the space and the proper diffuser selection, location, and design is one of the important issues concerning air movement.”

Finally, too often overlooked on too many projects, AlMulhim emphasises how a revised approach to COMMISSIONING could go a long way to addressing the region’s problems with air movement.

“COMMISSIONING is very important to minimise the potential for air movement problems,” he says.

“The COMMISSIONING process should start early from the design stage of the project, all the way to the start up and handover of the project. 

A certified commissioning expert should be involved during the design to verify each element of it and the latest standard requirements needed and to enforce and implement the requirements on the construction site.

“The commissioning process task should be stated in detail as part of the construction documents by the project consultant.
This will help the contractor to implement and complete the project while considering all the technical and standard requirements without any technical obstacles or performance difficulties during start up and operation of the HVAC SYSTEM.”

Given the long standing careless attitude to commissioning in the region, AlMulhim’s suggestion may be wishful thinking, but it is perhaps a point that needs repeating enough times by those of influence in the industry before clients, consultants and contractors across the region take it on board.

HVAC SYSTEMS designers and installers can be as good as they come, but if a system is not taken through a prolonged and detailed testing and commissioning programme, then all of that brilliant design and installation work may be for naught. 

The end result: uncomfortable, dissatisfied occupants airing their HVAC grievances to landlords and building owners, all putting a stain on the consultant and contractor’s name with each complaint.

Hi Visit Events Eye "Green Build."

Hi Events Eye "Green Build."

!!JOIN THE GREEN REVOLUTION IN THE BIG EASY!!

In 2014, we're joining together in New Orleans from Oct. 22-24 for Leadership Jazz. 

The music of the green movement is undeniable – its lyrics are engaging individuals across the world, its innovation is reviving our spirit and its passion is fueling the future. 

Together our unique ideas are improvising a melody that is leading a successful transformation of our building and communities. 

The Big Easy is the perfect setting to celebrate this global impact, while also embracing the essence of community, culture and soul. In 2013, USGBC turned 20, and we invite you to join the revolution as we build momentum and march into the next 20 years.

Hi Event Intro...,

Hi USGBC Exclusive Insider!!!.

Hi Insider; Insider USGBC + 

Global +

LEED, found in 140+ countries, is the most widely used green building rating system in the world.

As it continues to scale internationally, USGBC is continually developing resources and building out support to ensure that LEED can be applied in any geographic area, and also keeping tabs on areas of growth. 

Take a look at which countries outside of the United States have the largest LEED presence, ranked by millions of gross square meters (GSM) of LEED-certified project space.

GROSS SQUARE METERS (GSM) ARE REPORTED IN MILLIONS.

* Total includes certified and registered projects. 

** India’s numbers are current as of October 2013.

Sustainable Materials +

Like plants growing toward sunlight, designers are reaching for a way to illuminate the unseen health hazards and environmental footprint of building materials.

By Nadav Malin.

I

n 2013, 30 major architecture firms sent letters to all their material suppliers demanding transparency. 

- “We need to know what’s in the products we’re specifying,” claims Russell Perry, FAIA, director of SmithGroupJJR Washington, D.C. office. 

- “Our clients have a right to know these things and I’d like to help them find out,” he adds.

As a board member of the newly formed Health Product Declaration Collaborative, Perry was impressed by a letter sent out by the Dallas-based firm HKS, so he called on sustainable design leaders from other architecture firms to write similar letters, threatening to eventually ban products without content disclosures from their material libraries and educational programs.

After joining Perry’s letter-writing campaign, Rand Ekman of Cannon Design in Chicago heard from suppliers who needed help understanding what was behind this new demand and how exactly they should comply. 

In response, Ekman invited manufacturers to meet with designers from his firm and others for 

- “an open conversation about how manufacturing and design professionals can partner in this endeavor.” 

The face-to-face meetings created a lot of good will by demystifying the content disclosure process and revealing ways manufacturers could be supported while making the changes needed to comply. 

Inspired by Ekman’s success, other firms replicated that model in Washington, Dallas, San Francisco, and elsewhere.

It wasn't only demand from large firms that motivated product manufacturers to divulge the make-up of their products, however. 

Public comment drafts of LEED v4 beginning early in 2012 included a new credit encouraging the disclosure of a product’s chemical constituents and health hazards.

When the new credit was formally adopted as part of LEED v4 in November 2013, USGBC put some additional muscle behind the burgeoning transparency campaign.

*Deep Roots;

The push for transparency in building products has a deep-rooted history. 

Its origins can be traced back to a number of sources, including:

1. The seminal cradle-to-cradle framework developed by architect William McDonough and chemist Michael Braungart. 

cradle-to-cradle calls for all materials to be recyclable endlessly, either through composting as 

- “biological nutrients” 

or in industry as 

- “technical nutrients.” 

This goal requires the elimination of toxic substances from both nutrient cycles.

2. Hazard-avoidance credits in the Green Guide for Healthcare, which were subsequently adopted into LEED in a modified form. 

These credits focus primarily on mercury and other heavy metals.

3. The proliferation of ingredient 

- “red lists” 

or substances to be avoided within specific programs. 

The best known example is the Living Building Challenge red list, which most project teams find to be the most demanding requirement of the very rigorous program. 

The design firm Perkins + Will has also been a leader in this area, posting its 

- “Precautionary List” 

of substances that are to be avoided if possible (transparency.perkinswill.com). The shift from a list of banned ingredients to wholesale disclosure of what a product is made of is welcomed by leading manufacturers because it provides them with an opportunity to engage their customer in a more collaborative conversation about product choices.

4. Demand from a few influential companies, most notably Google, that directed designers working on their projects to find out what’s in the products they’re specifying and eliminate certain substances.

5. The experience of product researchers at my own firm, BuildingGreen, who struggled for years to obtain the information needed to factor health and ecological toxicity concerns in our GreenSpec screening. 

This frustration led us to collaborate with the nonprofit Healthy Building Network to create the Health Product Declaration Open Standard.

More than Ingredients;

Transparency isn't just about ingredients—it’s also about the environmental footprint of a product in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption, and resource depletion. 

For many years now, some companies have been using environmental life-cycle assessment (LCA) to inform their product development efforts, but until we have consistent rules for what to include in the scope of those LCAs and how to report the results, it’s not possible to compare products on that basis.

The environmental product declaration (EPD) format aims to address those problems by providing a consistent reporting framework for life-cycle assessments that are completed in conformance with standard product category rules, so all products are measured using the same assumptions. 

The new LEED v4 rating system introduces a new credit for products that come with EPDs.

In Europe, government agencies help manage the environmental product declaration rules, ensuring that there is only one set of rules for each product category. 

There is no similar government function in North America; however, some competing sets of product category rules have started to emerge, which defeats the goal of creating a level playing field. 

In partnership with UL Environment, USGBC has stepped in to identify the most robust and consistent rules and to endorse the EPDs that comply with those rules. 

While some industry players—especially those who backed alternative category rules—are unhappy about USGBC picking winners in this way, it does help prevent chaos in the marketplace.

Choking on Alphabet Soup;

The alphabet soup of new reporting formats is not easy, even for the most dedicated specifier, much less designers and contractors with many other priorities. And each new label or declaration represents added paperwork for manufacturers, who are already overwhelmed by the load: 

- “When I hire a person now, it’s for documentation—it’s not to make the product better. That’s a travesty,” 

says Steven Kooy, global sustainability manager for the office furniture company Haworth.

To avoid scaring off mainstream designers and contractors, the industry must move quickly toward a single, integrated product declaration format that includes content from EPDs, HPDs, as well as information on the impacts of resources extraction and habitat disruption, which are much harder to measure and thus not captured effectively by current reporting mechanisms.

Such an integrated label could, in theory, also incorporate metrics on the social fairness of product. Of mainstream North American players, only the International Living Future Institute has tried to tackle that aspect of a product’s impacts with its 

- “Just” 

label.

Transparency Everywhere;

The building industry is not alone in moving toward being transparent about the make-up of its products. 

There are parallel initiatives in automotive and electronics—although most of these programs provide information within the supply chain, stopping short of the end user.

No doubt, barriers do still remain. 

There are still real and perceived concerns about divulging trade secrets and potential liability that comes with more awareness about hazards in the products we sell, specify, and install. 

However, these obstacles are no threat to the momentum that has been created.

Keeping specifiers in the dark about potential health and environmental impacts is no longer the acceptable default. 

- "By letting the sun shine on what’s truly inside the products we use, we'll all be better off".

Green Economy +

By Mary Grauerholz.

Bank of America offers first corporate green bond in U.S.

The first corporate “green” bond in the country is doing more than helping to create a more sustainable future—it is pleasing its investors. 

Bank of America Corporation introduced the bond based on a public financial commitment to the environment, and to answer the calls of investors who wanted more socially conscious investment choices. 

The resulting projects—think ecological construction, geothermal energy, lighting retrofits in public buildings, and more—are pleasing investors with a vision of a more sustainable world and good financial returns.

Bank of America introduced the three-year fixed-rate bond, with $500 million in aggregate principal, in fall 2013. 

It was years in the making, says Suzanne Buchta, Global Co-head of Green Debt Capital Markets at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, from the company’s Manhattan office. 

It was a natural evolution for the institution, she says, springing from a long-term financial commitment to build a portfolio of socially conscious investments.

The bond will help finance certain assets that are included in a 10-year $50 billion green business initiative that Bank of America rolled out in 2012 to address climate change, reduce demands on natural resources, and advance lower-carbon economic solutions.

The first conversation about the bond was in 2011, Buchta says, when her team was working on green bonds for the World Bank. As she says, 

- “We got to thinking about one for our own bank.” 

Many other institutions had had the same idea, but as Buchta says, 

- “For us, it was sitting down and doing the work that was necessary.”

Several months of work followed, from determining which projects to invest in to targeting the investor base.

The bond sharpens Bank of America’s profile as a leader in capital markets, Buchta says. Among the investors are TIAA-CREF, the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, and BlackRock. 

- “There was also strong demand, so we were able to attract good financing levels,”

she says. 

- “It was demand-driven.” 

Another goal was to reach new investors, and that has been a big success; approximately 10 percent of total investors are newcomers to the institution’s market.  

Buchta has long nurtured an interest in environmental construction and was accredited as a LEED Green Associate several years ago. 

Her Manhattan office building, in fact, was the first LEED Platinum Core and Shell building in New York City. 

The timing of the introduction of the green bond was perfect for her, she says. 

- “I was getting very passionate about environmental initiatives.” 

The funds will be used to finance energy-efficient projects that feature renewable energy in solar, wind, and geothermal. 

The projects stretch from coast to coast, ranging from energy-saving lighting retrofits in government buildings, to heating and cooling in public housing and new insulation in public schools.

One $16 million project in California is providing funds to finance the conversion of 30,000 high-pressure sodium cobra head streetlights to Light-Emitting-Diode (LED) streetlights in Oakland, one of the first municipalities in the country to implement big-scale street lighting LED conversion. 

The project is expected to bring a bundle of benefits, including energy savings, greater functionality, more jobs, and even less crime, brought about by the benefits of better visibility on city streets.

The environmental impact of the green bond is obvious through this California project. Clearly, it is also a good business decision. 

The bond was over-subscribed, with potential investors outweighing supply, says Jerry Dubrowski, a spokesperson in the company’s Charlotte, N.C., office. 

- “We had a pretty broad base of investors who wanted to participate in the offering,” 

he says. 

- “Generally speaking, it appears there is more interest in environmentally friendly [investments] today. This bond is supportive of that.”

The bond is part of a larger commitment that Bank of America has to the environment, the 10-year business initiative. 

“When we announced that we would invest $50 billion in climate change and lower carbon economic solutions, we basically put a flag in the ground,” 

Dubrowski says.

- “This $500 million green bond offering is complementary to that commitment.”

Philosophically, the green bond has recharged Bank of America Corporation staff. 

- “It was something new to think about,” Buchta says. “It’s a project that people are proud to be a part of.” 

- "The resulting projects of the green bond are pleasing investors with its vision of a more sustainable world and good financial returns".

Human Health +

Preventive Medicine

2014 May-June, LEED impact

A discussion with HOK’s Henry Chao on what makes a healthy building.

By Jeff Harder

Healthcare in the United States is undergoing major changes, with the underpinnings of the system shifting away from simply treating incidents of illness toward promoting overall health and well-being, and for architects like Henry Chao, design principal for the global healthcare practice at the international firm HOK, this shift provides an opportunity to create hospitals and facilities that contribute to this broader purpose.

Chao’s most notable projects have included the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center Expansion in Columbus, Ohio; the Cleveland Clinic Miller Pavilion in Cleveland, Ohio; Kuwait University College of Science in Kuwait; and Ng Teng Feng (Jurong) General Hospital in Singapore. Here, he speaks about subtle design decisions that change perceptions of illness for the better, the parallels between planning hospitals and planning cities, and LEED’s role in fostering a 21st-century sense of what it means to be healthy.

No one would ever make a fuss if someone was going to a city library. 

No one would make a fuss if someone was just going to the neighborhood park. 

If you heard that someone went to the hospital, why should that be a big deal? It shouldn’t be. And [we need] to make sure it isn’t.

A hospital by itself can easily have 12 to 16 different individual departments. 

Each department has five or six different sections, and healthcare architects need to understand what they do, how they do it, how they relate to each other, how they connect with each other. It is an incredibly functional constraint. The beauty of a hospital is that the architect needs to take the essence of medicine, take the essence of healing, and the essence of science, interpret it, adopt it, express it in a way that it can communicate with its surrounding in a reciprocal manner… it is a two-way dialogue.

Each hospital needs to speak about health in a manner that the community can accept and understand.

If you think about the inside of a hospital, a floor plan can be [the same size as] one or two football fields. 

There’s the circulation, the wayfinding—people always talk about hospital wayfinding being bad and I don't blame them, because it’s such a complex environment. 

With each block and each department, it’s like a mini-city. 

I've found that a lot of times, between a hospital space planner and a city planner, there’s a lot of similarity in terms of the amount of information that has to be juggled, balanced, and negotiated. 

Basically, it takes a designer who is not afraid of a lot of data to tackle a building like a hospital.

After I joined HOK, one of my larger projects was at Ohio State [the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center Expansion], where we're dealing with a 1.2-million-square-foot cancer center, with the vision not to treat cancer patients as though they have done something wrong or made a mistake, but to treat cancer as just part of a stage of life, and in fact, that’s what it is. 

That notion coincides with a major shift in the healthcare environment—and I want to take away the word 

- “care”

— the health environment in the United States that’s happening right now. 

We're trying to switch from a solely episodic disease treatment health system into preventive and health maintenance and a healthy living society. 

That’s a tremendous thing, and we as architects have a tremendous opportunity to contribute.

When I was a young architect, the first thing I ever learned about cancer center design is that we need a separate doorway in and out for cancer patients. For years, in healthcare architecture for cancer centers, it was always a separate door. 

Not only a separate door, but separate parking, separate everything—you don't want to embarrass these people right? But Ohio State thought that when you have a separate door, you're actually stigmatizing [cancer patients]. 

As if they're so different—almost like, 

- “I have cancer—I can't even go through the front door. I have cancer—I look so bad that I have to be hidden from public view.” 

So Ohio State said no to that. 

They actually put very simple, convenient parking access for everyone. 

They put a waiting lounge for the people to have a little privacy, but it’s the same entry, everybody comes in and goes out in the same place, and that actually inspired me. 

When I was growing up, I didn't understand so-called preventive care. 

I didn't go see my dentist, didn't get an annual check-up. But my daughter, growing up in this society, knows she needs to go see her dentist every so often to make sure her teeth are good, go to her annual checkup to make sure her health is good, and she takes the responsibility to do that. 

I think that’s great. 

I think this generation is going to fundamentally change how we perceive health and healthcare. And they'll understand that getting proper health care is our civic right, and keeping proper health is our civic obligation. 

In the so-called care environment, whether it’s a hospital or a clinic, now it’s taking on a fundamental shift in identity: the big white elephants, the big grey buildings that sit in the community now need to be seamlessly linked, connected, weaved into the fabric of community life on a daily basis.

At Ohio State, the chemotherapy center has great views of open spaces. 

We created a family and conversation area because a lot of times, when one person gets sick, it’s like their entire family gets sick. 

Having those conversations becomes important. 

So when the patient and family want to connect with each other, we don't isolate them. I actually thought that was a tremendous breakthrough. 

The building will probably be completed by this fall, I think, and I can't wait.

I see LEED as a means to an ultimate objective.

LEED is never the objective [itself]. The ultimate objective is a healthy environment.

Even saying a healthy environment is very limiting—I’d say LEED’s objective is to be responsive and responsible in an environment—responsible behavior, responsible architecture. 

Health just happens to be part of it. 

My feeling is that LEED has been a very effective tool: it’s become a mechanism that is to a great extent measurable, and it’s in the marketplace. 

If our client wants to have that recognition, that becomes an incentive to push our industry to move toward responsible architecture and responsible design, and I think that’s wonderful.

Healthcare facilities deal with the most traumatic moments of people’s lives: when you're born, when you're sick, and when you're actually leaving the world. 

It’s an emotion-filled environment, but by doing work for a healthcare facility, when you sit down across the table from the health care providers — the doctors and nurses—you are talking to a group of very smart, well-educated, well-read people. 

When I sit down with them, the conversation is always about how I can make an environment the most conducive to better their practice—which is, in general, saving people’s lives. 

That is absolutely fascinating to me.

To be a healthy person, you need to be in a healthy environment, and a healthy building is just part of it.