SCUP Conference

Last week at the SCUP conference we presented on the Hamilton Hall project from the Business School. The architect, Nancy Goodwin of Finegold Alexander + Associates, started by introducing the project and it's LEED gold rating. Ken Beck, project engineer from BLW Engineers, followed with a talk about the building's controls, which included the first use of occupancy sensors to control thermostats on campus. I followed with a look at how the Buisiness School and the University leveraged the initial successes from Hamilton Hall into bigger successesses in future projects and eventually into campus-wide policy changes. A copy of the presentation can be found here.

BCA Commissioning Requirements

Posting on BCA Group at LinkedIn: There has been a lot of discussion about the BCA's certification being too difficult to obtain. The Certification comittee is looking for ways to make the certification easier to obtain without sacrificing the integrity of the certification. Ideas?

Response: As someone who has worked with a lot of bad commissioning authorities, I think the BCA certification requirements are great. How many projects have a commissioning authority sign off despite never having an OPR or BOD? How many CxA's use the nominal group technique to facilitate development of the OPR? How many CxA's use Guideline 4 to prepare the systems manual? CxA's that confirm As-Builts are As-Built? CxA's that suggest envelope commissioning in a complex building? I think the BCA and U of Wisconsin certifications give educated owners a level of confidence in their consultants and help give the industry a better image. I've worked on lots of clients who feel (after paying for bad commissioning) that it was a worthless investment though I'm convinced and the data supports that good commissioning is the smartest investment an owner can make. Nathan

Presentations

Somebody recently asked for a copy of our GreenBuild 2008 presentation. For a copy, please click here. While I'm at it, here's a copy of an old "Green Buildings at Harvard" presentation (very outdated now).

"Advertising" Green Buildings

Question: I work for the Office of Sustainability at ### University. I was wondering if you could direct me to the individual in your office who would know about green building done at Harvard. Specifically, I'm interested to know if any of the Harvard's green buildings have innovative ways of advertising their innovations.

Response:

We have a pretty big campus and over 60 green building / LEED projects and each advertises their innovation a little differently. We have real time utility displays in some:

http://buildingdashboard.com/clients/harvard/byerly/

http://buildingdashboard.com/clients/harvard/cowperthwaite/

http://buildingdashboard.com/clients/harvard/10akron/

All completed projects get case studies (eventually):

http://www.green.harvard.edu/theresource/case-studies/

We put the technologies used in an online database:

http://www.green.harvard.edu/theresource/tech-prod/

And a lot of projects have comprehensive signage programs, lab hood CFM displays, tours that are publicly available, etc. We usually try to write an article about new projects for our website:

http://www.green.harvard.edu/node/35

We then try to link to this site on the AASHE bulletin.

http://www.aashe.org/publications/bulletin.php

A couple of years ago we published a map of all our green building projects in the Harvard Gazette (click on the image on the bottom right):

http://www.news.harvard.edu/multimedia/specials/green/index.html

Hope this helps,

Nathan

Funny LEED Review

Earlier this month, an associate received a preliminary LEED review questioning their submittal for MR prerequisite 1, Collection and Storage of Recyclables. Specifically, the reviewer didn't feel that the recycling collection listed in the document on the top right, which includes "Cans, Glass & Plastic", in addition to the paper and cardboard collection elsewhere in the building, met the requirements of LEED. The review stated that collecting "cans" was not sufficient to cover the "metal" recycling required by LEED. While I assured my associate that they could still get the prerequisite with some clever wordsmithing, I was quite amused last week when I visited the new USGBC headquarters at 2101 L Street, NW in Washington, DC and saw the recycling collection bins pictured on the bottom left, which collect "Glass, Cans & Plastic". Do you think they'll fail to achieve LEED CI status because they missed a prerequisite?

Dunster Kitchen Controls

Our Dining Services group recently worked with National Resources Management to reduce energy consumption in their kitchens. They put in controls to to reduce short cycling of the walk-in cooler and freezer compressors, run the evaporator fans only when needed, and run the defrost cycle based on coil temperature. NRM also installed anti-sweat door heater controls and replaced the small evaporator fans with much more efficient Electronically Commutated Motors (ECM) motors, as is being done in the picture on the right in a cooler at Dunster House, where 2 coolers and 2 freezers were upgraded. The new controls are able to be monitored remotely to track refrigerator and cooler performance and to verify energy savings (the small image on the bottom right shows a screen shot tracking the Dunster House kitchen). The overall project covered 14 walk-in coolers and 8 walk-in freezers in 4 kitchens, cost about $80,000 after utility rebates, is estimated to save over $28,000 annually (simple payback in less than 3 years), and will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over 62 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year. Details of the Dunster project are included on the bottom left. The whole project was funded through the Green Campus Loan Fund and the loan will be repaid as the energy savings are realized.

SmartBike DC

When I got off at the Foggy Bottom Metro Stop in Washington, DC on Sunday, I saw a bike rack full of identical (similar) red bikes. The bikes were part of a membership-based shared bike program (like ZipCar for autos). It is my understanding that for $40 a year, members of this program have unlimited use of the bikes. SmartBike DC claims to be America's first self-service public bike rental program. Not sure how effective it is, but it is nice to see as you get off the subway.