Transcript Document

Organizational Sustainability
Planning & Implementation
Sustainability in Design
Presenter: Jane Ahrens, AIA, LEED AP
Date: April 19, 2010
Client Awareness - Sustainability
• No consensus definition
• Brundtland Report definition
• Ecosystem definition
Four System Conditions
of Sustainability
In the sustainable society, nature is not subject
to systematically increasing…
…concentrations of substances
extracted from the Earth’s crust;
….concentrations of substances
produced by society; or
….degradation by physical means
And that in society….
….human needs are met worldwide.
Source: The Natural step for Business:
Eco-efficiency vs.
Eco-effectiveness
Eco-efficiency
Incremental improvements in resource
consumption, waste generation or pollution,
but still violate 4 system conditions
Eco-effectiveness
Activities that work within natural systems and
do not violate the four system conditions
Source: Cradle to Cradle
Resource Funnel
REGENERATION
Source: The Natural step for Business:
Wealth, Ecology and the Evolutionary Corporation
Sustainability Schematic
•Least effort spent
•philosophical
•Most effort
•actions
Source: Dancing with the Tiger: Learning Sustainability
Step by Natural Step
Four Central Strategies
•Radical Resource Productivity
•Biomimicry
Nature as model, measure and
mentor
•Service and Flow Economy
Provide the service, not the product
•Investing in Natural Capital
the stock of natural ecosystems that
yields a flow of valuable ecosystem
goods or services into the future
Source: Natural Capitalism
Processes
•Life cycle assessment – LCA
•Design for the Environment – Dfe
•Ecological Footprinting – EF
•Green Procurement Guidelines
•EONS – Economic viability, Operational Efficiency,
Natural Resource Conservation and Social Responsibility
•Environmental Management Systems – EMS
•ISO 14001 standards
•Ecological and social accounting
•LEED, Energy Star, Architecture 2030
•Sustainability Management Systems – SMS
Sustainability Plan vs. EMS
•EMS is NOT a Sustainability Plan
A plan full of eco-efficient
endeavors will not make an
organization's actives sustainable.
•A Sustainability Plan can be
implemented with an EMS
Conflicts in design process
1. Process focus vs. system thinking
Using LEED as a strategy rather
than a process
2. Commitment to incremental
improvements vs. sustainability
Eco-efficiency vs.
eco-effectiveness
3. Isolating design team to single
process rather than a fluid movement
through the sustainability schematic.
Sustainability Schematic
Source: Dancing with the Tiger: Learning Sustainability
Step by Natural Step
What does an efficient building
cost?
What does an efficient car cost?
Down and dirty
Hensley Field
Operations Center, Dallas, TX
LEED NC v2.1 GOLD
780-acre site that previously
housed the Dallas Naval Air
Station
reassumed by the City of Dallas,
the property is being converted
into both public and private use for
industrial/aviation use.
Raised Floor
(No added cost)
existing uneven 8” – 12” slab
no way to feed electrical in an open
office environment
quick connect electrical rather than
hard wiring saves money and time in
future churns
staining concrete raised floor panels
saves resources over carpet
improved indoor air
reduced energy consumption and labor
for under floor HVAC
Photovoltaic Array
(State Grant - SECO)
Paid for partially through State
Energy Conservation Office
$26,500 SECO/ $26,500 Dallas
7kVA panels, 15 kVA inverter
(expandable system)
22 year payback – panel
life of 25
Education/market driver primary
motivators
Interior Irrigation
($2500 initial cost)
Ignored in LEED system
1500 gallon cistern ties into an
existing roof scupper for the
source
Water distributed from one
main pipe into the separate
zones down in the atrium
Plants elevated and watered
with an IROX system
Eliminates manual watering,
overwatering and the use of
potable water
Upscale
Anonymous Terminal,
USA
cistern
original target WE credits
and $2.5 million
revised target SS credits
and $750,000
Anonymous Terminal,
USA
heat island effect
LEED boundary vs. intent of
credit
$25,000 parking garage
reflective coating
Anonymous Terminal,
USA
C&D waste landfill
diversion
M&R credit + Innovation &
Design point for
exemplary performance –
90% diversion
recycling waste – 20%
less expensive than
landfilling
Green features with little to no
additional first cost
Regional and recycled materials
Grasspavers cost same as concrete
Energy Star compliant roofing
Green power credits
Water efficient fixtures
Recycling programs
Primary benefits to design process
1. Common organizational goals reflected in
built form
2. Elimination of “point buying” or exploiting
unintended consequences of LEED
3. “Permission” to pursue alternative
concepts in traditional terminal design
expectations.