1. SD-EE Listening Session
January 24, 2009

2. Sustainable Design Committee
Charge:
“To research and draft sustainable design and energy efficiency standards to be applied to the construction and renovation of buildings within the City of Keene”

3. Sustainable Design

4. AND

5. Energy Efficiency

6. What is "green building"?
Increasing the efficiency with which buildings use energy, water, and materials

7. What is "green building"?
Increasing the efficiency with which buildings use energy, water, and materials
Protecting and restoring human health and the environment

8. Basic Examples

16. What does Green Building Look Like?

17. It can either look huddled and almost dissolve into the natural
landscape.
OR….

18. It can either look huddled and almost dissolve into the natural
landscape.
OR….

19. Obvious: Solar Water Heater
Be familiar with details that change the way the building functions:
Some are obvious,
Like this Solar Water Heater
Or…

20. Obvious: Solar Panels
These solar panels

21. ? Less Obvious: ? However, some details are going to be less obvious
Name the most low-tech feature of this building that counts as green building?
Names?
Hands?
Less Obvious: ?

22. Shading…nothing gets more low-tech than shading, but simply adding shading in the right places can dramatically reduce heating and cooling costs.
Less Obvious: Shading

23. New Hampshire Examples

24. Harris Center – Hancock, NH
Turn of the 20th Century Summer House
30 years as headquarters for the Harris Center.
Recently renovated to transform the building from a drafty old summer residence to a first-class conference facility.
Renovated using basic sustainable practices.
The Harris Center, and its architects, designed the renovation to use:
1-wood that had been harvested from the Harris Center’s property
2- timbers that had been reclaimed from a mill building slated for demolition
3- Recycled planks for outdoor decking – made from recycled grocery bags and waste wood
4-cement, sand, and wood clapboard siding
5-Triple paned, argon-filled windows
-this keeps the building cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter because triple paned glass is several times more efficient than regular windows, which cuts down on the cost
6-6-average office building of this size, according to Energy Star Target Finder, uses more than triple the energy: kBtu/ft2/yr –this building uses approx. 29 btu/ft2/yr.

25. Stonyfield Farms – Londonderry, NH
Although we are producing more and more yogurt and other products every year, our energy use per pound of product produced has been decreasing because we continually implement innovative energy efficiency measures. Between 1995 and 2005, we reduced our facility energy use and the associated CO2 emissions per pound of product by one-third.
Efficiency gains at our facility and CO2 reductions have come from many initiatives including designing our processes to incorporate heat recovery, installing energy efficient motors and lighting, implementing energy efficient building practices, refrigeration system changes and fuel switching.
Through improved efficiency, Stonyfield Farm has saved over $1.7MM and 46 million kWh which is enough energy to power 4,500 homes for a year, and prevented over 14,000 tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere.
In addition to decreasing resource use and air emissions, these conservation measures make good business sense!

26. Epping, New Hampshire Town of 5,500 in Rockingham County
Passed the State’s 1st Green Building Ordinance
Mandatory for all Commercial Construction
Awards points for sustainable practices
Deliberately less stringent than LEEDS

27. Keene, NH Pondside III LEED Silver Included
All flooring contained recycled content
motion-sensing switches
Low-energy lighting fixtures
Natural light in interiors
Recycled soda-can shavings for countertops and window sill
Certified 26–32 points  Silver 33–38 points  Gold 39–51 points  Platinum 52–69 points

28. Not Exclusive to New Construction

29. Managing heat, stormwater, etc.
You could have retrofits to really big old buildings,
Like Chicago’s City Hall
This Green Roof can filter stormwater, mitigate the heat island effect, provide habitat, etc.

30. National Trends Examined
Low-impact materials
Low-impact materials: choose non-toxic, sustainably-produced or recycled materials which require little energy to process

31. National Trends Examined
Low-impact materials
Energy efficiency
Energy efficiency: use manufacturing processes and produce products which require less energy

32. National Trends Examined
Low-impact materials
Energy efficiency
Quality and durability
Quality and durability: longer-lasting and better-functioning products will have to be replaced less frequently, reducing the impacts of producing replacements

33. National Trends Examined
Low-impact materials
Energy efficiency
Quality and durability
Design for reuse and recycling
Design for reuse and recycling: "Products, processes, and systems should be designed for performance in a commercial 'afterlife'."[4]

34. National Trends Examined
Low-impact materials
Energy efficiency
Quality and durability
Design for reuse and recycling
Renewability: materials should come from nearby (local or bioregional), sustainably-managed renewable sources that can be composted (or fed to livestock) when their usefulness has been exhausted.
It’s not green if it’s made from hardwoods and products that travelled 10,000 miles from mill to home.

35. National Trends Examined
Low-impact materials
Energy efficiency
Quality and durability
Design for reuse and recycling
Healthy Buildings
Healthy Buildings: sustainable building design aims to create buildings that are not harmful to their occupants nor to the larger environment. An important emphasis is on indoor environmental quality, especially indoor air quality.
Green Buildings are cleaner.
They have better indoor air quality
Because fewer toxins are used during production
And..that makes for better working environments

36. Committee Goals
Conserving energy, water, and other resources

37. Committee Goals Conserving energy, water, and other resources
Protecting occupant health

38. Committee Goals Conserving energy, water, and other resources
Protecting occupant health
Providing incentives that make GB attractive to homeowners

39. Committee Goals Conserving energy, water, and other resources
Protecting occupant health
Providing incentives that make GB attractive to homeowners
Reducing construction waste

40. What the Committee Considered
Three Variables:
Economic
There are three legs to this stool!
Reduce operating costs
Create, expand, and shape markets for green product and services
Save money for families in Keene
Optimize life-cycle economic performance

41. What the Committee Considered
Three Variables :
Economic
Social
Enhance occupant comfort and health
Heighten aesthetic qualities
Minimize strain on local infrastructure
Improve overall quality of life

42. What the Committee Considered
Three Variables :
Economic
Social
Environmental
Reduce waste streams
Conserve and restore natural resources

43. Contributing Factors In the US, buildings account for:
39 percent of total energy use
12 percent of the total water consumption
68 percent of total electricity consumption
38 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions
Minor steps in improving the efficiency of buildings can make a very significant impact on overall energy usage in the US.

44. Contributing Factors In the US, buildings account for:
39 percent of total energy use
12 percent of the total water consumption
68 percent of total electricity consumption
38 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions
Minor steps in improving the efficiency of buildings can make a very significant impact on overall energy usage in the US.

45. Environment vs. Economy?
The perceived difference is greater than the real cost difference
The environmental impact of buildings is often underestimated, while the perceived costs of green buildings are overestimated. A recent survey by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development finds that green costs are overestimated by 300 percent, as key players in real estate and construction estimate the additional cost at 17 percent above conventional construction, more than triple the true average cost difference of about 5 percent.[8]

46. Green Building in USA It’s Happening!
…and Keene is just one of many places working on it

47. Green Building in USA It’s Happening!
…and Keene is just one of many places working on it

48. Green Building in USA U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC)
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system
Green Building Certification Institute
The National Association of Home Builders
NAHBGreen (
The Green Building Initiative
Green Globes
Environmental Protection Agency
Energy Star
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is a non-profit trade organization that promotes sustainability in how buildings are designed, built and operated. The USGBC is best known for the development of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system and Greenbuild, a green building conference that promotes the green building industry. As of September 2008, USGBC has more than 17,000 member organizations from every sector of the building industry and works to promote buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable and healthy places to live and work. To achieve this it has developed a variety of programs and services, and works closely with key industry and research organizations and federal, state and local government agencies. USGBC also offers a host of educational opportunities, including workshops and Web-based seminars to educate the public and industry professionals on different elements of the green building industry, from the basics to more technical information. Through its Green Building Certification Institute, USGBC offers industry professionals the chance to develop expertise in the field of green building and to receive accreditation as green building professionals.