The First Facility Management Blog

For more than 20 years, Assistance League® of Las Vegas has promoted volunteerism, dedicated to meeting the needs of its community. Part of the National Assistance League®, the organization’s 292 volunteer members logged over 32,000 volunteer hours last year in support of philanthropic projects.

Access control, in support of the large volunteer staff and on-site retail facilities, is a constant and vital requirement for the organization. The League’s headquarters in Las Vegas, the Donald W. Reynolds Chapter Facility, had existed since its completion in October 1998 with traditional mechanical locks.

After experiencing several break-ins due to faulty locks at the facility, League management was desperate for a new access control solution. The organization went to a group organized by the Associated Locksmiths of America (ALOA) to research the cost of new locks for their facility. In conjunction with the ALOA Convention in Las Vegas, a cooperative organization comprising representatives from three concerns (Associated Locksmiths of America, OSI Security Devices, and ACE Locksmiths) was able to respond by donating a state-of-the-art access control solution for the Assistance League.

With a goal of providing greater security and access control to the Assistance League facility, 13 doors were installed with the high-tech Omnilock Wireless Access Management System. Donated by OSI Security Devices, Inc., the installed system replaced the League’s old lock system. The system uses HID Global’s proximity technology and incorporates programmed access cards, donated by HID Global. Additionally, several Von Duprin exit devices and associated installation time were donated by Security Lock Distributors and ACE Locksmiths of Las Vegas, providing additional resources for the installation. Hardware for the new system is valued between $15,000 to $18,000, with twice that amount given by locksmith installers in labor and installation costs.

The Assistance League facility is one of the nation’s first non-government commercial installations with Omnilock door locks. The lock system includes a battery-operated mechanism that can be used with HID proximity cards, a touch pad system, or both together, customized for each volunteer for heightened access control. In addition, a log of entrants into the building, forced entries, outages, and battery power are recorded by the software component of the system, providing increased access control intelligence to the League’s management. The entire system enables end users to log on to the system and run their access control application remotely.

“With a very worthy cause, and an opportunity to advance the training of ALOA members, it was not difficult to step up to the plate and donate the WAMS system for this project,” said Ron Siess, OSI Security Devices vice president of Business Development. “It was a very instructive day and The Assistance League of Las Vegas was very grateful to all who contributed to the project.”

“This looked like a perfect opportunity to launch off a new access control system,” said Jerry Newton, Ace Locksmiths’ CEO. “I like what they do and it’s great to see somebody trying to do some good.”

The ALOA-sponsored group helped to provide valuable assistance and an innovative security approach to this critical community organization. League funds that would have been spent on an access control system will now be reallocated to assist initiatives like Operation School Bell, providing clothing and school supplies to underprivileged children ages five to 15, increasing their incentive for attendance, academic performance, and self-esteem.

“To us, this is such a boon because the money we need is for the children,” Assistance League’s Margy Purdue-Johnson said.

About OSI Security Devices
OSI Security Devices, shortly after it’s founding in 1986, introduced one of the world’s first battery-operated stand-alone electro-mechanical locks. Built to stringent military and industrial specifications, Omnilocks have been successful in meeting the demands of government, university and industrial customers throughout the United States. Stand-alone reader/locks programmed by PDAs have solved difficult access control challenges in some of the toughest environments imaginable. OSI has now introduced WAMS, which stands for Wireless Access Management Solution. This system allows easy upgrades for their stand-alone systems and provides a full featured, software based system, which is totally wireless end to end. OSI is headquartered in Chula Vista, California. To learn more, please visit www.omnilock.com.

About HID Global
HID Global is a leading manufacturer in the access control industry, serving customers worldwide with proximity and contactless smart card technologies; central station managed access controllers; secure and custom card solutions; digital identity and photo card management software solutions; secure card issuance solutions; and RFID electromechanical cylinders. Headquartered in Irvine, California, HID Global operates international offices that support more than 100 countries and is an ASSA ABLOY Group company. To learn more, please visit www.hidcorp.com.

After more than a month of community feedback, jury deliberations, and public voting, the winner of Global Green and Brad Pitt’s ‘Sustainable Design Competition for New Orleans’ will be announced Thursday, August 31st during a press conference. During the announcement, Brad Pitt, Matt Petersen, and the other jury members will answer questions about the winning design, how the decision was made, and the benefits of rebuilding New Orleans in a sustainable manner.

The competition was conducted in two stages. In Stage 1, participants were asked to provide a sustainable urban design of a 1.25 acre site that focuses on a green, healthy multi family building with a community center and single family housing. Submissions were asked to achieve several sustainable design and green building goals, including net-zero energy goals (e.g., meeting all energy needs for buildings on the site through passive and active strategies).

In Stage II, finalists identified from the first round drew on their submissions from Stage I, working with local architects and community groups, to create a plan for selected areas in different neighborhoods of the city. They designed single-family housing and a community facility in the neighborhood.

Competitors were also challenged to develop innovative architectural and planning solutions that respect and draw from the rich design heritage of New Orleans while balancing sustainability and affordability.

The six finalists are:
Drew Lang Architects/Drew Lang - NYC, NY and New Orleans, LA
Brininstool and Lynch/Brad Lynch - Chicago, IL
Workshop APD/Matthew Berman and Andrew Kotchen - NYC, NY
Schwartz Architecture/Frederic Schwartz - NYC, NY
MetroStudio/Ken Gowland - New Orleans, LA
Eskew, Dumez and Ripple/Steve Dumez - New Orleans, LA

To view the finalists, click this link. (Please note that voting is closed.)

The competition is a central component of Global Green’s sustainable rebuilding initiative for New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, which began 10 days after the landfall of Hurricane Katrina. This competition intends to help jump start that process by presenting the city – and the nation – with a series of exciting and achievable proposals for sustainable architecture, climate friendly buildings, and green urbanism. Given the worsened impact from the storm due to coastal erosion and global warming, Global Green USA hopes to evoke designs that represent restorative design and climate neutral strategies.

Global Green USA - the American affiliate of President Gorbachev’s Green Cross International – was founded by Diane Meyer Simon in 1993. Its newly opened field office and green building resource center will serve as a focal point of green building expertise for New Orleans residents and is the face of its “Healthy Homes, Smart Neighborhoods” initiative whose Honorary National Task Force includes: Julian Bond, Gen. Wesley Clark, Leonardo DiCaprio, Morgan Freeman, Lee Hamilton, Pat Mitchell, and David Orr. Global Green USA has been a national leader in green building for affordable housing, schools, and communities for more than a decade and has influenced more than $20 billion dollars in green construction.

This Web Exclusive comes from Anchor Audio Inc.

In an effort to squeeze maximum utility out of minimal equipment outlay, budget-conscious schools, hotels, churches, and other facilities are increasingly turning to the portable public address system as an answer to the high cost of installing a fixed system in every room where sound or music might be required. This trend toward opting for a mobile PA system that most anyone can quickly set up and use can yield savings over the limitations imposed by a fixed system.

An outdoor amphitheater might require a sound system, another might be required in the auditorium, and yet another might be required in the gym. Further, classrooms and conference rooms have ever-increasing requirements for sound equipment. Permanent, installed sound systems for each of these locations would be cost prohibitive for most institutions; however, one or two shared portable systems could provide a solution at an affordable price.

In recent years, portable sound system technology has evolved to provide a serious alternative to installed sound systems. In many cases, a portable system will actually deliver clearer sound than an installed system because all of the components are designed to work together as a package. The amplifier, mixer, microphones and speakers are factory engineered to work together without distortion. In a permanent installation, the professional sound contractor attempts to achieve this balance of components with varying degrees of success.

“Today, sound systems are vital in the classroom,” says Summer Vyne, team supervisor with CCS Presentation Systems, of Scottsdale, AZ. “A great deal of content now is being delivered via CD from publishers, instead of books. A lot of the curriculum now has sound to it. Portable systems are the solution so teachers can share, as they may not have the funds for everybody to have one installed in the room.”

Vyne says, “the portable solution in a classroom averages $120 - $150, depending on the options. It would average $1000 plus for an installed solution, because you have to pay for 5 - 6 speakers in the ceiling to have the coverage, all the wiring, the amplification system, maybe a wireless microphone. Then, whatever they want to plug into it — a mixer, a DVD/VCR, or other components.”

Dave Johnson, acount executive with Troxell Communications, adds, “For a larger venue such as an auditorium, a portable system would run around $2,000 and a permanent system would be $13,000 and up,” he says.

The high cost of permanent systems comes from the separate components that must be purchased, including amplifiers, CD players, mixers, and speakers and the skilled labor to assemble and operate the system. But the portable systems are built to be all-inclusive of these components. “In most cases, different elements are already built in or listed as accessories,” says Johnson. “The packages also allow for expansion.”

Another factor which plays into economy is ease-of-use, as the majority of schools and such institutions don’t have on-staff sound engineers. “The installed systems get a lot more complex,” says Vyne. “They come with their own sound boards and equalizers. When you get into an installed system, you’re going to have a lot more buttons and it can be very intimidating for someone who doesn’t know a lot about sound. We usually have to train the users on them. The portable systems are pretty self-explanatory. They have a lot less adjustments on them.”

Johnson agrees. “With the higher-end hard-wired systems, we have an on-staff sound engineer we send out for free with the first use of the system to show them how to use it, and if need be he can be hired for subsequent performances” he says. “The portable systems are much more functional and much easier to train people to use. The buttons are labeled for an individual, not a high-end engineer. Everybody and their brother can just turn it on and get it rocking.”

The portable systems also carry another advantage for most users – there’s no installation involved. “We can almost direct-ship them to teachers and they or school personnel can easily set them up,” says Vyne.

“With hard-wired systems it takes installers and there’s labor involved,” she says. “Sometimes with schools it can be difficult, especially if they’re older. They have to spend a lot of time putting up conduit because they have hard ceilings and hard decks. The portable systems are made to be very easy and quick to set up, and very easy and quick to use. You just set it up and off you go.”

Portable sound systems provide an economical, flexible, reliable and easy-to-use alternative to installed sound system. They are becoming the product of choice for high quality public address in the institutional marketplace.

Things are looking up in New Orleans these days.

Literally.

With housing in short supply and federal rebuilding money pouring into the city, developers increasingly are proposing high-rise residential complexes in downtown New Orleans. Building up, they say, is efficient and makes it possible to open a large number of units quickly. And in post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans, high-rise proposals don’t seem to be meeting the same scrutiny and resistance they faced before the storm.

“Pre-Katrina, density was a dirty word around here,” said Yolanda Rodriguez, executive director of the City Planning Commission. “Post-Katrina, people are looking a lot different at density and where they want to go.”

About 2,200 new condo and apartment units in nine different projects have been proposed in downtown New Orleans. With the exception of the 400 that are part of the Trump International Hotel & Tower announced just days before Katrina hit, all the new units have been proposed since the hurricane.

The wave of new high-rise proposals, developers say, could become one of the biggest housing trends in post-Katrina New Orleans. The projects promise to more than double the number of downtown high-rise residential units from 2,100 now to 4,300.

A number of the projects involve the conversion of existing office buildings into residential complexes.

The 925 Common St. office building, for example, is being converted into 107 furnished corporate apartments. The long-dormant American Bank building on Carondelet Street will become 202 affordable apartments. And the former Plaza Tower office building on Howard Avenue is being converted into 197 condominiums.

Other projects call for completely new construction, such as the 270-foot residential tower proposed for the corner of Girod and O’Keefe, a 316-foot residential tower slated for the site of the old Woolworth’s building on Canal Street, and the massive new residential tower proposed by New York real estate magnate Donald Trump.

Doris Koo, senior executive vice president of Enterprise Community Investment Partners, a group that finds development opportunities that could qualify for low-income housing tax credits, said that under the right circumstances, high-rises are a smart — and quick — way to grow.

“Density with the right design respectful of the neighborhood character and the right income mix is a good and efficient way of restoring housing as quickly as possible in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast,” Koo said. “But I stress the three: the right income mix, the right social services (and) open areas.

“Particularly for the elderly, the groundswell in high-rises can provide opportunities for amenities that they will be very appreciative of,” ones that are hard to put into conventional two-story complexes, Koo said.

Reasons for interest

TWI Development LLC’s Anthony Iarocci III and Roth Walsh, who are developing a $50 million condo project on a Warehouse District lot bounded by Calliope, Annunciation and John Churchill Chase streets, both said there are several reasons for the spate of proposed high-rise residential living.

Among them are:

– Gulf Opportunity Zone Act incentives, especially increases in historic tax credits for conversion of buildings that are 50 or more years old.

With the increases, historic tax credits now can cover 20 percent to 26 percent of a project’s cost. The amount of low-income housing tax credits available in the state also has leaped as a result of the GO Zone — to $65 million this year, up from $8.5 million a year ago. And low-interest loans and grants available to developers in the wake of Katrina are helping with financing.

Iarocci and Walsh say their project will rely on conventional financing, but they are researching GO Zone regulations for potential financial help.

– The fact that both the Urban Land Institute and the American Institute of Architects have recommended upper-floor living on Canal Street and in vertical towers as the city’s footprint shrinks to stay within the confines of higher ground.

“There’s a reason Bienville settled the French Quarter where he did,” Walsh said.

– Updated construction codes, which mean that newly constructed buildings are better able to withstand wind and, as a result, better able to attract the city’s returning population.

Downtown structures built since 2000 fared better during Katrina than office towers built in the 1980s.

“The downtown of New Orleans needs to become more vertical,” said Marcel Wisznia, the architect and investor behind the conversion of the Saratoga building into 150 high-rent apartments. “It’s really the only thing to give comfort (to residents) and not have them run away every hurricane season.”

High-rise apartment units may be even more in demand than high-rise condos at the moment, Wisznia said. That’s because displaced residents need housing immediately and are more likely to gravitate toward apartments. Furthermore, the fact that buildings qualifying for historic tax credits must remain rentals for five years means developers are partial to building rental apartments as opposed to condos for sale.

A “high-rise” can be somewhat of a misnomer in New Orleans, Wisznia points out. In most cities, structures that are 20 stories or more qualify as high-rises, Wisznia said. But in New Orleans, with its penchant for two- and three-story 19th-century commercial corridors, a 12- to 15-story building is usually called a high-rise, though it pales in comparison to the 51-story One Shell Square building or the 700-foot proposed Trump tower.

Urban style

The wave of projects on the drawing board promises to change the face of New Orleans by introducing more urban living.

New Orleans has lagged the nation in vertical living, says Shaun Talbot of the Talbot Realty Group. The Warehouse District emerged following the 1984 World’s Fair. But outside of the French Quarter, downtown New Orleans still has only limited residential options.

Peter Trapolin, a preservationist who has served on the Historic District Landmarks Commission, said the new mid- and high-rise complexes give the city an opportunity to develop urban living options as well as accompanying neighborhood retail sites.

“It’s the density and urban living that makes an urban corridor work,” Trapolin said. “It’s the opportunity to build on high ground that is allowing urban planning ideas to build on these urban corridors.”

Stacy Head, newly elected Councilwoman from District B, where at least one of the projects is located, said she sees the trend, if done properly, as a way of creating a positive urban lifestyle that already exists in other cities.

Rodriguez, of the City Planning Commission, agrees that the return of urban living could be positive for the city.

“That’s a good thing,” said Rodriguez, who describes the rash of high-rise activity as the most since the hospitality sector boom in the early 1990s that led to such projects as the Lowes Hotel New Orleans and the Marriott Convention Center.

The Planning Commission is swamped with potential builders, architects and others researching potential projects, many with the expectation that tax credits and grants from the federal government may apply to their projects. The Planning Commission’s docket for zoning variances and project approvals is backed up to November, she said.

Keeping to scale

Support for the concept of urban living doesn’t mean all high-rise proposals will automatically skate by.

Pres Kabacoff, chairman of HRI Properties Inc., said that going vertical is a solid solution for the city. But he is adamant that high-rises abutting the historical area be in scale.

Kabacoff said he sticks by his decision to fight a plan in 2000 for a 400-foot Marriott Hotel at the site of the old Halpern Furniture factory on Convention Center Boulevard.

Preservationists and hotel developers, including Kabacoff, criticized the height of the project, which was located close to the Crescent City Connection. The developer eventually dropped the height to 250 feet, but the project stalled when the City Council allowed a height of no more than 183 feet.

Camille Strachan, attorney, preservationist and trustee emeritus of the National Trust of Historical Places, has never been known to keep quiet about projects that threaten the historic architectural fabric of the city.

“I guess the real question is whether or not there is a market to fill these (buildings) without draining the market from the historic fabric (buildings)” now, whether condos or rental property, she said.

It’s homes that are needed, and to date Strachan has not seen a high-rise proposal near a historical area that is out of scale.

While not supporting every project, Strachan said most of the deals so far fit the urbanism that so many cities have turned to in creating or recreating neighborhoods. New urbanism emphasizes pedestrian-friendly, neighborhood-like living.

“In general, I’m in favor of re-densification,” she said.

In 1960, when the city was at its peak population, it lived on the historic footprint of the city. “If that can be accomplished by vertical re-densification, well, the city was healthier then than it has been for a long time,” Strachan said. “I support getting people to live in New Orleans.”

Patty Gay, executive director of the Preservation Resource Center, said that while she has her concerns about the proposed 300-foot-plus height of the Woolworth’s project on Canal, she has no objections to some of the other new construction projects.

“Preservation benefits our city tremendously. When building new buildings, we need to make sure they relate and enhance rather than detract.

“There’s ways to make things work,” she said, asking that developers approach the PRC for its advice on new construction near historic areas.

This article was reproduced with permission from Greg Thomas of the Times-Picayune (New Orleans). Originally published June 11, 2006. Copyright 2006 The Times-Picayune Publishing Company. To contact Greg Thomas click here.

This piece was originally posted on FacilityBlog last November, but it has been so popular with readers that we have decided to re-run it here.

January 23, 2006 was the final implementation date of the EPA’s Arsenic Rule. Arsenic, a naturally occurring element in rocks and soil, air, plants, and animals is a slow poison that has been linked to numerous forms of cancer resulting from long-term exposure.

Public water systems providing water to more than 25 people on a daily basis will be required to meet the updated and more stringent rule which reduces acceptable arsenic levels from 50 parts per billion (ppb) to 10 ppb. Municipalities, managers, and business owners may be wondering what this new standard is, how this will affect their operations, where to go for testing, or how to make sure their systems are in compliance.

The EPA Arsenic Rule, as it has been referred to since published in the Federal Register on January 22, 2001 and adopted on February 22, 2002, is “an adjustment to the inorganic section of the Safe Drinking Water Act,” according to Carol McCurry, a Water Supply Specialist with the Wisconsin Bureau of Drinking Water and Ground Water. The Safe Drinking Water Act established in 1974 (and amended in 1986 and 1996), grants the Environmental Protection Agency the authority to set drinking water standards to control contaminant levels in drinking water.

The 1996 Amendments to the Safe Water Drinking Act require that several assessments be initially performed before the EPA can determine whether setting a new standard is appropriate for a particular contaminant. This evaluation includes such factors as the contaminant’s natural occurrence in the environment, human exposure and the risk of adverse health effects, analytical methods of detection, technical feasibility, and the impacts of the regulation itself. Due to the health risks associated with arsenic, the new drinking water standard was installed and January 23, 2006 was established as the date by which all systems must comply.

Those affected by the new standard are public water systems that provide water for human consumption through at least 15 service connections, or regularly serve at least 25 individuals or more. Additional water systems that will be monitored are community wells, such as municipalities, and non-community wells that are labeled as non-transient. This type of well classification is given to schools, for example, as the population is at the location of the water system on a regular basis. Private wells and non-community transient wells such as those at gas stations and restaurants where patrons are not at these establishments on a regular basis, will not be monitored for the new arsenic standard. However, the EPA and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recommend that these well users do perform annual testing for bacteria, nitrates and organic and inorganic compounds.

According to McCurry, regular testing is required and monitored by the DNR in each individual state. A typical testing cycle includes a three-year rotation where all municipalities are tested the first year, non-municipality entities the following year, and non-community non-transient firms the last year.

If a water system is found to be out of compliance, quarterly testing is required. If, over the course of the four quarterly tests, the average remains above the standard, the firm or business must take action to achieve compliance. If the initial test is high enough, the EPA or DNR may recommend that immediate action be taken to bring the system into compliance.

State-certified laboratories are the most qualified source for water testing. Do-it-yourself test kits are available on the market; however, these tests are not as accurate or concise as state-certified lab tests as indicated by McCurry.

Arsenic does not follow a specific pattern, which is one of the primary challenges of tracking arsenic in groundwater. Elevated levels of arsenic may be found in one well but not in a partner well located only 300 feet away. Further, a well that tests normal one day may test at an unacceptable level the next. Arsenic levels may change due to natural environmental actions or agricultural activities such as mining or smelting. Approximately 90% of the industrial arsenic in use is in the form of wood preservatives; however, arsenic is also used in soaps, metals, drugs, paints and dyes. These factors emphasize the need for regular testing and monitoring.

Several tests used to identify arsenic in drinking water include:
· Mass Spectrometry/Inductively Coupled Plasma
· Electro-Thermal Atomic Absorption Spectrometric Method
· Manual Hydride Generation/Atomic Absorption Spectrometric Method
· Silver Diethyldithiocarbamate Method

An example of elevated arsenic levels affecting public water systems recently occurred in Wisconsin’s Fox Valley area. The Neenah Joint School District learned arsenic levels in water from the well supplying the school system were increasing. The discovery surfaced following regularly scheduled testing.

These findings led to a decision by the school district to bring in bottled water to Clayton Elementary School while a new well was drilled. With a new well now in place, continuing two-week arsenic baseline samples are within the safe limits of both the current federal arsenic limits as well as the new, more stringent EPA Arsenic Rule guidelines.

Development in the area has drawn down the water table which allowed oxygen to enter the aquifer triggering chemical reactions that released arsenic into the groundwater. To eliminate the problem, a new casing was installed to seal off the upper aquifer.

While the EPA regulates public water systems, it does not have the authority to monitor private drinking wells. Approximately 15 percent of Americans rely on their own private drinking water supplies. Some local government agencies set regulations on these systems, but the private wells are not subject to EPA standards. Consequently, the EPA and DNR agencies highly recommend that private well owners follow a testing routine similar to that of public wells in order to maintain the highest quality drinking water.

For more information on facility management and arsenic, see “Keeping E-Waste Out Of The Landfill” by Anne Vazquez of Today’s Facility Manager.

The roofing industry has played an active role in developing interest in sustainable building design and construction. Single Ply Roofing Industry (SPRI) members support this initiative and have adopted a proactive approach to sustainable roof systems.

Although the industry has for nearly a decade embraced certain green design features, such as energy saving reflective surfaces and HCFC-free manufacturing techniques, the current level of interest has grown largely because of the formation of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and its popular Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System. Municipalities, trade groups, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are adopting similar green design guidelines. The USGBC attempts to focus on the whole building and its systems—energy consumption, water usage, occupant comfort and health, and building and component reuse.

Similarly, SPRI members define a sustainable roof system as one that provides a long service life, saves energy, uses natural resources efficiently, and preserves the quality of the global environment. Although energy efficiency and the attendant reduction in fossil fuel consumption are perhaps the most recognized and easily measured traits of sustainable buildings, life cycle performance is an equally important characteristic of a sustainable roof system.

Sustainable Roof Systems
A roof system consists of three and sometimes four basic components: structural roof deck, vapor/air retarder, thermal insulation, and waterproofing membrane. A sustainable roof system also consists of these basic components but additionally includes the environmental aspects of the design that affect the choice of components and their manufacturing processes, the installation procedures, evaluation of roof life expectancy factors, in-service performance and maintenance of the roof, and the reuse, recycle, or disposal of the components. Since roofing materials, according to Oak Ridge National Laboratories (ORNL), represent a significant percentage of the total solid waste discarded in landfills, reduced roof replacement, material recycling, and extended life cycles contribute to sustainable building goals.

In addition, research indicates a direct correlation between premature roof failures and “lowest first cost” design criteria, often the driving force behind the roof system selected for installation. Unfortunately, sustainable roof design strategies often run head-on into these “lowest first cost” design criteria. Many roofing professionals can show that the adoption of sustainable principles will result in longer lasting roof systems and, in turn, yield equal or greater savings than those promised by “lowest first cost” construction.

SPRI members have consistently focused on improving roof system performance characteristics, including durability, moisture control, and wind resistance. In addition to these sustainable attributes, some roof systems are reported to help reduce heat island effects and promote energy efficiency. However, just as there are multiple shades of the color green, SPRI members emphasize that the sustainability benefits of roof systems are made up of a variety of factors, including building and roof design, deck type, thermal insulation requirements, membrane type, color, thickness, composition, and method of installation.

Membrane Types
The three primary membrane types manufactured by SPRI members include Modified Bitumen, Thermoplastic, and Thermoset. Each type offers distinct sustainability characteristics. For example, modified bitumen membranes (SBS and APP) offer good resistance to aging, UV resistance, and flexibility in low temperatures. Current cold applied systems and emerging self-adhered (“peel and stick”) technologies reduce exposure to asphaltic fumes and job site VOC emissions. Similarly, Thermoplastic (TP) roofing membranes, which include PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride), TPO (Thermoplastic Polyolefin), and KEE (ketone ethylene ester), among others, are seamed on the roof using a heat welding or seam tape technology that is environmentally safe and effective. Although thermoplastic roof membranes can be manufactured in a variety of colors, they are usually white, providing high reflectivity, often cited for energy and heat island reduction. Thermosets, most notably EPDM, also are known for good life cycle costs, are available in a white membrane option, and have low environmental impact during installation.

Thermal Insulation
Regardless of the membrane type, SPRI members emphasize the importance of thermal insulation to reduce fossil fuel consumption and operating costs of the building. In addition to providing thermal resistance (R-value) to maximize energy efficiency, tapered roof insulation can also play an important role in the proper drainage of the roof, often cited as a key to roof system durability. For these reasons, most membrane manufacturers include rigid board insulation as part of their system and warranty. Other sustainable characteristics of roof insulation may include thermal stability, protection of the ozone layer, and reduction of global warming. Common roof insulation types include polyiso, expanded polystyrene, extruded polystyrene, perlite, and lightweight insulating concrete.

Sustainable Roof Design Choices
According to SPRI members, all single ply roof systems have sustainable attributes. Choosing among them is the design professional’s responsibility when specifying a sheet membrane roof system. These green attributes will assume a higher priority in a project seeking LEED certification or similar green design. Sheet membrane roof systems in general provide long service life, thereby resulting in an appealing life cycle cost, the leading factor in sustainability. Operating costs related to energy use are most affected by decisions regarding insulation and are usually driven by cost-benefit analysis and code compliance.

After these basic choices have been made, the designer must consider recycled content of materials, location of manufacture to construction site, recycling potential, as well as membrane reflectance and emittance. These latter features help to define a “Cool Roof” and may be required as part of a certification process or legislative requirement. For example, some products offered by SPRI members qualify for the EPA’s Energy Star label, which certifies that a product meets certain energy-efficiency guidelines and indicates the EPA’s belief that certified products help reduce the air conditioning needed in buildings and may reduce peak cooling demand by 10 to 15 percent. Based on these assumptions, white reflective roof systems with added insulation provide significant cooling cost reductions.

SPRI members caution that it might be easy to assume that only light-colored materials reflect sunlight and are therefore cooler than dark colored materials. However, some darker roofing materials’ surfacing and chemistry provide high reflectance performance. In addition, research is currently being conducted by SPRI and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to determine the reflectivity of ballast on single ply membranes.

Based on this work so far, ballasted single ply systems may also assist in reducing membrane temperatures and hold promise as an emerging cool roof system. Similarly, garden roofs are also considered cool roofs although their reflectivity is well below the required minimum to meet certain specifications. The combination of soil and plant life on these roofs helps to reduce heat island effect, clean pollutants from urban air, reduce energy use, and reduce storm water runoff. “You can get a cool roof in almost any material you might be considering,” says Andre Desjarlais, group leader in the Building Envelope Research Program, Oak Ridge National Laboratory. SPRI members also caution that potential savings associated with reflective roofs depend on variables such as climate, materials, insulation, and regional energy prices.

Conclusion
The integration of “Green” into project specifications requires some extra effort and begins by defining green project design criteria. Green specifications derived from this effort can provide value to stakeholders by providing written instructions and documentation requirements for green designs that address healthier work environments, energy and resource conservation, recycling programs, and overall environmental stewardship. Equally important, the specifications should also address the life cycle of the building from concept to deconstruction.

Determining the sustainability of building products or assemblies is a complex process, and no less so is green specification development. Bringing some order to this process requires greater understanding and additional education of the building team. Through organizations like SPRI, the building team can gain useful information that leads toward some clarity in the green design process.

SPRI members believe that becoming better environmental stewards requires constant, unwavering, and unending attention. The challenge facing the building team, however, remains overcoming “lowest first cost” design and construction criteria and replacing that approach with sustainable design criteria based on life cycle performance. SPRI and its individual member companies remain committed in their support of that goal and believe that environmental stewardship is everyone’s responsibility.

Kimberly-Clark Filtration Products has added to its Filtering Out Confusion series of educational pamphlets. The series is designed to help HVAC and facilities management professionals better understand how to get the most out of their HVAC air filtration systems. There are four new educational pieces in the series, which are available for free download at www.kcfiltration.com.

The four new pamphlets cover a variety of aspects.

“IAQ and Employee Productivity: A Guide to Understanding the Real Costs of Poor Indoor Air Quality” discusses the health effects of poor indoor air quality (IAQ) and the role of HVAC air filtration in achieving good IAQ. It provides statistics on the cost to businesses of the absenteeism that can result from poor IAQ and suggests ways to market the advantages of a building with superior IAQ.

“Energy Efficiency: A Guide to Reducing HVAC Energy Costs” explains the role that air filters play in the energy used by HVAC systems and offers recommendations for reducing HVAC energy costs by applying filter lifecycle costs to the filter selection process. The Guide notes that switching to a lower pressure drop HVAC filter is one of the easiest changes for facilities to make in an effort to reduce energy costs.

“Green Buildings: A Guide to Understanding the Role of HVAC in LEED® Certification” focuses on two main tenets of Green Building programs such as LEED – IAQ and energy efficiency – and describes how an HVAC air filtration system affects both. It provides recommendations for selecting air filters to meet Green Building criteria and offers a checklist of LEED-EB prerequisites and credits that may be obtained by following the proper HVAC air filtration strategy.

“Panels to Pleats: A Guide to Upgrading Your Filtration System” reviews problems associated with panel filters (often called “throw-away” filters) – a pre-WWII filter technology still being used today by many commercial and institutional buildings. It details the IAQ and operational shortcomings of panel filters and explains how these problems can be overcome by upgrading to pleated filters.

The four new pieces join two earlier pieces in the Filtering Out Confusion series:
A Guide to Understanding HVAC Filter Selection and A Guide to Understanding HVAC Filter Maintenance.

To receive free copies of any pamphlet in the Kimberly-Clark Filtration Products Filtering Out Confusion series, facility professionals can send an email with name, title, company/affiliation, and mailing address to filtration_media@kcc.com. To download copies of the pamphlets, visit the Resource Center at www.kcfiltration.com, and click on Educational Resources.

One year ago, Keesler Air Force Base, located in Biloxi, MS, and home of the 81st Training Wing, sustained a direct hit from Hurricane Katrina. The base’s industrial and housing areas sustained drastic damage.

Due to a storm surge, roughly 50% of the base was submerged under water. The commissary, base exchange, and some of the housing units were flooded with more than six feet of water. By August 31st, however, relief flights were landing at the base. And today, it is once again fully operational.

The damage to the base cost an astounding $950 million. Most of this covers physical assets. The most costly areas include military family housing, costing $313 million, and medical facilities, which ran $66.3 million for restoration with an additional $25 million for a central energy plant.

Operation Dragon Comeback, named for the military outfit’s mascot, is the recovery effort that encompassed community outreach, people, and assets. When Katrina destroyed 1,067 of 1,820 military family housing units, the largest military housing project in history was launched.

Both the base exchange and commissary were flooded by the storm surge. Both will be rebuilt on higher ground. A temporary commisary has been open in the former Keesler Community Center since September 29, 2005. A new, 106,000 square foot permanent facility will eventually replace it. A new post office and recreational facilities are also being planned.

Incredibly, training, the main mission of the area, never fully ceased. By September 12, 2005, the dormitories were habitable, and on August 21, 2006, the last student whose initial skill training was interrupted by the storm returned to Biloxi.

Keesler has also raised nearly $500,000 to assist 3.115 of its military and civilian victims through the Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund. The base’s military, civilian employees, and family members have performed more than 600 humanitarian missions along the coast and have put in almost 56,000 hours. This time has been spent on rescue missions, cleanup, home repairs, and construction.

Scroll down to see the recently announced sub-committee members…

The Green Building Initiative™ (GBI), which oversees the Green Globes™ building rating system, is currently seeking experts in a variety of building science disciplines to work to establish this rating system as an American National Standard. For this process, seven technical sub-committees will be formed in the following areas:
* Project Management: Policies and Practices
* Site
* Energy
* Water
* Resources: Building Materials and Solid Waste
* Emissions and Effluents
* Indoor Environment

In late May, the GBI American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standard development committee held its first general meeting in Arlington, VA. The 30-member committee is comprised of a balance of users, producers, and interested third parties from a variety of organizations and corporations including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, American Institute of Architects, Sustainable Buildings Industry Council, and the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. The committee is chaired by Wayne Trusty of the Athena Institute; Thomas Taylor of Vertegy, an Alberici Enterprise, serves as vice-chair.

At the meeting in May, the committee established a timeline to complete the ANSI process for Green Globes by the end of 2007. It also agreed to establish a variety of sub-committees that will be responsible for each of the seven areas of assessment within the Green Globes system. The individual sub-committees will be comprised of members from the standards development committee, as well as individuals with expertise in those particular areas who are interested in participating in the process.

“We’re very proud of the caliber of individuals on the standards development committee,” said Trusty. “But we’re also pleased to have the opportunity to bring in additional, specific experts in a broad range of related disciplines to help us establish the best standard possible.”

Individuals with related expertise in any of these areas, or who are otherwise interested in the ANSI process, are encouraged to apply for spots on any of the sub-committees by visiting the “commercial” page of the GBI Web site at www.thegbi.org and clicking on the “technical committee” link. Applications will be accepted through August 1, 2006.

On the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s devastating sweep across the Gulf Coast, new housing alternatives are giving a second chance to the displaced or temporarily homeless.

A “Katrina Cottage” is a dignified alternative to the FEMA trailer. It is small permanent house, which is safe, affordable, and can be assembled quickly. Architect and planner Andres Duany developed the concept for the Katrina Cottage just after Hurricane Katrina in response to the overwhelming need for emergency housing along the Gulf Coast.

Since it’s debut at the 2006 International Builders Show in Orlando, FL, Katrina Cottage 1, the 308 square foot cottage, designed by Marianne Cusato, has attracted nationwide attention. This idea, born out of the tragedy of our nations worst natural disaster, has brought hope to thousands and has reached well beyond the emergency housing market. From affordable and elderly housing, to resorts and vacation homes, the cottages have struck a cord in the hearts of Americans. Katrina Cottages are safe and durable. They are engineered to withstand at least 140 mph winds and can be constructed with wood framing, steel framing or prefabricated foam-insulated panels, and are finished with fiber cement siding and a metal roof.

Several designers are working together to develop a series of Katrina Cottages, which range in size from 300 square feet to 1200 square feet. Within this range of sizes designs vary to meet a wide range of needs and requirements. The cottages can also become the first component of a larger house.

Another purpose for these homes includes temporary housing during construction after a disaster such as a hurricane. They can also be moved to new sites or converted to rental properties.

Katrina Cottages are safe and durable. They are engineered to withstand at least 140 mph winds and can be constructed with wood framing, steel framing or prefabricated foam-insulated panels, and are finished with fiber cement siding and a metal roof.