The project has just been installed at the University of Washington’s College of Built Environments and, with appropriate recognition of the benefits of multi-tasking by city greenery, it is called the “Biodiversity Green Wall, Edible Green Screen & Water Harvesting Demonstration Project.”  Not too good for sound bites, that name, but it certainly is descriptive.  Nancy Rottle of the University’s landscape architecture faculty and associated Green Futures Lab, which designed the project, says it is intended “as a billboard for new sustainable practices, and to discover to what extent green walls and screens can help promote biodiversity, produce food and reduce energy use.  By harvesting water to irrigate the green wall, the project will reduce potable consumption and may lessen stormwater impacts.”

The signature feature of the biodiversity wall comprises two large screens mounted on aluminum frames fixed to the wall of their building, UW’s Gould Hall.  Unlike every other green wall that I have seen, these can be moved horizontally via a pulley system operated from the building’s balconies.  Peter Kelley describes their function, along with the project’s edible green screen and water harvesting mechanism, on the University’s website:

“The two green walls, each 10-by-10 feet, will together hold more than 500 plants, including 23 species, 70 percent native to the Pacific Northwest. SolTerra, a Pacific Northwest firm, built and will install the green wall, which is composed of permeable fabric mounted on an aluminum frame . . . Along with measuring plant growth, the Green  Futures Lab team will monitor such things as building and local air temperature impacts, biodiversity and water use in the areas affected by the walls and screen. “The Edible Green Screen, a system of 39-foot steel cables, will actually be a giant trellis, holding hops and kiwi vines grown from the ground.  Hops were chosen because of visual appeal, fast growth and fun, Rottle said.  UW Farm, the demonstration project on sustainable urban agriculture, is interested in harvesting the kiwi, chosen for its hardiness, beauty of its vine and fruit, and appropriateness for a south wall in Seattle.

“Two 750-gallon cisterns will store harvested roof water for plant irrigation.”

In the plans for 2013, if funds can be raised, are solar panels intended to generate enough energy to completely cover the energy requirements of the project’s irrigation pump and electrical requirements.  Seven students from four different disciplines worked on the project.

This video showing and describing the project is fantastic:

Article Source
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/kbenfield/the_coolest_green_infrastructu.html>

© Pietro Savorelli

© Leonardo Finotti

The site is surrounded by the unique hills of Chianti, covered with vineyards, half-way between Florence and Siena. A cultured and illuminated customer has made it possible to pursue, through architecture, the enhancement of the landscape and the surroundings as expression of the cultural and social valence of the place where wine is produced.

© Pietro Savorelli

The functional aspects have therefore become an essential part of a design itinerary which centres on the geo- morphological experimentation of a building understood as the most authentic expression of a desired symbiosis and merger between anthropic culture, the work of man, his work environment and the natural environment. The physical and intellectual construction of the winery pivots on the profound and deep-rooted ties with the land, a relationship which is so intense and suffered (also in terms of economic investment) as to make the architectural image conceal itself and blend into it.

© Pietro Savorelli

The purpose of the project has therefore been to merge the building and the rural landscape; the industrial complex appears to be a part of the latter thanks to the roof, which has been turned into a plot of farmland cultivated with vines, interrupted, along the contour lines, by two horizontal cuts which let light into the interior and provide those inside the building with a view of the landscape through the imaginary construction of a diorama.

© Pietro Savorelli

The façade, to use an expression typical of buildings, therefore extends horizontally along the natural slope, paced by the rows of vines which, along with the earth, form its “roof cover”. The openings or cuts discreetly reveal the underground interior: the office areas, organized like a belvedere above the barricade, and the areas where the wine is produced are arranged along the lower, and the bottling and storage areas along the upper. The secluded heart of the winery, where the wine matures in barrels, conveys, with its darkness and the rhythmic sequence of the terracotta vaults, the sacral dimension of a space which is hidden, not because of any desire to keep it out of sight but to guarantee the ideal thermo-hygrometric conditions for the slow maturing of the product.

© Leonardo Finotti

A reading of the architectural section of the building reveals that the altimetrical arrangement follows both the production process of the grapes which descend (as if by gravity) – from the point of arrival, to the fermentation tanks to the underground barrel vault – and that of the visitors who on the contrary ascend from the parking area to the winery and the vineyards, through the production and display areas with the press, the area where vinsanto is aged, to finally reach the restaurant and the floor hosting the auditorium, the museum, the library, the wine tasting areas and the sales outlet.

Cross Section

Article Source
http://www.archdaily.com/371521/antinori-winery-archea-associati/

BIG has collaborated with West 8, Fentress, JPA and developers Portman CMC to challenge an OMA- and South Beach ACE-lead team in the 52-acre Miami Beach Convention Center overhaul. With a mission to “bring Miami Beach back to the Convention Center,” BIG’s newly unveiled proposal aims to transform the “dead black hole of asphalt in the heart of one of the most beautiful and lively cities in America” into an archipelago of urban oases made up of paths, plazas, parks and gardens, which will all lead to the heart of the plan: the Miami Beach Square. This tropical centerpiece will become the front door to the convention center and the convention hotel, as well as the front lawn to a revitalized Jackie Gleason Theatre, a town square for the city hall, an outdoor arena for the Latin American Cultural Museum, and the red carpet for the big botanical ball room.

© BIG

“We have devised a strategy that combines urban planning and landscape design to create a neighborhood characterized by human scale, pedestrian connections, shaded spaces with public oriented programs lining the streets and squares. A neighborhood that, depending on the season, the weekday, or even the time of day can be perceived as a lively downtown neighborhood or an inviting public park.”  Bjarke Ingels, Creative Director BIG

© BIG

The square creates a series of intuitive connections across the site – a diagonal that connects the Soundscape to the Botanical Gardens and Holocaust Memorial. A north-south connection joins the Collins Canal to Lincoln Road and naturally channels the flow of convention visitors to the liveliness of Lincoln Road. A green network of public spaces that stitches together all of the adjacent neighborhoods – formerly separated by the convention center – into a complete and coherent community – for both visitors and residents. All public programs – old and new come together on the square. All great cities have a great square – this will be Miami Beach Square

© BIG

“Rather than scattering all the program across the 52 acre site we have decided to concentrate it around the center piece of our public realm – Miami Beach Square bringing focus to the renovated Jackie Gleason Theater, the entrance of the convention center and for the first time ever creating a worthy civic presence to Miami Beach City Hall.”  Jamie Maslyn Larsen, West 8, Creator of Soundscape Park

© BIG

By popular demand we have found a way to preserve and enhance the architecture and programming of the Jackie Gleason Theatre. By making it all public at the street level – opening up lobbies, restaurants and cafes on all sides – we make the Gleason a lively centerpiece in this new neighborhood. Towards the Square we propose to extend the fly tower with a performing arts center with various spaces for rehearsal and offering a visual connection to the public. Adjacent to the Jackie Gleason Theater sits the new Latin American Cultural Museum consisting of a base of public programs opening up on the square. The building form creates a covered shaded event space on the square blurring the transition between inside and outside.

© BIG

Today the Miami Beach City Hall is almost like a left over wedged between random neighbors surrounded by traffic. Our proposal places it rightly in the middle of the town square with amble space for public expression and at the heart of communal life. The Miami Beach City Hall and Botanical Ballroom book end the Square making it a natural extension of the civic activities of city hall. To the north the botanical ballroom opens up allowing for beautiful views of the botanical gardens and the memorial. The Ballroom has an entrance to the south and to the north allowing for seamless connectivity to the convention center – under the shade and shelter of the canopies.

© BIG

Rather than being the hermetic mono programmatic box that the Miami Beach Convention Center is today – a single program at the size of an urban block-  we propose to consider the Convention Center an actual urban block complete with different programs  – grown together to form a continuous architecture. A gradual transition from public to private – and from cultural to civic – conference to residential turns a stroll around the block into an experience of continuous variation. Along the entire west adjacent to the various gardens and the new square – the main entrances to the convention Center and Conference Center occupies the ground. The hotel lobby spans the entire south elevation in continuation of the Convention Center lobby. The Hotel façade as pulled back forming a cascade of terraces for the south facing hotel rooms – decreasing the perceived height seen from the Gleason.

© BIG

The Roof of the Convention Center is framed by a green roof drawing the outline of the urban block – framing the hotel gardens and the roof parking interspersed with shade giving landscapes. As a reoccurring annual event we propose to sponsor an art foundation that will deliver a roof art piece to cover the remaining roof surface turning it into a giant ever changing canvas seen from the air as well as the roof terrace of the hotel. An ever changing giant canvas that will annually challenge contemporary artists with an architectural scale canvas – seen from the roofs and penthouses of adjacent buildings, from airplanes and google earth.

“Realizing that a challenge that seemed to be driven by  two incompatible agendas was actually the opportunity – to create a convention center district that is not only for convention-goers but, more importantly, for residents.” Jack Portman, Portman Holdings and JPA

© BIG

Architects: BIG
Creative Director: Bjarke Ingels
Partners In Charge: Thomas Christoffersen, Kai-Uwe Bergmann
Project Team: Leon Rost (Project Leader), Romea Muryn, Blake Smith, Carolien Schippers, Doug Stechschulte, Chris Junkin, Choonghye Lee, Kenneth Amoah, Ivy Hume, David Dottelonde, Birk Daugaard, Christoffer Gotfredsen, Maya Shapova, Manon Gicquel, David Splitter
Development Team: Portman Holdings, CMC, Bal Harbor Shops, Cirque du Soleil
Design / Planning Team: BIG (master plan and architecture), West 8 (public realm), John Portman & Associates (hotel), Fentress (convention center), Revuelta Architects (local)
Consultant Team: Schwebke Shishkin (Civil), Plummer Associates (Traffic) , HDC Associates (Estimating, Scheduling), CMC Group Construction, Greenberg Traurig (Legal), Desimone (Structural), Space Syntax (Pedestrian Accessibility), MIT/Carlo Ratti Associati (Technology), Lead Pencil Studio (Art Consultation)
Pr / Marketing / Branding Team: Garber & Goodman (Public Relations), Cinnamon Associates (Public Relations)
Feasibility Team: Courtney Lord (Retail), BRC (Entertainment), Noell Consulting (Residential)
Financing Team: Piper Jaffray, Brookfield, HFF
Production Team: Squint Opera (Animation), MIR (Renderings), Kennedy Fabricators (Model)
Site Area: 52 acres
Photographs: BIG

Article Source
http://www.archdaily.com/372402/big-unveils-design-for-miami-beach-convention-center/

Sandy, Irene, Katrina… Hurricanes are fast becoming household names and have many people worried over the connection between extreme weather and the amount of greenhouse gases people are pumping into the atmosphere. No one can predict for sure what will happen decades or centuries from now as such gas concentrations increase. But scientists have a pretty good picture of what did happen in the past; greenhouses gases were released into the atmosphere in massive amounts at least once before—around 56 million years ago.

View of Bighorn Basin in Wyoming, showing the sediments which scientists drill through. Photo courtesy of Phillip Jardine.

Sixty million years ago the Earth was already at least a few degrees warmer than it is today. At that point, there was little or no ice at the poles, and alligators were probably swimming in areas where polar bears roam today. But 4 million years later (56 million years ago) the world was about to undergo major change—in an event called the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). During the PETM, massive amounts of greenhouse gases, probably in the form of methane that later oxidized to carbon dioxide, were spewed into atmosphere.

Scientists are still uncertain as to what had caused the release, but they do know that it happened in a short time period—probably a few thousand years. This CO2 explosion is similar to the one being produced by people now, which is why it is of such interest to scientists.

“The amount of carbon released in the PETM is thought to be similar to if we burn all of our fossil fuel reserves,” says Phillip Jardine, who is studying the effects of PETM on plants as part of the Bighorn Basin Coring Project (BBCP) in Wyoming.

Together with the massive carbon release, the PETM is marked by another distinct feature—a rise of 5-8 degrees Celsius in global temperatures, a rise scientists say would be catastrophic for human civilization today.

“The PETM is especially valuable to climate scientists to understand better how the climate system actually works, and especially how releasing carbon impacts on temperatures,” says Dr. Jardine. “The PETM studies have shown the link between the two very nicely, with rapid shifts in both the carbon cycle and global temperatures.”

Coring rig used to take samples of the PETM. Photo courtesy of Phillip Jardine.

So, instead of trying to predict what happens when massive amounts of CO2 are released into the atmosphere, scientists can look at the past and see what actually did happen.

The BBCP is a collaboration of 30 scientists around the world and aims to find new evidence about changes in the carbon cycle, climate, and plant life during the PETM. In August of 2011, scientists completed drilling for the project and extracted cores—columns of earth. Like the cross section of a layered cake, these 250-meter columns have colored bands of earth, which reveal the Earth’s history spanning hundreds of thousands of years. About 50 meters of the cores’ sediment was formed during the PETM.  Scientists are still analyzing data from the project. However, they do know that many plant types shifted their geographic ranges, sometimes by thousands of kilometers, in response to the massive climate changes of the period.

“Many of the plant types that were present during the late Paleocene (birches, walnuts, elms, bald cypress) either moved out or became rare during the PETM,” says Dr. Jardine. Seeking cooler temperatures, these plants probably migrated to higher latitudes. “We see movements to higher latitudes and that is consistent with an interval of global warming.”

Previous studies show that ocean temperatures also rose during this time—by as much as 8 degrees in some areas. Ocean waters also became more acidic and Bighorn Basin was frequently flooded by overflowing rivers.

The effects of massive carbon release are not limited to the past. If people continue to produce carbon dioxide at the current rate, in less than 300 years, the levels of CO2 could reach levels last present on Earth 50 million years ago. It took over 150,000 years for all that carbon dioxide to be reabsorbed and for Earth to return to pre-PETM conditions, a time scale which would be catastrophic for people.  “The PETM does show that the after effects can last far longer than the period of carbon release, and on a human time scale this could result in very different climatic conditions for many, many generations to come,” says Jardine.

Article Source

http://news.mongabay.com/2013/0123-freydlin-petm.html#gZysT1vS4uzFsrT2.99

During the ‘Two Sessions’ of the National People’s Congress in March 2013, “Green Architecture” was pronounced to be a central issue to be addressed by the relevant departments of the Chinese government. Subsequently, mandated topics like “sustainable construction”, “eco-footprint” and “clean energy” have become commonplace in the field of architecture.

In Hefei, the capital city of Anhui Province, the 57,000m2 Hefei Grand Theatre has attracted considerable attention from the public as one of the pioneers of green architecture.

The theatre is located near the Swan Lake, to the west of Huaining Road

The massive curved roof has been likened to waves, in the original design concept. This typically literal approach to design is normal, but what is new is the solar energy system inside the roof structure. To meet the energy-saving standard, solar panels with an area of approximately 1352 m2 have been installed to absorb solar energy, transfer it into electricity and help to maintain the temperature all-year round and save the cost of energy. Some data could prove the advantages as follow:

• The solar panel system has a design life of 30 years during which time it could generate 120,000 KWH annually. Meanwhile, it is said that a total of 3425 tonnes of CO2 might be reduced per year and the amount of SO2 produced could be 11.1 tonnes less than those estimated before the construction.
• Simply according to the data, the Hefei Grand Theatre solar system could be regarded as a success. The automatic system might not only save the cost of employing labour, but becomes an example of the much-vaunted green architecture construction as well.
• Nevertheless, could all buildings benefit from solar energy system nowadays? Probably not. It is quite doubtful whether the policy of green architecture could be widespread, especially when we consider the various functions and locations of buildings; with varying degrees of servicing required as well as the fluctuating availability of sunlight.

Firstly, it is said that solar energy is mostly abundant in locations between 50 degree south and north to the equator, which is regarded as tropical and sub-tropical areas. With latitude of 31 degree, solar energy is abundant in Hefei and can be harnessed to meet the requirements of the Grand Theatre. In the contrast, it could be quite difficult for areas like north Europe and Russia whose position is closer to the pole to receive sufficient, regular solar energy. Furthermore, solar energy systems could be much less efficient in areas with colder climates all-year round. However, the usual efficiency might not be as high as expected or required.

Monocrystalline silicon, polycrystalline silicon and building integrated photovoltaics are the three main types of solar panels that are currently the most frequently specified for use on buildings – but these panels actually have quite a low efficiency.

According to recent research, the maximum proportion of solar energy which could be converted to electrical energy by such a panel is 22% and this could only be achieved by monocrystalline silicon. However the cost of monocrystalline silicon panels is quite expensive and they are mostly applied on roofs. The other two kinds of solar panels are relatively cheaper, but their efficiency is considerably lower, only ranging from 10% to 12%. As a result, solar systems cannot be the sole source of energy.  To solve this problem, auxiliary tools like fossil fuels have to be used in some cases. It is quite fortunate for Hefei Grand Theatre that concerts and events usually take place in the evening. That is to say, most of the solar energy absorbed by the system is used at night only. However, the amount of energy required by buildings with other functions might become double or more.

Finally, one of the most important factors that might hinder the widespread use of solar energy system is the cost, especially the cost of installation. No matter, whether installing the solar system at home, or building a solar farm, the capital costs are quite high. Additionally, installing solar panels could cause large upfront fees, which requires clients effectively to agree to pay for the next few decades’ worth of power in advance. It could be another obstacle for solar promotion, particularly during a recession. This is one of the reasons that even Suntech Power Holdings, once the world’s biggest solar panel maker, is having a tough time. As a result, one megawatt hour of solar energy is estimated to cost twice as much as those conventional electricity costs.

To encourage the construction of green architecture, the Chinese government is offering considerable subsidies (even though these have recently been reduced to the solar manufacturing sector). But subsidies are nothing new. At the end of last year, the UK economy, for example, tripled its investment subsidy in green energy stating that spending on renewable energy generation will increase to 7.5billion UKP each year until 2020.

Undoubtedly, in the future, solar energy as a so-called “clean energy” source should be encouraged in practice, but it is not certain whether it is applicable or desirable everywhere. At the moment, for instance, the manufacturing capacity of China’s solar-panel industry grew tenfold – a global oversupply (or a global under-demand) – that is affecting trade relations. The Hefei Grand Theatre could be regarded as a successful example of where, and when, solar power has worked.

Article Source:

http://www.masterplanningthefuture.org/?p=1516

The SEEDClassroom is the world’s first portable, self-sustaining classroom to target Living Building Challenge certification—one of the world’s most rigorous building performance standards. Designed and built by Method Homes and the SEED Collaborative, the modular classroom prototype has been transported to a site in Seattle, WA, where it will be unveiled at the International Living Future unConference.

The portable classroom is designed to meet the 20 imperatives of the Living Building Challenge, an international sustainable building certification program known to be more rigorous than LEED and BREEAM, and requires a 12-month occupancy period before a building can be certified. The 900 square-foot prototype classroom meets all the requirements for becoming completely self-sustaining. It features a rainwater collection system which provides water to the labs and toilets as well as agriculture. The SEEDClassroom also filters and reuses greywater, and even has a composting toilet.

The classrooms come in various configurations and can be ordered and shipped inside the U.S. and western Canada.

The project was inspired by the SEED Collaborative’s previous work on the Bertschi School which was recently certified as the 4th Living Building in the world. The success of the 3,380-square-foot interactive school in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood inspired the team to try and bring the same to more students. The portable classroom will not only provide a green environment for the kids, but will also teach them about sustainability. The Collaborative has teamed up with the International Living Future Institute to create an integrated K-12 curriculum called the SEEDpacket which will combine science, technology, engineering, mathematics, social studies and art education.

Article Source

http://inhabitat.com/method-homes-and-seed-collaborative-to-unveil-completely-self-sufficient-portable-classroom/

Treating wastewater onsite can save owners money, but there are other good reasons too.

Living Machines and other types of constructed wetlands are beautiful, but they’re not ideal for every client. Onsite wastewater treatment might make sense for your next project, though, depending on factors like the site, the local infrastructure, and the owner’s mission.

Here’s a quick guide to figuring out when and where onsite wastewater treatment makes sense. For a deeper look at the topic, read this month’s EBN feature article, “Waste Water, Want Water” .

The Living Machine at Port of Portland features both indoor and outdoor plant beds for filtration.
Photo Credit: Eckert & Eckert, courtesy ZGF

Living Machines and other types of constructed wetlands are beautiful, but they’re not ideal for every client. Onsite wastewater treatment might make sense for your next project, though, depending on factors like the site, the local infrastructure, and the owner’s mission.

Here’s a quick guide to figuring out when and where onsite wastewater treatment makes sense. For a deeper look at the topic, read this month’s EBN feature article, “Waste Water, Want Water”.

Lower the flow first

Potable water has a massive energy footprint, even in water-rich areas. We don’t pay anything like the true cost of this nonrenewable resource, so most of us don’t think twice about polluting it just so we can make our own pee and poop go “away.”

Transporting and treating wastewater has energy and other environmental costs as well, but before you start doing the payback analysis on that membrane bioreactor, you first need to look at the water budget for the project holistically. What else can you do to reduce your use of potable water?

Don’t rule out composting toilets

They’re not for every client, but they do warrant consideration for almost every project. Composting toilets use very little or no water, depending on the model: this means that we avoid polluting potable water just so we can move human waste around.

A recent high-profile project questions our assumptions about where composting toilets make sense. The six-story Bullitt Center, under construction in Seattle and pursuing Living Building Challenge certification, is currently in the process of installing composting toilets.

These composters in the basement of the six-story Bullitt Center in Seattle will capture waste from all the building’s toilets. After high-heat aerobic processing breaks it down, the compost will be trucked to a nearby forest to amend the soil.
Photo Credit: John Stamets

Now consider onsite treatment

Maybe you’ve gotten all the potable water savings you can by rethinking your mechanical system and harvesting rainwater. Here are five cases in which onsite treatment and reuse should definitely be considered:

1. Remote sites and new developments—A remote site will have to be hooked into a municipal system, often at great expense. Many such sites simply opt for a septic field, but conventional septic systems are not always well managed, they don’t treat water for reuse, and they don’t do a good job of removing nutrients (typically overloading the groundwater with nitrogen and phosphorous instead). Increasingly, new suburban developments with low-flow fixtures also bump up the concentration of solids in the wastewater, creating conditions that centralized plants are not designed to handle. Decentralized treatment and reuse systems serving these new developments make a lot more sense.
2. Overtaxed municipal system—Although centralized systems can boast economies of scale, many are aging, leaky, and overtaxed, and older ones combine stormwater and wastewater, which can lead to “combined sewer overflow”—the release of raw sewage into waterways. Treating and reusing onsite makes your waste your own problem instead of everyone else’s.
3. Nutrient cycling— The aim of wastewater treatment is to protect us from exposure to disease pathogens. In the process, we remove nitrogen—and, more rarely, phosphorus—to reduce biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) before releasing effluent. These nutrients can damage ecosystems and are very much a part of the “problem” that wastewater treatment is “solving.” They are rarely viewed as a valuable resource. Natural onsite treatment systems can change that by returning nutrients slowly and safely to depleted soil, potentially repairing decades of damage.
4. Expensive sewer fees—Potable water remains remarkably inexpensive even in regions where it’s scarce, but municipal wastewater treatment can represent a major cost for commercial buildings in some places, potentially creating a business case for onsite treatment. Some cities may waive considerable sanitation hookup charges if owners choose to treat their water on the site, and ongoing sewer fees are also avoided. On the other hand, energy use will offset cost savings, as will system maintenance.
5. Education and research— One of the most compelling reasons to treat wastewater onsite is to educate building occupants, visitors, students, and professionals about freshwater scarcity and wastewater treatment. Natural onsite systems may include beautiful landscaping and water features. They also require frequent testing and provide research opportunities for students and scholars alike, and they can even serve as test beds, helping develop natural treatment methods that may someday work at the district or municipal scale.

Think bigger

The more expensive and energy-intensive your system is, the more it may make sense to rely on a centralized system’s economies of scale—particularly if the local infrastructure is reasonably sustainable. Since that’s not often the case in the U.S., though, many wastewater experts are advocating for larger decentralized systems.

Purple-pipe networks in Portland, Oregon, could help solve issues with combined sewer overflow.
Photo Credit: SERA Architects

Clark Brockman, AIA, principal at SERA Architects, has been working with his colleagues to get the City of Portland, Oregon, to rethink its systems and to get developers rethinking their neighborhood infrastructure—possibly even creating micro-utilities for sharing reclaimed water among multiple building owners.

Brockman recognizes that his scheme is “very specific to Portland,” but he encourages all architects to think bigger.

Article Source

http://www2.buildinggreen.com/blogs/5-reasons-consider-onsite-wastewater-treatment-your-next-project?utm_source=BuildingGreen.com+Mailing+List&utm_campaign=ba2c55276b-BGB_2013_02_042_4_2013&utm_medium=email&mc_cid=ba2c55276b&mc_eid=2a647052e3