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August 2009
Thinking Like a Thermos: Passive House - Washington Green Schools - LEED AP Specialization Exam Prep - Getting Dirty - Good News in Healthcare
Education LEED AP Specialization Exam PrepIf you'd like your staff to have the new LEED AP specialization credentials, increase their odds of success by hosting a Study Session. We have exam prep courses for Building Design + Construction (LEED AP BD+C), Green Associate (LEED GA), and Operations + Maintenance (LEED AP O+M). Learn more...New Online StoreThe inaugural product: LEED O+M Flashcards for those studying for the new specialty exam, LEED AP Operations + Maintenance, which is based on the LEED-EB rating system. Learn more... Getting Dirty For every person who subscribes to this newsletter by fall of 2009, O'Brien & Company staff will plant a tree at our company field day. So far, we have 354 subscribers and our goal is 1000 readers/trees. We hope you'll invite your friends and colleagues to sign up for future announcements. Good News in Healthcare
Congratulations to our latest LEED certified projects, both healthcare providers who earned Gold under the LEED for Commercial Interiors rating system:
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 Thinking like a Thermos
Passive House
by James Jenkins, CSBA, LEED AP BD+C, Homes
Last month, on the hottest day Seattle had ever seen, otherwise eco-conscious Seattleites rushed out to purchase AC units. I relied, instead, on my trusty thermos. Two continuous layers of stainless steel sandwiching a vacuum kept my drinks cool and me refreshed. Applying this elegantly simple approach to space conditioning is what the Passive House program promotes. The results are high levels of comfort, low energy consumption, with little to no reliance on active technologies.
In general our buildings are designed to be cost-effective to construct. There’s a lot of discussion today in harder economic times on how to make these same buildings more cost-effective to operate as well. What if we were to set a non-negotiable goal to achieve this cost-effectiveness through a passive, or thermos-like approach?
It would mean designing in superinsulation values for the building enclosure, for sure. But more importantly, it would mean much higher levels of air tightness than we can achieve with methods commonly used today, even in green building projects. Passive House details achieve .6 air changes per hour at 50 Pascals (ACH50). Even at its best, current practice rarely generates anything below 2.0 ACH50. To achieve this aggressive result, air sealing details would have to be as integral to the design as, say, the placement of a kitchen. Quality assurance on the job would be critical.
Why would anyone do this? The elephant in the living room is the idea that efficient equipment is our savior, when we all know that the size (and eventual energy consumption) of this equipment is directly related to the building enclosure. By addressing the enclosure, we are addressing the weak link in current design and construction practice. Using the thermos as a model, the enclosure can “save the day”--with fewer resources wasted, and a much more comfortable result. It is a simple resource conserving solution, one that leads us much more quickly to the sustainable future we need.
James is a Project Manager at O'Brien & Company and has recently completed an extensive Passive House training.
Washington Green Schools
New program available for K-12 schools
For the past two years O'Brien & Company has been working with a statewide steering team to pilot and refine a new program that involves students in improving the operations and maintenance of their schools. The Washington Green Schools program certifies schools who take action in each of the five program categories (recycling, energy, water, toxics and transportation) each year they participate.
The certification process requires the schools' Green Team to assess the state of their schools' operations, take action to address negative environmental impacts discovered, and educate the whole school and larger community. Nine pilot schools successfully achieved Level 1 of the program, and more schools have been signing up all summer to kick-off their efforts this fall.
The web-based program provides a simple certification system, resources, and interactive features that can help schools along their path towards sustainability.
www.wagreenschools.org
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