PHILADELPHIA, PA–Following more than a year of work, PECO recently received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Existing Building (EB) silver and gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council for five local buildings.

In total, PECO now operates six LEED certified buildings representing nearly half of all LEED-EB certified buildings in Pennsylvania.

“In 2007 we launched a major environmental initiative for our company and our customers. The work at these sites is our demonstration of how important it is to take steps to reduce energy use and how those steps will pay off by reducing energy costs and helping the environment.”

Work at the sites included lighting and HVAC upgrades and control systems, replacement and retrofit of existing plumbing fixtures, conversion of turf grass to native meadows, increased use of environmentally-preferable office supplies, the adoption of a comprehensive green cleaning program, increased recycling, improved indoor air quality management, and the creation of a Green Champion employee volunteer team. In total the work will reduce energy use by 40 to 50 percent and water consumption by nearly 50 percent at each site.

In Chester County, PECO’s Berwyn Campus, consisting of 3 buildings, received Silver LEED-EB certification. One of only five LEED Existing Building Campus’ in the United States, the $895,000 investment also included the creation of a native meadow, improving local habitat and reducing storm water run off. About $300,000 in work at PECO’s Phoenixville Service Center also resulted in Silver LEED-EB certification. PECO’s Berwyn Campus and Phoenixville Service Building also are the first LEED-EB certified buildings in Chester County.

In Bucks County, PECO’s Warminster Service Building was awarded Gold LEED-EB certification. The $750,000 project also included the creation of a local native meadow, providing additional local habitat and reducing storm water run off. The facility is the first LEED-EB certified building in Bucks County.

“These awards highlight a tremendous effort by our project team,” said Denis O’Brien, PECO president and CEO. “In 2007 we launched a major environmental initiative for our company and our customers. The work at these sites is our demonstration of how important it is to take steps to reduce energy use and how those steps will pay off by reducing energy costs and helping the environment.”

“PECO’s LEED certification demonstrates tremendous green building leadership,” said Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO & founding chair of the U.S. Green Building Council. “The urgency of our mission has challenged the industry to move faster and reach further than ever before, and PECO serves as a prime example of just how much we can accomplish.”

These LEED certified sites join PECO’s West Chester facility, previously awarded Silver LEED certification for New Construction. Other environmental projects include the installation of a new Crown Lights messaging system at the company’s Center City headquarters, additional upgrades to secure LEED certification for 5 additional company buildings, throughout the region, the increased use of hybrid and biodiesel vehicles, and support for community and customer environmental and energy efficiency projects.

PECO’s environmental efforts contribute to and support Exelon 2020: A Low-Carbon Roadmap, the comprehensive environmental plan of PECO’s parent company. Exelon 2020 sets the goal of reducing, offsetting or displacing more than 15 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year by 2020. The corporation will do this by reducing or offsetting the company’s carbon footprint, helping customers reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, and providing more low-carbon electricity in the marketplace.

PECO also offers many programs to help customers save energy, reduce their environmental impact and save money. PECO Smart Ideas, our full suite of energy efficiency and demand reduction programs, provides valuable information, incentives and rebates for residential and business customers. Programs include a home energy e-audit, discounted CFL bulbs in stores across the region, a refrigerator pick-up and recycling program, and other money saving discounts and rebates.

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United States Green Building Council

Nicholas Tamarin — Interior Design, 4/30/2010

A new report by the United States Green Building Council and national energy, housing, environmental, and real estate organizations is sounding the alarm on America’s building stock while citing the many ways in which the Obama Administration can step up on the energy efficiency and sustainability of America’s multifamily and commercial buildings.

Entitled “Using Executive Authority to Achieve Greener Buildings: A Guide for Policymakers to Enhance Sustainability and Efficiency in Mulitfamily Housing and Commercial Buildings,” the study concludes that the current presidential administration has the unprecedented ability to use over 30 existing federal programs worth $72 billion to enhance efficiency in commercial buildings and multifamily housing with no new legislation needed.

The report was prepared by Washington, D.C.-based law firm Van Ness Feldman and sponsored by the Real Estate Roundtable, UDR, Johnson Controls, the Energy Foundation, Building Owners and Managers Association International, the American Institute of Architects, Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association, Natural Resources Defense Council, International Facility Management Association, Energy Future Coalition, and C3.

“As an early adopter of green buildings and the LEED green building certification system, the federal government has been a leader in bringing green buildings to cities and towns across America,” said Roger Platt, USGBC’s senior vice president of global policy and law. “This new report unveils an even larger opportunity for the Obama Administration to increase our nation’s energy efficiency, while creating thousands of jobs and saving taxpayers money.”

The report cites an extensive array of options which it says the Obama Administration could begin implementing immediately without having to seek new funds or authority from Congress. It states that some of the most promising options with the largest reach are reforming appraisal and underwriting practices at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; greening federal banking regulation; integrating energy efficiency and sustainability criteria into competitive grants and funding formula; strengthening minimum property standards for federal housing and economic development programs to reflect energy efficiency and sustainability standards; improving performance standards applicable to federal buildings and leases; and refining guidance applicable to the energy efficient commercial buildings tax deduction and the national historic preservation tax credit.

The full report can be downloaded at www.usgbc.org/government

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JASPER, IN (April 29, 2010) – National Office Furniture released its second annual report regarding its environmental and social commitments. National’s 2009 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report is guided by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) CSR Report Guidelines. The report summarizes National’s social and environmental progress, achievements and future initiatives with a focus on people, product, facilities and transportation.
“At National, we strive for continuous improvement in everything we do, from safety and transportation to environmental and education. Our actions have impact beyond our walls and that’s why our responsibilities to our employees, customers, communities and the environment are measured and play an integral role as we move forward as a company. We’re extremely proud to share these results and look forward to sharing more improvements on top of these next year,” Kevin McCoy, General Manager, National Office Furniture.

The CSR Report is only available online.

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Herman Miller Energy Manager

Energy Manager is a simple device you add to your Herman Miller systems furniture—new or retrofit—to improve its performance by saving electrical energy.

Energy Manager controls two of the four circuits of power in a cluster of workstations. When a person sits down to work, an occupancy sensor detects their presence and turns on the devices in the cluster plugged into those two circuits—task lights, printers, monitors, chargers, etc. When the cluster is unoccupied, the devices automatically turn off.

You start saving energy the day you install Energy Manager. It can also provide accurate, valuable information by measuring, monitoring, and reporting energy use and workstation occupancy when it’s Convia-enabled. As a result, Energy Manager can contribute up to 10 LEED credits.

What is Herman Miller Energy Manager?
Herman Miller Energy Manager is a proprietary electrical circuit control system that connects building power
with the modular power of Herman Miller workstations, enabling a truly integrated control solution for
end-to-end power applications. Energy Manager is the first technology application to enable energy
consumption to be monitored, measured and controlled at the electrical circuit level, while also optimizing
real estate use and lowering overall operating costs.

How does it work?
Herman Miller Energy Manager units are mounted inside the wall of Herman Miller frame-and-tile based
workstation systems, or are mounted discreetly to a panel. It works by controlling two of the four circuits of
power feeding a cluster of workstations. Providing programmed or occupancy-based control of power
delivery, it allows control of powered devices plugged into those two circuits so they either are on or off—a
result of occupancy in the workstation cluster.
Occupancy sensing through Energy Manager is especially important in today’s offices where people typically
spend half their time outside their workstations. Innovative features including “virtual metering” of electrical
circuits, which allows the product to pay for itself in no more than three years based on electrical savings
alone.
For ultimate energy savings capabilities, Energy Manager can be Convia-enabled. A Web-based gateway
from Convia, Inc., a Herman Miller subsidiary, provides programmable on/off control of selected circuits and
overhead lighting, as well as other building control systems. Facilities managers have the ability to monitor
and measure energy use in real-time and from the convenience of their personal computers. And with power
consumption measured at the electrical circuit level, they have access to the information they need to further
develop and adjust energy saving strategies. Additionally, actual occupancy data (i.e. which workstations are
occupied, when, and for how long during the course of a day) is also reported through Convia’s Global
Gateway at 10 minute intervals. This data can be used to generate reports and optimize real estate to further
reduce operating costs.

How is the product energy efficient?
Significant amounts of energy can be saved if task lighting and powered devices in workstations are
controlled so they are on only when needed and off when not occupied. Herman Miller Energy Manager
creates that capability.
Additionally, Energy Manager’s ability to provide detailed, objective reports can be critical in helping
companies measure and verify their progress toward their energy management and real estate goals.
Businesses seeking to be better corporate citizens often urge their employees to engage in socially responsible
behaviors (e.g. turning out lights, unplugging laptop power supplies, turning off printers, etc.). The data from
Energy Manager can let businesses see the impact of their behavior, quantify the impact of changed behavior,
and be a motivating force in encouraging people to “do the right thing.”
Developed with the environment in mind, Energy Manager can contribute up to 10 LEED® credits for
optimized energy performance, measurement and verification, recycled content and regional material.

When is it available for customer order?
Energy Manager will be available for order in August 2009.
What can be controlled by Energy Manager? What areas of the workstation?
Energy Manager offers a fully integrated solution, allowing for control over all electrical devices in every area
of the workstation cluster.
Energy Manager can provide programmed or occupancy-based control of power delivery to two of the typical
four circuits within a cluster of up to eight Herman Miller workstations. Any device or combination of
devices powered by two of these four circuits can be controlled. The other two circuits are unaffected,
preventing the unwanted depowering of certain devices that must remain always on. Devices can be added,
removed or changed from Energy Manager as needed. The product can be connected to any building power
system via floor, ceiling or wall in-feed.

What applications and markets is it best suited for?
Until now, energy saving strategies largely have been limited to the larger building infrastructure. There was
no effective way to bridge the gap between the architecture and the occupants. Energy Manager enables
profound new electricity savings at the workstation cluster level. It is appropriate for use in a broad-base of
commercial environments, including commercial office, retail, hospitality and education buildings.

Is Energy Manager available exclusively to Herman Miller workstations, or can it be installed in any
workstation?
Energy Manager can be incorporated exclusively into a new or existing Herman Miller systems installation. It
can be connected to the electrical system of Herman Miller’s Vivo® interiors, My Studio Environments™,
Ethospace® system, Prospects®, and Action Office® system.

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Former President Bill Clinton on Thursday exhorted university officials from around the country to do a better job leading the way on making their campus buildings greener.

“For all the good we’re doing, we’re just piddling compared to what we ought to be doing and compared to what we could be doing,” Clinton told 250 college administrators meeting at the Palmer House Hilton.

“Think about it: 6.7 million jobs lost. And all this work out there is laying on the ground, begging to be done with an absolute certain high return. I am anxious to speed this up. For all the good you’re doing, we should be doing three, four, five, 10 times what we’re doing as a country.”

Clinton has become a crusader for environmental renovation as a catalyst for energy conservation and putting people back to work.

If solar panels or green roofs could be seen going up on campus roofs around the country, other builders would follow suit and put people back to work, helping fight unemployment as well as saving energy, Clinton told the receptive audience.

“Every time somebody sees a project on one of your campuses, fixing a building, you are having an impact, even beyond the fight to produce climate change and lower your utility bills,” Clinton said.

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YMCA of the Rockies is seeking Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification for the three new lodges it’s building as part of a $40 million expansion.

The organization hired Neenan Archistruction to design and build the lodges at the YMCA campus outside Estes Park.

Using what’s known as “panelized” construction, the company had the walls manufactured in a Severance factory and assembled on site, eliminating 80 percent of the waste typically generated during a project’s framing, said Mark Holdt, vice president for planning and project development at the YMCA.

“We’re excited that they honor the mountain stick architecture from the outside, but inside they are really state-of-the-art in terms of sustainability,” Holdt said.

The lodges also will receive LEED points for using Colorado flagstone and granite as well as low-emitting stains, paints and carpets.

LEED is a point-based system where building projects are graded for satisfying specific green building criteria in six categories. Platinum is highest, gold next, then silver.

“It increased our construction cost by 2 percent, but over time, the energy savings will more than compensate us for that,” Holdt said.

The 100-room Longs Peak Lodge opened in early June. The smaller Rams Horn and Emerald Mountain lodges, which will add another 100 rooms, will open in early spring.

“We can sleep about 3,500 people now,” said Laurie Van Horn, spokewoman for the YMCA.

The project also includes a conference center with seating for 1,200 and two new eight-bedroom family cabins.

Donor-funded projects include the $1.2 million Legett Christian Center and the $1.2 million Mootz Family Craft and Design Center.

The new conference center and lodges are behind the Ruesch Auditorium. Twenty-eight structures were relocated or removed to make way for the new buildings.

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By Dave Barista, Managing Editor, May 1, 2009, Building Design and Construction

Green Acoustics

For all the attention green buildings get these days, many fall woefully short of expectations when it comes to acoustical performance. Why?

In many cases, acoustical performance is an afterthought on green projects because some green building rating systems, such as LEED, do not include specific acoustical credits, says green acoustics specialist Jeffrey Fullerton, director of architectural acoustics with Cambridge, Mass.-based consulting firm Acentech Inc.

“Without a specific credit for acoustical performance within the LEED system, I think a lot of designers don’t think about it,” says Fullerton. “They’re thinking about so many other things, and the acoustics are not really considered.”

Another factor is the open-plan designs used in many green buildings, which tend to have fewer interior walls, higher ceilings, minimal finishes, and hard surfaces.

Getting the acoustics right in open-plan green workspaces doesn’t have to be difficult for Building Teams, says Fullerton. It’s as easy as ABC.

Absorb. In open-plan environments, the biggest source of sound reflection is the ceiling. “If you have a hard, sound-reflective ceiling, you’re going to have privacy issues between open workspaces,” says Fullerton. “The key is to design a very effective sound-absorbing ceiling for these spaces.”

Building Teams can soften open-plan ceiling spaces using any number of green approaches, such as spray-applying recycled cellulose insulation to the underside of the roof deck or direct-applying acoustical tile to exposed ceiling surfaces. Suspended acoustic “clouds” may also do the trick, provided they meet the project’s sustainable objectives. Green acoustic banners and baffles are also widely available.

For architects looking to re-create the look of drywall, Fullerton recommends a variety of smooth monolithic products, such as stretched fabric panels that can be mechanically attached to most wall or ceiling surfaces. “Drywall looks great, but it reflects a majority of the sound that strikes it,” says Fullerton. “These new monolithic products are exciting because they look like drywall and have very good sound absorption. Architects can achieve both the visual and acoustical goals, while also meeting sustainable objectives.”

Block. Having a solid barrier between building occupants is also vital to good acoustical performance in open-plan spaces. Unfortunately, modern furniture systems do not follow this principle, says Fullerton.

“The trend in office workstations these days is for lightweight, open, and airy products, which promotes openness and collaboration, but is actually the opposite direction you want to go for a private or semi-private environment,” he says.

Ideally, workstations should incorporate fabric-wrapped panels that are five to six feet in height. Designers who are looking for more transparency and daylight may want to consider panels topped with glass or transparent acrylic partitions. “The glass still works for acoustics by extending that barrier higher,” says Fullerton.

Cover up. Absorbing and blocking sound will help improve acoustics in open-plan environments, but achieving superior acoustical performance that provides freedom from distraction requires what Fullerton calls “acoustic perfume,” namely a speech-privacy or sound-masking system.

“By introducing a comfortable level of broadband background noise into the space, people are not able to hear as clearly conversations nearby or the meeting a few tables away,” says Fullerton. He says sound-masking systems on the market today are much smaller than in the past—speakers are no larger than a typical sprinkler head—and their cost has come down considerably. Also, a majority of the newer systems can be installed by facility managers, rather than electrical contractors.

“Designing for high-performance acoustics requires some type of cover-up,” says Fullerton. “You may incorporate the first two principles and still have people who aren’t productive in the workspace because of lack of privacy.”

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March 1, 2009
Building Design and Construction

For all the praise green buildings receive these days, many of these projects fall woefully short of expectations when it comes to acoustical performance. Why?In many cases, acoustical performance is an afterthought on green projects because some green building rating systems, such as LEED, do not require acoustical credits, says green acoustics guru Jeffrey Fullerton, director of architectural acoustics with Cambridge, Mass.-based consultant Acentech.

Another reason is the minimalist design approach applied on many of these projects: Green buildings tend to have fewer interior walls, higher ceilings, minimal finishes, and hard surfaces.

Luckily, building product manufacturers have recently flooded the market with acoustical products geared toward the green buildings market. We’ve asked Fullerton to select his top seven breakthrough green acoustical products. Here they are, in no particular order:
           
           

            
Ecophon Focus C direct-applied ceiling tiles. “A high-density fiberglass tile that can be used in a glue-up application in existing spaces where lowering the ceiling height is not possible,” says Fullerton. CertainTeed, www.certainteed.com/products/ceilings 
           
              

                        
Fiber-free, micro-slotted acrylic sound absorbers. “These products are ideal for sound absorption in spaces that might be using radiant heating/cooling systems. Because they don’t use fiberglass or porous materials for sound absorption, they eliminate many of the concerns that those materials present. For use in ceiling or wall applications.” DeAmp, www.deamp.com 
          
               

                     
Tierra rapidly renewable ceiling tiles.“The industry’s first biobased, rapidly renewable ceiling tile. For use in open-plan offices where very good sound absorption is sought.” Armstrong, www.armstrong.com/commceilingsna 
           
          

             
Echo Eliminator sound absorbing panels. “For use on walls or ceilings. You can use the panel as is or cover it with a stretch fabric for a more finished look. Ideal for conference rooms or video conference rooms where teleconferencing, audio recording, or microphones are used.” Acoustical Surfaces, www.acousticalsurfaces.com 
       
      

             
K-13 Spray-on acoustical finish. “For use primarily on ceiling surfaces to provide direct-applied sound absorption to an exposed structural deck in an occupied space.” International Cellulose, www.internationalcellulose.com 
         
         

              
Ultra Touch Cotton acoustical batt insulation. “For use in stud walls to achieve improved sound isolation of demising constructions, for example, between adjacent offices.” Bonded Logic, www.bondedlogic.com 
               

Oasis speech privacy system. “A scalable speech privacy (masking or ‘white noise’ system), paging, and background music system that can provide improved speech privacy in open office plans and for closed offices constructed with demountable partitions.” Cambridge Sound Management, www.csmqt.com

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