The Problem

Construction equipment is a leading contributor to dangerous diesel pollution. According to the US EPA Clean Air Act Advisory Committee, “A single bulldozer engine can emit as much particulate matter as more than 500 cars.” As diesel exhaust carries carcinogens, soot (scientifically referred to as “fine particulate matter”) and ozone smog-forming compounds, diesel-powered construction equipment leaves our society more susceptible to asthma attacks, strokes, lung cancer, heart attacks and premature deaths.

The Government Steps In

Local and state governments are creating initiatives towards green construction using pollution controls and cleaner diesel. The US EPA has developed the Clean Construction USA program in order to reduce the impact of nonroad diesel engines, fine particulate matter and nitrogen oxides. The program has set new emission standards for new construction equipment engines. Unfortunately, these regulations do not apply to existing construction equipment, which can operate for up to thirty years. In this sense, it will take several decades to completely replace old environmentally threatening equipment with greener alternatives.

In the meantime, the EPA’s Clean Construction USA program seeks to provide older construction equipment owners with methods of reducing unhealthy emissions, including proper maintenance of equipment, use of cleaner fuels (such as ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel), retrofitting diesel engines with greener technologies (such as 90% soot reducing diesel particulate filters), cutting down on engine idling time and repowering old parts (such as engines) with cleaner options.

Private Companies Discover a New Market

Volvo, seeing a new market in green construction equipment, has developed green-friendly options for construction companies and contractors. Volvo’s going green initiative promotes the use of bio-degradable hydraulic fluids, high-pressure diesel injectors (which cut harmful nitrogen oxides and non-methane hydrocarbons by 38 percent), optimized air management systems, measures to reduce hydraulic oil spillages, and the reuse of equipment components to conserve resources. As with all trends, other construction equipment companies are sure to follow suit to stay relevant in the market.

According to Andrew P. Studdert, CEO of aerial equipment company NES Rentals, recycling is already a significant part of their business. “We recycle all the waste fluids that we generate, lightbulbs and paper products,” he said. “We try to reduce our carbon footprint wherever we can.” Still, the company (like many others) can do more.

 Applications

On November 2008, by a two-thirds majority, the gas-guzzling county of Los Angeles voted in favor of Measure R, a $40 billion project aimed at traffic relief and improved public transportation. According to estimates from the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, the project is slated to add numerous new transit and highway options for Angelinos, in addition to over 210,000 construction jobs – bringing a whopping $32 billion back into the county’s struggling economy.

Of course, a project of this scale requires an enormous influx of construction equipment. As Los Angeles is already suffering from widespread construction-related diesel pollution (contributing to approximately 2,000 premature deaths in California every year), as of June 16, 2011, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) instituted a green construction policy. The policy seeks to reduce harmful emissions from construction diesel engines to reduce dangerous PM, NOx, and greenhouse gas emissions using the most cost-effective solutions. Greener practices for construction contractors will include replacing older construction equipment with green models and retrofitting existing equipment.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District, the region’s air quality agency, has dedicated several millions of dollars to funding these efforts.

Hopefully this collaborative project will not only raise the bar for construction equipment standards but also improve eco-friendly public transportation in Los Angeles. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for the smog capital of America.

What You Can Do

Don’t sit around and wait for change. While you may not directly be involved with construction, you are directly affected by its harmful emissions. Check out what actions your local or state governments are taking to improve construction pollution, and inquire about ways you can endorse their efforts.

Lynn Maleh is a graduate of University of Southern California’s Master of Professional Writing program. She regularly blogs on a variety of topics, including eco-friendly lifestyles and green initiatives.

Photo: FEMA

The basement is a great place to apply green remodeling techniques. Due to its underground location, it is a very different space than the rest of the house. It collects a lot of moisture, which can lead to rot, mold, and harmful off-gassing. It is also susceptible to flood damage. By keeping your remodeling efforts green, you can mitigate some of these common issues. Read on to learn how to go green when remodeling your basement.

Use environmentally friendly materials that can be exposed to moisture with little damage

The materials you use above ground do not always work below, as they can be too porous for the moisture levels found underground. Avoid most types of wood and drywall, as they will develop mold quickly and are likely to rot. Drywall can pose additional health problems – when mixed with water, it may off-gas toxic fumes. That also applies to any materials that contain formaldehyde, like particle board and fiberglass, which can release unhealthy gas into the home. Better green alternatives are glazed ceramic tile, concrete, and stone.

Ensure you use flood-resistant materials

Even in low-risk flood areas, many basements get damaged due to flooding. It happens a lot, and you should be prepared. Quality, flood-resistant materials are typically those capable of being subjected to flood conditions for a few days without requiring extensive repairs. Green options include clay, ceramic tiles, concrete, and brick.

Insulate with mold-resistant, low-chemical products

Insulation is an effective way to save energy by controlling transfer of heat. It prevents heat from escaping, as well as unwanted heat from pouring in. Some insulation products develop mold far too quickly to be suitable for a basement. Others release CFC and HCFC, which are blowing agents that have been linked to ozone depletion.  Understanding the demand for sustainable building habits, more companies are now creating foam insulation materials that are mold-resistant and free of CFC and HCFC. Invest in one of them for your insulation project.

Avoid toxic paint

A lot of paint contains volatile organic compounds, commonly called VOCs. They are a form of pollutant, and can contribute to long-term health problems that develop so gradually they can take years to spot. Issues include headaches, dizziness, eye irritation, weakened memory, and respiratory tract infections. Stick to low-VOC or no-VOC paint for the sake of your health and the environment.

If you have got your sights set on a new look for your basement, you should consider overhauling its look as well as its environmental impact. Remodeling with sustainability in mind is good for your budget and the environment. It is the perfect approach to take if you want a comfortable, high-quality basement that you can enjoy for years to come.

Guest post contributed by Jordan Rodgers, on behalf of Fugrogeoconsulting.com. Jordan is currently studying geotechnical engineering. He also writes informative articles about geophysics, geohazards and eco-friendly building materials.

Photo:  David Goshorn

These featured cities, historically violent, filth-ridden, or swampy locations, might now serve as inspiration to all municipalities worldwide. Any city, quite literally, has the potential to undertake an environmental sustainability makeover, and accomplish that mission in eye-opening fashion.

Halligan’s four featured cities include:

1) Naples, Italy – Halligan writes: “Naples has been long-buried in toxic garbage–lining alleys, streets, and even surrounding Mount Vesuvius–and often attributed to the Camorra (a Naples-based mafia organization). But activist groups, residents and international organizations are taking major steps to conquer the problem.”

2) Medellin, Colombia – Halligan writes: “Medellin has made incredible advancements in their public transportation options, as well as linked its poorest neighborhood, Comuna 13, to its city center via a 1,300 foot escalator.”

3) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – Halligan writes: “In Mayor Mike Nutter’s 2008 inaugural speech, he vowed to make Philadelphia “the nation’s greenest city.” Currently in its third year of a six-year plan initiated in 2009, Philadelphia is well on its way to achieving many of its initial 14 target goals.”

4) Songdo, South Korea – Halligan writes: ”

Literally a brand spankin’ new city, Songdo is an aerotropolis built atop South Korean swampland 40 miles from Seoul and seven miles from Incheon International airport. As part of President Lee Myung-bak’s 38-billion dollar stimulus package encouraging green and low-carbon growth, Songdo is the first city in the world to have all of its facilities meet or exceed Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) requirements.”

Each city in the piece has a distinctly different approach to their sustainability initiatives, and some of the realities encompassing the cities are quite inspirational. (Medellin, for example, has seen a 90-percent decrease in crime throughout its makeover period. Songdo on the other hand–a state-of-the-art city built from scratch in South Korea swampland–happens to be the country’s first LEED Neighborhood.)

Thanks for the report, Ashley.

Read the original story here.

Photos of Songdo, South Korea courtesy of welix; Medellin, Colombia courtesy of Medelin’s Office of the Mayor; Naples, Italy courtesy of the author, Ashley Halligan; Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) courtesy ofK. Ciappa for GPTMC.

Haines City Facility Creates Renewable Product from Organic Waste

BCR Environmental today joined state and local officials in commissioning its industry-revolutionizing Neutralizer facility at the Haines City Wastewater Treatment Facility. This sustainable plant, developed in partnership with Haines City, recycles organic waste to produce a natural, high-quality product for agriculture use. The system was retrofitted into the existing treatment plant and allows the city to recycle wastewater residuals while reducing operational costs, energy consumption and the overall carbon footprint of the facility.

“Today, we acknowledge the partnership between private business and government to produce a greener approach to wastewater treatment,” Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Adam Putnam, who was unable to attend, said in a letter to attendees. “This partnership will result in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and meet energy efficient goals while serving the needs of a growing community like Haines City. I applaud the opening of this new wastewater treatment facility and hope many more like it open in our state.”

Pamala Vazquez, interim director for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Southwest Region, said DEP fully supports the development of a sustainable product that helps municipalities meet public health and safety requirements.

“Cities across our state are challenged to find better, more environmentally responsible means of treating and disposing of wastewater residuals,” said Vazquez. “Today’s opening of an organic waste treatment system in Haines City offers a solution to that challenge by safely reutilizing these biosolids.”

By upgrading to the Neutralizer solution, Haines City will meet regulatory requirements for wastewater treatment, save $100,000 annually in operating costs, avoid $2.7 million in capital expenditures, reduce the amount of material disposed of in landfills and become a municipality that is leading the way in a progressive approach to wastewater treatment.

“With BCR’s Neutralizer system, we will reduce energy consumption and waste hauling costs and we will lessen our impact on the environment,” said Haines City Mayor Joanna Wilkinson. “That’s something of which all Haines City residents can be proud.”

BCR’s installation at the Haines City facility is its seventh in Florida. Statewide, BCR’s technology is reducing carbon dioxide emissions by about 660 metric tons annually, which is the equivalent of what is produced by approximately 130 cars. Additionally, its systems have eliminated 16,500 metric tons of waste from landfills and removed 4,500 sludge-hauling trucks from local roads.

“BCR is built on the principle that in order to be sustainable, organic waste treatment must be simple, economically viable and environmentally responsible,” said Aaron Zahn, president and CEO for BCR. “Traditionally, treatment of wastewater into a reusable, organic product was something that was only available to large, well-capitalized communities. BCR’s technology and approach to business allows small-to-medium communities, such as Haines City, to be innovative and save money, while reducing their impact on the environment and regulatory risks.”

Source: Business Wire

Once these metal frame, single-pane windows were considered adequate - but not today.

Second Fort Irwin Project Achieves LEED Gold Certification

Man landed on the moon 43 years ago, an amazing feat of technology, so it’s hardly surprising that building materials have really improved significantly, impacting the lives of virtually everyone in the USA and other countries on the bleeding edge of energy efficient architecture.

Up to 30 percent of home energy losses are through the windows of a property. Why is this loss so huge? Many homes use poorly made windows, which can lose a very large amount of heat when it’s cold outside (we’ll start by focussing on this process rather than concentrating on how windows can cause a room to warm up when it’s hot outside and cool inside). There are several basic processes that cause windows to lose heat, which are as follows:

1 – Conduction

Warm air particles collide with the window, transferring their energy into heating up the window itself. The heat is transferred through the window to the outside world, which then heats up: goodbye energy!

2 – Convection

This is a process that speeds up heat loss, but doesn’t directly cause it. When air cools down, it becomes denser and therefore sinks to the bottom of a room, whereas the warm air flows to the top of the room. If your room is being heated, but you have several cold windows, when the warm air comes into contact with the window, it will quickly lose its heat through conduction. Convection then means that the cooled-air will sink and hotter air will then – again – come into contact with the window. Convection essentially means that there is always a greater temperature difference between your windows and the air in contact with them inside the room, hence there is a greater rate of heat transfer.

3 – Leakage

Simple to understand – warm air may literally flow out through gaps i the window frame.

4 – Radiation

Heat energy isn’t just rapidly vibrating air particles – it can also be infrared heat, which is actually a type of light and is technically a wave. This is why if you shine a magnifying glass on a piece of dark paper on a hot day (dark paper absorbs infrared heat better than light paper), it will start a fire. Please don’t try this at home! Infrared radiation can travel straight through glass, quickly leaving your nice warm room.

How can clever glass combat these issues?

Leakage is the simplest problem to tackle – well-made windows will have tightly fitting frames, which will be well sealed and won’t let through any air. They also have clever locking mechanisms, which will mean when the window is shut, it will shut properly and won’t rattle around, which would otherwise indicate that it is too loose.

Conduction can be minimized through double or even triple glazing. Every material has a Standard Heat Capacity (SHC) – a figure that indicates the amount of energy (measured in joules) necessary to heat up 1kg of that material by 1 degree Celsius. If a lot of energy is required to heat up a material, then it has a high SHC and does not conduct heat well – a high SHC means it’s difficult to heat up a material. Glass has an SHC of approximately 840J/kg deg. C, compared to 1020 J/kg deg. C for air. This means that glass heats up more easily and will therefore quickly heat up when warm air comes into contact with it inside your home. This heat will then be lost on the other side of the glass as wasted energy. The air gap found in double-glazed windows is a lot more difficult to heat up, and therefore heat is lost more slowly. With triple-glazing, there is yet another air gap that the heat must travel through before it is lost, and therefore it is more efficient again. Argon gas is used in better windows because it has a higher SHC than air and therefore is liable to lose even less heat. The rate at which a window loses heat through conduction is its U-factor, so in every climate, a lower U-factor is better than a high U-factor.

Convection is where modern windows really can impress homeowners. The Solar Heat-Gain Coefficient (SHGC), measured as a value between 0 and 1, tells you how much heat enters a building through the window when the sun is shining. In cold climates, it’s clearly more beneficial to have a higher SHGC because it means that more infra-red radiation will enter your home, thus heating it up, when the sun is out during the day, even if it’s cold outside. If you live in a hot climate, you probably don’t want your property heating up during the day, since this will mean you spend more energy on air conditioning to keep the place cool. Therefore, make sure the SHGC of the windows you pick is suited to your region.

How do manufacturers control the level of convection to achieve a range of possible SHGC values? The coating of the surface of the glass makes the difference – the highest SHGC windows, best in hot climates, when coupled with strong U-factors, can actually gain energy rather than lose it because they let in more heat than escapes!

So there you have it – plenty of information on what to look for next time you’re shopping for new double or triple glazing. Make sure that your windows suit your property!

Written by James Hawkins from a home improvements company – my knowledge of double-glazing is thanks to a chat with our team providing a free cheap conservatory prices comparison across the UK. 

Photos: GR Meyers,  U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District

For the longest time solar power has been limited to communities and homes in higher income areas. A new solar power installation in Northeast Denver, Colorado is showing that this form of renewable energy need not be limited to exclusive properties limited to the real estate elite. Most solar systems run in the several thousand dollars range for a single family dwelling. The costs are greatly multiplied for installing them in multiple family dwellings.

This solar panel installation is the first to be placed in a low income housing project. This project was made possible through a series of US grants and special discounts from the solar panel manufacturers. Since its been installed, the prices of solar panels has come down even more, making the prospect of renewable energy for people at all income levels more than possible.

For instance, the Whittier Affordable Housing Project (WAHP) that installed these panels received a $2 per kWh upfront cash incentive to help reduce the initial costs of purchasing the solar panels. Also, the buildings that the panels are installed on are smaller than average, allowing WAHP to get away with using a slightly less expensive 1.88-kW solar system for each unit.

Some of the incentives and grants used to help lower the price of the solar panels were one off deals, but other programs are being developed all the time. Solar panel manufacturers may provide discounts on bulk purchases of their products. The IRS also provides a 30% tax credit for people investing in renewable energy.

This particular installation consists of solar panels attached to the roofs of low income homes and apartments, which provide extra power for the people living in those homes. These panels have lowered the electric rate for those living in these buildings from a high of .95/kWh to a very affordable .08/kWh. That brings the monthly electric bills down to just dollars a month. These systems help supply about 85% of the tenant’s energy needs. Part of this major energy savings is due to energy retrofits in the buildings with new energy efficient insulation, lighting, and building envelope improvements.

With the installation of the first solar panel system in a low income housing project, WHAP has demonstrated that renewable energy really is becoming accessible to everyone. Plus, these solar panel help make the costs of living even lower for people in the lowest income groups.

Photo Credit: Edmund Tse via Flicker Creative Commons

“I’m a fan of Green Building Elements, and in fact my university, UCSB, is home to Bren Hall, the U.S.’s first LEED Double-Platinum building.

Bren Hall, the first Double Platinum LEED certified lab in the U.S.

“I am an active member of Environmental Education for the Next Generation (EENG). The program, founded at UCSB, is a rapidly growing non-profit that seeks to connect children with the environment at a young age. We’ve grown from a small group project, to a nationally recognized program that reaches over 2,200 children in California a year.

A picture of Environmental Education for the Next Generation's efforts to educate children to sustainability at a young age.

“I am also a student intern at FindTheBest, and my work at EENG inspired me to compile a directory/comparison of environmental issue-focused non-profits. I think it is a great way to connect users with non-profits, allow them easy navigation between them based upon specific preferences, and boost the organizations’ visibility.

“I believe it would be a useful resource for your readers in particular.”

I agree; I’ve reviewed the data sets Kinzele submitted and believe they can serve as worthwhile tools for some of our readers. Let us know what you think. The following post comes from Jonny:

Jonny Kintzele’s FindTheBest and its sister site, FindTheData, offer a number of accessible green product reviews, rankings, and reference information. From a comprehensive directory of LEED certified buildings in the world, to an exhaustive listing of sustainable non-profits and greenhouse gas emission data, both sites provide key green tools.

LEED Project Directory: 
The LEED Directory is a resource with over 40,000 LEED-certified projects. LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, challenges building owners and operators to reevaluate building design, construction, operations, and maintenance. Promoting the research and implementation of viable and effective sustainability measures; LEED has engaged hundreds of thousands of participants, impacting the transformation of approximately 9 billion square feet of building space. LEED offers pragmatic solutions for a variety of buildings, from individual homes in the construction process, to entire college campuses hoping to increase sustainability, or sprawling government offices looking to update old facilities. The independent, third-party review and certification process takes into consideration site development, building materials, indoor environmental quality, energy efficiency, and water usage.

Users can filter search results by stipulating project name, owner organization, location, or certification level. Further refine by LEED system, points achieved, or project type–whether education or military, resort or restaurant for the results you seek. Sort results by points achieved or certification level to see the highest-ranked buildings that fit your search criteria.

Environmental Non-Profits: Whether you are trying to sneak in a charitable donation for a last-minute deduction before tax season, or you feel galvanized to donate for the sake of a higher cause, turn to the non-profit directory to identify an organization that aligns with your personal philosophy. The environmental subset of the directory lists over 1,000 organizations active in the green sector. Filter results by non-profit name, location, income range, or asset amount. Select and organization type and purpose–which range from pollution abatement and conservation projects to environmental education and beautification services–for organizations engaged in projects about which you feel passionately.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions: For greenhouse gas emission information by country, turn to FindTheData’s reference tool. With data on 42 countries from 1990-2008, filter by country or year, or by CO₂ or greenhouse gas emissions levels. Sort data by total emissions, or by specific GHG emissions levels: HFC, CH₄, N₂O, PFC, or SF₆ data. Find the worst offenders or the countries most improved in emissions over the past decade.

Photos:  ’Bren Hall’ is credited to UCSB; ’EENG’ is credited to EENG