BUILDING GREEN

Architect Sarah Schuler of VPS Architecture spoke on High Performance Design (Building Green). She has been an active member nationally in the American Library Association and has chaired the American Library Association’s Architecture for Public Libraries Committee.

Sarah Schuler grew up on farm with no air conditioning, trees that buffered her house on two or three sides, and with a nearby forest that provided a wind barrier.  She studied abroad in Berlin, Germany and discussed one of their building designs – no air conditioning, ventilation and courtyards to help with airflow, and use of natural light.

She discussed that too often in America, we have Neoeclectic Housing – Building houses in subdivisions with little or no regard to direction homes are facing, airflow, and natural lighting.

HPD (High Performance Design) or Building Green:

·      Holistic approach to design

·      Lighter footprint on environment over lifetime of building.  Looking at carbon       

       imprint over life cycle (cradle to cradle).

·      People smart, environmentally conscious, economically sound.

Sarah Schuler called this ‘going back in time’ – looking at how sun & wind impact a building.

Why HPD?

Commercial buildings consume 17% energy

Housing consumes 21% of total energy – lighting, refrigerators, & air conditioning

Benefits of HPD:

Reduce energy consumption by 50% or more

Reduce operating costs

Reduce environmental impact

Healthier & more desirable indoor environments for occupants.

Feel more connected to bldg.

LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) measures overall performance of buildings.  There can be additional upfront construction cost (4-11%) and additional paperwork in the LEED rating system. 

There are 19 LEED registered buildings in IN, 120 in IL, and 480 in CA.  Multi-use buildings & commercial/office buildings are typical projects.

Buildings can qualify for four levels of certification:   Certified – 40-50% of non-innovation points; Silver – 50-60%;  Gold – 60-80%; Platinum – over 80%

Local projects with elements of LEED:

ONB Building along Riverside Drive

Raised floor system – instead of forced air system overhead pushing air down, it allows air to come up form the floor.  Allows more flexibility with air flow.   Allows more flexibility with air flow.

Lighting – Natural light is defused with light shelves.

Oaklyn Public Library:

Built into hillside – less sides of building that had to be finished.

Meadow Roof  - Should last lifetime of building.

Wetland by Parking Lot – cleans water before flowing into Pigeon Creek.

Ohio Township Library in Newburgh:

Autoclaved Aerated Concrete - Walls of building are  (AAC) blocks & panels.  AAC is a byproduct of fly ash.

Light Shelves - Used to block sun and get light deeper within building.

Solar - Hot water heater panels are on roof.

McCutchan Art Center at USI:

Bamboo Flooring made from grass.

Limestone from IN