Green Products: Trends & Innovations

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The World's Largest Green Building Saves Water

At Pittsburgh's 1.5 million square foot, David L. Lawrence Convention Center, the largest certified green building in the world, Rafael Vinoly Architects employed natural ventilation, daylighting and sensors for both light and air quality. David L. Lawrence also boasts a water reclamation system that reduces potable water use by more than 75 percent.

Skylights and engineered glass curtain walls are glazed with ultra-clear glass and newly-formulated coatings to admit natural light to 75 percent of the center's exhibition space. Zero-VOC, low-odor, Green Seal-certified interior paints contributed to LEED ratings.

Overall energy savings at the center, which received Gold LEED certification in 2003, have proven to be about 35 percent over traditionally constructed convention centers.

The center employs a graywater system that recycles water for use in toilets and urinals. Water is conditioned by an aerobic digestion and sub-micron filtration system, and a final step of ultraviolet light treatment that produces an effluent that is odorless and colorless.

The system recycles 50 percent of the center's water and saves an estimated 6.4 million gallons of water annually. Pulse-powered treatment of cooling tower water to eliminate bacteria without chemicals saves an additional 1.8 million gallons of water each year.

Sloan created the water conservation position Allen now occupies in 2003, partly in response to demands for greener products. "LEED registrants are pushing conservation further and further. We have a very aggressive development program for new products to meet that demand," Allen says.

On that list are automated "solar" faucets that draw their energy from fluorescent lights; highly efficient, "pressure-assist," one-gallon toilets that a Landsdale, Pa. hotel developer says saves nearly 565,000 gallons of water annually; rainwater catchment systems to reduce potable water consumption and dual-flush toilets−common in Europe, required in Australia−that vary water usage depending on the use; and composting toilets that do away with water use altogether, or "evacuation" systems, similar to those on airplanes.

"The cost of all these systems is dropping as we become more familiar with them," Allen says.

"What we have learned over the past four years, is that it doesn't cost a great deal more to construct a green building than it does to build a conventional structure," says Tary Holowka, USGBC communications manager. "Certified and Silver ratings, generally, can be achieved at no additional cost. The cost of reaching Gold certification is, on average, between three to five percent; Platinum from five to seven percent."

 

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Originally published in Architectural Record.
Originally published in February 2005

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