|
|
|
|
|
We have all heard a lot about being “green”, energy efficiency, green-collar jobs, and a number of related concepts over the past 40 years or so, and even more over the past few years. Is green just baloney? What is green, why go green, and if so, how is it done? Green is a combination of reducing waste; using less energy; using more renewable resources; improving the environment; improving indoor air quality; and making living and work spaces more comfortable, healthy, and conducive to productivity. We have begun calling this concept sustainability, since we cannot continue using fossil fuels or landfill space, for example, forever. Despite some perceptions, this philosophy is not trite, it isn’t tree hugging, and it is not socialistic. In fact, it is practical, pragmatic, economical, profitable, healthy, efficient, and patriotic. Since recycling puts less material into landfills, we can save tax dollars. Making new aluminum is significantly more expensive than recycling existing material. Buildings in America actually cause more pollution than vehicles because we create most of our electricity by burning coal. Since few of our building are properly insulated or have efficient heating and cooling systems, they also use more energy and conditioning them is more expensive than necessary, while not being ideally comfortable. Allergies and other health problems are attributed, at least in part, to our use of volatile organic compounds in paints and adhesives, and mold is a perpetual challenge for those who don’t control water intrusion. Some forms of mold are even alleged to cause cancer. Air quality is one reason that insulation and weatherproofing are so important. If moisture gets into the structure, insects and mold find a perfect habitat, and most organic building materials decay. The building envelop is the space between the walls, the roof, and the slab. The mechanical systems, walls, roof, and slab are obviously responsible for keeping the air inside conditioned as efficiently as possible. All of the building’s components: shingles, siding, windows, doors, sheathing, insulation, walls, are designed to keep moisture out and temperature comfortable by controlling heat gain and heat loss. We measure heat gain and loss with R-value, a material’s ability to resist heat transfer. For example, R-13 insulation in a 2 x 4 stud wall prevents the temperature on opposite sides from going up or down by more than one degree F. over 13 hours, but it isn’t quite that simple because the space at the studs has very low insulating value. Think of the situation like going outside on a cold day while wearing a winter coat with strips of material missing. The point is that different materials have different R-Values, and that surfaces in standard construction rarely have a consistent R-Value. Heat is transferred by three phenomena: radiation, conduction, and convection. We feel sunshine on our skin as radiation. Heat is transferred to our hand through a hot cup of coffee by conduction, and it moves in air currents by convection. To reduce conduction through a stud wall, we install insulation on the whole outside of the building and better-quality windows have a thermal break. Awnings provide shade from the high summer sun’s radiation. Air sealing, or eliminating gaps for potential air flow reduces convection. Structural Insulated Panels (SIP’s) and Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF’s) accomplish this goal beautifully. Think of a SIP like an insulation sandwich with sheathing on the outside and wallboard on the inside that is installed on the outside of the building’s frame. ICF’s are interlocking Styrofoam blocks with Styrofoam or plastic webbing around a concrete sandwich. We pour concrete into the ICF’s core space, and leave the Styrofoam in place. These technologies create an unbroken barrier that blocks heat transfer. ICF’s have another advantage for some by being more hurricane resistant than standard construction. Somerset County is a leading advocate in New Jersey for sustainable, “High Performance” design in the construction of all new public facilities. They have developed a detailed guide for implementing sustainable building systems, The Somerset County High Performance Public Buildings Program, which is the first of its kind in the state. The County has created a “Green Buildings Toolkit”, and a “Funding Green – Sustainable Somerset” document, which provide guidelines and a body of knowledge that promote environmentally sound new construction and embraces the latest technologies and best practices in the promotion of energy audits and return on investment for the improvement of our living and work spaces. The program focuses on design to reduce energy costs and produce the best possible indoor environment for occupants, thereby maximizing taxpayer investment in public facilities and the workforce within them. Led by the Somerset County Business Partnership and the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and developed by a team of local businesses, government and non-profit professionals, the program provides clear direction for the development of buildings that minimally impact our environment. In addition to a checklist of sustainable design features to consider in planning for the new Somerset County public facilities, the program offers a point system based on the United States Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) (http://www.usgbc.org). The US Dept of Energy (www.energycodes.gov) offers two software programs, RES-Check (for residential construction), and COM-Check (for commercial buildings) that help for professionals to objectively describe and recommend improvements to the building’s energy efficiency. How do we save money, while making our homes and workspaces more comfortable and being more ecologically conservative? For starters, we perform a blower door test to determine the home’s leakiness, in cubic feet per minute (CFM), and while the blower door is running, we aim an infrared (IR) camera at the building envelop. This shows all of the areas that are poorly insulated. Most often, we see gaps at the tops of stud bays in walls, where the insulation has settled over the years. The IR camera usually also shows the home’s frame vividly because the rim joists; stud and rafter bays are usually insulated, but the frame provides a conduction “conduit” for heat gain and loss. The spaces between framing and window and door frames are often uninsulated. Try holding your hand near the window and door trim on a cold, windy day, and you will probably feel cold air. This can be insulated easily! Photovoltiacs and solar hydronic (photoelectric and liquid-filled panels on a roof or ground-mounted array); geothermal (takes advantage of the constant temperature underground); passive solar (walls and windowed spaces that use the sun’s energy to warm the building); for those on high, open areas, wind energy; and for those near waterways, wave action and micro-hydroelectric power can be good solutions. This isn’t just theory. Many home, business, and institution owners have taken such steps: United Rent-All (Hillsborough), The Raritan Inn at Middle Valley (Califon), Ferreira Construction (Branchburg), PNC Bank, The Willow School (Chatham), and Raritan Valley Community College (North Branch). There are a number of organizations and companies in Central Jersey that can help you to make your home or business more energy efficient and save money:
To paraphrase Michael Douglas’ character in Wall Street, “green is good.”
|
|
