Newsletter Archive May-Nov 2009 August 2009
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NASA Ames Breaks Ground for 'Greenest' Federal Building Ever by Ruth Marlaire MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. - NASA today held a ceremonial groundbreaking and dedication event for what is expected to become the highest-performing building in the federal government.
The new, environmentally friendly building at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. is being named 'Sustainability Base' in honor of the first humans to walk on the surface of another world from their Tranquility Base Apollo 11 lunar landing site 40 years ago. It will serve as a highly efficient collaborative support facility providing workspace for a wide range of NASA's aeronautics and space exploration missions. "This is a great day for NASA and the federal government," said S. Pete Worden, director of NASA Ames. "This new building represents NASA's commitment to sustainability and improving the quality of life on the planet. Given the incorporation of the very latest NASA technologies, I like to think of it as the first lunar outpost on Earth." "When the Apollo astronauts looked back and saw the Earth . . . it was such an astounding image that it served as a touchstone for the whole environmental movement," said Steven Zornetzer, associate director at NASA Ames. "In the spirit of what's best for our country, we decided to focus on constructing the most energy-efficient building possible. The new building is designed to achieve a platinum rating under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) new construction standards for environmentally sustainable construction developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, Washington. D.C. The building will feature near zero net energy consumption, use 90 percent less potable water than conventionally built buildings of equivalent size and reduce building maintenance costs. The building will showcase some of NASA's most advanced intelligent control technologies originally developed to support the nation's human and robotic space exploration missions. The Silicon Valley office of Swinerton Builders, San Francisco, Calif., was selected in a competitive-bid process to build the new Sustainability Base collaborative support facility. Construction of the $20.6 million building is scheduled for completion by the end of 2011. To help achieve the building's sustainability objectives, the company will install approximately 72 geothermal wells featuring ground-source heat pumps, and will provide parking and landscaping with California-native plants. In addition, the company will install sophisticated systems for solar water heating, fire detection and suppression, advanced lighting, security, communications operations and site storm water management. These systems will be designed to anticipate and automatically react to changes in sunlight, temperature, and wind, and use resources to optimize the building's performance. The new facility will feature a structural steel frame, stand two stories tall with two wings, and will have approximately 50,000 square feet of mostly-open collaborative workspace, lunchrooms and a glass-walled atrium. To watch a video about the Sustainability Base to be built at NASA's Ames, visit:
Columbia's Harlem "Green" Salvage Project Posted by Black Star News on Aug 20th, 2009 As part of its continuing commitment to environmental sustainability and to providing employment opportunities to its neighbors, Columbia University hosted a "green" salvage and reuse on-the-job training program this summer in Harlem. Utilizing about 40 men and women from two local job training and placement programs, Columbia began the process of carefully deconstructing a university building on West 125th Street called Reality House. Approximately 40 tons of surplus materials - office and classroom furniture, file cabinets, electronic equipment, lighting fixtures, scrap metal and wood - was removed. Ninety percent of the materials were suitable for recycling and were donated both locally and internationally. "This project enhances the university's commitment to environmental sustainability while reusing materials and creating green job opportunities within our community," said Joe Ienuso, Columbia 's executive vice president for facilities. "We hope to emulate the success of these types of win-win projects in the future." Job opportunities requiring skills taught on this project - salvage, reuse and surplus management -- are growing. The Reality House project provided an ideal training site for both of the local training programs. One of the programs was Nontraditional Employment for Women, a non-profit organization that trains women for jobs in the construction trades, with a major focus on green construction practices. The other was the School of Cooperative Technical Education , which provides job training to at-risk young men and women in Upper Manhattan . The month-long salvage project was managed by the Institution Recycling Network. It specializes in construction-site recycling and planned reuse of surplus office and classroom furniture, and works to ensure that all materials are recycled or discarded in compliance with state and federal waste and privacy regulations. In the past, Columbia worked with the network during renovation projects in residence halls and at Faculty House, the university’s premier event venue. China Looks For Options In Resolving C02 Emissions August 17 2009 Posted by Reuters Early this month, China's ambassador to the climate talks, Yu Qingtai, said his government wanted to curb greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible. Next week, the Standing Committee of China's parliament -- a Communist Party-controlled body that echoes government priorities -- will consider a separate report on climate change policy and a resolution on the issue, the Xinhua news agency said. NOT A CONCRETE POLICY BLUEPRINT The dozens of contributors to the "2050 China Energy" report included climate policy experts from Chinese state think-tanks, including the Energy Research Institute and the State Council Development Research Center, which advises the cabinet. Participating scholars stressed that the study was a research exercise, not a definitive policy blueprint, and there was no suggestion that the senior officials listed as its advisers endorsed its specific proposals for targets and a 2030 peak. But the proposals have been circulated among officials and were echoed in a cabinet meeting last week that urged making "controlling greenhouse gas emissions" an important part of development plans, said an expert familiar with the project, speaking on condition of anonymity. The report spells out possibly disastrous consequences of global warming, as growing amounts of human-caused greenhouse gases retain more of the sun's energy in the atmosphere. "The potential threat to China from climate change exists and it is massive," states the report, warning of worsening droughts and floods, retreating glaciers, shrinking farm productivity and threats to water supplies for the country of 1.3 billion people. To curb emissions, China could push financial steps and price reforms to favor clean energy, a "carbon tax" on fossil fuels and cautious steps toward a "cap-and-trade" system for buying and selling emissions rights, says the report. Beijing may seek to use such domestic initiatives to show other nations it is serious about fighting global warming, even if the steps are not directly included in any international pact. "The problem now is not China making its own domestic commitments and targets, it's how we treat those commitments internationally," Dai Yande, a deputy director of the Energy Research Institute and one the report's organizers, told Reuters. You can see China's emissions scenarios in the chart below: Home Depot Foundation And Habitat for Humanity Colaborate In Green Building August 5, 2009 Posted by Home Depot Foundation Program to Help More Than 5,000 Habitat Families Across the Country Build Green Homes Habitat for Humanity International and The Home Depot Foundation today announced the national expansion of Partners in Sustainable Building. The $30 million green building program will provide funds and resources over a five-year period to help Habitat affiliates build 5,000 homes that meet Energy Star® guidelines or a nationally recognized green building standard. These features incorporate the use of energy-efficient equipment and water-conserving fixtures and help ensure good indoor air quality. More than 120 Habitat affiliates across 45 states were selected to participate in the first year of the national rollout that begins at the end of August. These affiliates will be granted $3,000 for each home built to Energy Star standards and up to $5,000 for each home built to a higher green standard. Nearly 1,500 sustainable homes will be built in 2009 and 2010 alone. The grant process is annual, which gives other Habitat affiliates the opportunity to participate in the program as well. Partners in Sustainable Building was established last year through a pilot program with 30 Habitat affiliates across a variety of climates in rural and urban areas throughout the United States. Habitat built more than 260 sustainable homes that met a green building standard during the pilot. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, benefits or features of homes built to this standard include: Up to 50 percent less energy use than their conventional counterparts.
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