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UNCG broke ground this week for a new 120,000-square-foot School of Education building that is expected to meet LEED green building standards and save about 35 percent on energy costs.

The building will stand at Spring Garden and Stirling streets next to the Bryan School of Business and Economics, house five of six departments, and cost $47 million. The building is scheduled to open in the fall of 2011, according to a press release by the university.

More here.

Details here.

Check out the latest episode of Turning Point, based on "Cradle to Cradle" architect William McDonough's visit to UNC Chapel Hill last week. (Read some background on this design philosophy from a previous post.)

More than 800 people attended his lecture and book signing, the largest crowd in the history of the 41-year- Fred T. Foard Jr. Memorial Lecture series.

McDonough has designed the Greenbridge mixed-use development in downtown Chapel Hill, which will offer 98 condos, a retail area, green roofs, solar panels, rainwater runoff systems and a community learning center to teach sustainable living practices. (Interestingly, one of the development partners, Tim Toben, is the son of Carolyn Toben, co-founder of the Center for Education, Imagination and the Natural World in Whitsett.)

Some McDonough quotes from his presentation last Wednesday:

"The question at this point in history that we're looking at is what is our intention as a human species? We clearly are now the dominant one."

"What we're looking for is 100 percent fabulous where things can be environmentally intelligent, economically intelligent and socially fair."

"The environment wants to be nurtured. It wants to be fecund. It wants to be generated and regenerated."

"Efficiency isn't necessarily beautiful. The idea of being effective is more interesting to us."

"The question is are we doing the right thing? Then we can go about doing it the right way."

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Update (April 9): Eco-cities are not having much success in China, including one of McDonough's projects, according to this article.

I just got word that another Greensboro couple is "greening" their home, this time in downtown. Brent and Dianne Ziegler, recent Columbus, Ohio, transplants, have purchased the two-story building at 526 South Elm St., with the intention of obtaining Platinum LEED certification for the 5,000 sq. ft. site, according to a press release by Downtown Greensboro Inc.

The couple plans on living in the 2,500 sq. ft. upstairs loft and leasing the street-level space for a commercial user.

A second couple pursuing LEED certification are the owners of the Greenspiration home in northwest Greensboro. The Habitat for Humanity has also built green homes for lower income residents, although I don't know if they pursued LEED certification. But these examples prove that green building is becoming more accessible to residents with different housing situations. I haven't heard, however, of a case where a local landlord has done this with rental homes or an apartment complex. Let me know if you know of anyone.

Anyway, back to the Zieglers. The couple is filing the project as a Core and Shell Project in order to qualify for the certification. This covers base building elements such as structure, envelope and the HVAC system and is designed to allow future tenants to capitalize on strategies implemented by the designer.

Plans include:

· No VOC materials

· Energy efficient heating and cooling to include radiant heating system

· All energy star appliances

· Solar hot water heating with energy efficient back-up water heating

· Low-flow plumbing fixtures and rain water collection

· Maximizing insulation

· LED lighting

· Upfitting for future photovoltarics and green roof

· Recycled materials, including glass cement for countertops

· Restored wood flooring

Demolition is currently underway on the project with a team comprised of several professionals: architect, Thomas Moreau, AIA, President of tma architect; local construction company, Lomax Construction; MEP: Rehab ENGINEERING, P.C.; and green Consultancy of ihGREEN. Highpoint has a commercial recycling center for construction materials that was also used during the demolition as well.

Early on in the demolition process they reached out to a friend and local remodeling contractor, Todd Rotruck, who specializes in historic home renovation in the downtown area. He was able to reuse many of the items upstairs, including the cabinets, railings, and moldings. The historic building built in 1925 offers many other outstanding features like the exposed brick walls, original wood floors, loft-like high ceilings upstairs, large windows and the great location. The building even has a vintage mural advertising 5¢ cigars on an interior wall that once served as an exterior wall.

The couple found that the most surprising part of the process was the pricing of materials:

Dianne Ziegler said: “The materials have been reasonably priced thus far which was a pleasant surprise. However, what surprised me the most was the variation in all industry-related individual’s prices involved in the project. We received quotes that were on different ends of the spectrum. Due to the LEED and sustainable building practices being new to Greensboro, individuals/companies are still figuring out how to price projects.”

The couple is the process of forming a website at greener-alternatives.com which will display the phases of the project and products being used along with other information useful to those who may be looking to start their own green project.

Mark your calendars for these building and business-related events:

Greening historic buildings:
Preservation Greensboro sponsors a presentation on LEED certification for historic building renovations on Feb. 10.

Get schooled by the Rocky Mountain Institute:
Leaders from the renowned institute will speak Feb. 18 at the Center for the Environment at Catawba College in Salisbury on “Tackling Air Quality & Climate Change Issues through a Low-Carbon Electrical System: Implications for Businesses and Communities.”

Changing the culture at your workplace:
Learn at Wake Forest University on Feb. 20 how to overcome systemic and interdependent obstacles to sustainable practices.

Taking green building to the next level: lifecycle construction. A Southeast conference is planned for late February and takes place in Atlanta. Early registration ends Jan. 31.

From the Web site:

This is the first conference of its kind focused on the Southeast! We will examine issues that may have substantial impacts on design and construction in the Southeast such as: drought, congestion, diminished air quality, stormwater, energy costs, greenhouse gas emissions, and construction waste and recycling. The conference will consider the complete construction lifecycle-- site preparation, building materials selection, debris management, air pollution control, stormwater and sediment control, demolition, converting buildings for reuse, design for disassembly and creating buildings that facilitate and anticipate future changes. You will hear from Regional and National experts on the full construction lifecycle; and network with federal, state and local government officials and regulators.

Related:

Turning House Millworks, a subsidiary of Bassett Mirror Co. in Virginia, hopes to position itself as a leader in the Southeast for reclaiming and giving new life to rare and precious hardwoods - Southern Longleaf Pine, wormy chestnut, fiddleback maple - used in industrial buildings from the 19th and early 20th centuries. The company expects to recover roughly one million board feet of lumber out of the mill, enough to floor more than 650 homes and save 19,000 trees.

"We don't believe the economy will change the direction of our society," said Jerry Dodson, president and chief operating officer of Turning House Millworks and sister company, Turning House Furniture. "The green building movement is long term. We are well-positioned to ride that wave."

Faith groups in this area increasingly have the desire to reduce the environmental impacts of their buildings and members lifestyles, but they don't necessarily have the know-how.

A new Greensboro organization has stepped up to educate the more than 400 congregations in the city about energy efficiency, waste reduction, water conservation and other practices. Environmental Stewardship Greensboro (ESG) has met for less than two years but has already accomplished a great deal, most recently creating a "Cool Congregation" certification initiative. The program provides an outline of steps congregations can take to expand environmental awareness and action among members and the wider community. Steps include outdoor worship services, nature walks, use of organic and Fair Trade products, rain barrel installation and carpooling.

In the past, ESG has partnered with the Glenwood Neighborhood Association to purchase rain barrels for residents and organized studies of Thomas Berry's "The Great Work." On Nov. 21, the group will hold its first fundraiser by inviting Walkin' Jim Stoltz to hold a concert at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church. (Note: I have attended some of the meetings as a representative of Presbyterian Church of the Covenant.)

For more information about Cool Congregations or the upcoming concert, call Tom Clary at 292-6283 or e-mail Annette Green at AnnetteZG AT hotmail.com; Eric Hoekstra at HoekstraEB AT yahoo.com; or Nelson Stover at StoverN AT bellsouth.net.

About 250 people attended a kick-off event at the Proximity Hotel for the new 12-county Piedmont Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council. In the mix were city officials, such as City Manager Mitch Johnson, business owners, home builders, academics and curious residents. They toured the Proximity, wined and dined on white platter hors d'oeuvres and met this area's green revolution movers and shakers.

Donna Newton, advisor of the Greensboro Neighborhood Congress, said she came to connect with people who could advise her on how to incorporate renewable energy into her home. She said she and her husband currently recycle and use rain barrels and are now researching solar panels.

"We're willing to pay a premium for the earth but we're not willing to go broke," she said.

Newton said "green" is the buzzword in neighborhoods now and she would like to hold an educational symposium for neighborhoods.

Joel Landau, general manager of Deep Roots Market and co-chair of the Greensboro community sustainability council, said the group is planning a fall public meeting to discuss green topics. He said the report of recommendations the committee is charged with creating for City Council could be similar to the draft Green Guilford plan developed by the county.

Below: Landau (right) with Sarah Levenson and Betsi Blake of Eco Everyday retail store in Greensboro.

Proximity developer Dennis Quaintance told the crowd that Proximity has enough points to be certified platinum LEED, the highest rating possible. No other hotel in the country yet has that distinction, he said. Proximity is holding out for the final point before it becomes official.

"We didn't set out to be LEED platinum," Quaintance said. "We didn't really care about LEED. Our idea was we wanted to build a hotel that was durable."

Now won over, Quaintance said he hopes that the green building efforts in the Piedmont will be successful because he fears companies will lower standards to remain competitive.

Keynote speaker Kevin Hydes, chairman of the World Green Building Council, clicked through a flurry of slides showing the global impact of green building, from the wind turbines on a skyscraper in Dubai to roof trellises and sky gardens on a building in Singapore. He said he hopes to see replicated in the United States a European Union system that shows people energy ratings at each commercial building. Hydes, echoing writer Thomas Friedman, also said the LEED standard is an example of an environmental standard that came from society up, not government down.

Still, the industry is still fragmented when it comes to green building standards. The council is trying to change buiding professionals who are unengaged, uninformed enthusiasts or skeptical participants into green building campaigners, Hyde said.

So what do you consider yourself: unengaged, uninformed enthusiast, skeptical participant or campaigner?

Gov. Mike Easley announced Tuesday that North Carolina has won a federal Department of Energy grant to develop and implement an innovative energy-efficient state code for building construction and renovation that will save consumers up to $40 million annually on utility bills.

The grant will be used to both develop a new set of requirements for building construction to make homes and offices more energy efficient and to provide training and technical assistance to improve the compliance with building codes.

I wonder if this means Guilford County Schools' decision to build green schools will be vindicated and make the school board's doubts about cost savings a moot point.

The Bryan Family YMCA seeks support from members to implement a comprehensive environmental initiative, according to an August newsletter. The organization requests suggestions, fundraising ideas, professional advice and volunteers to green its building in downtown Greensboro on West Market Street. According to a statement by executive director Joe Hennigan:

"...We also believe our facility, with its already high profile, has the ability to be a catalyst for spurring environmentally responsible downtown development. We are convinced a public, concentrated, ongoing campaign to lesson our carbon footprint will engage our existing membership to be more involved with the YMCA and attract new, active members who are committed not only to environmental stewardship but the overarching mission of the YMCA."

I'll post more as I get more details. Know of any other organizations going green?

Green building efforts are slowly gaining momentum in the Piedmont Triad. Two groups have kicked off education and certification programs within the past two years. The Piedmont Triad Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council has more than 200 members now and the Greensboro Builders Association's Green Building Council, which launched in January, has about 55 members and has plans to expand to Winston-Salem and Burlington.

I spoke with Cheryl Collins of the Greensboro Builders Association and she said the National Association of Home Builders has a set of homebuilding guidelines that are similar to the LEED standards being promoted elsewhere.

Speaking of LEED, Greg Savage, chairman of the Triad's new chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council, said the Triad has 14 LEED-registered building projects, and more than 200 such projects are registered in the state. LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a national benchmark for sustainable green building and development.

Savage, who spoke last week at a Piedmont Real Estate Council meeting, said buildings will eventually need to meet new energy standards set forth in building codes now under development.

In a press release, Savage said: "The U.S. construction industry represents 20 percent of the U.S. economy, uses 30 percent of the nation's raw materials, uses 13 percent of all potable water, generates 40 percent of all landfill wastes and represents 70 percent of all electricity consumption. Everywhere we go, we see a vital need for construction to adopt green sustainable standards."

Cheryl Collins said the building industry is still resistant to these new practices because consumers purhase homes based on location and amenities, not energy efficiency. That's why the group is stepping up its educational efforts, including holding seminars and giving away 1,000 compact flourescent lightbulbs and reusable shopping bags at the Southern Ideal Home Show that was held in Greensboro this past weekend.

I wonder if Greensboro needs two groups to accomplish this task. I asked Collins if she was concerned about competition.

She said, "What we're encouraging is to take any action at all toward green building. They are both good programs."

Following is an announcement I received from Benjamin Briggs, executive director of Preservation Greensboro Inc., about an upcoming local event:

"The National Preservation Institute is holding a workshop on Green Strategies for Historic Buildings here at the Blandwood Carriage House on April 10th. The session will be led by Boston architect Jean Carroon, AIA, LEED, principal of preservation at Goody Clancy, and will qualify for 6 learning units in the American Institute of Architects Continuing Education System.

This is the first such workshop of its kind held by the Institute in North Carolina and the Southeast!

The seminar will review practical applications of using green building strategies for historic structures. The environmental goal of "reduce, reuse, recycle" can enhance the cost competitiveness of preservation projects. Participants will review the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards used to assess building performance. They will also focus on preservation challenges relating to energy efficiency, windows, lighting, indoor air quality, HVAC, and local and national codes and regulations.

I hope that local architects will be aware of this unusual opportunity here in Greensboro! For additional information you can visit my blog or you can visit the NPI website or contact the National Preservation Institute directly by telephone: 703.765.0100 or email to info@npi.org . They are organizing the workshop, and we have donated use of our Carriage House."

If any of you go, give me a shout out and tell me what you learned.

There is no silver bullet.

Robert Powell, an assistant professor at N.C. A&T University, said this to me over lunch Wednesday when I asked him what Greensboro needs to do to address the challenges of climate change and peak oil production. He said we would need a multi-faceted approach with the city first establishing a baseline of how much fossil fuels it uses as part of its signing the U.S. Mayor's Climate Protection Agreement last year.

Powell (who also happens to serve on a construction advisory group with Guilford County Schools and was part of an initiative to help Glenwood neighborhood get a sculpture garden) has been promoting energy efficiency and sustainability measures for the past 30 years and believes we have reached a time when several groups working in silos are coming together around the same table to talk. But his passion is architecture and he and other professors at the university are working on an initiative, funded by the state energy office, to research programs and building techniques that can be applied commercially and residentially across the state. I'll have details on that initiative later.

Powell is also a fan of architect Edward Mazria, who designed the Mount Airy Public Library, which uses extensive daylighting. 

Mazria also established Architecture 2030, a non-profit, non-partisan and independent organization, whose mission is to rapidly transform the national and global building sector to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

According to the group:

"Credible scientists give us 10 years to be well on our way toward global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions in order to avoid catastrophic climate change. Yet there are hundreds of coal-fired power plants currently on the drawing boards in the US. Seventy-six percent (76%) of the energy produced by these plants will go to operate buildings.

Buildings are the major source of demand for energy and materials that produce by-product greenhouse gases (GHG). Slowing the growth rate of GHG emissions and then reversing it over the next ten years is the key to keeping global warming under one degree centigrade (°C) above today's level. It will require immediate action and a concerted global effort."

"Green" building has caught on locally, although some question whether the long-term savings are worth the short-term costs. Guilford County Schools is incorporating green features in its new schools, the new Proximity Hotel is LEED-certified and New Garden Friends School recently announced it is building a LEED-certified arts and athletics complex. I also hear the Greensboro Builders Association will promote green building on the residential level. (Via an Action Greensboro blog, check out Rivercane Village outside of Asheville, which the developer bills as the "largest residential application of solar thermal technology in the U.S.")

Powell said Americans need to stop waiting for government groups to initiate changes.

"It's not going to happen that way," he said. "If it happened (that) way it wouldn't work."