Construction Informer

During the depression in the 1930s people discovered their green thumbs. Now that we are facing higher food costs, and undoubtedly less food in general, it might not be a bad time to put some effort into growing our own. Of course you need a space and people who live in densely populated places like cities and apartment buildings often don’t have much space for gardening.

Of course, every building has a roof and I can see a time when entire apartment building roofs might be converted to garden space. The residents would share the space and the bounty. There are some side benefits to greening the roof. For one it cuts down on the heat buildup inside the building. That will be great for those times when we begin to experience power outages during peak periods. During the colder seasons the vegetation provides insulation and helps to hold in the heat. The roof absorbs and uses rainwater. So as the climate continues to change and rainfall becomes more unpredictable that would be a good thing. Plus, because it holds the moisture it eliminates much of the runoff that falls from building roofs. That in turn reduces erosion of not only soils but also of hard surfaces.

There are many more advantages to green roofs and you can find out a lot more at the HUD site. The costs are high, for intensive gardening perhaps as much as $25 per square foot and perhaps additional costs to retrofit the roof so it can bear the new load. So these projects have to be considered very carefully but should definitely be considered whenever existing structures need re-roofing and when new structures are in the planning stages.

This roof scape by Conran & Partners in association with Dan Pearson sits atop the residential Roppongi Hills in Tokyo.

As the total 2008 home energy costs begin going over $2,000 for the average U.S. Household, the Alliance to Save Energy put out a reminder about the energy tax break that came as part of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 signed into law on October 3.

The cap is $500 and can be used by those who claimed less than the total credit available in 2006 and 2007. Check with your tax advisor, or the IRS if in doubt as to whether you may qualify.

The kinds of purchases that qualify include:

• 10 percent of the cost of insulation products, exterior doors and roofing products;
• Up to $300 toward the full purchase price of central air, heat pump, water heater or bio-gas stove;
• Up to 10 percent of the costs of Energy Star rated windows;
• Up to $150 toward the purchase of a furnace or boiler; and
• This one runs through 2016 – 30 percent of the cost of Energy Star geothermal heat pumps, up to $2000.

Time and time again we relearn things. For a very long time buildings that were built in southern climates came almost automatically with wide verandas and wrap-around porches. One of the main reasons was it kept the sun off the sides of the building in the summer and made the structure cooler.

Of course those verandas took up a lot of room and they were a lot of maintenance. So, once air conditioning became affordable and the need to cram more and more structures on less and less space superceded thoughtful development, the verandas and porches disappeared, often being replaced with anemic-looking overhangs at entry points to the buildings.

Now, there are a bunch of buildings sucking up gobs of electricity in order to stay cool. When you add in the pavement and concrete that was lavishly poured in around these structures you have some wonderful heat sinks that require more and more electricity to keep them habitable.

So it isn’t surprising that the verandas are coming back, but these are not typical verandas. Carrying with them all the same benefits that might have been used to sell verandas 50 years ago these new verandas, called awnings, are cropping up everywhere. They are coming in an amazing array of styles, many looking a far cry from an RV awning – although there are those as well.

As these pictures show modern awnings offer some eye-appealing options. It may offend the architectural sensibilities of some I suppose, but for those paying the electric bill it might be time to give pragmatism its due weight. You can find out more at PAMA.

Duck Tape Continues to Amaze: As if we didn’t already have enough uses for duct tape the makers of Duck brand duct tape are having a contest to determine who can make the best Halloween costume out of the venerable sticky stuff. Not to be confused with its annual contest that encourages people to make their prom outfits from it, this one is in its third year and the winner will get $500. Called Stick or Treat this is sure to keep you up nights wondering just how you can best some of the previous winners. Of course I can see how people might get stuck on this subject, but I’ve already written enough about it.

Calls For Infrastructure Investment Continue To Well Up: With a D grade from the American Society of Civil Engineers you would think the nation’s infrastructure would be a top priority. Perhaps to stimulate just such an outcome a group of mayors got together to call on the federal government to partner with local governments to bring more investment to the nation’s infrastructure.

One particularly interesting report on water (one of those topics at the top of my list) claimed almost nine dollars are added to the national economy for every one dollar spent on public water and sewer projects. Other findings included this one: protecting two-and-a-half acres of wetlands to protect source water results in a $4,000 annual reduction in water treatment costs. The mayors were not kind to the politicians in DC with one participant saying “Washington has lost its values – lost its principles – lost its sense of purpose…”

Excited Polymers Offer Chilling Opportunities: In the near future refrigeration may depend upon polymer and heat exchangers instead of coils and compressors, at least that’s what researchers at Penn State have in mind. The process involves exciting the polymers with electricity, causing them to give off heat and become colder. Then, when electricity is removed the material collects heat again. The researchers so far can change the temperature of the material by 22.6 degrees F. The process looks promising also for heating, and by using these polymers in circuit boards the boards could be cooled thereby allowing closer packing of components and the miniaturization of devices. HVAC may be on the verge of some significant changes.