Green Buildings in Charlotte

[uptownliving]

Some more info on the Discovery Place Green Roof from Pam Syfert:

It will be the City's first green roof. This is a practical application for energy and resource conservation and relates to the City's new focus area on the environment.

The Discovery Place Education Building roof needs to be replaced. This well known science center location was considered ideal for replacement with a green roof. A green roof consists of a regular roof membrane covered with a plant medium (3 inches of soil) and planted with vegetation specifically identified for this type roof. The roof will be divided into several areas to allow us to use different plant media and species to better identify plants that have the best chance of thriving. The plant material is low growth, low water, and low maintenance. Once the plants are established, staff does not anticipate maintenance cost to exceed that of a conventional roof.

The advantages of this roof system include a reduction in heat buildup in our heavily developed uptown urban area, reduction of storm water runoff, improved air quality, improved energy consumption in the facility and a projected longer life span than a regular roof covering. The City of Chicago is part of a U.S. EPA - Urban Heat Island Project study. Chicago's City Hall now has a green roof which has lowered roof surface temperature by as much as 70 degrees Fahrenheit. From a life cycle standpoint, the initial cost for this type roof is approximately 20% to 40% more than a standard roof. However, the life span of a green roof is estimated to be two times greater than a conventional roof due to protection from UV light and excessive heat.

It is the philosophy of Engineering and Property Management to identify opportunities for the use of all types of sustainable designs in the design, construction and maintenance of our City facilities. Staff identifies and tests energy efficient and sustainable designs to determine if further use of these designs is warranted from a cost savings and environmental benefit standpoint.

While it is relatively new technology in the United States, it is worth piloting this to learn first-hand in Charlotte the practicality of possible applications in the future.

[AuLukey]

At last, we'll have an uptown park along Tryon on satellite. I hope that more mid and lowrise structures incorporate this type of roofing all around the city.

[dubone]

Only 250k!?! I REALLY hope that for the flat section of the Nascar Hall of Fame and the Convention Center.

[fulcrumsf]

This is a cool concept being developed in Holland that will be the first sustainable night club called "Critical Mass". I would love to see some ground breaking ideas to come to Charlotte.

Video:

Website:

http://www.enviu.org/cm/cm_index_site.html

[uptownliving]

Just a point of clarification, The Green Roof is going on the Discovery Place Education building which is at the corner of 7th and Church. This is seperate from the main building.

[uptownliving]

The Green Roof at the Discovery Place is now complete. News14 did a nice story on it today.

Also here is a pic I took of it under construction a few weeks ago. If you go to the top of the parking deck you should be able to get an up close view.

[dubone]

PLEASE, City of Charlotte, and put a green roof on top of the Convention Center, and possibly the flat roofed section of the Nascar Hall. It can save them maintenance and cooling costs, and doesn't look terrible from the towers like the stones do.

[dubone]

The cost for this roof was $225k, but I guess the longevity makes up for the costs long term.

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/16044050.htm

[atlrvr]

Just a couple of items I wanted to mention on the "Green" front.

Possibly the coolest building in NC is currently under construction in Chapel Hill. It consists of a 9 story and a 6 story building for condos. It will be LEED Gold certified and is designed by renowned Green artchitect William McDonhough, using his "Cradle to Cradle" approach.

Greenbridge

There is a thread about Greenbridge on UP in the Triangle forum, where the developer has posted in the past. As far as it relates to this thread, I believe they are getting premium from buyers who want green, plus overwhelming demand.

In another topic, I just learned that Otis offers elevators from it's "Gen2" line which actually produce energy during their decent. I hope many developers are incorporating this new elevator system into their buildings, because this is the kind of technology that will really make a difference. It's not always about not usuing electricity, but it's making sure that no energy is going to waste.

Otis Gen2 elevators

[Miesian Corners]

MC here joined the Charlotte chapter of the US Green Building Council yesterday. Not sure what to expect, but I am hoping I'll get a "greener" education for my $25 fee.

[cltheel.sdl]

Just a couple of items I wanted to mention on the "Green" front.

Possibly the coolest building in NC is currently under construction in Chapel Hill. It consists of a 9 story and a 6 story building for condos. It will be LEED Gold certified and is designed by renowned Green artchitect William McDonhough, using his "Cradle to Cradle" approach.

Greenbridge

There is a thread about Greenbridge on UP in the Triangle forum, where the developer has posted in the past. As far as it relates to this thread, I believe they are getting premium from buyers who want green, plus overwhelming demand.

In another topic, I just learned that Otis offers elevators from it's "Gen2" line which actually produce energy during their decent. I hope many developers are incorporating this new elevator system into their buildings, because this is the kind of technology that will really make a difference. It's not always about not usuing electricity, but it's making sure that no energy is going to waste.

Otis Gen2 elevators

[atlrvr]

Hines will be renovating it's two Charlotte office tower properites (Carillon and Charlotte Plaza) to meet LEED standards.

[tozmervo]

I officially dislike LEED. Well, at least until LEED 2009 is released. There are buildings (including one I'm involved with...) that have no business getting awarded with LEED certification. So many clients and many consultants treat the system like they treat the International Building Code. That is, meeting the minimums is the goal. The worst part are the clients that think they're really making a difference by "point-hunting," when there are much bigger issues that the design is failing at.

/sorry, bad day. had to rant.

[monsoon]

I always thought LEED certification was more of a status item rather than something that represented common sense when it comes to energy efficient buildings.

[tozmervo]

One of the USGBC's major goals with LEED is to advance and accelerate the concepts and strategies of sustainable design and construction. In this I believe it has been successful. The point system, as infuriating as it can be, provides a simple, universal language that can be understood by the folks with money. IE, "this stuff will help you conserve water" and "this stuff will make your indoor air better" and so forth. LEED has had a *huge* impact on the building supply industry, especially interior finishes. Manufacturers are falling over themselves to pull VOCs, formaldehyde and other nasties out of their products and increasing the amount of recycled material (and recyclability) of their products. This is largely driven by the certifications and requirements for LEED credits.

But, as you put it, the current system lacks a lot of common sense. One of the things I do respect about the USGBC is that they are always actively soaking up input from the community and revising the system. I think LEED 2009 is going to eliminate LEED as "easy." Points are going to be weighted, so more significant strategies will reap more points. It will also implement, for the first time, regional strategy credits. Basically, local USGBC chapters will be in charge of naming 9 (i think its nine) credits in the system that are particularly important to a region. These credits will have opportunities for more points than they would otherwise. I'm interested to see what Charlotte's USGBC goes with. I would hope to see an emphasis on water efficiency, development density, and transit availability points, among others.

[atlrvr]

^ I agree on all point above....I just wanted to add that sometimes people do good things for the wrong reasons, and that's ok. Even if a lot of LEED certification is picking the low hanging fruit, its better to achieve some marginal effect than what was considered industry standard 5 years ago.

And as mentioned, as LEED will continue to evolve, continuing to rasie the bar. Once certain marginal increases become standard, then there is the incentive to push green design further. I guess I'm somewhat satisfied that at least some higher level of environmental responsibility is becoming the rule as opposed to the exception.

[monsoon]

The biggest way I have seen to cause this change to happen is to change the tax policy to encourage it. In the 1970s when the Carter administration gave big tax rebates on solar water heating systems for example, these things popped up on buildings all over Charlotte. Heating water is a substantial energy saver and if only a small percentage of buildings did this in town, the energy, carbon foot print, etc. savings would be far far in excess of what LEED proscribes. And you don't have to build a new building and pass a dubious test for it.

When these credits were allowed to expire under Reagan/Bush, these kinds of changes disappeared over the decades. What I don't like about LEED is that is being used 1. as a status symbol, and 2. puts the "thinking" in one set up hands which means the resulting solutions in many cases don't make much sense and end up solving the wrong problems.

[monsoon]

An update to the above. Hawaii because the first state in the country to sign into law a requirement that all new homes built in 2010 and beyond have solar water heating. Imagine the energy saved if we had such a requirement in Charlotte.

[BUILDIT]

the green culture instilled by the media is so brainwashing...

[BUILDIT]

An update to the above. Hawaii because the first state in the country to sign into law a requirement that all new homes built in 2010 and beyond have solar water heating. Imagine the energy saved if we had such a requirement in Charlotte.

[Andyc545]

I will add one more thing in here. I think its great when we are able to build in a more effecient, more responsible way. I dont think its great when it just becomes another scheme, but hey this is america, and thats the way it works. We should embrace technology and utilize it, however, requiring standards that drive up prices can be foolish for everyone. Like I said above, you can make the choice to live the "green" lifestyle, which is great, but those people who choose not to shouldnt be forced into it.

On another rant. Solar and Wind power are both great, but Coal will be king for quiet a while longer. Wind and solar could never meet the demands of this nation, whether or not we all were leed.

[monsoon]

imagine the additional costs to people who already are having trouble buying theyre home. I like to have a choice of where my energy comes from, if you feel compelled to get solar, go for it. The choice to me is something along the lines of being a vegetarian or carnivore. Its a choice, but one which does not need to be forced on the people.......

[Neo]

On another rant. Solar and Wind power are both great, but Coal will be king for quiet a while longer. Wind and solar could never meet the demands of this nation, whether or not we all were leed.

Never say never...wind may never fill anything more than a niche market but solar is rapidly increasing in efficiency and at the same time dropping in price. I'm with you on the government not forcing folks to use a certain power source, such as solar for example, but I'm all for the government subsidizing the cost of such a technology or offering a tax rebate for implementing such technologies in your home or business.

[Charlotte_native]

Could we also assume that if everyone in a large enough area were required to have solar heat their water that prices could become lower? Once enough of something is produced the costs can come down. Of all the things that could 'green' up a property, heating water is probably the least expensive and eliminates quite a bit of waste. Do we really need to keep 50 gallons of water hot all the time by using electricity or gas? Even if it isn't solar, on-demand hot water is much smarter than constantly keeping water hot that is only needed for very short periods for the average person.

[BUILDIT]

Completely agree with your statements but just curious to where you stand when the world is in danger because of people choosing to live environmentally unfriendly to the point that it has a neighborhood effect, kills of our nature, or has a worldwide effect all together? I'm not trying to sound like Mr. Hippie, I'm just curious to what point does something be a freedom of choice vs. that freedom infiltrating on others lives... (BTW- I don't have an answer for this, just recognizing a problem on both sides)