Guide toDeep Green

Your Best Source for understanding what all the buzz is about and what it means.

Produced by Damian Farre l l Design Group

DEEP GREEN

These diagrams are intended to aid a person in understanding the current ideas and principles of sustainable living. These include but are not limited to the built environment, LEED certification, personal heath & well-being,

and educational awareness.

Basic 4

Definitions 8

Appendix 22

Works Cited 23

Table of Contents

Copyright © 2009 Damian Farrell Design Group All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission of Damian Farrell Design Group.

What is Sustainability?

Everyone keeps touting this word around like it answers all the questions to solve our environmental problems. But what are all these people really getting at. The best way to describe this precarious word is by regeneration. Just as our environ-ment has a circular path in the ecosystem so should a building or any other system for that matter.

In design and construction sustainability is an action to create better more efficient buildings to the point that they no longer require outside resources. Much the same as a plant only needs the sun, water, and the earth to survive. Although no building has achieved this level of self-sufficiency this is the underlying goal of sustainability.

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Conventional Construction Habits

Sustainable Construction Habits

SustainabilityFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, searchFor other uses of the term “Sustain”, see Sustain (disambiguation).Blue Marble composite images generated by NASA in 2001 (left) and 2002 (right).

Sustainability, in a broad sense, is the ability to maintain a certain process or state. It is now most frequently used in connection with biological and human systems. In an ecological context, sustainability can be defined as the ability of an ecosystem to main-tain ecological processes, functions, biodiversity and productivity into the future.[1]

Sustainability has become a complex term that can be applied to almost every facet of life on Earth, particularly the many different levels of biological organization, such as; wetlands, prairies and forests and is expressed in human organization concepts, such as; eco-municipalities, sustainable cities, and human activities and disciplines, such as; sustainable agriculture, sustainable architecture and renewable energy.

For humans to live sustainability, the Earth’s resources must be used at a rate at which they can be replenished. However, there is now clear scientific evidence that humanity is living unsustainably, and that an unprecedented collective effort is needed to return human use of natural resources to within sustainable limits.[2][3]

Since the 1980s, the idea of human sustainability has become increasingly associated with the integration of economic, social and environmental spheres. In 1989, the World Commission on Environment and Development (Brundtland Commission) articulated what has now become a widely accepted definition of sustainability: “[to meet] the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”[4]

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The History of Sustainability

Sustainability has been fast and furious in its growth within the last five to ten years. Those outside of the trades dealing directly with this new wave of thought probably have not had the privilege to see all the nuances that have erupted.

For some general background; green design has been around since...... well since villages started to use water to turn a wheel in a river for grinding flour. It was just not called sustainable or green design in pre-industrial revolution times. These simple ways of using our environment to perform daily needs has been modern-ized through our inventive use of technology. We are really seeing a push to use regional environments to our advantage as we see the toll we have paid as a society in the past 100 years. This has come in the form of greenhouse emissions from fossil fueled automobiles. Our impact on wildlife now referred to as “biodiversity”. And of coarse the wasteful ways we have been building our homes and work places.

You can see a great example of how sustainability has become main stream by look-ing at any design magazine from before 2001. Just by flipping through the pages in a comparison you will see adds of all types of products which never had any com-ment on being green or an advocate of sustainability. By 2005 you couldn’t help but see some quip about greening you life style or using their product for LEED points. Now, in 2009 it has become rather overwhelming.

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February 2009

December 2001

April 2000

Definitions

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What do all these technologies really do?

Next lets look at terms that are being used and what they actually mean.

1 Impervious versus Pervious

2 Grey water versus Black Water

3 Water Reclamation

4 Geothermal Energy

5 Solar Power

6 Bioswale

7 Biomass

8 Energy Modeling

9 Energy Audit

10 Building Intelligence

11 Day Lighting

12 Artificial Lighting

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sPervious Versus ImperviousPervious and impervious are two fairly simple terms that become switched when used in conversation about how water is managed. Perviousness is directly linked to porosity or a surfaces ability to absorb water. So a grass lawn would be pervious and at the opposite end a typical asphalt parking lot would very impervious.

Is impervious bad?

Not Necessarily. Impervious surfaces are great when you want to keep water out. Its just not the best way to deal with large surface areas that water can land and accumulate on. A great example to remember is an open field. When it rains, the water is not really thought about because it is absorbed. But if that same field is a parking lot, the water has nowhere to be absorbed. So we have to install a man made water management infrastructure to put the water somewhere else.

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FYI : In most US cities when a heavy storm occurs all the water that goes into the storm drain cannot be handled. When this happens the sewer treatment facility becomes overloaded. This is because storm water and sewer treatment are physically linked. The treatment plant has no choice but to allow the raw sewage and the storm water to flow untreated into the nearest river or body of water. A great example is the Mississippi River. It starts in Minnesota perfectly clear... and when it reaches New Orleans; think about how many river cities have had to “overflow”. And this is where we gather our drinking water!

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sGray water versus Black waterThis one is pretty easy to understand. First of all we are talking about water that has changed from treated for drinking to a form that is not. This applies to all plumbing fixtures.

Bathroom Tub

Commode

Lavatory

Kitchen sink

Water Fountain

Rain water

Urinal

Water Reclamation

Now what do we do with black and grey water?

We Re-use them!!

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sGeothermalGeothermal is the process of using the earth to regulate the temperature of a build-ing. It is not a fuel source, but rather an energy source. Think of a root cellar or a basement. Remember how it would feel cooler in the summer days and warmer on winter nights than outside, but always had a moderate temperature? That’s geo-thermal energy! The only difference between the example and a modern system is that pipes are set into deep drill holes where the ground temperature is close to 50 to 60 degrees year round. Then through the pipe another smaller pipe is looped down. A liquid, either water or glycol, is used to transfer the energy (hot or cold de-pending on the season) from deep within the Earth and “pumped” into a building. Once inside the building it is used in the same manner as a conventional heating & cooling system except without any added gas or electricity to required create the desired temperature. The piece of equipment that delivers the energy to the build-ing is called a heat pump.

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Horizontal fields can also be used to gain energy transfer depending on the application, but the idea is still the same.

Vertical Field

BioswaleThis is a technical name for a ditch with a very pragmatic purpose. A bioswale cre-ates a place for water, from run off or overflow, to go and be slowly filtered before either entering a retention pond or a storm water drain. They act in a similar fashion to what nature calls a wetland; only on a smaller scale. There are certain plants that work best within a swale. They have deep root systems and can be quite aestheti-cally pleasing when properly maintained.

This is one of the best example diagrams of a Bioswale. It was created by Doug Adamson and Published by the National Resources Conservation Service.

Bioswale in a Corporate Setting

Adapted from original illustration by Doug Adamson

Helping People Help the Land

Soil AmendingAlong with native plantings, soils amended with compost and sand may be needed to facilitate infiltration. A rock trench can be installed down the center of the swale.

InfiltrationWater infiltrated through bioswales helps recharge groundwater, which supplies rivers and streams with a slow, purified seep rather than surges of polluted surface runoff from roofs and other impervious areas.

Native LandscapingDeep-rooted native shrubs, forbs, and grasses build soil structure and allow water to infiltrate into the ground more easily than nonnatives. Native plants are low maintenance, adapted to Montana climate and rainfall patterns, and resist local pests and disease.

Strong Deep RootsNative plants have a tremendous root architecture that builds soil quality and increases organic matter content. High organic matter content helps soil hold water like a sponge making it available for nourishing plants.

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sSolar PowerEveryone has heard of solar power.... as a general term. The problem comes when two techs start to talk shop and then you might as well be in another country. Here is a little bit of their foreign language.

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The standard solar panel that everyone knows about. It uses the sun’s energy to create low levels of electricity which is then pumped through a convertor so that it can be stored in a battery (DC power) or is used right away (AC Power).

For little-used areas where airflow is low, solar-powered attic venting can be used. A compact roof-mounted system requiring no wiring, no electricity, just pure benefit. It’s designed to eliminate the discom-fort and deterioration of stuffy, hot attics. This unit converts sunlight to electricity, directly powering its built-in fan to begin venting im-mediately. The results are permanently increased occupant comfort, reduced utility bills, plus increased lifespan of roof and building structure. The solar attic fan operates successfully given even meager amounts of daylight.

These are also called solar water heaters. They are a series of pipes that are enclosed in a box, typically black. They are set at a low angle to gather as much heat as possible during the day. The sun causes a green house effect within the box and as the water or glycol is pumped through, heat is gathered and stored or used for many different applications. This energy can be used for heating water for a building, or can act as a supplemental aid for another heating system for thermal comfort such as in floor heating.

Photovoltaics:

Photovoltaic Panels Photovoltaic Roof Shingles

Solar Thermal Panel:

Solar thermal panels can also be used to heat pool and spa water directly using your existing pump. Millions of these are installed worldwide, including one we installed for Paul McCartneys Montserrat recording studio, which is honored on this national postage stamp! How does solar work? Each panel encapsulates a half mile of black tubing. Sunlight, even just daylight, warms this black surface. Your pool pump pushes pool water thru. The water gets warm. That’s it! By correctly sizing the panel count, you can get the pool temperature you prefer.

In large commercial buildings, panels can readily pre-heat/pre-treat ‘make up air’, which must be introduced per code to reduce Carbon Dioxide buildup to acceptable levels in all non-residential buildings. Without solar or other cost-effective forms of pre-heating, such make-up air is introduced to the building freezing cold in winter, and hot/humid/sticky in summer. Solar panels efficiently pre-heat air all fall, winter and spring. During the summer cooling season, the panels go into overdrive, their intense heat used to dehumidify intake air. This lowering of humidity dramatically lowers air conditioning costs.

Photovoltaic Roof Vent

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sBiomassThis is another old technology that has slowly risen back into modern scientific thought. It is simply the process of converting a waste product into a fuel. The most common forms of fuel are wood manufacturing wastes, landfills, and agricultural wastes. There are three different ways to achieve the end resultant fuel without simply burning the waste to create steam powered electricity.

When an indirect heat source is applied and the waste product is allowed to stew and breakdown. This either creates off gases such as methane or liquids that can be refined into alcohol or ethanol.

Bacteria, yeasts, and enzymes breakdown waste products to create methane gas and fermented liquids that can be turned into alcohols.

The use of waste liquids such as corn oils to make fuels referred to as bio-diesel.

Great examples of Biomass fuel refining have been through entrepreneurial advocates such as Willie Nelson and the Ethanol Refinery Company Poet Energy.

Thermochemical:

Biochemical:

Chemical:

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sEnergy ModelingEnergy Modeling is one of the many new ways to understand how a building is us-ing energy and how to streamline its efficiency. Programs now utilize three dimen-sional models to look at how the sun actually effects a surface. With knowledge of who is using a building, how the walls are oriented with respect to the sun, the de-sign, the regional location, and the general cost of energy in the area, very precise estimates can be made to what actual costs are for the entire year. This becomes a valuable tool when looking at new construction and renovations. There are a few leaders in this software, one such is Integrated Environmental Solutions, IES. With IES Virtual Environment all the raw data can be used to create an energy audit that acts not just as a one time tool, but can be used in conjunction with a building ‘s life to verify that it performs as expected and can educate people about what it means to use and interact with the inner workings of a building.

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sRevit model

IES model

Solar Study Model

Interior Daylight Model

Solar Heat Mapping

Energy AuditingEnergy Auditing is another term that everyone is using in today’s market place. In essence it is the evaluation of an existing buildings quantitative and qualitative ability to exchange energy. As the definition seems this can become very complex and confusing. But then again the whole reason for reading this guide is to break things down into simpler terms. So lets...

Building IntelligenceBuilding intelligence is one of the worlds best energy management systems, also known as a Building Automation System (BAS). This system is the same one selected by Google to control its World Headquarters complex in Mountain View, CA.

It is as it says, intelligence, just as cars have evolved over the past 50 years from a hand crank start ignition to a thumb identifying security ignition start button, so to are buildings evolving. These systems allow control of lighting, heating/cooling and all other key building systems with a single graphical language. Both existing older buildings and future buildings can be equipped with these systems.

Building intelligence also extends past your building to reaches such as the electrical power grid and weather forecasting. If the building sensors find that today is going to be a very hot day it compensates for the up coming energy needs by using power the night before to cool. Other older building create a high demand on a power grid because they do not compensate for overheating. This demand is what the electrical company calls a peak load and when your building meet or exceeds what a power supply can handle not only do they charge you extreme prices but also this load can become an over load causing power outages.

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The simplest of auditing can be done by sitting down with energy bills from years past and walking throughout a building with an experienced eye on the look out for large energy consuming appliances & lighting fixtures. These things tell much about both the buildings history and the users of it. Many of the most simple energy reductions can be done by changing old habits and being conscious of when you are using energy.

The next in line is to look with more sophisticated filters than we can see with the naked eye. A thermal imager can literally show where energy is being improperly transferred, such as windows that are not properly sealing or walls that do not have enough insulation. Blower testing seals the house and uses a single opening to create a vacuum inside a building. While the building is under a vacuum, measuring equipment is used to determine where incoming air & moisture is in places it shouldn’t be. Once these areas are addressed in both testing methods the problems can be quickly addressed leading to better energy efficiency.

As described previously, energy modeling allows you to take information from tests like these and combine all the information into software programs that not only lend you information from one date and time but through the whole year to comprehensively see and fine tune exactly the best ways to optimize you building.

Field Audit:

Thermal Imaging & Blower Testing:

Energy modeling:

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DaylightingLighting a building with the sun. Sounds easy, but when you account for the heat that a building absorbs from direct light it becomes almost a fine art. In the 60’s through the 80’s many designers and engineers forgot that sitting in a room without some form of daylight can be very depressing. Studies show day-lighting improves attention levels and cognition, eliminating that dulled feeling from artificial lamps. Many systems have been built to infiltrate these artificially light black boxes and have done so without the increase in temperature.

Daylight Tubes can eliminate daytime electricity require-ments in dark corners or hallways. Here’s how they work: A crystal clear circular rooftop sky dome collects all available daylight, directing it through highly reflective tubing to poorly lit areas deep inside your building. Daylight Tubes install less intrusively than skylights and consistently admit huge amounts of natural daylight into your sun-starved interior rooms and corridors.

Everyone knows these by their shape. Why are they better? They really are not more environmentally friendly than it predecessor. Unlike the tungsten metal filament that lit older bulbs these use a toxic gas along with vaporized mercury. They are however more efficient. Because the chemical inside a CFL (compact fluorescent light) does not require as much energy to produce the same amount of light as an incandescent they cost less to operate. They also last seven times as long. The energy company charges you by the watt which has very little to do with the amount of light produced. A 60 watt incandescent equals a 13-15 watt CFL

High output (‘HO’) fluorescent light fixtures using “t5” type lamps will directly replace inefficient 400 watt metal halide fixtures-- delivering more light, more reliably, and using half the wattage. A good comparison is a Prius and a Hummer. The hummer being a metal halide bulb, which is premised on the smaller incandescent bulb Patterns of light delivery also improve as the room moves away from inefficient dark-spotted halide ‘cone patterns’. For athletic facilities, impact grilles are standard. Very large utility rebates make this one of the most attractive investments going.

The promise of super long life, super low watt LED has arrived for certain classes of light fixtures. One of these is security “wallpak” lighting. These LEDs last up to 100,000 hours and will produce more light per watt than existing halides and sodium fixture technology by factors of 4, 6 and even 8-fold.

If you have ever watched the movie “The Prestige” then you have seen an induction light. It is a bulb with no fila-ment. It works by a conductive electromagnet being in close proximity to the bulb. It still contains toxic mercury vapor but extremely less amounts that a CFL or Fluores-cent.

Daylight Tubes:Compact Fluorescent:

Fluorescent T5:

LED (Light Emitting Diodes)

Induction Lighting

Artificially light gymnasium

Warehouse with daylight tubes only

Artificial LightingNow that we have bashed on artificial lighting it still has its benefits and when properly used in conjunction with daylighting can be very pleasant. Artificial lighting choices have changed rather quickly throughout this first decade.

Once everything used Thomas Edison’s practical incandescent light bulb, now we are turning to compact fluorescent bulbs and in the near future many lights will become LED lit or even induction lighting. The terms are really flying aren’t they... not to worry.

Wo

rks citedundefined. (March 3, 2009). Sustainability. In Wikipedia. Retrieved March 3, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainability.

(2000, April). Armstrong. Architectural Record

(2001, December). Armstrong. Architectural Record

(2009, January). Armstrong. Architectural Record

Cohen-Dumani, Daniel. (Artist). (2009). Closed-loop horizontal geothermal field, [Online Image]. Retrieved March10, 2009 from American Institute of Architects 50to50 Wiki.http://wiki.aia.org/Wiki%20Pictures/Forms/DispForm.aspx?ID=60&Source=http%3A%2F%2Fwiki.aia.org%2FWiki%2520Pictures%2FForms%2FAllItems.aspx&RootFolder=%2FWiki%20Pictures

Cohen-Dumani, Daniel. (Artist). (2009). Closed-loop vertical geothermal field, [Online Image]. Retrieved March10, 2009 from American Institute of Architects 50to50 Wiki.http://wiki.aia.org/Wiki%20Pictures/Forms/DispForm.aspx?ID=61&Source=http%3A%2F%2Fwiki.aia.org%2FWiki%2520Pictures%2FForms%2FAllItems.aspx&RootFolder=%2FWiki%20Pictures

Cohen-Dumani, Daniel. (Artist). (2009). PV Array wellfleet, [Online Image]. Retrieved March10, 2009 from American Institute of Architects 50to50 Wiki.http://wiki.aia.org/Wiki%20Pictures/PV%20Array%20wellfleet.JPG

Cohen-Dumani, Daniel. (Artist). (2009). PV shingle, [Online Image]. Retrieved March10, 2009 from American Institute of Architects 50to50 Wiki.http://wiki.aia.org/Wiki%20Pictures/PV%20shingle.JPG

Nace Jamie. (Artist). (2009). Solar Collector Diagram, [Online Image]. Retrieved March10, 2009 from American Institute of Architects 50to50 Wiki.http://wiki.aia.org/Wiki%20Pictures/Solar%20Collector%20Diagram.JPG

Nace Jamie. (Artist). (2009). Solar Collectors, [Online Image]. Retrieved March10, 2009 from American Institute of Architects 50to50 Wiki.http://wiki.aia.org/Wiki%20Pictures/Solar%20Collectors.JPG

Adamson, Doug. (Artist). (2007). Bioswale Illustration, [Online Image]. Retrieved October 20, 2006 from United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service. http://www.mt.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/ecs/water/lid/bioswaleill.html

BioWillie Premium BioDesiel— BioWillie [Online Image]. (n.d.). Retrieved March 12, 2009, from loxias.com. http://www.loxias.com/Training/BioWillie.jpg

Poet-LFG-Steps — Poet Energy Inspired [Online Image]. (n.d.). March 12, 2009, from poetenergy.com. http://www.poetenergy.com/files/release_files/Poet-LFG-Steps.jpg

Poet-Waste Power — Poet Energy Inspired [Online Image]. (n.d.). March 12, 2009, from poetenergy.com. http://www.poetenergy.com/images/showImage.asp?i=/files/release_files/Poet-Waste-Powered-Plant.jpg

Natural Light Tubular Skylights. (2009). Skylight-Overview. Retrieved July 2009, from Natural Light Energy Systems. Website: http://www.nltubular.com/pages/skylight-overview.html

Solar Attic Fans.com. (2009). Natural Light Solar Attic Fans. Retrieved July 2009, from HHH Group. Website: http://www.solaratticfans.com/

Alumalight. (2008). Product Catalog. Retrieved July 2009, from Alumalight. Website: http://www.alumalight.com/catalog.php#_t56l

North American Energy Group. (2007). LED Wall Pack. Retrieved July 2009, from North American Energy Group. Website: http://www.naeg.com/products/led_nlfa_37_50.htm

The Inquirer. (2009). Cisco unveils energy management software. Retrieved July 2009, from Incisive Media Limited. Website: http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1050700/cisco-unveils-energy-management-software

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Damian Farrell Design Group

3011 Miller Road

Ann Arbor, Michigan 48103

734-998-1331

www.dfdgonline.com

StarPak Group

3003 Miller Road

Ann Arbor, Michigan 48103

734-222-3000

www.starpakgroup.com

Infrared Energy Analysis

Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104

734-995-6339

infrared-energy.com

Integrated Environmental Solutions

43 Kingston Street

Fifth Floor

Boston, MA 02111-2241

617-426-1890

www.iesve.com

JRV Management

13333 Telegraph Rd.

Taylor, MI 48180

734-374-5888

www.jrvmanagement.com

For Further Questions about this Guide Please Contact:

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Copyright © 2009 Damian Farrell Design Group All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission of Damian Farrell Design Group.