The Los Angeles Times reports:
L.A. panel approves ambitious green building plan
November 16, 2007
The Los Angeles Planning Commission on Thursday approved one of the most ambitious green building programs of any big city in the nation, requiring large new developments to be 15% more energy efficient. The new rules, which also restrict water use, aim to cut the city's emissions of greenhouse gases.Cities have no power over vehicle tailpipe emissions, which are ultimately controlled by the federal government. And power plants, another major source of greenhouse gases, are mostly regulated by state government, except in the case of cities that own utilities, such as Los Angeles.
Under the L.A. rules, new buildings with more than 50 units or 50,000 square feet of floor area would be required to meet national standards established by the U.S. Green Building Council, a Washington-based nonprofit organization that is working with cities across the country. The measure is expected to come before the City Council early next year.The standards -- known as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED -- would reduce the amount of energy used in large developments to well below what is required by California's building code, the strictest in the nation.
In addition to setting new rules for big developments, the city will establish a "green team" of experts from various departments -- including Planning, Building and Safety, and Water and Power -- to improve the environmental impact of the basic code for all buildings, including single-family homes and small commercial developments. The first recommended measures include wiring buildings for solar-energy systems, using high-efficiency heating and air conditioning units, and installing toilets and shower heads that use less water. In addition, half of demolition and construction waste would have to be recycled, and low-irrigation landscaping would be mandated for lots greater than 1,000 square feet.
The U.S. Green Building Council has a tiered system of measures: the basic LEED certification, which Los Angeles is planning to adopt for large buildings, and LEED silver, gold and platinum. For developers willing to submit their projects to the council for silver certification, the commission Thursday approved a measure to expedite permits that could save builders from two months to a year.
Michael McGrorty
PIPEGreen editor
Friday, November 16, 2007
LEED Certification and Jobs
Is LEED certification important? An online search of job openings at monster.com revealed over 350 positions which required or preferred candidates with LEED professional certification. These were jobs in engineering, design, and construction management at all levels. If you are interested in being part of the employed Green future, find out about LEED certification at www.usgbc.org.
Michael McGrorty
PIPEGreen editor
Michael McGrorty
PIPEGreen editor
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Construction Materials Recycling Notes
Construction Materials: Recycling and Reuse
Synopsis
One of the commonest problems encountered in refurbishing or tenant-improvement construction is what to do with worn-out fixtures, equipment and materials that have been removed to make way for new installations. Of course, in all areas of construction, owners face the problem of how to build modern structures at the lowest possible cost. A solution to these problems lies in recycling materials and fixtures. The U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED® program provides certification credits for the recycling and reuse of these materials, as do many local and state programs. The question for builders is where to obtain recycled items and how to keep old materials from the waste stream.
Discussion
Increasingly, contract awarding agencies and private construction firms have begun to encourage and in many cases require that builders conserve materials and reduce waste in the construction or alteration of structures and landscapes. This is a radical departure from the old-time response, wherein everything removed and all the excess material was simply hauled to the dump. Tipping fees are high, some materials cannot be accepted at available landfills, and the cost of transport continues to rise. All these considerations push the builder toward salvage.
There are many strong arguments for salvaging construction material. The problem is that much or most of that material may not be suitable for use on the current project. When this is the case, the builder is back at square one in trying to find a home for the old fixtures. Likewise, when a contractor wants refurbished materials, there is the problem of finding sources.
Solutions
Disposal
Let’s say that you are renovating a multi-story office building and you’ve got five floors worth of light fixtures, toilets, sinks, mirrors and wiring, plus junction boxes, wooden banisters, and even a few dozen CO2 fire extinguishers. The nearest dump site is miles away and they don’t take half the stuff you’ve got on the truck.
One solution: go to the phone directory or internet and look under ‘Construction Recycling.’ If you don’t find anything there, find a local Salvation Army outlet or Goodwill store. Ask the manager if he can use at least part of what you’ve got to offer. A very good place to go is Habitat for Humanity; many of their offices maintain materials recycling and will be happy to accept or even to pick up your discarded fixtures. The bonus in using charitable organizations is that you will receive a receipt for the value of the donation that can reduce your taxes.
Before you begin work or even prior to bidding, find out what local restrictions or requirements surround the disposal of the kind of material you’re going to have on hand as the job progresses. Ask the town or county where you can take the materials. Many times the town’s civil engineer or public works department will have information.
Reuse
Anybody who has priced used brick knows how much value the public puts on material with a bit of heritage attached. These days, old is good, as long as it functions. The good news is that a lot of the old stuff functions just fine. But it isn’t just antique lamps or doorknobs that get used. Restrictions on dumping and increased costs have made it more profitable in many cases to put unused or removed materials back on the market for sale.
Examples of this are easily found in any category. Online auctions such as Ebay and Craigslist contain ads for everything from drywall to gravel, often including delivery. Used appliance outlets offer functioning fixtures for a fraction of new prices. As mentioned earlier, Habitat for Humanity maintains local outlets specializing in recycling construction materials.
Sometimes recycling requires a bit of imagination. You can call around to local hardware stores, offering to take unused lots of paint or a dented appliances. Your local big-box home emporium will have scratch-and-dent washers and sinks. Start a network of others in your business; post an online noteboard and see what others need or have to offer. Got a hundred old toilets that aren’t in compliance with low-flush standards? They may not be acceptable at the dump, but you can take them to a stone vendor who will crush them into usable gravel.
Recycling
Remember when nobody recycled aluminum cans? Nowadays most scrap metal from construction sites is recycled, and for good reason: it makes money. You may know this if you’ve ever had one of your jobs ripped off for copper, aluminum, brass or even ferrous metals. It may be worth it to pay an employee to strip wire, salvage pipe or even the cardboard from fixture shipping containers; keep records of what you recycle and watch the dollars roll in.
LEED
Finally, whether you’re working on a LEED® certified project or not, you should be aware that recycling materials is a recognized way to earn LEED qualifying points—and that LEED’s standards are rapidly being adopted by public agencies across the nation. LEED maintains guidelines for Construction Waste Management and Material Reuse; as little as 5% use of salvaged, refurbished or reused materials will result in credit toward various levels of certification. See www.usgbc.org for further information.
--------------
Useful links:
Habitat for Humanity materials recycling stores: www.habitat.org/cd/env/restore.aspx
Salvation Army donations: Call 1-800-SA-TRUCK
California Construction/Demolition Debris Recycling: http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/ConDemo/
City of Torrance Building Materials Recycling: http://www.ci.torrance.ca.us/8614.htm
M. McGrorty
PIPEGreen editor
Synopsis
One of the commonest problems encountered in refurbishing or tenant-improvement construction is what to do with worn-out fixtures, equipment and materials that have been removed to make way for new installations. Of course, in all areas of construction, owners face the problem of how to build modern structures at the lowest possible cost. A solution to these problems lies in recycling materials and fixtures. The U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED® program provides certification credits for the recycling and reuse of these materials, as do many local and state programs. The question for builders is where to obtain recycled items and how to keep old materials from the waste stream.
Discussion
Increasingly, contract awarding agencies and private construction firms have begun to encourage and in many cases require that builders conserve materials and reduce waste in the construction or alteration of structures and landscapes. This is a radical departure from the old-time response, wherein everything removed and all the excess material was simply hauled to the dump. Tipping fees are high, some materials cannot be accepted at available landfills, and the cost of transport continues to rise. All these considerations push the builder toward salvage.
There are many strong arguments for salvaging construction material. The problem is that much or most of that material may not be suitable for use on the current project. When this is the case, the builder is back at square one in trying to find a home for the old fixtures. Likewise, when a contractor wants refurbished materials, there is the problem of finding sources.
Solutions
Disposal
Let’s say that you are renovating a multi-story office building and you’ve got five floors worth of light fixtures, toilets, sinks, mirrors and wiring, plus junction boxes, wooden banisters, and even a few dozen CO2 fire extinguishers. The nearest dump site is miles away and they don’t take half the stuff you’ve got on the truck.
One solution: go to the phone directory or internet and look under ‘Construction Recycling.’ If you don’t find anything there, find a local Salvation Army outlet or Goodwill store. Ask the manager if he can use at least part of what you’ve got to offer. A very good place to go is Habitat for Humanity; many of their offices maintain materials recycling and will be happy to accept or even to pick up your discarded fixtures. The bonus in using charitable organizations is that you will receive a receipt for the value of the donation that can reduce your taxes.
Before you begin work or even prior to bidding, find out what local restrictions or requirements surround the disposal of the kind of material you’re going to have on hand as the job progresses. Ask the town or county where you can take the materials. Many times the town’s civil engineer or public works department will have information.
Reuse
Anybody who has priced used brick knows how much value the public puts on material with a bit of heritage attached. These days, old is good, as long as it functions. The good news is that a lot of the old stuff functions just fine. But it isn’t just antique lamps or doorknobs that get used. Restrictions on dumping and increased costs have made it more profitable in many cases to put unused or removed materials back on the market for sale.
Examples of this are easily found in any category. Online auctions such as Ebay and Craigslist contain ads for everything from drywall to gravel, often including delivery. Used appliance outlets offer functioning fixtures for a fraction of new prices. As mentioned earlier, Habitat for Humanity maintains local outlets specializing in recycling construction materials.
Sometimes recycling requires a bit of imagination. You can call around to local hardware stores, offering to take unused lots of paint or a dented appliances. Your local big-box home emporium will have scratch-and-dent washers and sinks. Start a network of others in your business; post an online noteboard and see what others need or have to offer. Got a hundred old toilets that aren’t in compliance with low-flush standards? They may not be acceptable at the dump, but you can take them to a stone vendor who will crush them into usable gravel.
Recycling
Remember when nobody recycled aluminum cans? Nowadays most scrap metal from construction sites is recycled, and for good reason: it makes money. You may know this if you’ve ever had one of your jobs ripped off for copper, aluminum, brass or even ferrous metals. It may be worth it to pay an employee to strip wire, salvage pipe or even the cardboard from fixture shipping containers; keep records of what you recycle and watch the dollars roll in.
LEED
Finally, whether you’re working on a LEED® certified project or not, you should be aware that recycling materials is a recognized way to earn LEED qualifying points—and that LEED’s standards are rapidly being adopted by public agencies across the nation. LEED maintains guidelines for Construction Waste Management and Material Reuse; as little as 5% use of salvaged, refurbished or reused materials will result in credit toward various levels of certification. See www.usgbc.org for further information.
--------------
Useful links:
Habitat for Humanity materials recycling stores: www.habitat.org/cd/env/restore.aspx
Salvation Army donations: Call 1-800-SA-TRUCK
California Construction/Demolition Debris Recycling: http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/ConDemo/
City of Torrance Building Materials Recycling: http://www.ci.torrance.ca.us/8614.htm
M. McGrorty
PIPEGreen editor
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Saving Trees, Having Fun
And now, a short lesson in Green reuse and recycling:
The editor of this weblog restores old furniture, giving old and broken items a new life. One of those items was this chair, purchased from a thrift store, which was intended to be assembled from a kit. The first owner attempted assembly but forced the arm, which cracked it. The legs were also out of balance. The wood is alder, which has a tendency to crack anyhow. I glued and clamped the arm to the chair, then finished it with Minwax Sedona Red stain, followed by two coats of polycrylic finish. And there you have it: a broken chair, bought for a few bucks, transformed into a usable chair for my computer room. No additional trees harvested, and plenty of fun in the process.
Earlier this year I refinished an salvaged dining room table. Really good wooden furniture is scarce--it pays to maintain what we've got. After all, that's what conservation means.
Michael McGrorty
Editor, PIPEGreen Blog
Thursday, November 8, 2007
NBC News to seek LEED Silver at New HQ
NBC has announced that it plans to build a state-of-the-art Green facility to house its West Coast News Headquarters. The project will be the new home of NBC News in Los Angeles, as well as of local stations KNBC, KVEA and the show “Access Hollywood.” The project will seek LEED Silver certification, and is on track to be completed by 2011. NBC has also announced that it will seek to obtain LEED certification for its ongoing operations.
“The West Coast News Headquarters is an incredibly exciting project on the horizon that will set a new standard for newsgathering and environmental design,” said NBC News President Steve Capus. The new facility will be the anchor tenant at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Red Line Subway Station in Universal City, directly across the street from Universal Studios and Universal Studios Hollywood theme park and CityWalk. It is part of a proposed development by Thomas Properties Group.
Additional information is available at: http://www.ucvision.com/
“The West Coast News Headquarters is an incredibly exciting project on the horizon that will set a new standard for newsgathering and environmental design,” said NBC News President Steve Capus. The new facility will be the anchor tenant at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Red Line Subway Station in Universal City, directly across the street from Universal Studios and Universal Studios Hollywood theme park and CityWalk. It is part of a proposed development by Thomas Properties Group.
Additional information is available at: http://www.ucvision.com/
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