What is missing in LEED?

The LEED Rating System has been a great stepping stone for the building industry to move towards “sustainability”. Within the past few years the USGBC has witnessed the largest growth in its organization and membership. Like some critics say the USGBC may have been in the right place at the right time. It is fair to say however that the use of USGBC standards has helped the industry and the building market move towards more environmentally friendly design and construction, and it deserves better days yet.

The major question is “what is missing in LEED?” Fortunately the USGBC has created chapter organizations in different states and is seeking “regional credit” comments from them in the direction of improving their standards. It is a great idea to have some flexibility in different regions according to resources, climate changes, historical content, etc. But is the LEED Rating System missing major items on the national level? Let us look at the following possible credit additions to LEED:

Life Cycle Assessment
Durability: How could we be “sustainable” and not consider the life a building? Is it the same if a building lasts 30 years versus 100 years? In building A with three times longer life the consumed “material and labor” and the “waste generated” need to be divided by three and then compared to building B with 1/3 of the life expectency. Therefore when we factor “durability” out of a “green standard” we are comparing “apples” to “oranges”.

Repair and Maintenance: Is it “sustainable” if we have an exterior building material that requires painting every five to ten years and yet it only lasts 30 years? Would it not be more “sustainable” if we have a building exterior that lasts over 100 years without the need for any major repair and/or maintenance?

Passive Heating, Cooling, and Lighting: Every design professional would agree that building orientation and location of windows could help reduce the energy consumption of a building by up to 30% and yet this factor is not considered in LEED. There are other passive strategies such as the use of natural ventilation, evaporative cooling, microclimate improvements, radiant heating, etc. It would be logical to add credits step-wise according to the percentage of energy savings due to passive heating, cooling and lighting.

Embodied Energy and Embodied Water: There are materials such as metal that take a great volume of resource to produce. In “aluminum” for instance about 12% of the extracted ore results into building material and the rest goes to landfill. The energy it takes to extract metals out of the ore is very high as well. It therefore makes it very energy intensive to use metal as a building material. In recycling steel not only high levels of energy is required, but also most steel is shipped to China to be recycled. It takes energy to transfer steel waste to China and to bring the steel building product back to the US. This energy use makes “steel recycling” questionable.
Most “rapidly renewable materials” such as “bamboo flooring” are also far transported material coming from Oriental Countries. In the case of “rapidly grown timber” there is a good volume of “embodied water” and “embodied energy” to produce the wood. Non-existence of the embodied energy and embodied water calculation has resulted in our shallow judgment for choosing “sustainable building materials” in some cases.

Retiring Carbon Credits
The building owner today sells his alternative energy credit to utility companies to get some rebates. The utility companies use the consumers’ carbon credits to burn more polluting coal which is a cheaper fuel for energy production. In other words utility companies need to keep their pollution cap fixed and when they buy people’s renewable energy credits they can burn more coal and keep the same cap. The consumer’s effort to use clean energy is therefore offset by more profit for the electric companies. To help really clean the air the USGBC can add “carbon credit retirement” as a condition for the owner to obtain LEED alternative energy credits.

Social Equity Credits
Since a “sustainable” project needs to be economically, environmentally and socially feasible it would be nice to add some LEED credits for “social equity”. If a project owner or contractor is ready to favor women, minority, and small businesses they could be encouraged by getting some positive credits. If they offer health insurance to the construction workers, or buy building materials from plants that offer group health insurance to their employees they should be able to earn credits. We could also give credits to the owners that are ready to donate building materials or cash to good causes such as “Habitat for Humanity”. These and other social credits could be a driving force towards creating a better society.
Let us hope that we can all contribute to a “greener” livable world where our children will feel safe.

Residential News Continues to be Bad

News about the recession and its impacts on the residential construction market continues to be bad. Here's an article from the Rocky Mountain News about the fall in home construction in Denver http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/26/metro-home-building-dives/. This article from Colorado Biz outlines the impacts further, specifically on Robinson Brick http://www.cobizmag.com/articles.asp?id=2037&page=1
The good news is that all indicators predict the residential market will recover and be booming by 2010 or 2011.

Feds raise fines 25% for hiring of illegals

This story is from the Associated Press
The government says it will raise by 25 percent the fines it will levy against employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants.
Attorney General Michael Mukasey and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced the increase, which is the first boost in fines in nearly a decade.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the federal agency responsible for investigating illegal hirings, has stepped up enforcement of the employer sanctions law in the past year, leading to a dozen major busts. Fines range from $2,000 to $10,000. The agency says some penalties could include at least six months in jail.

A Virtual Bricklayer Competition on Second Life

On 2/19/08 a weekly event at New Citizens Inc. will celebrate two years running. It is a ‘Blitz’ building contest, 8 to 9 pm SLT Sunday nights, where any Second Life (www. secondlife.com) resident over 90 days can enter and build to a theme using 40 prims or less in 40 minutes or less. Winners are judged by the audience and awarded cash prizes, normally $L300, $L200, $L100 for First, Second and Third, from New Citizens inc. The event held on 2/17/08 had a larger purse due to donors at the event. Through the generosity of the winner, Flea Bussy, all 5 contestants entered received cash prizes totaling $L2,850. Builds Sunday night, on the theme of “Carnival” included a Kiddie carousel, a frog float, a Ring the bell strength test, a dunking booth and a human/avatar cannon. An experienced contestant, Toady Nakamura, winner of the contest twice in January, says, ” I think it is the most fun thing I do in Second Life. NCI is one of the most active educational groups inworld.” The host of the event, Heiko Decatur, says, “Oldbie and Newbie blitz building run once a week each and anyone is welcome. For me, the most interesting thing is seeing the newbies progress in their skills from week to week” NCI Event Coordinator, Gramma Fiddlesticks, told me, “We hold a similar event on Monday evenings at the same location , Oldbie Show and Tell. This event gives people the opportunity to display and talk about, some inworld content creation they have made. There is audience voting and prizes awarded in a similar manner as the blitz-building contest. I am constantly amazed by how quickly some can come up with ideas for something and get it out there in the blitz events.” NCI’s first event was a Newbie Show & Tell in May 2005. An 3rd year anniversary event is planned for April 24th. Builders, newbies, anyone wanting to learn, visit NCI http://slurl.com/secondlife/Kuula/54/175/29. Their slate has nearly 60 classes and events about building, making clothes, working an Animation Overrider, Land ownership and much more. from CNN's Jim Sella for iReports.

Another recipie - cooking with bricks

Here's a tasty roast beef sandwich, cooked with the help of two bricks:

Combine in a small bowl and allow to sit for at least 30 minutes in a refrigerator:
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 TBS Brown or Whole Grain Mustard
1 tsp White Wine vinegar
2 tsp Capers
2 TBS finely chopped fresh parsely
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp fresh ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Spread the sauce on the bottom half of a round loaf of bread, which has been cut in half horizontally.

Layer 4 slices of Swiss cheese, thinly sliced tomatoes, thinly sliced roast beef, and lettuce over the sauce. Season the lettuce with salt and pepper, place the top of the bread over the lettuce and wrap the sandwich in foil. Place the sandwich on a baking sheet and place another baking sheet on top with two bricks on it. Bake 15 minutes.

Stepping up to the Plate

A recent survey of Employers in Adams County, Colorado, found that 60% of employers are dissatisfied with the job skills of potential employees coming out of the public schools. But only 16% of those dissatisfied employers are willing to work with the schools to change the problem. It's certainly affirmation for us that we are stepping up to the plate and doing the job others won't. The Rocky Mountain Masonry Institute worked with the Adams County Education Consortium for more than a year to develop an apprentice training program that articulates from the public high schools (as a vo-tech program) to the community college (as an associates degree). The program just started its second semester and demand was so great that we had to double the number of sections offered and the college had to hire a second instructor. We talked with a high school guidance counselor today who said she has another 30 students who want to enroll in the program in the fall. Here's a link to an article in today's New York Times about what a difference a college degree can make as the gap grows between the wealthy and the poor and middle class http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/20/us/20mobility.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

Q. Which flashing is best?

A. We like to give generic advice whenever possible but I do have some preferences. Do NOT use any flashing with vinyl in it. The high pH of wet mortar eats holes in vinyl. This eliminates any PVC flashing products from my recommended list. According to Architectural Graphics Standards, mortar is also corrosive to pure aluminum and pure zinc. Alloys with these materials do not seem to have trouble with corrosion. I recommend metal flashings only for the longest lasting buildings (like cathedrals and university buildings). Although the metal flashing is slightly more expensive than flexible flashings, the time required to cut it, fold it and weld it accounts for the real price jump between flexible flashings and metal ones. Flexible bitumen flashings are my personal favorite for Colorado’s climate. The material is cost effective, easy to
work with, long lasting and tolerant of the high pH of mortar. The tar coating will
even self-heal small holes and cracks once the sun comes out and heats the wall.
The manufacturers tell you to peel off the backing and install the flashing sticky-side down on a clean, dry substrate. You must also hold the flashing back 1/2” from the face of the wall so that the sun doesn’t melt the tar and have it drip down the face
of the building. If you want the flashing to continue to the face of the wall, you can either pair the bitumen flashing with a 1” wide galvanized metal drip edge or you can use Hyload flexible flashing, a bitumen-based flexible flashing system that comes with an integral drip edge. Go to their web site at www.hyloadflashing.com to see more.

Talking about Granite

On Wednesday, Feb. 20, the Building Stone Institute is bringing a team of people from across the nation to talk about Granite. Topics at the day-long class include Sustainable Buildings Using Masonry to Maximize LEED Credits, Quarrying and Fabrication, Granite Testing and Evaulating Existing Stone Buildings, Installation, Care and Maintennance of Granite; and Common Problems and Solutions.
Granite has been quarried for thousands of years and is the most durable of the natural stones. Successful Granite projects require a close collaboration between the designers and the craftsmen involved in quarrying, fabrication and construction.
The class is presented by the Building Stone Institute, contact them at http://www.buildingstoneinstitute.org/education.html if you want to register last-minute for the course. There are a handful of seats still available.

Going national with LEED

Shahnaz Jaffari, RMMI's Technical Assistant, has served on the US Greenbuilding Council's West Region Council for the past year. This week, she was notified that she has been appointed to the National Regionalism Task Force. This task force is charged with looking at all the proposed changes to the LEED rating system and making recommendations to the LEED Steering Committee on how to give regional credits.
This is the first time USGBC is considering regional differences in LEED and it is groundbreaking for a representative of a small regional trade association to be named to the national task force. Shahnaz holds a master's degree in Construction Management, is a UCD graduate student of architecture and is a former owner of an architectural firm in Iran.
On top of everything else she's doing, she's working on finishing her thesis this spring.

Q. What is the proper way to judge a masonry wall?

Q. What is the proper way to judge a masonry wall?
A. Aesthetic ConcernsBoth the Brick Industry Association (BIA) and the National Concrete Masonry Association (NCMA) recommend that you judge a finished masonry wall from a
distance of 20 feet under diffused lighting conditions. You should be standing directly in front of the wall, not sighting down the edge of it. These requirements are an extrapolation of the ASTM standards governing acceptable quality of brick and block. The standard asks for diffused lighting conditions because edge-lit exposure
magnifies imperfections in any flat wall system (stucco, precast, masonry or metal panels). You are asked to stand 20 feet away from the wall so that you will view the wall as a whole, not placing extreme emphasis on each brick, block or mortar joint.
Any imperfections that show up from this distance are significant enough to make it
to the punch list. You can also use a mock-up panel as a standard for judging the finished masonry work. A mock-up panel should be erected at the beginning of the project. It should be at least 4 feet by 4 feet in size and should include all the
different masonry materials that will be included in the final building. We recommend that the panel be built exactly as the final wall will be built, with insulation, wall anchors, weep holes and a least one corner. For an accurate test of the proposed cleaning methods prescribed for the building, you need to clean the mock-up panel with the same method which will be used to clean the whole building. The mock-up panel is a three-dimensional representation of an agreement between the owner,
the architect, the general contractor and the mason contractor. This is the point
where they officially work out the level of craftsmanship and appearance that will be acceptable in the final wall. A mock-up panel is considered to be part of the project documentation and is as legally enforceable as the drawings or the specifications.
The mock-up panel should remain in place until the owner finally accepts the project.
If necessary, you can move the panel but do not throw it away.
Structural ConcernsACI 530.1 defines the tolerances allowed in masonry construction. It describes sizes
of mortar joints, allowable deviation from plumb, level and flat construction and allowable deviations from intended placement of masonry walls and piers. The standards listed under ACI 503.1 are more concerned with structural integrity of the building than with aesthetics.
Water PenetrationIf you have cracks or bee holes in the mortar joints that are large enough to let wind-driven water into the wall, you need to ask the mason contractor to repair them. Cracks larger than .014” are large enough to need replacement. Cracks smaller than .014” are considered to be “hairline cracks”. You can ignore them. Obviously,
reviewing masonry construction for cracks needs to be done with a crack gauge held next to the wall surface. Mortar joints with large cracks must be ground out and repointed. The repointed joints may not match the rest of the wall for months,
perhaps even as long as a year.

Proposed Changes to the LEED System

The Rocky Mountain Masonry Institute is hosting a panel discussion on Proposed Changes to the US Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) System from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 13. The panel discussion will be held at 686 Mariposa St. Denver, CO 80204.

Proposed Changes to the LEED System
This panel discussion includes six individuals who have been instrumental in drafting the West Region Council’s proposed changes to LEED, and is moderated by RMMI Technical Assistant Shahnaz Jaffari, who chaired the Regional LEED Credit Task Force for Colorado. The West Region is one of eight regions which submitted proposed changes to the national LEED Steering Committee that developed the LEED Rating System.
The panelists include Josh Radoff, AIA, USGBC Colorado Chapter board member and principal with YRG Sustainability Consultants; Frederick Andreas, AIA, LEED AP, executive on many AIA committees and principal architect with Unit Design Studio and assistant professor adjunct at the University of Colorado-Boulder College of Architecture; Erin Braunstein, AIA, LEED AP, senior associate with Barker Rinker Seacat Architecture; Julie Edwards, AIA, LEED AP, of Oz Architecture; Mark Pitterle, PhD candidate at University of Colorado Denver, an ecological engineer with Symbiotic Engineering; and Mark Reiner, PhD, PE, PG, LEED AP, projects director for Engineers Without Borders – USA and adjunct faculty at the University of Colorado at Denver Health Sciences Center.
Moderator Shahnaz Jaffari, LEED AP, holds a master's degree in Construction Management, is a UCD graduate student of architecture and is a former owner of an architectural firm in Iran. She serves on the US Green Building West Region Council and chairs the Regional LEED Credit Task Force. She is in charge of the Rocky Mountain Masonry Institute’s members-only technical section of the Web site and also handles technical questions from architects, engineers and masons.
The LEED System promotes green building practices and sustainable design through evaluating the energy savings, water savings, indoor air quality and sustainable management of facilities. Many governments are requiring that buildings constructed with public funds be LEED certified, in addition to most private sector developers and designers adopting the LEED standards.
Advance registration is not required, although a courtesy RSVP would be appreciated 303-893-3838 or admin@rmmi.org.

OSHA inspections & violations are up

According to our lawyer friends at Sherman & Howard, OSHA enforcement stayed strong in 2007 and is expected to remain steady in 2008. OSHA reported a slight increase in the number of inspections over the last year: 39,324 compared to 38,579 in 2006, but the total number of violations cited in 2007, (88,846) increased from the previous year (83,913). "Serious" violations cited by OSHA were up 9% in 2007. However, the number of "willful" classifications decreased from 479 to 415.In all, OSHA proposed over $91 million in penalties during FY 2007. "Mega-penalty" cases are down from years past. Topping the list, Cintas Corp. in Oklahoma was cited for $2.78 million in penalties, principally for Lockout/tagout violations, followed by Bath Iron Works in Maine with penalties of $441,500.
The top violations cited by OSHA in 2007 were:
1926.501(b)(13) Residential Fall Protection
1910.1200(e)(1) HazCom/General Industry
1926.501(b)(1) Fall Protection
1926.100(a) Head Protection
1926.453(b)(2)(v) Aerial Lifts/Body Belts and Lanyards
1926.451(g)(1) Scaffolds/Fall Protection
1910.212(a)(1) Machine Guarding
1926.503(a)(1) Fall Protection/Training Program
1926.1053(b)(1) Ladders/Portable Ladder Use
Section 5(a)(1) General Duty Clause

Another use for Masonry

Grilled Chicken "Under a Brick"

The chicken in this recipie from Dr. Mark Hyman's Ultra Metabolism Cookbook is pressed and cooked under a brick. Two bricks, individually wrapped in aluminum foil, make the best heavy weight for pressing the chicken.

1 (3 to 3 1/2 lb ) whole chicken, backbone removed and flattened
3 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbs fresh lemon juice
2 tsp minced garlic (2 medium cloves)
2 tsp chopped thyme
2 tsp chopped rosemary
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
Lemon wedges for garnish

Place the chicken in a shallow dish
In a small bowl, combine the extra-virgin olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, thyme, rosemary, red pepper flakes, and salt. Pour the marinade over the chicken. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or overnight, turning the chicken in the marinade at least once. Longer marinating will produce more intense flavor.
Heat an outdoor grill, indoor grill pan, or a large cast-iron skillet to medium-high.
Remove the chicken from the marinade. Place it on the grill or in the pan, skin side down. Weigh the chicken down with two bricks wrapped in aluminum foil placed on a baking sheet. Cook over medium heat for 20 minutes. Turn the chicken and continue to cook for about 20 more minutes, until the outside is brown and crisp and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the chicken reads 170-degrees F.
Remove from the grill and cover loosely with foil. Allow the chicken to rest for 10 to 15 minutes. Cut the chicken into pieces and serve with lemon wedges.

Find more about the Ultrametabolism Cookbook at www.ultrawellness.com
Find more about conventional uses for masonry at www.rmmi.org

Trying to make it stick

Career Fair season is upon us. Last week we did our first high school career fair of the year, and it went well. The bravest of the teenagers were willing to get their hands dirty and butter a bit of lime putty on a few bricks. Tomorrow is our first elementary school career fair of the year. While the teenagers stand back and avoid, the younger kids push and jostle for position to get their hands dirty. While we use frosting and minibricks with the younger ones, they get the same concept as the older ones with the real materials. It's a trick to get information to stick with kids at a career fair, but hands-on certainly seems to help. Many teachers have told us that most kids know they can work at a fast-food restaurant, but most don't know they can build one - and for much higher wages. There's nothing quite like seeing that lightbulb go on over a kid's head to make the effort of a career fair worthwhile. Especially when you are doing four dozen of them in just a few months.