Green Building News Clippings
Green Building News Clippings
Building 'green' reaches a new levelUpdated 7/26/2006 11:59 PM
ET
By John Ritter, USA TODAY
PORTLAND, Ore. Michelle Walsh looks out a wall of windows in her
airy new condo high above the Willamette River. Across hills and
forests loom snow-capped Mount Hood and, when it's clear, Mount St.
Helens. Below? Construction chaos all around.Walsh revels in it.
She and her husband, Edward, proudly wear "urban pioneer" buttons
the builder handed out to early move-ins at the nation's first
large-scale redevelopment to go 100% "green."Call it
"eco-friendly." Call it "sustainable." Portland's $2.2 billion
South Waterfront project, rising on a decaying industrial site
south of downtown, signals a watershed in the green-building boom.A
trend that has taken hold across the USA in the past few years is
evolving to a new level. What has been a patchwork of green
buildings in many cities is expanding to whole communities, whole
neighborhoods. Portland, well known as an urban-design innovator,
particularly for its transit-oriented developments, is leading the
way again.The green ethic energy-efficient, water-stingy buildings
full of features that stress the natural over the chemical, the
recycled over the new and the renewable over the finite is firmly
mainstream."The big developers, the people who build America, are
slow to move," says Charles Lockwood, an environmental and real
estate consultant based in Southern California. "They still see a
hint of tie-dye and wind chimes in green building. That's changing
quickly. There's critical mass."Even in suburbia, home of
large-production builders of single-family homes."There's a lot
more consumer interest. It's starting to be a groundswell," says
Calli Schmidt, a spokeswoman for the National Association of Home
Builders in Washington. A McGraw-Hill Construction survey in March
predicted that green building would reach a "tipping point" next
year and that two-thirds of builders would be building green
homes.Common features now found in green buildings include:
non-toxic paint and finishes, wheatboard cabinetry, low-flow
showerheads and toilets, wood floors of Brazilian cherry, Caribbean
walnut and other plantation-grown varieties, high-efficiency
heating and cooling systems, recycled and locally obtained building
materials, rain and wastewater captured for toilets and
landscaping, and panels that double as sunshades and solar power
generators.The Walshes went green house hunting after they sold a
home in Arlington, Va., that they'd owned for 30 years and came to
Oregon. They bought a condo knowing it was temporary until the
Meriwether, twin South Waterfront high-rises, opened. Both towers
sold out during construction, except three penthouses."Eco-friendly
was very important to us," says Michelle Walsh, 63. "We knew seven
years ago this project was happening, and we watched it. We wanted
this place." The couple paid $790,000 for a 10th-floor,
two-bedroom, three-bathroom unit with a den plus those killer
views.Developers and builders aren't joining the green revolution
purely out of a sense that it's the right thing to do. They can't
afford to be left behind. By year's end, at least 6% of the
nation's non-residential construction, a $15 billion chunk of the
industry, will be green, says Greg Kats, a green-building
consultant in Washington, D.C. Six years ago it was less than
1%."If you're not embracing green, you won't be at the table," says
Homer Williams, one of South Waterfront's developers. "We do a lot
of public-private work around the country, and it's the first
question that comes up now."The federal government, 15 states and
46 cities require new public buildings to meet the U.S. Green
Building Council's LEED standards (Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design), which require non-toxic building materials,
among other things.Four states and 17 cities offer incentives for
LEED-rated private buildings. Chicago, Pasadena, Calif., and other
cities now fast-track permit procedures for builders who commit to
green standards.Raising the barDevelopers find that green
technologies and construction materials add no more than 1%-2% to
costs, a premium quickly recaptured by energy savings."Critics will
say, 'Why should we pay upfront for these things?' " says Ethan
Seltzer, director of the Toulan School of Urban Studies at Portland
State University. "They'd also liketo believe global warming
doesn't exist."Green building, he says, "is no longer confined to
capital-intensive office towers. Green technology is to the point
where these are valid questions for Home Depot shoppers."The Green
Building Council has certified nearly 550 buildings across the
country since 2002. Developers only recently have sought to stamp
as green larger, multistructure projects such as South Waterfront.
Same with single-family homes. The council is working on LEED
versions for both.Cities interested in LEED for large ventures
include Pasadena, Milwaukee, Austin, Des Moines, Boise and Spokane,
Wash.Multibillion-dollar redevelopments on the Camden, N.J.,
waterfront and in New York City's Meadowlands are going green.
Seattle's High Point neighborhood has the nation's first green
public-housing project, 600 apartments and town houses surrounded
by green houses selling at market rates. At least 5,000 units of
green low-income housing in 25 states have gone up in the past 18
months.Corporate America was the first to see the value of green
beyond energy savings.Companies noticed less absenteeism, less time
lost to asthma, allergies and other illnesses aggravated by mold,
stale air and chemicals found in many conventional buildings. But
to Ford, Bank of America, Target, Toyota, Honda, Genzyme, Starbucks
and Adobe, green also was about image."In the 1980s it might have
been acceptable to do a trophy building and say, 'Oh, look at us,
we're green,' " says Rick Fedrizzi, president of the Green Building
Council.No more. "The products you make should be green," he says.
"The manufacturing process should be green. The factory should be
green. Employees should work in a green building. You live this
message all the way through and then someday you can call yourself
a green company. Until then, it's just green-washing."The city and
developers are committed to top-to-bottom green at South
Waterfront.That means winning high LEED ratings on every building.
It means streetcar and light-rail connections to downtown that cut
auto travel. It means a mile-long, 150-foot-wide greenway between
the Willamette and tall building clusters not plain grass but
restored natural habitat for birds and wildlife, bike and
pedestrian paths included."It sets a much higher standard than what
we've seen in many cities across North America," says Bob
Sallinger, urban conservation director at the Audubon Society of
Portland.Condo and office towers will have smaller footprints to
preserve views of the river and downtown in the neighborhood behind
South Waterfront. The skinny, or pencil, high-rise design was
pioneered on the Vancouver, British Columbia, skyline, and San
Francisco, Sacramento, Las Vegas and other cities are copying
it."We can do a much more elegant building by making it feel very
tall and very vertical," architect Phillip Beyl says.South
Waterfront will be the densest neighborhood in Portland, already a
transit-friendly city of small blocks and compact urban
districts.Developers calculate, for instance, that if condo owners
in a 31-story, oval-shaped tower now going up were put in
single-family homes, they'd consume 55 acres of land. South
Waterfront's first phase will house 3,000 people and provide 5,000
jobs on 38 acres.Many South Waterfront streets will be narrow to
invite walking and generously landscaped, with "bioswales" grassy
trenches that catch and absorb storm runoff."Eco-roofs" of soil and
native plants slow runoff and curb the "heat island" effect of
sunshine beating down on conventional roofs. The skin on most
buildings will be glazed glass to maximize energy saving and
interior light.Finding value in 'green'South Waterfront's anchor,
an Oregon Health & Science University bioscience center opening
in November, is the nation's first large building to use chilled
"beams" instead of conventional air conditioning. Picture a car
radiator on its side on the ceiling. Chilled water passes through
and cool air falls into the room, requiring no power to run fans or
blowers.The university aims for the top LEED rating platinum which
would be another first.Medical buildings that combine research
labs, surgery and a lot of daily traffic to doctors' offices aren't
easy to make green. The 16-story, $145 million building will
produce a third of its electricity and treat its own water.A
two-story trombe a narrow glazed-glass atrium that soaks up the sun
will make heat for the building's hot water. Heat pumps that use
water instead of chemical refrigerants are costlier than standard
units, but quieter. Therefore, the builder could spend less on
soundproofing insulation."Not only will they have bragging rights
on the first and largest platinum building of its type, they'll
also get a very high-performance building that saves money over the
long haul," says Dennis Wilde, a partner in Gerding/Edlen, a
principal developer at South Waterfront.Cost premiums on green
building have shrunk "but were never as significant as people were
afraid," Wilde says.The university's outgrown main campus atop
Marquam Hill is 30 minutes by car for doctors traveling back and
forth to the new facility. Williams suggested a tram to cut the
ride to 3 minutes. It will open in December.Criticism of South
Waterfront has been muted. Developers took heat when tram costs
ballooned to $57 million from $15 million, but they say pre-design
estimates were unrealistic. Taxpayers' share will be 15% of what
some think is a landmark-to-be on a par with Seattle's Space
Needle.Condos range from one-bedroom, 700-square-foot units for
less than $200,000 to two- and three-bedroom spaces for up to $1
million and a few penthouses at $3 million-plus.The buyer
demographic is diverse empty-nesters, single professionals,
well-to-do retirees, young couples looking for urban starter homes
and guys such as Venice Tunnitisupawong.An analyst at Intel west of
Portland, Tunnitisupawong, 28, wanted out of the suburbs, even if
it meant a longer commute."I'm a single guy and that lifestyle
doesn't really fit me right now," he says. He'll move into a
third-floor, one-bedroom when a third tower, the John Ross, is
finished in May.Early South Waterfront buyers have seen their
condos spike in value already.Miles Morgan, a United Airlines
captain, bought a one-bedroom with an alcove for $404,000 in
December 2004, when the Meriwether was nothing but a hole in the
ground. He estimates it's worth as much as $550,000 today."This is
poised to be the premier neighborhood in Portland," Morgan, 36,
says. "It will appreciate faster than any property in Oregon or
Washington."
Source:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-07-26-green-construction_x.htm
ANALYSIS:Green Building is now a fad in the architecture and
construction industry as evident in the article above. There is a
significant increase of Green Buildings in the world, especially in
the United States of America. Luckily for the Americans their
leaders have political will to promote and implement Green Building
designs and planning in their communities. Construction companies
and developers are obliged to follow it because of the large demand
thanks to the successful information campaign and awareness on that
country. Green Building design today was the least criticized
architecture style and the most appreciated and praised. This major
redevelopment project (South Waterfront project) will provide a
large addition of new Green Buildings in the country and also it
will promote the Architectural Style. Buyers of Green properties
will not only experience clean, less costly and sustainable living
but they can resell their home because of its value appreciation
due to the awareness and demand for these.
Europe's biggest new monastery starts building in LiverpoolNuns
will harvest rainwater, use ground source heating and plant a
wildflower meadow - while Bradford's Anglicans install the UK's
first cathedral-roof solar powerCould it be like this by the
Mersey? Nuns admire Castel Gandolfo lake in Italy
Liverpool's long association with the Roman Catholic faith is
taking another step forward with the building ofEurope's largest
new Carmelite monasteryin Allerton. The 3 million project includes
the planting of 1500 trees and aims to give 30Carmelite nunsthe
peace and quiet they have lost in their present home in busy West
Derby. Two big schools are expanding next door to the existing
building which was an almost rural haven when the order moved in
104 years ago. Rather than risk tensions with their young
neighbours, the nuns decided in the words of their prioress Sister
Mary to "bow out gracefully and let the schools enjoy the
area."
The new Stanbrook Abbey near Helmsley in idyllic North
Yorkshire. Photograph by the architects: Feilden Clegg Bradley
Studios
The move follows the opening in 2009 of Stanbrook Abbey, a new
home inYorkshirefor nuns of the order of Our Lady of Consolation,
whose innovations include rainwater harvesting, power from a
woodchip boiler and sedum plantson a 'green roof.' The Allerton
monastery (the correct name, albeit that nuns inhabit it rather
than monks) features a wildflower meadow, ground source heating,
solar panels and similar rainwater harvesting to Stanbrook's.
The new monastery will allow us to be much more energy efficient
and the gardens will also enable us to be self-sufficient whilst
protecting the local habitat.West Derby has been our home for over
100 years and we will be sad to leave, but we felt it was time to
move to a location which will be more compatible with our way of
life. These are good times for the somewhat recherche world of
ecclesiastical construction. The Liverpool building firmNobles,
which has contracted to finish the new monastery in 60 weeks, also
has work under way on alterations to Wesley Methodist Church in the
city centre, refurbishment at Rosemount Convent and a new church
hall at St Michael's and All Angels Church in
Pensby.InBradfordmeanwhile, theAnglican cathedralis to be the first
in the world to install solar panels to generate its own electric
if not spiritual power. The 50,000 scheme on the roof of the south
aisle adds to a long and curious record of additions to the Grade 1
listed building. When Royalists besieged the stoutly Cromwellian
city during the English Civil War, the tower was protected against
stray canonballs byenormous bales of wool, like a stone version of
the Michelin man.
Source:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/the-northerner/2011/aug/02/nuns-liverpool-monastery-carmelite-west-derby-allerton-solar-power-rainwater-harvest
ANALYSIS:Even the religious are adherents of sustainable and
green living. This means that everyone is responsible to promote
green building designs regardless of your profession and belief.
The rainwater harvesting, the green roof, the self-sufficient
agriculture and the tree planted surroundings are applicable to the
way of life of the nuns of the monastery. This green setup provides
silent and peaceful ambience to the occupants. The ground source
heat pump(GSHP)is acentral heatingor cooling system that pumps heat
to or from the ground. Using this system, the nuns can save cost
from fossil fuels used in heating or cooling the building interiors
and no greenhouse gases are produced. TheAnglican cathedral with
solar panels installed on its roof will be a role model for
promoting Green Building system to other religious buildings around
the world to convert to this system.How green is their valley? Ebbw
Vale residents sought to test eco homesJenny McBainguardian.co.uk,
Wednesday 18 January 2012 10.22 GMT
United Welsh Housing Association is running a competition to
find people to live in two eco-homes rent free for 12 months to
assess the buildings' green credentials
Two families will have the opportunity to live rent free in one
of two new eco homes in return for evaluating how well the
properties function.The United WelshHousingAssociation isrunning a
competitionto find people to live in and assess two homes built on
the site of a former steel works at Ebbw Vale in Blaenau Gwent,
south Wales. The homes, built to showcase the "Passivhaus" concept,
are in a group of state-of-the-art homes built for the 2010
National Eisteddfod.In return, the families will not have to pay
rent for 12 months. The average rent for a similar sized UWHA
property is 74.03 a week.The occupants of one of the two houses,
the three-bed Larch House, will also avoidenergy bills. The design
and insulation of a so called Passivhaus, or "passive house", means
they need very little heating. Instead, body heat and heat from
electrical appliances such as fridges and computers is enough to
ward off the worst winter chills, and the house also has a
mechanical heat recovery and ventilation system which extracts
warmth from outgoing air and mixes it with incoming fresh
air.Passive houses are designed to be carbon neutral over the
course of their lifetime, so provenance of materials is an
important part of the equation. Larch House is built from local
timber, and all the other components are sourced as locally as
possible. Large, south-facing windows, closed-panel timber framing
to minimise draught, high insulation, and photovoltaic panels all
add to the zero-carbon footprint of the property.The UWHA says
monitoring of how the houses perform, most of which will be done
remotely, will enable the innovative techniques used in building
these homes to be shared and used in the future.The Green House
competition is open to anyone who either lives in Blaenau Gwent or
has a connection to the area, and can include students as well as
families. Applicants will be asked to write about themselves and
their interest in environmental matters, as they must be prepared
to adopt a green lifestyle. Research has shown that eco features
alone will not reduce energy bills.Richard Mann, head of
development for the UWHA, says: "People have to change the way they
use their home. Basic things like not opening windows when the
heating is on make all the difference. In fact, if you don't use an
eco house properly it can end up costing more to run."However, the
housing association advises that the winners may need access to a
car. Although the properties are minutes from the Ysbyty Aneurin
Bevan hospital, and the Ebbw Vale Parkway railway station is less
than a mile from the site, the nearest school and supermarket are
about 1.5 miles away. Finalists will be selected for interview by
mid-February.Mann adds: "These are groundbreaking buildings. This
unique competition will deliver an environmental monitoring project
which will help mould the future ofsocial housingin the UK."Fuel
bills can be a big financial drain for social housing tenants, so
we want to make sure our homes are as energy efficient as
possible."Once the Green House competition has come to an end, an
affordable social rent for the Blanau Gwent area will be set on
both properties.
Source:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2012/jan/18/ebbw-vale-eco-homes-uwha
ANALYSIS:Running this kind of competition is a good start in the
spread of Green Building system and design. In this competition,
the organizers can assess the effectiveness of the systems of the
said house models. The participants will also be obliged to live a
green and sustainable life in their new home. Passive design
involves the minimal or non-use of mechanical equipment in the
heating or cooling of the buildings. Facing the big windows to the
south was effective in providing natural heating and ventillation
for their houses (the climate on London which s on the temperate
zone of Northern Hemisphere is very cold and the suns position on
the sky is on the south). The houses are also built from the local
sustainable materials like timber from plantations. Having a Green
Housing Project like a subdivision is a major milestone in the
Green Building Design. Because of the awareness of the people to
the environment problems, people choose to live in sustainable and
green houses in that aside from saving the environment, they can
also save a lot of money.Intl pressure mounts for more green
buildings in PHBy:Tessa R. SalazarPhilippine Daily Inquirer The
construction and real estate industries have been called to shape
up for the environment. While industrialization has long cast a
gray pall over the planet, wealthy nations have also long been made
aware of the consequences and have been implementing green building
initiatives with international green rating systems.The
Asia-Pacific region is catching up in terms of these initiatives.
The scale, pace and general trend of recent construction efforts
have been geared toward efficient commercial real estate that
complies with green building codes.CBRE Philippines cited that an
increasing number of building owners are retrofitting and upgrading
existing buildings to improve their energy efficiency and
environmental performance, among other things.Now, theres mounting
pressure from the international business community, especially from
foreign investors, on local locators to offer more green buildings
in the country.Joannie Mitchell, director for CBRE Philippines
global corporate services, announced to the press during the June
20 mid-year report that international companies trying to invest in
the country are looking for more environmentally sustainable
structures to hold offices in.Amid the presence of five LEED
(Leadership in Energy and Environment Design)-certified buildings
in the Philippines and 58 more projects currently registered for
LEED certification, more building tenants have been encouraging
their landlords to retrofit their buildings to be environmentally
sustainable. Some multinational tenants have required landlords to
retrofit their buildings for the latter to be able to secure the
contract to lease.
Increased demand
Mitchell added that there has been a business demand for more
green buildings, and from the viewpoint of corporate social
responsibility, a moral imperative to build environmentally
sustainable structures.CBRE Philippines maintained that the surge
in the number of green buildings would support the robust growth of
the countrys property sector market.Fortune 500 companies,
multinational corporations, and even local firms now consider green
initiatives as prerequisites in their day-to-day maintenance and
operations, said Rick Santos, CBRE Philippines chair and CEO.
Through our global networks and resources, we have been
strengthening the drive toward sustainable development which, as
pointed out in several studies, could also benefit not only
developers and the environment but also end-userstenants, employees
and residentsin the long run.A local rating, a counterpart of the
LEED certification, has already been established by the Philippine
Green Building Council. Called Berde, the certification means
Building for Ecologically Responsive Design Excellence.Another
local rating has been formulated by the Philippine Green Building
Initiative. This ratings body is composed of professional
organizations such as United Architects of the Philippines,
Institute of Integrated Electrical Engineers of the Philippines,
Philippine Institute of Interior Designers, Geological Society of
the Philippines, Heritage Conservation Society, International
Council of Monuments & Sites, the Philippine Society of
Ventilating Air-conditioning & Refrigerating Engineers.
Rating system
LEED, meanwhile, is a widely used international green rating
system developed by the US Green Building Council.The five LEED
certified buildings are the Asian Development Bank, Nuvali One
Evotech, Shell Shared Services Office, and Texas Instruments in
Baguio and Clark.Among the 58 projects currently registered for
LEED certification are The Zuellig Building in Makati; BTTC Centre
in Greenhills (both precertified Gold under the Core & Shell
Program); Megaworld 8 Campus Building in Bonifacio Global City
(which is pursuing Silver Certification under the Core & Shell
Program); and Wells Fargo Headquarters in Bonifacio Global City,
which is seeking Gold Certification under the Commercial Interiors
Program.
CountryRegisteredIndia 1,283*China 589South Korea126Hong Kong
55Taiwan 45Malaysia 42Singapore 42Philippines 38Japan 36Thailand
31Sri Lanka 23Vietnam 18Bangladesh 16Pakistan 9Indonesia 7Nepal
6Cambodia 2Macau 2Bhutan 1Total 2,371
CBRE Global Sustainability Team chart showing LEED-certified
projects in various countries. To date, the Philippines has 5 LEED
certified projects and 58 under registration. The figures only
cover projects under the LEED rating system.
Source:
http://business.inquirer.net/66775/intl-pressure-mounts-for-more-green-buildings-in-ph
ANALYSIS:Due to the popularity of Green Building Design
especially in the United States and in Europe, other countries like
the Philippines are urged to have more Green Buildings. The
Philippines is catching up to the developed countries in term of
Green development. Green and Sustainable designs are very
applicable to the constructions here in the country. Hot tropical
climate, expensive electricity, pollution, urban planning failure,
flooding and other problems are the reasons to implement Green
Building System Design in the Philippines. Green cities will
attract investments and people which in turn provide jobs and
improve our economy. Shifting to Green Building culture can simply
start from efficient conserving of energy, using harmless non-toxic
materials or avoiding littering. Green Buildings here in the
Philippines are found on high budget real estate development and
financial districts like Bonifacio Global City, Nuvali, and Makati
because foreign investors prefer foreign architects which in turn
readily make use of the Green Building Design System.
How green is my building?By Andrea Ignacio(The Philippine Star)
Updated October 09, 2011 12:00 AM
MANILA, Philippines -The future is green, says architect Willy
Coscolluela. The latest technologicaladvances in building design
and the development ofnewconstruction materials have radically
altered the way buildings are being made. For architects and
contractors who want to help and improve the environment, the shift
towards sustainability is vital. I believe this is the way to go,
says Coscolluela of green practices at the worksite.W.V.
Coscolluela & Associates is part of the team of designers and
builders involved in the 33-story Zuellig Building, the first
high-rise with a Leadership inEnergyandEnvironmentalDesign(Core and
Shell) (LEED-CS) Gold Pre-certification in the Philippines. Located
at the corner of Paseo de Roxas and Makati Avenue in the heart of
the Makati Central Business District, the Zuellig Building is the
first premium office building to be constructed in Makati since the
construction boom in 2000.Coscolluela notes that, from the projects
inception, the owners of the building wanted a world-class, green
building. Their vision of a sustainable, environment-friendly
structure was in support of the green movement in urban design that
was then still in its infancy.Presently, there is one globally
recognized standard when it comes to sustainable construction
efforts. The LEED Green Building Rating System was initiated in the
United States by the USGreenBuildingCouncilin 2000 to offer an
international standard to measure the design and building process
in five key areas:sustainablesitedevelopment, water savings, energy
efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental
quality.Buildings can qualify for four levels of LEED
certification: Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum. The rating
system provides for third-party validation, through a reviewer
accredited bytheGreenBuildingCertification Institute. Its
guidelines are regularly updated and enhanced, and are adapted and
suited to various local conditions, including that of
thePhilippines.Coscolluela says that the design team, which
includes New York-based Skidmore, Owings & Merrill as design
consultants, Leighton Asia as contractors and Meinhardt
Engineering, worked in collaboration with a LEED consultant to
ensure that the building design is energy efficient. Based on a set
of LEED criteria, the building received LEED Gold pre-certification
in 2009.Coscolluela says proudly, With its LEED Gold
pre-certification, the Zuellig Building represents leadership in
energy and environmental design in the highest degree for high-rise
office structures. It will also be a big accomplishment for the
team that is involved in this green high-rise office building.In
simple terms, Coscolluela defines a green building as a structure
that uses environmentally responsible and resource-efficient
processes throughout the buildings life cycle. Buildings have an
enormous impact, whether directly or indirectly, on the
environment, such as consuming a lot of fresh water supply,
emitting a large percentage of greenhouse gases, adding to waste
problems and consuming a lot of electricity to name a few, he
explains. It is these everyday usage that people are getting more
conscious of how we must preserve our resources.Creating pioneering
buildingdesigns is not new for Coscolluela. His firm has been at
the forefront of major construction projects in the country. These
include SM City North EDSA, the largest mall in its time; the Twin
Towers condominium, the first exclusive residential towers of Ayala
Corp.; and Robinsons Galleria in Ortigas Center, the first
mixed-use development in the country.His design firm also undertook
a number of international projects including the Raintree Club in
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and a variety of residential projects in
Malaysia and Singapore.This is also not the first time Coscolluela
is working with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill as they had
collaborated to develop the design for the RCBC Plaza, Philam Tower
and Robinsons PCIB Tower.The Zuellig Building boasts a design
first. To give it a distinct look from the rest of the Makati
cityscape, the building is designed with an all-glass faade and the
use of large floor-to-ceiling double-glazed glass panels, which
minimize inside heat while maximizing the penetration of natural
sunlight to help optimize electric consumption in the use of air
conditioners. The ceramic frit pattern on the glass curtain wall
supplements the shading properties of the buildings glass exterior
and its bamboo-inspired design gives the building a unique
identity.The Zuellig Building stands on a generous space of 8,285
square meters. Tenants and guests approach the building through a
landscaped 2,500 square-meter private garden and driveway that flow
seamlessly to a lobby area that rises up totwo stories.The building
consists of a main tower and a two-story retail pavilion that will
address the daily conveniences required by office tenants and the
public. With 16 high-speed elevators servicing the office tower,
reaching the Sky Garden on the32nd floor will be quick and easy.
Likewise, the glass cladding offers unobstructed 360-degree views
of Metro Manila.The building boasts many green features. A daylight
dimming system reduces the output of electrical lighting based on
the intensity of daylight. The all-glass exterior ensures daylight
in 90 percent of interior spaces. The Zuellig Building will also be
the first high-rise building to use solar panels to help cut down
electricity costs.Water is conserved by capturing rain and
condensate water. The building will be installed with premium
drainage and irrigation systems. This setup is expected to save 29
million liters of potable water annually. The chilled water pumps
in the building are equipped with variable speed drives to reduce
energy consumption during off-peak hours.There are carbon dioxide
sensors in the building that modulate outside airflow according to
the estimated number of occupants to bring in superior indoor air
quality at all times. A waste recycling facility will also be
available to all tenants.The building will install secured bicycle
racks to encourage tenants to leave their cars at home. We even
have provision for showers in the building, so that office workers
can freshen up from their ride to work before going to
theiroffices, Coscolluela adds.Thearchitectagrees that constructing
a green building may entail a little more expense than the
traditional way of building, but he stresses that the times require
that all possible means of protecting the environment be taken.It
is a little more expensive than designing normal buildings due to
certain procedures, guidelines and requirements that need to be
strictly followed, and by consciously taking extra effort in making
your design environmentally friendly, he says. However, it benefits
the building tenants with an improved indoor environment, reduced
energy usage, increased employee productivity, and reduced impact
on our external environment. It will provide tenants with
immeasurable benefits in terms of energy savings, lower operating
costs, and superior indoor air quality.For Coscolluela, the Zuellig
Building is an important milestone, not just for his stellar
career, but also for the local community of architects and
builders. From his first residential projects to his landmark
commercial structures, Coscolluela has been arespected and
acclaimed authority in the industry due to his exemplary work. As
vice chairman of the Makati Commercial Estate Association (MACEA),
he has been a key figure in the improvement and redevelopment of
the Makati CBD as the countrys premier financial center. Always
open to learning and improving his craft, this Mapua graduate
intends to integrate international green principles in all his
futureprojects.This project is important to me because by designing
this green building, it will help pave the way for other architects
to promote green principles in architecture, he says. With this
direction, the green advantage will promote energy savings and
water conservation, enhance landscape surroundings, power-saving
lights, carbon dioxide monitoring and the productivity and wellness
of its occupants.With Coscolluelas leadership and example, his two
sons, who have followed in his footsteps and are partners in the
firm, will ensure that W.V. Coscolluela & Associates remains
fully dedicated to excellence and committed to protecting the
environment.Source:
http://www.philstar.com/article.aspx?articleid=735529&publicationsubcategoryid=90
ANALYSIS:Zuellig Building is a major breakthrough (although not
the first) to the Green Building Design here in the Philippines.
Equipped with state of the art Green systems like the rainwater
gathering, solar panels, double glazing window panels and smart
building systems can make it to be proud of. People that are aware
of this system and of environment protection will definitely buy or
rent units on this building and it will be sold out. Investors will
be inspired and motivated to invest and build Green Building
because of its popularity, high profits and less cost on the longer
run. Double-glazed glass panels have gaps in between two glass
panel in which the air inside serves as insulator that prevents
heat to enter the interior of the building. On the first look you
may think building with this installed looks like an ordinary glass
curtain building that absorbs much heat but with deeper
understanding of its principle and with the experience inside the
building you cansay that it is a very effective system to lessen
heat gain and in turn conserve energy.The problem on the
implementation of Green Building Design in this country is that the
government lacks political will. Another is the mentality of many
to choose a much cheaper method like the tingi-tingi mentality in
which you buy items in very small quantity. You spend less at
first, but later you will find out that you are spending more
compared buying in larger quantity. Changing the mindset of the
people and improving the government can greatly encourage the
growth of Green development here in the Philippines. 1