Recycle – Workplace

June 24, 2009 by carbonday
Filed under At Workplace

The Topic:

Reduce – Reuse- Recycle

To recycle means to process old, used items in order that the material can be used to make new products. Examples of things that are often recycled are glass, plastic, newspapers, aluminum cans, used motor oil, and batteries. Here, reduce refers to lessening the amount of items or resources that are consumed, using only the amount that is needed, and looking for alternatives that will lessen our use. And reuse means extending the ‘life’ or repurposing an item rather than discarding or throwing it away.

Recycling is the processes of collecting, processing, remanufacturing, and reusing materials instead of discarding them. This helps conserve raw materials and energy that manufacturers would otherwise use in producing new products. Recycling also reduces the amount of material going into landfills. Recycling helps lessen the pollution that may result from waste disposal. Reducing our consumption of materials and reducing the waste of materials also adds to the conservation of our resources.

Internet Consumer Recycling Guide

http://www.obviously.com/recycle/

This recycling guide provides a starting point for consumers in the USA and Canada searching the net for recycling information. The goal is to help make recycling so easy and automatic that it blends into the flow of everyday life.

Related Websites:

2) Consumer’s Handbook for Reducing Solid Waste from U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/reduce/catbook/index.htm

3) Eco-Speak: A User’s Guide to the Language of Recycling

http://environment.miningco.com/library/weekly/blcons4.htm

4) Trash Matcher from Imagination Factory

http://www.kid-at-art.com/htdoc/matchtmp.html

5) Waste Book (Online guide) http://www.recycle.mcmail.com/

6) Waste Facts from Project Integra http://www.integra.org.uk/facts/main.html

7) World’s Shortest Comprehensive Recycling Guide

http://www.obviously.com/recycle/guides/shortest.html

Recycle City from the Environmental Protection Agency

http://www.epa.gov/recyclecity/

Learn how recycling reduces waste and saves money. Find out where all the garbage goes. Also play the ‘Dumptown Game.’

Related Websites:

2) Ollie Recycles http://www.ollierecycles.com/

3) Roscoe’s Recycle Room http://www.recycleroom.org/html/launch.html

4) Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle from the Environmental Protection Agency

http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/muncpl/reduce.htm#recycle

5) Solid Waste and Recycling from King County Kids Web

http://www.metrokc.gov/dnr/kidsweb/solid_waste_main.htm

6) Quick Lesson in Recycling from Planet Pals

http://www.planetpals.com/EDrecyclethings/recycle_lesson.html

Virtual Recycling from Manitoba Product Stewardship Corporation

http://www.virtualrecycling.com/

This website provides recycling information and resources for teachers and students.

Related Websites:

2) EcoRecyle Victoria (Australia) http://www.ecorecycle.vic.gov.au/

3) Pennsylvania’s Recycling Page from the Department of Environmental Protection

http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/airwaste/wm/recycle/Recycle.htm

4) Why Do We Recycle? from the City of Phoenix, Arizona

http://www.ci.phoenix.az.us/GARBAGE/whyrecyc.html

Waste Reduction Tips from Vermont Clean State Initiative

http://www.anr.state.vt.us/dec/wastediv/csc/Waste.htm

Here you find tips for reducing waste at home, at work, and everywhere else.

Related Website:

2) Recycling Loop: Buying Recycled from GreenWorks (Download the video)

http://www.greenworks.tv/wastemanagement/recycling_loop.htm

Websites Related To Recycling

America Recycles Day

http://www.americarecyclesday.org/

This event day provides incentives to communities, large and small, to promote recycling in their community. Make the pledge to recycle, buy recycled products, and send a HenryCycle eCard on November 15.

Not-To-Be-Missed Section:

2) Proven Success – Stories from Schools and Community Groups

http://www.cancentral.com/success.htm

Anti-Recycling Myths by R.A. Denison and J.F. Ruston from Environmental Defense

http://www.environmentaldefense.org/article.cfm?ContentID=558&Page=1

Using ‘Recycling is Garbage’ as a case study, this paper examines the arguments made by the anti-recyclers, correcting factual errors and over-generalizations, offering additional data and perspective, and acknowledging the few kernels of truth in their arguments.

Related Websites:

2) Five Most Dangerous Myths About Recycling from Institute for Local Self-Reliance

http://www.grn.com/library/5myths.htm

3) Is Recycling a Waste? by Mark Fearer http://www.nexuspub.com/july97/recycle.htm

4) Recycling Is Garbage by J. Tierney http://www.nrdc.org/cities/recycling/recyc/appenda.asp

5) Talking Trash: Recycling is Under Attack by A. Horrigan and J. Motavalli from

Environmental Magazine http://www.emagazine.com/march-april_1997/0397feat1.html

6) Too Good To Throw Away from Natural Resources Defense Council

http://www.nrdc.org/cities/recycling/recyc/recyint.asp

Doing More At Work: Recycling Guide for Business from Greater Vancouver Regional District

http://www.gvrd.bc.ca/services/garbage/workplace/RGB/Recycling%20Guide%20For%20Business.html

This guide (pdf) helps to take a closer look at your recycling program, you can make it more efficient and cost-effective.

Related Websites:

2) Industrial Waste – Ideal Fertilizer? from The Why Files http://whyfiles.org/063recycle/toxic.html

3) Recycling Programs in the Workplace http://environment.about.com/library/weekly/blrcy1.htm

4) Reducing Waste in the Workplace http://www.moea.state.mn.us/campaign/workplace/

5) Smart Ideas on Recycling from The Why Files http://whyfiles.org/063recycle/good_idea.html

6) Workplace Recycling from Green Nature http://greennature.com/article.php?sid=11

7) Workplace Recycling Program http://www.carolina-regional.com/library/recycling.htm

Global Recycling Network

http://grn.com/

This is a mega-site site dedicated to recycling-related information.

Not-To-Be-Missed Section:

2) Recycling Educational Resources (Links-page) http://grn.com/library/educational.htm

Other Global Recycling Websites:

3) European Recycling and the Environment http://www.tecweb.com/recycle/eurorec.htm

4) Recycler’s World http://www.recycle.net/recycle/index.html

Recycling Position Paper by R. Grindel, C. Snover, and K. Hopkins

http://grn.com/library/position.htm

This 1997 article provides a general overview of recycling.

Other Online Articles On Recycling:

2) Cultural Economies of Waste by G. Hawkins, University of New South Wales

http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/projects/cep/knowledges/hawkins.html

Reducing Household Waste in Local Landfills by J.H. Lloyd from North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service

http://www.bae.ncsu.edu/bae/programs/extension/publicat/wqwm/he379.html

Learn about source reduction, one of many names for the idea of making responsible decisions that reduce the amount of household waste.

Related Website:

2) Reusing Kitchen and Laundry Products – Home Tips

http://environment.miningco.com/library/weekly/blrcy8.htm

Rotten Truth About Garbage from Association of Science-Technology Centers Inc. & Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service

http://www.astc.org/exhibitions/rotten/rthome.htm

This online exhibition takes an in-depth look at the complex issues surrounding municipal solid waste.

Related Websites:

2) Recycling’s Down in the Dumps by C.Welch from The Seattle Times

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/134390788_recycle14m.html

Recycling Materials

Automobile Recycling Alternatives: Why Not?

http://www.npcr.org/reports/npcr1057/npcr1057.html

This report addresses the current status of the automobile recycling industry, with a focus on the environmental and economic implications of developing technologies.

Related Websites:

2) Automobile Recycling from Georgia Tech Research Institute

http://www.srl.gatech.edu/education/Recycle/Overview.html

3) Car Recycling from Waste Watch http://www.wastewatch.org.uk/informtn/carrec.htm

4) Fiscal Incentive Aid Car Recycling from Massachusetts Institute of Technology

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/tt/1994/may04/36537.html

5) Myth of Automobile Battery Recycling by M. Cobbing and S. Divecha from

Greenpeace http://www.things.org/~jym/greenpeace/myth-of-battery-recycling.html

6) Steel–Driving Automobile Recycling Success

http://www.recycle-steel.org/cars/main.html

Battery Recycling

http://www.batteryrecycling.com/

Demand for batteries in the U.S. is projected to increase 5.8% every year through 2002. In 1998 there were over 3 billion industrial and household batteries sold in the United States alone. This demand for batteries will continue.

Related Websites:

2) Battery Council International http://www.batterycouncil.org/recycling.html

3) Battery Recycling from Waste Watch http://www.wastewatch.org.uk/informtn/batteries.htm

4) Recycle Your Rechargeable Batteries from Rechargeable Battery Recycling

Corporation http://www.rbrc.org/

Can Central Recycling from Can Manufacturers Institute

http://www.cancentral.com/environ4.htm

Cans are the most-often recycled packaging in America. Here you learn about recycling of steel and aluminum cans.

Related Websites:

2) Aluminum Can & Foil Recycling from Waste Watch

http://www.wastewatch.org.uk/informtn/alumin.htm

3) Aluminum Can Recycling from Alupro http://www.alupro.org.uk/

4) Aluminum Recycling from International Aluminum Institute

http://www.world-aluminium.org/environment/recycling/

5) Beverage Container Recycling: Reverse Vending Machines

http://environment.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa091000.htm

Composting from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/muncpl/compost.htm

Composting is the controlled decomposition of organic materials, such as leaves, grass, and food scraps, by microorganisms. The result of this decomposition process is compost, a crumbly, earthy-smelling, soil-like material.

Related Websites:

2) Backyard Composting from Earth 911

http://www.earth911.org/master.asp?s=lib&a=organics/composting/joy/comp_backyard.inc

3) Compost Resource Page http://www.oldgrowth.org/compost/

4) Composting from EcoRecycle http://www.ecorecycle.vic.gov.au/aboutus/infosheet_compost_a.asp

5) Composting and Earth Information Resources On The Web from Global Recycling

Network http://grn.com/library/compost.htm

6) Composting as Part of a Family Recycling Program http://environment.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa121700.htm

How Is Paper Recycled? from Paper University

http://www.tappi.org/paperu/all_about_paper/earth_answers/Recycle1.htm

Learn all about paper recycling and the environment.

Related Websites on Paper Recycling:

2) Marketing Used Paper from The Why Files http://whyfiles.org/063recycle/paper2.html

3) Paper from Environmental Systems of America

http://envirosystemsinc.com/paper.html

4) Paper Please http://www.afandpa.org/kids_educators/paper.cfm

5) Paper Recycling from Georgia-Pacific http://www.gp.com/EducationalinNature/topics/pr.html

6) Paper Recycling Trends in the United States

http://environment.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa022397.htm

7) Paper Recycling: Success With Corrugated Boxes

http://environment.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa021701a.htm

Paper Recycling’s Realities at The Why Files http://whyfiles.org/063recycle/paper.html

9) Recycled Paper: Plenty Available – Now Let’s Use It! by G. Gleason, S. Kinsella, & V.

Mills http://www.environmentaldefense.org/documents/1059_Kinsellapaper%20reprint.pdf

10) Recycling from the Pulp & Paper Information Centre

http://www.ppic.org.uk/htdocs/info/recycle/recycle.htm

11) Shopping for Recycled Paper http://www.ecomall.com/greenshopping/paper.htm

12) Treecycle Recycled Paper: Issues and Information http://treecycle.com/info.html

13) Why Recycle? from Paper University

http://www.tappi.org/paperu/all_about_paper/earth_answers/Whyrec1.htm

Paper or Plastic from the Film and Bag Federation

http://www.plasticbag.com/environmental/pop.html

Making a good choice for the environment is no longer as simple as knowing whether or not a product can be recycled. Recycling is just one of three very important factors to consider. See how plastic bags stack up in each of these areas: reduce, reuse, and recycle.

Related Websites:

2) How is Plastic Recycled? by V. Carrillo http://crystal.biol.csufresno.edu:8080/projects97/92.html

3) Plastic from Environmental Systems of America

http://envirosystemsinc.com/plastic.html

4) Plastics and Recycling from Plastics New Zealand Incorporated

http://www.plastics.org.nz/environment/recycle.htm

5) Plastics Identification Guyide from Spokane Solid Waste http://www.solidwaste.org/reccodes.htm

6) Plastics Recycling from EcoRecycle http://www.ecorecycle.vic.gov.au/aboutus/infosheet_plastic.asp

7) Plastics Recycling: A Consumer’s Perspective

http://environment.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa030898.htm

Plastics Resource from American Plastics Council http://www.plasticsresource.com/

Recycling from Glass Packaging Institute

http://www.gpi.org/Recycling.html

Ensuring a steady supply of recycled glass, or cullet, has become crucial to the industry’s success because using recycled glass reduces energy consumption, raw materials use, and wear and tear on machinery.

Related Websites:

2) British Glass http://www.recyclingglass.co.uk/

3) Glass Recycling http://www.aim-irl.com/greenguide/glass.htm

4) Glass Recycling from Newton’s Apple

http://www.eecs.umich.edu/mathscience/funexperiments/agesubject/lessons/newton/GlssRecycl.html

5) Glass Recycling http://www.britglass.co.uk/recycling/

Used Motor Oil Collection and Recycling from American Petroleum Institute

http://www.recycleoil.org/

Motor oil doesn’t wear out – it just gets dirty.

Related Websites:

2) Collecting Used Oil for Recycling/Reuse from Pennzoil Company and U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency

http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/cars/oilreuse/oilreuse.htm

3) Don’t Be a Dipstick! Recycle Used Oil http://www.state.tn.us/environment/dca/oil.htm

4) Used Motor Oil Recycling from City of Chicago

http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Environment/SolidWaste/UsedMotorOil.html

Websites For Teachers

All Wrapped Up (Grades 4-6)

http://www.epa.gov/grtlakes/seahome/housewaste/quiz/cornel13.htm

Packaging accounts for 10-15% (and sometimes more than 50%) of the cost of a product and approximately 1/3 of what goes into a family’s trash can.

Related Activity:

2) Packaging Project (Grades 7-12) http://www.epa.gov/grtlakes/seahome/housewaste/quiz/wisc2.htm

Aluminum Beverage Cans: The ABCs Environmental Education from Can Central

http://www.cancentral.com/canc/nontext/toc.htm

Here you find a guide for teachers that includes lesson plans, activities, and almost everything you will need for your unit on recycling.

Composting: A Great, Rotten Idea (Grades 7-9)

http://www.epa.gov/grtlakes/seahome/housewaste/quiz/cornel25.htm

When we mention “recycling,” we often think of recycling glass bottles, aluminum cans, and newspaper. But another 30% of the household garbage we throw out also can be recycled.

Eco-Marketing Project from Landmarks for Schools

http://www.landmark-project.com/eco-market/

Students working in teams of three or four, will develop ideas and appropriate prices for imaginative new products that they believe people of their age would buy and that contain at least 50% recycled materials.

Mini-landfills (Grades 4-6)

http://www.epa.gov/grtlakes/seahome/housewaste/quiz/wisc1.htm

The goal of this exercise is to look at several typical household items, determine whether they are made of renewable or nonrenewable resources and observe what happens when they are placed in a landfill.

Paper Recycling (Grades 4-5) from Georgia-Pacific

http://www.gp.com/EducationalinNature/teachers/pr.html

Here you find a guide for study topics and discussion related to recycling paper.

Recycling Lesson Plan

http://whyfiles.org/004antarctic/teacher4/recycling.html

This lesson contains lots of discussion and activity ideas.

Plants From Trash (Grades K-3)

http://www.epa.gov/grtlakes/seahome/housewaste/quiz/cornel10.htm

Nature is the best recycler. Some plants even ‘recycle’ themselves. New plants can grow from plant seeds, and in some cases, from parts of plants.

Used Motor Oil Recycling from Department of Environmental Protection, Pennsylvania

http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/enved/Rec_Lessons/motor.htm

Student will gain an awareness that used motor oil is a resource to be recycled rather than discarded. They will be able to identify locations where used motor oil may be recycled.

Waste Game Show

http://www.epa.gov/grtlakes/seahome/housewaste/quiz/miss1.htm

This exercise is two teams of one or more players and is played similar to the game show Jeopardy.

Tags:

Reduce Energy Use

June 24, 2009 by carbonday
Filed under At Workplace

Use Green Buildings

June 24, 2009 by carbonday
Filed under At Workplace

What does it mean to Build Green?

A green building, also known as a sustainable building, is a structure that is designed, built, renovated, operated, or reused in an ecological and resource-efficient manner. Green buildings are designed to meet certain objectives such as protecting occupant health; improving employee productivity; using energy, water, and other resources more efficiently; and reducing the overall impact to the environment.

What Are the Economics of Green Buildings?

A green building may cost more up front, but saves through lower operating costs over the life of the building. The green building approach applies a project life cycle cost analysis for determining the appropriate up-front expenditure. This analytical method calculates costs over the useful life of the asset.

These and other cost savings can only be fully realized when they are incorporated at the project’s conceptual design phase with the assistance of an integrated team of professionals. The integrated systems approach ensures that the building is designed as one system rather than a collection of stand-alone systems.

Some benefits, such as improving occupant health, comfort, productivity, reducing pollution and landfill waste are not easily quantified. Consequently, they are not adequately considered in cost analysis. For this reason, consider setting aside a small portion of the building budget to cover differential costs associated with less tangible green building benefits or to cover the cost of researching and analyzing green building options.

Even with a tight budget, many green building measures can be incorporated with minimal or zero increased up-front costs and they can yield enormous savings(Environmental Building News, 1999).

What Are the Best Elements of Green Buildings?

Below is a sampling of green building practices.

Preparing the site

Start by selecting a site well suited to take advantage of mass transit.
Protect and retain existing landscaping and natural features. Select plants that have low water and pesticide needs, and generate minimum plant trimmings. Use compost and mulches. This will save water and time.
Recycled content paving materials, furnishings, and mulches help close the recycling loop.

Energy Efficiency
Most buildings can reach energy efficiency levels far beyond California Title 24 standards, yet most only strive to meet the standard. It is reasonable to strive for 40 percent less energy than Title 24 standards. The following strategies contribute to this goal.

Passive design strategies can dramatically affect building energy performance. These measures include building shape and orientation, passive solar design, and the use of natural lighting.
Develop strategies to provide natural lighting. Studies have shown that it has a positive impact on productivity and well being.
Install high-efficiency lighting systems with advanced lighting controls. Include motion sensors tied to dimmable lighting controls. Task lighting reduces general overhead light levels.
Use a properly sized and energy-efficient heat/cooling system in conjunction with a thermally efficient building shell. Maximize light colors for roofing and wall finish materials; install high R-value wall and ceiling insulation; and use minimal glass on east and west exposures.
Minimize the electric loads from lighting, equipment, and appliances.
Consider alternative energy sources such as photovoltaics and fuel cells that are now available in new products and applications. Renewable energy sources provide a great symbol of emerging technologies for the future.
Computer modeling is an extremely useful tool in optimizing design of electrical and mechanical systems and the building shell.

Materials Efficiency

Select sustainable construction materials and products by evaluating several characteristics such as reused and recycled content, zero or low off gassing of harmful air emissions, zero or low toxicity, sustainably harvested materials, high recyclability, durability, longevity, and local production. Such products promote resource conservation and efficiency. Using recycled-content products also helps develop markets for recycled materials that are being diverted from California’s landfills, as mandated by the Integrated Waste Management Act.
Use dimensional planning and other material efficiency strategies. These strategies reduce the amount of building materials needed and cut construction costs. For example, design rooms on 4-foot multiples to conform to standard-sized wallboard and plywood sheets.
Reuse and recycle construction and demolition materials. For example, using inert demolition materials as a base course for a parking lot keeps materials out of landfills and costs less.
Require plans for managing materials through deconstruction, demolition, and construction.
Design with adequate space to facilitate recycling collection and to incorporate a solid waste management program that prevents waste generation.

Water Efficiency

Design for dual plumbing to use recycled water for toilet flushing or a gray water system that recovers rainwater or other nonpotable water for site irrigation.
Minimize wastewater by using ultra low-flush toilets, low-flow shower heads, and other water conserving fixtures.
Use recirculating systems for centralized hot water distribution.
Install point-of-use hot water heating systems for more distant locations.
Use a water budget approach that schedules irrigation using the California Irrigation Management Information System data for landscaping.
Meter the landscape separately from buildings. Use micro-irrigation (which excludes sprinklers and high-pressure sprayers) to supply water in nonturf areas.
Use state-of-the-art irrigation controllers and self-closing nozzles on hoses.

Occupant Health and Safety

Recent studies reveal that buildings with good overall environmental quality can reduce the rate of respiratory disease, allergy, asthma, sick building symptoms, and enhance worker performance. The potential financial benefits of improving indoor environments exceed costs by factor of 8 and 14 (Fisk and Rosenfeld, 1998).

Choose construction materials and interior finish products with zero or low emissions to improve indoor air quality. Many building materials and cleaning/maintenance products emit toxic gases, such as volatile organic compounds (VOC) and formaldehyde. These gases can have a detrimental impact on occupants’ health and productivity.

Provide adequate ventilation and a high-efficiency, in-duct filtration system. Heating and cooling systems that ensure adequate ventilation and proper filtration can have a dramatic and positive impact on indoor air quality.

Prevent indoor microbial contamination through selection of materials resistant to microbial growth, provide effective drainage from the roof and surrounding landscape, install adequate ventilation in bathrooms, allow proper drainage of air-conditioning coils, and design other building systems to control humidity.

Building Operation and Maintenance

Over time, building performance can be assured through measurement, adjustment, and upgrading. Proper maintenance ensures that a building continues to perform as designed and commissioned.

Steps to Ensure Success

Establish a vision that embraces sustainable principles and an integrated design approach.
Develop a clear statement of the project’s vision, goals, design criteria, and priorities.
Develop a project budget that covers green building measures. Allocate contingencies for additional research and analysis of specific options. Seek sponsorship or grant opportunities.
Seek advice of a design professional with green building experience.
Select a design and construction team that is committed to the project vision. Modify the RFQ/RFP selection process to ensure the contractors have appropriate qualifications to identify, select, and implement an integrated system of green building measures.
Develop a project schedule that allows for systems testing and commissioning.
Develop contract plans and specifications to ensure that the building design is at a suitable level of building performance.
Create effective incentives and oversight.

For More Information

California Integrated Waste Management Board Green Building Web site: www.ciwmb.ca.gov/GreenBuilding/. Includes the manual Designing With Vision: A Technical Manual For Material Choices In Sustainable Construction (Pub. #431-99-009). Hard copies are available from the publications clearinghouse at 1-800-CA-WASTE.
Sustainable Building Technical Manual, http://www.sustainable.doe.gov/freshstart/articles/ptipub.htm
A Guide to Irrigation Water Needs of Landscape Plants in California: www.dpla.water.ca.gov/urban/conservation/landscape/wucols/
Department of Health Services, Indoor Air Quality Web site: www.cal-iaq.org
U.S. Department of Energy Web site: www.sustainable.doe.gov/buildings/gbintro.shtml
Environmental Building News: www.buildinggreen.com/
U.S. Green Building Council Web site: www.usgbc.org

You may also order a hard copy of this publication from the catalog.

References

D.M. Roodman and N. Lenssen, A Building Revolution: How Ecology and Health Concerns are Transforming Construction, Worldwatch Paper 124, Worldwatch Institute, Washington, DC, March 1995, p. 5.
Environmental Building News, Building Green on a Budget, Vol 8, No. 5, May 1999, www.ebuild.com/Archives/Features/ Low_Cost/Low_Cost.html#General
William Fisk and Arthur Rosenfeld, Potential Nationwide Improvements in Productivity and Health From Better Indoor Environments, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, May 1998.

Retro-Fit Benefits:

To Owners and Tenants:

Lower Utility Bills
Healthier living and work environment
Reduced Maintenance Cost
Increase Properties Appreciation
Increase Resale Value
Beneficial Mortgage Programs

To Local Municipality:

Strengthen community programs
Demonstrate Environmental Leadership
Preservation of Local Quality of Life

To Builders:

Lower Waist Removal Cost
Reduce amount of use of materials
Increased Marketing potential

To the Environment:

Greenhouse Gas Reduction
Improved Water Quality
Improved Air Quality
Decreased Carbon Footprint

Steps to Success

Establish a vision that embraces sustainable principles and an integrated design approach.
Develop a clear statement of the project’s vision, goals, design criteria, and priorities.
Develop a project budget that covers green building measures. Allocate contingencies for additional research and analysis of specific options.
Seek sponsorship or grant opportunities.
Seek advice of our design professional with green building experience and implement schematic drawings.
Select a design/build team that is committed to the project vision. Modify the RFQ/RFP selection process to ensure the contractors have appropriate qualifications to identify, select, and implement an integrated system of green building measures.
Develop a project schedule that allows for systems testing and commissioning.
Develop contract plans and specifications to ensure that the building design is at a suitable level of building performance.
Create effective incentives and oversight.

Green building measures cannot achieve their goals unless they work as intended. Building commissioning includes testing and adjusting the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems to ensure that all equipment meets design criteria. It also includes instructing the staff on the operation and maintenance of equipment. Over time, building performance can be assured through measurement, adjustment, and upgrading. Proper maintenance ensures that a building continues to perform as designed and commissioned.

Green Applications
Solar Applications
Wind Turbines
Energy efficient low wattage lighting and lighting design
Radiant heat
Tank-less on demand water heaters
Geo-Thermal Heating
Green Construction Options
Recyclable countertops
Water efficient plumbing fixtures
High efficiency, Star Rated HVAC systems
Recyclable insulation
LOW VOC paint
Sustainable flooring systems
Energy Star rated appliances

Please Contact

Elliot Offenbach
800 W Huron Suite 4E
Chicago, IL 60642
Direct: 847-977-9929
ElliotO@CarbonDay.com

Tags:

At Home
• Save Energy
• Use Less Energy
• Reduce/Reuse/Recycle

At Workplace
• Use Green Buildings
• Reduce Energy Use
• Reduce/Reuse/Recycle

At School
• For Teachers
• Learn about Issues

• Two mature trees provide enough oxygen for a family of four.
• One acre of trees removes 2.6 tons of CO2 per year.
• About one third of the United States of America is covered by forests
• The average tree in an urban area has a life expectancy of only 8 years.
More ...