AEF Teams up to Deliver LEED Construction for Schools

November 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment
AEF, amongst a number of other companies, is volunteering its time to help retrofit a classroom in Davis Magnet School (located in Costa Mesa, California) as part of an exciting United States Green Building Council (USGBC) Orange County program to create a LEED-like classroom and compare it to a conventional, non-LEED classroom (For more on LEED please visit (United States Green Building Council) . Several key purposes driving this transformation are healthy indoor air quality, mitigation of waste during and after construction, improving the performance of students, and lowered operating expenses. The worthy aim of this project is to provide an excellent example of both “economic and environmental stewardship.”

 

What is unique about this program is that the people who use this classroom (that is, the students and teachers) will actively learn about the metamorphosis that will take place by witnessing it and measuring the environmental ramifications of using a traditional classroom versus a LEED-certified one. That is, it is not an undertaking that is unobtrusively taking place in the background and that can be dismissed as being unrelated and unimportant to the lives of the students and teachers.

 

It is fitting that Davis Magnet is approaching this retrofitting as a scientific experiment, not only since as a school it places a great deal of importance on the scientific method, but also because by doing so it instills an awareness of environmental issues and the methods of sustainable building in the young minds of our future leaders. However, the lesson on the value of sustainable environments is not to be confined to the academic world, but rather to be disseminated to the community at large.

Select this link for more on Davis Magnet School

 

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Article Review: A Building that Rides the Breeze

November 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment

This article discusses the architectural and design elements that make the aforementioned office building environmentally sensitive while providing a pleasant workspace for the building’s employees.

Education Executive Agency and Tax Offices

Unique shape, like the top of a modern cruise ship

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What I Liked
Duo2, the design and engineering group responsible for the construction of this building, in collaboration with UN Studio, utilized the windy Netherlands locale to its advantage and surrounded each floor of the building’s façade with amazing white aluminum “fins.” I was impressed with what this one panacea-like architectural element can accomplish, addressing environmental concerns while contributing to energy efficiency. These fins help preserve the ecological balance of the neighboring woods by directing the wind over the tree canopy, thus preventing the problems of dry soil, damage to old-growth trees, and disturbed bat habitats. The energy-efficient fins also contribute to shading (keeping the building cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter); daylighting (workers can use less intense overhead lighting due to the reflected light); and ventilation efficiency (I thought it was particularly ingenious of the builders to use adjustable vents to capture the wind flowing off the upper-floor fins and aim it towards the building’s super-heated data center).

What Made it Helpful
The article demonstrated the ways in which a building can be sensitive to both the environment and to the physical and psychological needs of the building’s occupants. The building provides the physical need for clean (so clean, in fact, that it is “hospital-clean”), fresh air and a comfortable indoor climate. The psychological need is addressed by providing a cheerful environment to work in, one that is full of vibrant color, has a fun, quirky design (for instance, the main corridors are easily differentiated by their sizes and fresh air wafts through stylized punch-holes rather than through conventional slatted vents), and connects to the outdoors through big windows affording wonderful, “orienting” city views.

In addition, Duo2 sets the valuable example of reducing unnecessary costs (by decreasing the floor-to-floor height) in order to utilize the savings for useful green design elements, materials and equipment, such as natural heating and cooling wells. I also admired the building’s intelligent, resource-saving use of space; by using the concept of hoteling, 2,500 workstations can support 3,500 employees.

General Thoughts
The building has accomplished a great feat by addressing so many crucial needs, and I particularly admire how it had thoughtfully taken into account the locale’s climate and brilliantly utilized it in an energy-efficient and environmentally helpful manner. This edifice, aptly described as resembling such mighty forces as a whale and a ship, evokes dynamic power and serves as an excellent example of intelligent construction.

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AEF Teams With Energy Upgrade California

October 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment

AEF Consulting, Engineering & Construction Inc., a company specializing in General Contracting, Green Buildings and Reducing Energy costs for commercial and residential properties, is now able to assist home owners apply for rebates on projects that reduce operating expenses.

For every 10% reduction in energy use, a home owner may receive a $1,000 rebate up to $4,000, and $500 in federal tax credits.  In the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (LADWP) service area, homes may earn an additional $2,000 in rebate money making the total potential rebate for that region $6,500.  So not only do home owners receive  rebate money, but they also reduce their utility bills from 10% to 40% thus allowing for continued return on investment over time.  What’s more, if done correctly, homes that engage in utility conservation measures also deliver better comfort to its occupants – something that can’t be measured.

Energy Upgrade California also offers a program called Energy Savings Assistance Program, which allows a home owner or renter to be eligible for free weatherization services and energy efficient appliances. The Energy Savings Assistance Program provides income-qualified households with free energy-efficient appliances and equipment, as well as energy education on how to conserve energy and reduce utility bills. Services provided may include attic insulation, energy efficient refrigerators, energy efficient furnaces, weather stripping, caulking, low-flow showerheads, water heater blankets, and door and building envelope repairs, which reduce air infiltration, among other measures.

The Energy Savings Assistance Program is free to eligible customers and is available to both homeowners and renters, here www.cpuc.ca.gov.

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Article Review: Net Zero Office Building Breaks Ground

October 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment

This article discusses the building’s innovative features and the hope that it will inspire the construction industry to wholly adopt green thinking and building.

Link: Net Zero Office Building Breaks Ground

What made it helpful
I liked that the article brought up several key points. It cited the importance of government playing a role in the building industry’s transformation to green building. It also mentioned that the building’s higher upfront construction costs are to be considered as investments that avoid imposing “external costs” on society and the planet. The article also discussed how the ground-breaking green innovations the Bullitt Center incorporates will in time essentially become standard in the construction industry due to improving technology, dropping costs, and changing attitudes.

Why I liked it
The fact that the center is meant to “spark a radical overhaul” in commercial construction and design is incredibly significant and inspiring; it seeks to be a powerful precedent and is already making changes (a building-materials manufacturer actually reformulated a product to permanently eliminate a suspected mutagen when the manufacturer had been told that the Bullitt Center couldn’t use its product).
This article portrayed the kind of building that future buildings should aspire to be like: One that produces as much energy as it consumes, processes all its own waste matter, and will eventually provide all its own water. In addition, this building makes a positive contribution to outdoor air quality by providing parking only for bikes (thus discouraging driving) and provides a healthier indoor air quality by declining to use common building materials that contain PVC plastics, mercury, cadmium and about 360 other hazardous substances. And heavy materials, such as steel, concrete, and wood, will all come from within 300 miles in order to mitigate the project’s carbon footprint.
General thoughts
Though the wood for the building’s frame will come only from sustainable forests, there should be a better option than cutting down trees for the building. And although the center has refused to use materials with over 360 hazardous substances, I’m also wondering how many other dangerous substances are present in the materials that are actually used.  Perhaps Net Zero may also refer to the chemicals brought into the building as well.
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Article Review: How a Passive Building Aggressively Saves Energy

October 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment

How a Passive Building Aggressively Saves Energy outlines the definition of passive energy and the importance of utilizing it in creating new buildings.

Link: How a Passive Building Aggressively Saves Energy

What made this article helpful
The article delved into the crucial aspects inherent in a passive house, such as consideration of building orientation and creating airtight barriers (via, amongst other things, structural insulated panels) in order to help maintain a comfortable building temperature and reduce energy use (and thus lower both utility bills and fossil fuel emissions).

Why I liked it
The beauty of this article was that it demonstrated the possibility of combining energy efficiency with aesthetics (for instance, the decision to install a Mission-style front door rather than a more efficient, yet plainer, door).
I was also particularly pleased with the numerous benefits that come with living in a passive house, one of which is a healthier indoor environment due to an innovative central ventilation system. Another positive factor is the low degree of maintenance that is needed for such a house since it has fewer mechanical systems that need to be maintained.

General thoughts
One crucial thing that I felt the article did was portray energy efficient buildings as the way of the future, for “near zero energy homes were well received even in the trough of the housing slump of late 2008 — through 2009.” That is to say, there is a demand for energy efficient buildings and the article is essentially depicting passive energy homes as a very viable option since these homes can also be conventionally styled.
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