CT Green Scene

Fairfield Jesuits Go Green

by Eileen Weber

On Tuesday, Fairfield University’s Jesuits proudly displayed their new pad. It is a space that is simultaneously a residence, a community center, and a tribute to the environment.

Designed by New Haven architecture firm Gray Organschi, the building is constructed from metal, wood, glass and concrete. Much of the material is either recycled or sustainable. The design team, married couple Elizabeth Gray and Alan Organschi, worked for several months with the school’s Jesuit staff to create a place that met their needs and reflected modern ideals.

The two-story, 22,000 square foot residence boasts a closed loop geothermal heating and cooling system 400 feet underground, a roof garden that can absorb up to 95% of rainfall, and sustainable bamboo flooring.

But that’s not the coolest part. None of the surrounding trees were disturbed in construction, save one diseased and dying beech tree. Instead of scrapping it, the tree was locally milled and a good portion of it is hanging in the Great Room.

“For something that was considered waste,” said Organschi, “we were able to make it into something useful. The limbs were milled and joined to make a screen and an altar that will be put in place in a couple of weeks.”

Green Job Growth: What is it? Where is it?

by Anneli C. Olila, Editor-in-Chief of Boston GreenScene / Principal of Olila Documents & Communication Strategies

In my recent discussion of green job hunting myths, I argued against the mystique surrounding the green job industry and the psychological and other barriers this presents to those hoping to transition into a green career.  Responses from readers ranged from disbelief, to hesitant hope, to specific questions regarding qualifications and resources. In this article, I start to provide some data that may be useful to readers in understanding the projected growth of the green job market and where they might fit in.

What Do We Mean by 'the Green Job Market is Growing'?

According to the United States President's Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), green jobs are everywhere, and the growth of the green job market is anticipated to continue to outstrip the growth of other markets. In its July 2009 report, the CEA cited data compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) showing projected growth in environmentally-related occupations to be 38% more than all other occupations combined by 2016. This is depicted in the following figure, reproduced from page 8 of their report:

To put this into perspective, it is worth noting that the occupations they considered were actually in a fairly limited range.  Specifically, the BLS projections drawn from in the CEA report are based on data for the following occupations only:

Counting Carbon

by Eileen Weber


Thinking of building a new house or renovating your old one? Got a new office building that’s going up soon? Wondering how all this will affect the environment? Colorado’s Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) has developed an online carbon calculator called Green Footstep to help homeowners and businesses determine their carbon footprint.

It’s certainly nothing new. There are a number of online carbon calculators. Even Microsoft got into the act earlier this year by launching their Environmental Sustainability Dashboard, an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software package. Its goal is to help companies track their energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, something that most ERP systems don’t do.

"ERP systems are really good at giving you the financial numbers, but where they fall short is with the environment or social issues," said Jennifer Pollard, a senior Microsoft product manager, as quoted in a February 9th article in The Seattle Times.

But what makes RMI’s system special is that it not only calculates the construction footprint of the project but the operational footprint of the building’s lifetime once that project is finished.

Kroon Hall makes environmentalists swoon

By John Burgeson
Staff writer, Connecticut Post
Updated: 09/20/2009 12:18:22 AM EDT

NEW HAVEN ---- Looking a little like a 19th century Vermont barn, the newest building on the Yale University campus is attracting international attention because it's one of the most environmentally friendly buildings of its type in the world.

Kroon Hall, around the corner from the Peabody Museum, is the new home of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

It gets electricity from the sun. Geothermal energy provides heat and air conditioning. Rainwater from the roof and grounds is used to run the commodes. Solar panels heat the water. In the winter, heat exchangers pull heat energy from warm exhaust air to aid the heating system.

Experts say that it uses about half the electricity than what would be expected for a building its size, and the photovoltaic array on the roof supply one-fourth of the remaining electrical load.

The structure is heated and cooled entirely with geothermal energy ---- there's no backup furnace or air conditioning system ---- or even a water heater for that matter.

Kroon is designed so it won't require much heating and cooling in the first place. Its east-west orientation maximizes solar heating in the winter, and the 23-degree tilt of the exterior slats deflect the sun's rays when it's high in the sky in the summer months. The massive concrete superstructure--there's no steel skeleton--acts as a huge heat sink. This "thermal mass" absorbs heart during the summer months, which slowly radiates

Click here to read more.

Photo courtesy of Yale University/Robert Benson

One Man’s Trash ...

I saw this in today's New York Times and couldn't resist posting it. This is a perfect example of green building: Recycling materials from excess waste and repurposing it to make something different, interesting, and in this case, off-beat. I especially liked the picture frames on the ceiling (see below).

September 3, 2009
By KATE MURPHY
HUNTSVILLE, Tex.

Among the traditional brick and clapboard structures that line the streets of this sleepy East Texas town, 70 miles north of Houston, a few houses stand out: their roofs are made of license plates, and their windows of crystal platters.

They are the creations of Dan Phillips, 64, who has had an astonishingly varied life, working as an intelligence officer in the Army, a college dance instructor, an antiques dealer and a syndicated cryptogram puzzle maker. About 12 years ago, Mr. Phillips began his latest career: building low-income housing out of trash.

In 1997 Mr. Phillips mortgaged his house to start his construction company, Phoenix Commotion. “Look at kids playing with blocks,” he said. “I think it’s in everyone’s DNA to want to be a builder.” Moreover, he said, he was disturbed by the irony of landfills choked with building materials and yet a lack of affordable housing.

To him, almost anything discarded and durable is potential building material. Standing in one of his houses and pointing to a colorful, zigzag-patterned ceiling he made out of thousands of picture frame corners, Mr. Phillips said, “A frame shop was getting rid of old samples, and I was there waiting.”

CTGBC Awards For Green Design

by Eileen Weber

There is another use for the term “intelligent design” and this one has no spiritual connotations. For the Connecticut Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council (CTGBC), it refers to the design and construction of a building or home that uses its resources wisely in an environmentally friendly way.

According to a recent press release from the CTGBC, five separate structures were recently awarded for the sustainable building practices utilized in high performance, design and construction, and energy efficiency.

The Most Intriguing Residential Award was given to Easter Fields House in New Milford. Mark and Jim Picton of Picton Brothers LLC, were the developers. According to the Picton’s web site, it is one of the most energy efficient homes in Connecticut.

“The most amazing thing about it is that the house is so liveable in such a compact form,” said Mark Picton, Co-Founder of the Washington Depot-based company of the 900 square foot home. “It’s good for a family of four or a retired couple. It’s a lot of function in a small space.”

Picton Brothers chose a sustainable building site in the Merryall section of the town. The home was officially awarded a LEED Platinum certification this past winter for not only making the most of the living space efficiently, but for using local materials like reclaimed wood, photovoltaic installation and foam insulation. As a result, the house has a significantly reduced carbon footprint.

A Green FROG In Connecticut

by Eileen Weber

The Watkinson School in Hartford, the city’s only independent school founded in 1881, had a ground-breaking for their net-zero science facility on May 27th. San Francisco-based Project FROG designed the school’s Center for Science and Global Citizenship. This school building will be the first of its kind in New England. The construction date is scheduled for next week.

“The building [will be] as smart as the students and teachers in it,” said John Bracker, Watkinson’s Head of School. Some of the key elements in the design are a geothermal heating and cooling system as well as solar panels. Large glass windows will be incorporated into the design to trap in heat in the winter and block it out in the summer. The windows will also provide lots of natural light to cut down on electricity costs.

Bracker said that the school looked into updating its science building about five years ago. But conventional methods were too expensive. When the concept of going green for less money came up, the Board of Trustees gave the go-ahead.

“This will not only augment the way we teach but change the way we teach. The building will be as much a part of the curriculum as any other teaching tools,” said Bracker. In other words, in order for the school to teach about sustainability they have to be sustainable.

Solar Hydrogen House in NJ

This AMAZING video shows that it IS possible to live off grid in a "normal" looking house.
Thanks to Judi Friedman at PACE. If you don't know who PACE is, by all means--click the link to visit this amazing CT-based organization!

Local School Wins Award

by Eileen Weber

The Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School (LOLMS) was recently acknowledged for their green initiatives in the School of Future Design Competition. On May 1st, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and the Council of Education Facility Planners International Foundation (CEFPI) sponsored the event as well as the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the American Institute of Architects along with over 30 associations and private companies. They announced the winners of the competition, which kicks off at the beginning of the school year, in Washington, D.C.

Students from across the country participated in the competition. Given the task to redesign their school in an environmentally friendly way, they were judged on sustainability, technology and community involvement in their projects. The event was part of School Building Week from April 27th through May 1st.

"Successful schools build successful communities." said Sue Robertson, CEFPI president in the company’s press release dated the last day of the competition. "Today's students, tomorrow's green builders, are committed to creating healthy, high performing schools and communities. Let's supply them with all the tools they need to improve the places where children learn. And then, let's really listen to them—because they have some really good ideas!"

Proposed Regulations for High Performance Building Construction Standards for State-Funded Buildings

by Christopher Novak, Halloran & Sage LLP

The Office of Policy and Management (“OPM”) has unveiled a set of proposed regulations for high performance building construction standards for state-funded buildings  (the “Proposed Regulations”).  The Proposed Regulations are an effort by OPM to implement the statutory “green” building requirements found in Conn. Gen. Stat. § 16a-38k, which became effective January 1, 2009.  The standards require construction funded by the State to meet or exceed certain energy and environmental criteria based on LEED Silver standards or qualify for two Green Globes using the Green Globe USA design program, and exceed the ASHRAE 90.1 (2004) standard by no less than 20%.  After approval by the Connecticut General Assembly Regulation Review Committee, the Proposed Regulations will become final.  The Regulations Review Committee is scheduled to meet to consider the Proposed Regulations on May 26 in Room 1E of the Legislative Office Building.      

    The Proposed regulations apply to the following types of projects (“Covered Projects”):

    (1)    Any new construction of a State facility that is projected to cost five million dollars, or more, and for which all budgeted project bond funds are allocated by the State Bond Commission on or after January 1, 2008;

    (2)    Any renovation of a State facility that is projected to cost two million dollars or more, of which two million dollars or more is State funding, approved and funded on or after January 1, 2008;

    (3)    Any new construction of a facility that is projected to cost five million dollars, or more, of which two million dollars or more is State funding, and is authorized by the General Assembly pursuant to chapter 173  on or after January 1, 2009; and

    (4)    Any renovation of a public school facility as defined in subdivision (18) of Conn. Gen. Stat. § 10-282 that is projected to cost two million dollars or more, of which two million dollars or more is State funding, and is authorized by the General Assembly pursuant to chapter 173 on or after January 1, 2009.