Featuring the winner of the 2007 Solar Decathlon, platinum and gold LEED Manhattan skyscrapers and paraffin microcapsules.
Imagine louvers outfitted with mini-solar cells and micro-capsules of paraffin in the ceiling and walls that help to insulate your beautiful and fully-sustainable home (that even powers your electric car). If Wow comes to mind, you're not alone. On October 19th, 2007, there were twenty teams from universities around the world competing for the best and brightest sustainable home, but one team's innovative designs were jaw-dropping -- in sleek beauty, simplicity of application and energy efficiency.
While 19 other competing universities relied upon more traditional sustainable designs - green roofs and walls, brown-water irrigation systems and discarded shipping containers -- the 1st place Solar Decathlon home that was built by the German team from Technische Universitat Darmstadt was an innovative collaboration of architecture and engineering unlike anything the world has ever seen.
2007 Solar Decathlon Winner: Technische Universitat Darmstadt
Photo Credit: SolarDecathlon.org
Darmstadt won the Architecture, Lighting, and Engineering contests. The Architecture Jury said the house pushed the envelope on all levels and is the type of house they came to the Decathlon hoping to see. The Lighting Jury loved the way this house glows at night. The Engineering Jury gave this team an innovation score that was as high as you could go, and said nobody did the integration of the PhotoVoltaic system any better. Darmstadt was one of seven teams to score a perfect 100 points in the Energy Balance contest (meaning the team created more power than it used).
University of Maryland took 2nd place and top honors in the communications category (website, tours and brochures), while the University of Santa Clara took 3rd place with high marks in all of the comforts of life - including power, appliances and hot water. The team from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign won the contest for Market Viability and will be featured at the 2007 Greenbuild Conference in Chicago from November 7-9, 2007. (Former President Bill Clinton is the keynote speaker at the Greenbuild Conference this year, with General Motors as a platinum corporate sponsor.)
What the Solar Decathlon highlights is that, clearly, sustainable living is a collaborative effort between engineering and architecture. The teams that scored the highest were equally weighted in talent in both arenas, and that is exactly what is happening in green building all over the world - not just at university competitions. Green is no longer just about throwing a half dozen solar panels on the roof. Green means inviting scientists, architects, visionary kooks, engineers and discarded candles into a think tank to watch chaos light up and take on new (and more sustainable) forms.
Anyone who is knee-deep in green is rapidly discovering that sustainability applications are site specific, and, in the words of PG&E SVP Nancy McFadden, conservation is more important and valuable than solar, wind, hydro or geothermal. Solar panels aren't as efficient in Manhattan as they are in Los Angeles. In the Big Apple, PV (photovoltaic) panels take a beating from the elements and the sun's pathway is narrowed by the skyscraper landscape. Thus, "blue roofs," with rain water cisterns, ice farms, and, potentially, water turbines, help to power and conserve energy in mid-town skyscrapers that are located along the wet, Eastern seaboard. The Southern California builders are getting creative with solar as roof tops, awnings, parking structures and now, thanks to Technische Universitat Darmstadt, even louvers, but have little use for collecting rain water in the dry Southern California landscape.
Super Stars of Green Building:
Below are just a few examples (and links) to some of the world's most creative and interesting cutting-edge Green design, architecture and engineering, from all across the nation.
WorldsNest.com, Taos, New Mexico
Photo Credit: © WorldsNest.com
Angel's Nest, a fully sustainable home in Taos, New Mexico, insulates the 2-story structure with a rain forest, which also serves as the black-water filtering system of the estate. Air-to-water machines convert the indoor humidity into drinking water. The institute-like estate runs off the power grid with solar, wind and hydrogen power, recycles water, and houses an eclectic group of scientists, contractors and engineers who claim that they can reduce the cost of photovoltaics by a factor of eight, turn dirt roads into concrete with enzymes that are safe enough to drink and power skyscrapers on water turbines.
None of these prospective products are fully operational yet, but one of the most promising of the WorldsNest innovations currently seems to be the enzyme roads, which do indeed bind soil into a concrete-like hardness, using only soil stabilizing enzymes. The road, which had recently been bladed before my visit in October, was so compact that stones were sheered cleanly, without getting pulled up from the soil. Since most of the cost of roads comes from prepping the soil and rehabilitating warps and sinkholes caused by water damage, having a foundation that gets harder with rain could be an enormously efficient, cost effective, green solution.
A second great achievement at Angel's Nest is the integration of insulation, energy conservation and natural lighting. The front side of the building is floor to ceiling windows, while the backside has no windows and is a shield against the wind and elements, trapping in hot air in winter and circulating air flow in the summer.
While WorldsNest does not yet feature all of the cutting edge green technology applications that their scientists boast of owning the patents on, the founders of Worldsnest.com, Robert Plarr and Victoria Peters, are living examples of green visionaries who are walking the walk. Their home/living institute is a beautiful haven with delightfully bright and warm yoga studios, and even a floating bed, which proves that reducing your carbon footprint doesn't mean you have to give up the designer shoes! Buy Robert and Victoria's book to learn more about their Secret of Sustainability.
2007 Solar Decathlon Winner
Technische Universitat Darmstadt's solar-paneled louvers were an amazing feature of the home, but the team didn't stop there. The louvers were capable of being pulled back, like French doors, or shuttered for privacy and energy conservation. The slats themselves, which were imbedded with sleek, small solar panels, are automated to track the sun for maximum efficiency. Paraffin microcapsules offered an efficient and lightweight means of storing energy within the walls of the home. The innovations of this home could (and should) start turning up in the Home Depots and Lowes of the world soon.
The Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park: the world's most environmentally responsible high-rise office building.
The Dursts, the skyscraper visionary greenies who are holding the high ground in Manhattan, have almost completed their second monumental achievement in sustainable urban office buildings, after having built the world's first green skyscraper, at 4 Times Square (the Nasdaq building) back in 2002. The Tower at Bryant Park sports all the latest in innovative sustainable design, including the world's first "blue" roof, complete with cisterns that capture rain water for irrigation of the plants and use in the toilets. When the Bank of America team moves into the first 34 floors next May (2008), each person will have personal climate control settings and will breathe filtered indoor air that is cleaner (by far) than the air outside.
The Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park: the world's most environmentally responsible high-rise office building. (© Durst.org 2006)
Going for Platinum
The Durst Organization and Bank of America are going for a platinum LEED rating on their skyscraper - all without one solar panel.
Editor's Note: LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is the industry standard for green building, and was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. The top rating is platinum, then gold, silver and bronze.
The sustainable systems incorporated into the design include:
1. Blue Roof - Cisterns collect 33,000,000 gallons of rain water annually, which is treated and then used to irrigate, flush toilets and cool towers. Savings: 10,300,000 gallons saved per year, with a 45% reduction in water costs.
2. Ice Farm (48 tanks): 8.5 megawatt co-generation plant, which allows the tower to stay off grid utilizing compressed natural gas.
3. Waterless urinals
4. Local Building Materials. 40% of the building materials are purchased from within a 500-mile radius. This supports local entrepreneurs and saves on gas and CO2 emissions.
5. Blast furnace slag (a byproduct of steel) is re-used in concrete for cement.
6. Floor to ceiling glass saturates the building with natural sunlight, cutting down on the use of artificial lighting. Natural shading at the top and bottom of the glass panels reduce glare for computer operators.
7. Continuous commissioning: annual maintenance checks ensure that operations are running properly and at optimal performance.
Why doesn't One Bryant Park sport even one solar panel? According to Helena Durst, solar has a 25-year payback in Manhattan, with a 20-year life expectancy. (Perhaps someone should be lobbying the New York governor for stronger solar incentives?)
The Riverhouse at One Rockefeller Park:
This Battery Park City waterfront condominium high-rise received a Gold LEED rating. The urban flats are currently on sale starting at just under a million for a one bedroom, to almost $3 million for a 4-bedroom/3 bath with views of the Hudson River and the Statue of Liberty. Green features of the building include:
1. Rooftop Photovoltaic panels.
2. Wood from forests that are certified renewable or responsibly harvested.
3. Special paints, adhesives and sealants
4. Glass curtain wall: views and daylight without electricity
5. Geothermal wells heat/cool the lobby spaces
6. Water-saving faucets and dual-flush toilets
7. Natural gas for electricity
8. Triple-glazed "blue technology" curtain wall
9. Storm water run-off irrigates green roof - reducing "heat island" affect.
10. Storm water is also used in mechanical system cooling tower
11. Programmable thermostats and carbon monoxide censors in the parking garage
LivingHomes and the first Wired LivingHome
Imagine getting a prefab, architecturally significant, green home that is completely wired and goes up onsite in one day. Hard to believe, but true. The LivingHomes team builds the home in a factory, and then ships it to the site in under a dozen modules.
The living room of the first prefab green LivingHome -- platinum LEEDS home.
The first LivingHome, which is available for tours in Santa Monica, California, was the first platinum LEED rated home ever. Whole Foods junkies, Patagonia-wearing yoga lovers, hybrid owners and Wi-Fi Skypies should be on cloud nine with this beautiful home. First movers pay a premium, but could end up with a home that will be beloved and renowned throughout time, much as the Case Study homes from the 1950s are today. Be the first in your neighborhood to own one, or better yet, contact the team and build your own LivingHomes community.
For more information, read "Green and Fab," from volume 4, issue 10.
BP's Green Gas Station:
Photo Rendering Courtesy: BP.com
Helios House is a "living laboratory" that uses green, eco-friendly innovations to give consumers a little better station experience. Located at the corner of Olympic and Robertson in Los Angeles, this station requires less water, wastes less water and pollutes less than a typical gas station. Other features include:
1. Recycled glass in the glass tiles
2. Solar panels
3. Green roof (living plants insulate and take CO2 out of the air)
4. Alkemi sinks and toilet seats (made with 60% post-industrial aluminum scrap)
5. Cell phone drop off (recycle your old cell phone at the station)
6. Low VOC "volatile organic compounds" paint is better for breathing
Learn more, including how to take your class on a field trip to Helios House, at TheGreenCurve.com.
Solar One, Nevada
The 64-megawatt Nevada Solar One. Photo courtesy of Solargenix Energy.
Solar One, the world's 3rd largest solar power plant, is located in Boulder City, just outside of Las Vegas. Nevada Solar One utilizes concentrated solar collectors - parabolic mirrors - with receivers, heating oil and steam turbines to generate enough power to light up over 15,000 households. Generating 130 MW hours/year, Solar One Nevada is a full-scale power plant. The carbon footprint reduction is, reportedly, equivalent to removing 17,000 cars off the nation's roads.
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