More new products from Greenbuild! This week we introduce you to some water-saving fixtures, recycled content products, a residential rainscreen system, and hemp insulation.

A couple weeks after Greenbuild, and we are still looking at products from a productive show.

Major manufacturers have the budgets for large exhibits on the expo floor to show off their latest offerings. I always enjoy these "booths" because the products are usually well tested and ready for market, but if you want to glimpse some of the real innovators in the industry, it is also worth touring the outer perimeter, where the smaller vendors set up shop.

Water savings from Toto, Kohler, and Delta

Toto was well represented at Greenbuild, as always, and among its many products was its DuoFit In-Wall Tank System. This is a dual-flush toilet that uses either 0.9 or 1.6 gallons per flush. But what is interesting here is that the tank fits between the studs in the wall cavity behind the toilet, even with 2x4 construction. The rim height can be adjusted between 15 and 19 inches.

To prevent any chance of leaks, there are no seams or connections below the water line, and if the fill or flush valve should ever leak, it does so back into the bowl. This bowl has an "upscale look" without the tank, but those extra nine or so inches of bathroom space would make this a good choice for retrofit projects or small bathrooms. Toto also had its one-pint urinal, available with the company's Ecopower Flush Valve, which uses hydropower to keep its internal battery charged

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The IGCC is designed to implement green building on a massive scale--not to replace LEED.

It's pretty exciting that local and state governments throughout the U.S. are leaping to adopt the International Green Construction Code (IGCC) before the code is even completed. That says a lot.

But as I sat down for Allan Bilka's talk about the code at the AIA Convention last week, one of his first comments said a lot too: "I think we're very far in any of these documents from producing a building that is truly sustainable." Ouch.

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Greening our existing building stock has taken new prominence recently, both as the green building community grapples with the general economic slowdown along with the new construction slowdown, and as we get more real about what it will take for the building sector to slash our carbon emissions.

If you're coming to the AIA convention in San Francisco April 29 – May 2, I want to invite you to a workshop I"m involved that will provide a great opportunity to discuss these issues and learn from each other.

The session, "Sustaining the Existing Building Stock: The Greatest Challenge of Architecture 2030," is described in the convention program as follows:

7.5 LUs-Intermediate Level

The imperatives of Architecture 2030 demand that the environmental footprint of the existing building stock profoundly be transformed. Four steps are required for that transformation to occur: shifting from simply a green building to a restorative paradigm, assessing the full and true value of existing resources, establishing life-cycle protocols that accurately address building performance, and adopting the most effective tools and technologies. Learn how sustainability begins with conservation of existing resources.

Learning objectives:

• Evaluate existing building resources for their economic, cultural, and environmental value
• Compile specific data, methods, and techniques from compelling examples of successful sustainable stewardship projects
• Recognize the best practices of sustainable stewardship, including principles, methodologies, tools, and technologies

Speakers: Tristan Roberts, LEED AP; Jean C. Carroon, FAIA; Ralph DiNola, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP; Carl Elefante, AIA, LEED AP; Donald R. Horn, AIA, LEED AP; and Christina Roach, AIA, LEED AP

Provider: AIA Historic Resources Committee, AIA Committee on the Environment

Wednesday, 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., $310

All of the speakers, who are experts on existing building rehabilitation, particularly on historic buildings, will be presenting a ton of material on practical issues as well as bigger picture things to think about. I am planning to present results of my current research on the most cost-effective green retrofits.

I'm told the session is filling up -- as you're registering for AIA, please consider joining us.

Image note: Located in Lansing, Michigan, this is the first building to earn Platinum ratings in both the LEED for Core and Shell and the LEED for Commercial Interiors rating systems. It's also an historic rehab.

In some of the posts I wrote during the recent AIA convention, I was coming down pretty hard on "credit-chasers" in the ranks. (AIA members are required to earn 18 "learning unit" hours annually, with at least eight about health, safety, and/or welfare.)

The conferences I typically attend are smaller and more focused than the AIA behemoth, and the people who come to them are eager to wring out every bit of information from the sessions that they can. At AIA, on the other hand, people began streaming out of most of the sessions I attended as soon as it was clear that the presentation was nearly over. Not done, but getting there.

There were a couple exceptions, and others from BuildingGreen attended sessions where most of the room stayed put through the duration.

On the way back to Vermont, after the conference, I had a conversation with Nadav about it. He was much more understanding — and/or more forgiving — than me.

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I have a huge amount of appreciation and respect for (and some jealousy of) people plying artisan trades, and had a couple good conversations with AIA'08 exhibitors offering that sort of thing.

The John Canning Painting & Conservation Studios goes beyond artisan; check out the featured projects on their website. In my capacity as poster boy for the A Little Knowledge Club, we chatted a bit about lime plaster and mortar while I stood in awe of their portfolio. And I threw some banal chatter at the patient folks staffing the booth for the Stained Glass Association of America, the members of which also provide amazing, timeless, world-class work.

When my cathedral needs repair, these are the people I'm calling.

But the highlight of the conference exhibition hall, for me, was Hugh Lofting Timber Framing.

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Michael Wentz being interviewed after the presentation

BuildingGreen was given a nice shout-out in the introductory remarks, described as "one of the most important partners over the years" of the Top Ten awards, with special thanks given to Michael Wentz for his extensive assistance.

COTE has ten measure of sustainability that it considers:

1. Sustainable design intent & innovation: Sustainable design is an inherent aspect of design excellence. Projects should express sustainable design concepts and intentions, and take advantage of innovative programming opportunities.
2. Regional community design / connectivity: Sustainable design values the unique cultural and natural character of a given region.
3. Land use & site ecology: Sustainable design protects and benefits ecosystems, watersheds, and wildlife habitat in the presence of human development.
4. Bioclimatic design: Sustainable design conserves resources and maximizes comfort through design adaptations to site-specific and regional climate conditions.
5. Light & air: Sustainable design creates comfortable interior environments that provide daylight, views, and fresh air.
6. Water cycle: Sustainable design conserves water and protects and improves water quality.
7. Energy flows & energy future: Sustainable design conserves energy and resources and reduces the carbon footprint while improving building performance and comfort. Sustainable design anticipates future energy sources and needs.
8. Materials & construction: Sustainable design includes the informed selection of materials and products to reduce product-cycle environmental impacts, improve performance, and optimize occupant health and comfort.
9. Long life & loose fit: Sustainable design seeks to enhance and increase ecological, social, and economic values over time.
10. Collective wisdom & feedback loops: Sustainable design strategies and best practices evolve over time through documented performance and shared knowledge of lessons learned.

While each of the ten projects excelled at more than one of these attributes, they were each presented in conjunction with one measure. The award winners are not ranked.

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"I kinda liked the expo this year. There seemed to be a lot of stuff." —a guy to another guy

A piece of it. Just a piece.

A foundation of the Society for Design Administration (SDA), Canstruction is a design/build competition currently held in cities throughout North America. Teams of architects, engineers, and students mentored by these professionals, compete to design and build giant structures made entirely from full cans of food.

The results are displayed to the public as magnificent sculpture exhibits in each city where a competition is held. At the close of the exhibitions all of the canned food used in the structures is donated to local food banks for distribution to emergency feeding programs that include pantries, soup kitchens, elderly and day care centers.

Since its inception, ten million pounds of food has been donated to aid in the fight against hunger. Initiated by the Denver, Seattle and New York Chapters of the SDA in 1992/93, Canstruction now has over one hundred individual competitions scheduled to take place during the 2007-2008 cycle.

Design and Construction Industry professional associations that have partnered with the SDA in organizing local competitions include the American Institute of Architects, the Society for Marketing Professional Services and the International Interior Design Association.

Check out the stunning photo/video archive.

"Using case studies of recent high performance architecture, this session will identify key strategies required to increase sustainable methods to achieve zero carbon goals by the year 2030. The case studies examine design strategies and processes for the next generation of sustainable architecture, going beyond current best practices through synergistic approaches to bioclimatic site design, envelope, energy optimization, daylighting, passive and active systems, and materials." Presented by Terri Meyer Boake and Mary Guzowski; provided by the Society of Building Science Educators.

So... much... important... stuff...

So... much... common sense...

There were entirely too many open seats — but nearly the entire audience was paying rapt attention. It felt like a real victory. Just eighteen credit-chasers left during the summary slide. I counted. True to form, during Q&A, the room cleared — but the exodus started comparatively late.

Listen. There's no way I can do this presentation justice, so I'm not going to try. Forgive me. Download the slide presentation. Look at the information from COTE at the AIA website; scroll down, follow the links.

It's better for you this way.

Nadav Malin and Scot Horst offered up a great, head-twisting presentation about product certifications called "It's Certified Green But What Does That Mean?" to about 500 people. It covered all the territory in the EBN feature "Behind the Logos: Understanding Green Product Certifications" and more.

There may have been some misunderstanding on the part of some attendees who only read the title, however, and not the program description: It sounded like it might have been about LEED certification rather than product certification. And the amount of information to process, even though they presented it in an engaging, conversational style, was voluminous — especially for the abject novice — bringing to light individual certification program histories, inconsistencies, and limitations in what was probably about the simplest way to do it, which was nonetheless hard to digest. Additionally, the sound in the conference center rooms is pingy, with a pronounced slapback echo.

I say these things mostly to give the benefit of the doubt where it might be deserved. I outlined my theory about a largely disinterested AIA membership merely pursuing the required continuing education credits in the last two paragraphs of the "Legally Green" post. The same thing happened at this session: four-fifths fled when Q&A started. It's that remaining one-fifth that are the leaders of the (near) future.

^ shortly after the session began

^ immediately after Q&A began

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