Green Mechanical Contractor

PORTLAND FEDERAL
BUILDING GOES GREEN
SOLAR EXPO SEES
RECORD ATTENDANCE

Portland will be transformed into an environmental showpiece and become Oregon's single biggest federal stimulus project.

When it's done, the boxy, concrete-and-glass tower will have a sleeker, more modern look, according to an architect's drawing. As a bonus, the 24-year-old windows won't leak, and the building could qualify for LEED certification.

Plans call for a new "skin" for the outside of the building, with each side receiving a different treatment to take advantage of natural light, heat, and cooling. Protruding "fins" covered in vines and other vegetation will block heat in the summer and capture light in the winter. New double-glazed windows will take the place of the leaky, single-paned ones that are the source of tremendous energy loss.

ANAHEIM, CALIF. — Solar Power International 2009, the largest business-to-business solar energy conference and expo in North America, opened at the Anaheim Convention Center at the end of October. Presented by the Solar Electric Power Association and the Solar Energy Industries Association, Solar Power International is the premier gateway to the U.S. solar market and a closely watched indicator of the industry’s growth. Besides expecting record attendance, the show more than doubled in size with 925 companies represented in the Expo Hall. Last year’s event had 425 exhibitors.

Key themes at this year’s event included the potential of the U.S. as the biggest solar energy market in the world, the impact of solar jobs on the domestic economy, the central role of policy and participation of utilities in the solar industry’s expansion, falling costs for solar equipment, and innovative new technologies and business

models driving market adoption of solar in the U.S. market. The conference encompassed all solar technologies including solar photovoltaics, solar thermal water heating, space heating and cooling, utility-scale concentrating solar power, and concentrating PV plants.

Edith Green/Wendell Wyatt federal building

AHRI, DOE AGREE TO REGIONAL
EFFICIENCY STANDARDS

WASHINGTON — The Air-Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration Institute has struck a deal with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), along with conservation groups including the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, the Alliance to Save Energy, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the California Energy Commission, to create regional energy efficiency standards for HVAC equipment. Finalization of any regional standards depends on DOE rulemaking.

The agreement calls for regional efficiency standards to replace a quarter century of national standards, and it also recommends more stringent building-code provisions for new construction. The agreement sets different standard levels in three climate regions — North, South, and Southwest — recognizing that appropriate investments in heating and cooling efficiency depend on usage.

The agreement also allows states to include even higher efficiency levels for heating and cooling systems in new homes.

The new standards would raise the minimum efficiency of residential central air-conditioning systems by about 8% and furnaces by about 13%, and would result in a 5% reduction of the total heating energy load and a 6% reduction of the total cooling energy load in 2030.

BOTANIC GARDEN BUILDING
AIMS FOR GOLD

CHICAGO — The Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Plant Conservation Science Center here aims to achieve the U.S. Green Building Council’s gold rating for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

A rainwater glen will surround the building to collect rainwater draining from nearby parking areas and filter it within the Garden’s plant community. The green roof garden system holds rainwater to be used later by the plants. The building will use 30% less water through selection of low-flow plumbing fixtures and valves.

Careful attention was paid to the selection of energy-efficient lighting, mechanical equipment, insulation of exterior walls and roof, windows with low-E and high-performance glass, and air-lock vestibules at all entrances. The building temperature is regulated through radiant heating and cooling built into the floor.