Thinking Green: Internal Restructuring

The New Year is upon us and it is time to make New Year resolutions.  I am here to give some advice on how to make it easier for a company to become more Eco-design friendly for it's staff and management team.  Speaking to people n the industry I get a lot of negative comments about how it is hard to sell Eco / Sustainable design.  I get that "Sustainable design has been around for ever and it is not a new concept but our clients don't want to pay for it or we can't sell it to them" or more comments that follow the same chain of thought.  One of the main concepts I say is and like to follow is that "Eco design should be second nature to our design concept and intent."   How as a company can you bring down the costs of Sustainable design for your clients, so you are able to sell it, make it easier for your staff to design and stream line production?  I have always said that it has to start from internal restructuring; you can try to sell Sustainable / Eco design but if you don't have the right tools and educated staff internally it will be very difficult and expensive on your companies part to do so.  Having the right company philosophy, standards, materials library, etc. would simplify the process for your staff and stream line it.  If the design process and production is done in less time, it can be sold at a lower price to make the company more competitive.  The market is also being saturated with green products and materials.  Having a proper materials library with these product manufacturers and building a relationship with them will make yours able to work with these companies for better pricing on bid situations.

To also help companies become and prove their Sustainability practices and design quality as of 2010 there is a 3rd party certification process.  The Green Firm Certification will help companies that are starting out to established ones with a roadmap of how to become truly Sustainable on all parts of the internal structure of the firm.  This certification is recognized and is supported by many large companies such as ABC,
AGC, AIA, USGBC and many more. It has also received generous support from the Kresge Foundation to develop the on line certification process.  For more information check out the following link:

http://www.linkedin.com/news?viewArticle=&articleID=258618886&gid=88593&type=member&item=35207567&articleURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nexusboston.org%2Fblog%2F2010%2F11%2Fgreen-firm-certification-goes-national-greenbuild&urlhash=Qptv&goback=.gde_88593_member_35207567

or just watch the following Video:

Happy New Year Everyone and try to Think Green and find new ways to improve the process.

Eco Design: Musée du Quai Branly

There has been a lot of talk about green roofs and what benefits they have on the building energy savings, heat island effect, reducing the carbon footprint, improving the eco system and actual garden usage.

What about the building facade. Is it possible to cover the building with plants to do the same things that green roofs can accomplish.   Well the Musée du Quai Branly designed by architect Jean Nouvel has done exactly that.

The facade is the work of Patrick Blanc, a 54-year-old botanist whose vertical gardens can also be found at the French Embassy in India and in the inner courtyard of Pershing Hall, a chic hotel in the 8th arrondissement of Paris.

Each of his gardens have three components: the metal frame attached to the building, a PVC sheet which keeps the water in and a sheet of rot-proof felt, soaked in water and nutrients, upon which the garden grows.

This building shows what can happen when collaboration between a larger group of designers on a project.  Its time to start expanding our network and work with others on design projects from the start to see how far we can push the envelope and our imagination.  If you are ever in Paris make sure to visit this museum and experiences the beauty of this work.

Eco Thinking: Retrofiting Existing Buildings

One of the seminars at the Urban Green Expo this year was "Recognizing the Benefits of Energy Efficient in Multi-residential Real Estate."  The subject was about a study being done with the coordination of Steven Winters Associates, Living Cities Foundation that is funded by Deutshe Bank and EBC (Environmental Business Council).  In the study they were looking at what would be the optimum retro fitting options for existing building and that would bring the most return on investment.  In the study they looked at all options from water savings, window upgrades, boiler upgrades, energy star appliances and what the ultimate savings would be.  The study is still in progress but the report will be posted on the Living Cities website upon completion at www.livingcities.org

From the discussion the most cost effective evaluations to date would be as follows:

1. Change windows to save on energy from heating and cooling the interior environment
2. Upgrade boiler system of the building would have a fast payback in savings
3. Change to energy saving light bulbs in all building units and common areas
4. Upgrade to Energy Star appliances in all units when possible
5. Educate building occupants on water and energy saving measures they can do everyday
6. Educate Super and building staff on sustainable practices

Keep moving forward and finding ways to change our built environment for the benefit of all.

Thinking Green: The Hannover Principles

On the first day of the Urban Green Expo the key note speaker was no other then William McDonough.  He is one of the founders of the concept of Cradle to Cradle.  If you ever had the pleasure of hearing him speak, you would find it both educational and inspirational.

You should pick up the book "The Hannover Principles" by William McDonough and Michael Braungart.  They are 9 principles or guidelines that one should live by, design by and work towards. The Cradle to Cradle philosophy was developed from the 6th principle.  The book has a lot of information and insight about Eco design.  It is pocket size and only about 100 pages so an easy read and guide book.  The book states 9 principles the design community should consider plus much more info.  The 9 principles are as follows:

1. Insist on the right of humanity and nature to co-exist
2. Recognize interdependence: understanding that nature and design development are intermingled and that we need to understand those implications as we design.
3. Respect relationships between spirit and matter.
4. Accept responsibility for the consequences of design: We all need to recognize that no matter how small a project is it has an impact on our environment and as designers / builders / etc. we need to understand that we are responsible for that impact.
5. Create safe objects of long-term value.
6. Eliminate the concept of wast:  From this theory the concept of "Cradle to Cradle" was developed.
7. Rely on natural energy flows.
8. Understand the limitations of design: understanding that nothing lasts forever and use nature as a model and guide for design inspiration.
9. Seek constant improvement by the sharing of knowledge.

Pick up the book, its an easy read and very informative.

Food for Thought: Roof Top Vegetable Gardens

As a sustainability designer I always try to see what ways we can transform our built environment for the betterment of all. Living in NY, I am always trying to see what things we can transform and roofs always come to mind. They are usually unused space that only add to the heat island effect of cities.

Green roofs are a great way to change those effects. These can be created by adding native plants to the roof that do not need much care. Others are trying out other things such as creating roof top vegetable gardens.  These types of gardens can do many things, such as: Reduce heat island effect, purify the air and grow food for the local building or community.

There are many out there who are trying and succeeding in creating these roof top farms / vegetable gardens. One example is Brooklyn Grange who is a commercial farm, meaning they grow food and sell it.  They recently planted a roof top farm in Long Island city Queens.
Check out the report from NY1 http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/121676/rooftop-farm-opens-in-queens  .  And their website at http://brooklyngrangefarm.com  These farms are great to reduce heat island effect, conserve energy for the building, feed the community and so much more.  Lets hope more will pop up all over the city, especially in lower income neighborhoods where fresh organic and affordable foods is not easily accesable.  Growing food right in the neighborhood would reduce the cost of organic vegetables as there will be no cost for shipping the products and that savings would go to the families in the area.

There are also publications that will help you find more information in you area.  Check out Edible Communities websites for your borough or location publication.  Here is the link for the Queens publication that has a story on the roof farm http://www.ediblecommunities.com/queens/fall-2010/fall-2010
These types of roof top farms are developing all over the country, check out Sky High Harvest who is the first commercial scale roof top farm in the midwest ( http://www.skyhighharvest.com ).

Other methods have been developed to create a roof top garden without the use of heavy soil that might not work on some roofs of existing building.  New uses on existing technology like aeroponic / hydroponic systems.  Hydroponic is a technique of growing plants (without soil) in water containing dissolved nutrients. Aeroponic is the process of growing plants in an air or mist environment without the use of soil or an aggregate medium.  A restaurant here in NY is growing vegetables this way for all the food it will serve.  Here is a picture of the roof top with these units.  This roof top not only has these units to grow the vegetables but also was painted white to reflect the suns heat and reduce the heat island effect.

Check out the story reported by the Huffington Post and a video report on CNN.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/24/john-mooney-shows-off-roo_n_736737.html

It is time we took back the unused spaces in our urban environments.  Be a leader, be creative and think outside the box.

Green Design: Recycled Content and Innovation

There is so much talk about recycled content, pre-consumer and post-consumer recycled content in the industry.  Post consumer content is any discarded item after people used it.  It is a great time to start thinking out of the box and start seeing other great uses for our discarded items.  I recently created a small sculpture installation for PS151 of recycled car parts and discarded cinder blocks for their 9/11 memorial garden.  There are a lot of other people that are also thinking out of the box, here are some examples of what has been done:

WNYC covered an artist that collects broken umbrellas and recycles them into innovative reusable items such as clothing, handbags and much more. Check out the article and images of some of her designs at the following link. http://beta.wnyc.org/articles/wnyc-news/2010/sep/27/umbrella-treasures-trash-cans-runways/


In the UK a company has developed a product from recycled materials and also has an educational base to it.  They produce school supplies, such a pencil cases with saying such as "I used to be a car tire".  They are coming up with more innovative products for the outdoors, clothing and bags.  Check them out at http://www.remarkable.co.uk/

Other artists are taking on these challenges and creating art from our discarded garbage.  One local artist is Janet Nolan.  She creates artwork from post-consumer items such as discarded umbrellas, wire coat hangers, plastic bottle caps and much more.  Check out her art work at http://www.janetnolanart.com/

Here in the US we need to start making headway with products made from post-consumer materials. Creating them to be innovative in design, massed produced or having items recycled into artwork.  These are but a few examples of what can be done.  We need to start looking outside the box in ways to reuse items and keeping them out of our landfills.  As we look into what we can do with these unwanted materials, we also need to realize that they need to be produced locally.  Take the next step and start using your creativity and imagination to help our environment.

Thinking Green: The Apartment Composting Experiment

Composting is a great way to recycle our garbage and to keep debris out of landfill.  As of October 2010, I have helped the formation of a composting program at PS151 in Queens.  Starting it at the school has also inspired me to start composting at home.  We as New Yorkers live in small apartments and have the a negative image of composting.  Most believe that it is smelly and that you need a backyard to do it.  I am here to prove otherwise.  I am also going to show that it can be done in larger families.  I have 3 kids, all under the age of 7.  I am going to start worm composting at home to show that it is an easy thing that can be done and that it can be done with kids around.

Here is how I started it.  First, I did my research on line about composting and got a few books on the subject.  The book that I preferred and that I am using for a guide is "Worms Eat My Garbage" by Mary Appelhof.  As part of my research I found ways to make your own compost bins on a budget.  Red Worm Composting website has a great video on how to set one up and I have used their advice to set mine up.  Check out the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxhEQEA0GN8&feature=player_embedded#! .  Also if there are kids around you have to get them excited about the project as well.  With my boys, I got them excited by talking about worms, books on the subject and by saying that they will be pets in the home.  Now for the worms, I ordered mine from the Lower East Side Ecology Center.  With them you order the amount of worms you need and then pick them  up from the Union Square green market. Here is the link to their products - http://www.lesecologycenter.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&id=8&Itemid=33
There are many other venues that sell worms, check what is available near you.  Also,as you try to see where you can get them, see if you can support a worthy organization at the same time.

I have set up the worm bin and will be picking up the worms on Wednesday.  More posts on the progress to come.