Category Archives: Green Building

City Council Health & Environment Committee Hearing on the Stretch Code: July 28th

Posted on by
Reply

E-scale, a version of HERS (Home Energy Rating System)
The state is upgrading the state energy code as part of the Green Communities Act. On May 12, the Massachusetts Board of Building Regulations and Standards (BBRS) approved the stretch code as an optional amendment to the 7th edition Massachusetts Building Code 780 CMR. Municipalities in Massachusetts do not have the legal authority to adopt their own code, but the recent passage of the state stretch code allows municipalities to adopt the tougher standard at their discretion.

This optional “stretch code” was developed in response to the call for improved local building energy efficiency in the commonwealth. The stretch code is about 30% more efficient than baseline code in Massachusetts. Some builders and developers worry the adoption of the stretch code will hinder a housing market revival and add additional red tape to the permitting process. Advocates contend that the stretch code will allow municipalities to improve the efficiency of buildings in their communities, helping to reduce greenhouse gasses and reduce fossil fuel consumption. See “Everything’s ACES” for additional context.

The stretch code would require a  third-party certification for a HERS index rating of 60 or less on new buildings. The current base energy code in Massachusetts requires a maximum HERS rating of 99. For major renovations under the stretch code, a HERS index of 70 or less is required.

The City Council will need to adopt the stretch code by January 1 in order for it to go into effect by July 1, 2010. The City Council Health & Environment Committee is holding a hearing on the stretch code on July 28. The Climate Protection Action Committee and the Green Building/Zoning Task Force have recommended adoption.

TechTV

Posted on by
Reply

logo-mit-techtv

If you’ve got time and bandwidth to kill, you might want to check out TechTV. In the spirit of OpenCourseWare, MIT hosts videos of various guest lectures and conferences. For instance, Energy forecast for the rest of the century. Although I don’t personally agree with all of the professor’s interpretations—many conflict with the more pragmatic views portrayed in “Sustainable Energy,” which is incidentally available via OCW—it was an interesting presentation, and could probably serve as a good introduction for the uninitiated nevertheless. I also appreciated his putting the scope of human influence in perspective by comparing it with natural flows. It reminded me of prolific environmental author Vaclav Smil’s excellent Cycles of Life : Civilization and the Biosphere.

Wind Turbine Zoning

Posted on by
Reply

Title: Wind Turbine Zoning
Location: City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway, 2nd Floor Conference Room
Link out: Click here
Description: The Planning Board will be meeting to discuss amendments to local zoning outlined in the attached link.
Start Time: 19:30
Date: 2009-06-02

The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative’s Community Wind Resource map for Cambridge might also be of interest.

Massachusetts passes “Stretch Code” for higher efficiency buildings

Posted on by
5

MIT Green BuildingLast week Massachusetts passed the Stretch Code, which allows municipalities to adopt more stringent building codes than the state requires.  Current building requirements are set by Massachusetts Building codes and have to be updated every three years to meet the international ICC building standards.

The new stretch code standards would require a Home Energy Rating System (HERS) rating of 60, which means about 40% lower energy use than a standard built home. Modeling experts estimate that the extra construction cost an additional $8,100 (above the base code), which translates to $530 a year over a 30 year mortgage. But annual energy costs would be reduced on average by $1,360, for a net savings to the homeowner of $830 a year— a net savings of approximately $300 per year. In addition, many of the additional construction costs will be covered by subsidies from the utilities.

Home renovations would require a HERS rating only when feasible and for new commercial buildings there are several options for meeting the Stretch Code.  Commercial renovations, commercial buildings under 5,000 square feet, and specialty commercial buildings under 100,000 square feet (supermarkets, laboratories, warehouses) are all exempt from the proposal.

This is an excellent opportunity for communities like Cambridge, MA to forge ahead and adopt standards that will help it to meet its climate reduction targets.  Buildings contribute to 80% of the total greenhouse gas emissions produced in Cambridge, MA.  Adopting the stretch code could help Massachusetts communities reduce its emissions and save money that would otherwise go towards inefficient heating, cooling, and electric building  needs.

Saving Energy with the Lego Model

Posted on by
Reply

6177_lego_builders_of_tomorrow_box

A company in Western Kentucky has built more than 40 structures, including eight schools, using an innovative construction method called Insulated Concrete Forms. ICF consists of four-inch Styrofoam blocks reinforced by a rebar grid into which concrete is poured. The foam provides insulation while the concrete offers strength and durability.

President Larry Graves says the original ICF “test project” was his own home, built with Insulated Concrete Forms in 2003; “The initial investment costs up to 8 percent more than traditional building methods,  but I made my money back in savings within the first two years.”

Gravesco is the exclusive provider of this building technology which, according to Graves, results in utility bills 50% lower than those generated by a traditionally constructed house; “Regardless of how hot or cold it is outside, the temperature of the structure stays the same,” he said. “Our electricity bills come from from our boys running their Playstation units all day long, the dozens of loads of laundry they generate, and the lights they forget to turn off.”

The Passive House

Posted on by
Reply

The concept of ‘Passive Houses’ has been gaining some currency recently. On first glance it doesn’t sound terribly exciting. From this article in the Portland Daily Journal of Commerce, however, you can see that creating a passive house requires homeowners to take a number of active steps towards building or renovating a house that requires very little energy for heating or cooling. Apparently, the benchmark of a passive home is one where less than 15 watts per square foot is used to heat and cool the house during the entire year.

800px-passivhaus_darmstadt_kranichstein_fruehling_2006

Most of the world's Passive Houses are located in Germany or Scandinavia

If you need more information on Passive Houses. Or as the Germans, who invented the concept, call them (PassivHaus), there’s always Wikipedia.