Tag: Environmental Investment
Green Shopping Malls
by admin on Aug.11, 2009, under Greencon, Greencon GreenBuilding Research, Greencon Solar Technology Update
There are roughly 85,000 supermarkets in America. Generally speaking, they are artificially lit boxes surrounded by dark asphalt and contain row upon row of doorless display refrigerators. There is, to say the least, room for improvement. Hannaford, which has about 160 supermarkets in the northeast, decided to try something completely new and on July 25th opened the first LEED Platinum certified supermarket, which is located in Augusta, Maine. With Maine’s governor, John Baldacci, in attendance, the plaque was personally awarded at the opening by Rick Fedrizzi, president of the USGBC.
The project began two and a half years ago, and Hannaford (owned by the Belgian Delhaize Group) knew that they would have to go outside of their traditional competencies. Fore Solutions was hired to help facilitate the integrated design process.
Creating strategies to meet sustainable goals offered some surprises. The use of ice to display fish turned out to be a huge source of energy and water waste. Fore Solutions principal, Gunnar Hubbard, said, “the ice takes a lot of energy to create, then, after a day of having fish lie on the ice, you have to get rid of it, so you take hot water and melt it away. There’s the energy to create the ice, the water to make the ice and the energy and water for the hot water to get rid of the ice at the end of the day.“ Using ice-less display cases takes that out of the equation and the fish still look good enough to eat.
The finished product is a grocery store that will serve as a laboratory for sustainable improvement at other Hannafords — and possibly industry-wide. It will use 50% less energy than a typical supermarket and 38% less water. Green features include:
- 7,000 square foot green roof;
- Highly reflective asphalt in the parking lot to reduce heat island effect;
- Low-flow toilets and faucets and waterless urinals;
- 41 kW solar array (the largest in the state of Maine);
- Ice-less cases in the seafood department;
- Geothermal heating and cooling;
- Over 70% of the wood used is FSC certified;
- Reclaimed heat from GreenChill refrigeration system provides interior heating;
- Interior surfaces made from recycled materials;
- Windows, a clerestory, skylights and solartubes provide natural light;
- An advanced recycling program for store cardboard, plastics, paper, light bulbs, and batteries, as well as a recycling center for shoppers;
- Almost all freezers and coolers have doors, which creates a consistent indoor temperature; and
- When daylighting is at its maximum, most of the electric lighting automatically turns off.
In addition, 96% of the demolition debris and 99% of the contents of the building (a closed high school) was recycled or reused.
Source: Jetson Green
Keep it Green
Living Walls – Making buildings really “cool” in more ways than one
by admin on Jul.24, 2009, under Greencon, Greencon GreenBuilding Research
Using “dead’ space that would normally contribute to heating a building up, for creating a living wall is really a great initiative. Have a look at the largest “wall” of its kind, to be built in the US:
In a recent press release, PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC) announced plans to install a 2,380 square-foot, soil-based living wall on the southerly exterior of the company’s Pittsburgh headquarters building, One PNC Plaza. The living wall, pending municipal approval and installation in September 2009, will be the largest green living wall in North America. Produced by Green Living Technologies and designed byMingo Design, a careful arrangement of locally-sourced plants will brand the building with PNC’s logo.
PNC will have the 24-ton wall mounted directly onto One PNC Plaza with a panel system and stainless steel bracketing. The irrigation system — which is estimated to require only 15 minutes of watering per week — is built into 602 panels of soil-based growth medium.
Certainly, the wall will provide cooling benefits for the building, but there’s also an element of exhibition at play. PNC Director of Corporate Real Estate, Gary Saulson, commented, “The wall will be a fitting reminder that PNC is the world-leader in green building.” PNC has a large inventory of green buildings and bank branches, of which, we’ve mentioned Three PNC Plaza and 800 17th Street / PNC Place. The company is actively engaged in this space, so we’ll try to mention more of what’s going on, particularly with their green bank branches.
Source: Jetson Green
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Rendering credit: PR Web, July 21, 2009.
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Lenders can promote change
by admin on Nov.21, 2008, under Greencon, Greencon Environmental Research
Now this is what should be backed by the government. Mortgages and loans on investments that reduce monthly expenditure and that go along way to saving the impact on the environment. Furthermore the long term savings to the homeowner encourage reinvestment into the ’system’. Read this:
Energy Efficient Mortgages Program (new buyers, homeowners)
The Energy Efficient Mortgages Program (EEM) helps homebuyers or homeowners save money on utility bills by enabling them to finance the cost of adding energy-efficiency features to new or existing housing as part of their FHA-insured home purchase or refinancing mortgage.
Purpose:
This program seeks to help achieve national energy-efficiency goals (and reduce pollution) and provide better housing for people who might not otherwise be able to afford it. By considering the savings on monthly utility bills when determining how large a mortgage the household can afford, as many as 250,000 more new homebuyers could qualify per year, according to a 1986 study by the Joint Center for Housing Studies. Although EEMs have been available in some States since 1980, they have been little understood or marketed. With EEMs, borrowers do not need to get a separate, costly loan for energy improvements when buying an existing home.
Type of Mortgage:
EEM is one of many FHA programs that insure mortgage loans–and thus encourage lenders to make mortgage credit available to borrowers who would not otherwise qualify for conventional loans on affordable terms (such as first-time homebuyers) and to residents of disadvantaged neighborhoods (where mortgages may be hard to get). Borrowers who obtain FHA’s popular Section 203(b) Mortgage Insurance for One- to Four-Family Homes are eligible for approximately 97 percent financing, and are able to fold closing costs and the up-front mortgage insurance premium into the mortgage. The borrower must also pay an annual premium.
EEM can also be used with the FHA Section 203(k) rehabilitation program and generally follows that program’s financing guidelines. For energy-efficient housing rehabilitation activities that do not also require buying or refinancing the property, borrowers may also consider HUD’s Title I Home Improvement Loan program.
How to Get an EEM:
FHA-approved lending institutions–which include many banks, savings and loan associations, and mortgage companies–can make loans covered by EEM insurance.
Eligible Customers:
All persons who meet the income requirements for FHA’s standard Section 203(b) insurance and can make the monthly mortgage payments are eligible to apply. The cost of the energy improvements and estimate of the energy savings must be determined by a home energy rating system (HERS) or an energy consultant. Up to $200 of the cost of an energy inspection report may be included in the mortgage. Cooperative units are not eligible; individual condominium units may be insured if they are in projects that have been approved by FHA or the Department of Veterans Affairs, or meet certain Fannie Mae guidelines.
EEM can also be used with FHA’s Section 203(h) program for mortgages made to victims of presidentially declared disasters. The mortgage must comply with both Section 203(h) requirements, as well as those for EEM. However, the program is limited to one-unit detached houses.
Eligible Activities:
EEM can be used to make energy-efficient improvements in one- to four-unit existing and new homes. The improvements can be included in a borrower’s mortgage only if their total cost is less than the total dollar value of the energy that will be saved during their useful life. The cost of the improvements that may be eligible for financing as part of the mortgage is either 5 percent of the property’s value (not to exceed $8,000) or $4,000–whichever is greater. The maximum mortgage limit for a single-family home is $160,950, plus the cost of the eligible energy-efficient improvement
s. (Limits may be lower in some areas of the country.)
Keep it Green
