Green Building Process Scrutinized

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University have received a $2 million federal grant to investigate the actual environmental effects of “green” buildings.

Led by Pitt engineering professors Melissa Bilec and Amy Landis, the study aims to make sure green buildings are performing as well as they can.

Bilec says every new structure, including any green building, has an environmental footprint from the materials used to build it to the last day of its existence. That total environmental effect constitutes a building’s life-cycle assessment, or LCA.

Bilec says one of the goals is to expand the scope of LCAs to include the building’s effect on the people who live or work in it.

“[We’re] really trying to connect people with their buildings. Right now, 90% of our time is spent inside, but we really know very little about the environment that we occupy, from the air quality to the energy usage or the water usage. So that’s what we’re trying to do, is connect people with the indoor environment.”

Another component of the study is a survey of architects, contractors, and other people in the construction process to determine the weaknesses of the LCA.

Bilec says the team will ultimately submit new recommendations to the United States Green Building Council.

Airport Cuts Energy Usage for One Hour

The Allegheny County Airport Authority (ACAA) took part in a regional energy conservation test program at the Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) today from 2 to 3 pm. The energy conservation project is called PJM Demand Response.
Airport Spokeswoman JoAnn Jenny says this is an effort to “lighten the load” on the electric grid in the Northeastern part of the country. She says lights, air conditioning, electric walkways, escalators and other devices will be switched off in some areas of the airport. Ultimately, they’d like to save about 2,000 kilowatts.
Jenny says this will not impact flights and will have minimal affect on passengers and employees. ACAA has implemented a customer service plan for the hour long power outage, such as having extra employees around to help people with disabilities. She says only one train will run to and from terminals, which may cause minor delays.
Jenny says, “It’s a project where if we do meet the amount of energy savings that we set as our goal, there is some financial incentive—we’ll get some type of reimbursement.”
Jenny says several companies are participating in the program in 13 states, with the goal of saving nearly 3,000 megawatts.

Open Contest Seeks Best Use of Elec. Car Batteries

Carnegie Mellon University researchers are turning to the public to find the best possible way to use electric cars’ batteries.

The college’s electric car program, ChargeCar, announced its “ChargeCarPrize” contest last week. The person who comes up with the best system for distributing energy from electric car batteries wins an electric car.

Assistant Professor of Robotics Illah Nourbaksh says eight “secret drivers” will have driving habits like distance and altitude recorded by a GPS system.

“Every month, the data that has been accumulated for the past month of driving gets tested against the best open algorithms that have been submitted to us so far on the website. And so we see for the past month, if any of these drivers were driving an electric car and they were using the algorithms that have been submitted, how efficient would they have been? How little energy would they have been able to use and still get a great commute done?”

Nourbaksh says combined with new supercapicitor technology developed by CMU, the best algorithm will allow electric car batteries to shrink. Since batteries are the most expensive part of the cars, that means prices will shrink as well.

“When they’re $45,000, they’re just something for the elite. If we can get that cost down so a new electric car is fifteen- or twenty-thousand dollars, then we’re talking about a much bigger demographic.”

Nourbaksh says the contest is slated to take up to 18 months, but it could finish early if “some genius” comes up with a great algorithm sooner than that. In the meantime, the algorithm that performs the best by the end of each month earns its author a $250 gift card.

Details on ChargeCarPrize can be found at ChargeCar's website.

County Office Building Roof Goes Green

Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato unveiled the County’s latest green building effort today, a green roof covering half of the County Office Building.

The $620,000 project covers 8,400 square feet of the roof with a multilayered system that cools the building and absorbs storm water runoff.

Onorato says he hopes the stimulus-funded development sets an example for other downtown buildings.

“If we can get every flat roof downtown to do this, you’re talking millions of dollars saved on utility costs and you’re talking millions of gallons of water not going into the river and into the combined sewer overflow, which doesn’t have to go there, and increases capacity in our sewer systems and our treatment plants,” says Onorato.

Onorato says the county is projecting about $6,500 in cost savings for the month of July because of the green roof’s cooling effect on the building. The green half of the County Office Building’s roof was shown to be about 45 degrees cooler than the control half.

The green roof on the Office Building is composed of six layers. The bottommost layer is a waterproofing membrane that captures moisture. Above that is protective fabric and a root barrier, which prevents the plants from damaging the roof itself. Next comes a drainage mat to collect water. On top of the drainage mat there is a layer of polystyrene that helps contour the shapes of the landscape. Finally, on top are plants growing inside a pebbly “growth medium.”

“From the business perspective, to energy savings, to the cost of how we’re going to deal with combined sewer overflows, so natural systems are just really using mother nature and what mother nature has given us to solve environmental problems,” says Janie French, Director of Green Infrastructure at the Pennsylvania Environmental Council.

Green Party Candidates Decry Sestak Challenge

Green Party candidates Mel Packer and Ed Bortz jointly launched their campaigns for the U.S. Senate and House today.

Packer’s announcement was shadowed by a challenge to his petition by Democratic Congressman Joe Sestak, who is also running for the Senate position.

Packer says Sestak is attempting to find enough invalid signatures on his petition to boot him from the ballot this November.

“It’s as simple as somebody putting down a zip code instead of the date, it’s as simple as someone listing the address where they live now as opposed to where they were registered to vote,” says Packer. “A good lawyer can sit down and find those, and will likely find enough to knock me off the ballot. These are just technicalities, and it’s an undemocratic process, and Joe Sestak is taking advantage of it as opposed to facing me in the open arena.”

Packer says since he has only about 50 to 100 signatures more than the required 19,084, it will be easy for Sestak’s staff to find enough errors in the petition.

The Green Party candidate called for the Democrat to withdraw his challenge, calling Sestak a “political coward.” He says if the challenge succeeds in getting him removed from the ballot, he won’t mount a write-in campaign.

Bortz received about twice as many signatures as the required 4,887 and his candidacy has not been challenged by Democrat and incumbent Congressman Mike Doyle. Republican Melissa Haluszczak is also running for the seat.

East Liberty Library to Reopen Late August

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s East Liberty branch will reopen next month after more than a year of construction and renovation.

Carnegie Library Executive Director Barbara Mistick says crews have installed a 9,000 square foot addition that allows all library services to be housed on the first floor, including the children’s, teen, and adult sections.

Two main entrances will allow for both parking lot and pedestrian access.

The second floor will consist of three meeting rooms, which will accommodate the Greater Pittsburgh Literacy Council’s tutoring sessions. The basement will house the library’s Heritage Collection, including documents dating as far back as 1617.

EDGE Studios lead architect Anne Chen says the exterior of the building will now be visible from Baum Boulevard.

“The zinc panel that we used, we really love. I think it’s a beautiful kind of organic material. It has some depth to it, and some texture. It sort of reminds me of a metal velvet,” says Chen.

Chen says a new atrium also opens up the interior, while lighting hung at different levels sectionalizes the first floor space.

The building will be LEED certified as well. Evolve Architecture principal and green consultant Mark Mondor says more efficient water fixtures and modern window and heating systems will save the library money.

The changes are part of Carnegie Library’s Capital Improvement Program, which aims to refurbish or replace outdated libraries in various Pittsburgh communities. The total cost of the East Liberty renovation was $5.6 million. The library is slated to reopen August 27.

Pgh Receives Grant to Promote Volunteerism

Pittsburgh has been selected for a $200,000 Cities of Service Leadership Grant.

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl says he doesn’t know how many cities applied for the award, but he thinks Pittsburgh was chosen for extensive efforts to green the city.

Mayor Ravenstahl says the money will be used to hire a Chief Service Officer, who will oversee and initiate city service projects for one two-year term.

The mayor says in addition to greening efforts, the CSO will also focus on connecting college students with Pittsburgh Public Schools.

The Cities of Service program was created last year to promote volunteerism in cities nationwide.

Summit to Address Green Solutions to Economic Woes

Local and national environmental activists will gather in Pittsburgh tomorrow for the Green Pathways to Prosperity Summit.

The summit is a pre-program of World Environment Day, to be held in Pittsburgh next month.

The meeting will be hosted by the Urban Green Growth Collaborative to showcase ways cities can reduce blight and unemployment through building a green economy.

G-Tech Strategies Director of green Technology Initiatives Khari Mosley says Pittsburgh can help begin another industrial revolution – this time with the environment in mind.

Mosley says while speakers will talk about challenges to a green economy, the focus of the summit will be discussing green solutions to urban economic problems.

He says the summit aims to reach an audience who wouldn’t normally be concerned with green initiatives – particularly those interested in the economy.

The Green Pathways to Prosperity Summit is free of charge and will run from 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. tomorrow, May 20, at the Pittsburgh Project: 2801 North Charles Street.