Building Bird Collision

Each year hundreds of millions of birds die in collisions with man-made structures that are mostly windows and buildings, communication towers, and wind turbines. The rates of mortality of birds that collide with different types of man-made structures are different. To get an idea of these rates in the United States alone, consider the following estimates:

Based on these estimations, we can see that up to one billion birds are killed every year in the United States by flying into plate glass windows. This by far is the first reason behind birds’ death. Unlike some sources of bird mortality that predominantly kill weaker individuals, there is no distinction among victims of glass. Because glass is equally dangerous for strong, healthy, breeding adults, it can have a particularly serious impact on populations.

Much of this mortality takes place during spring and fall when songbirds are migrating. While songbirds are most at risk from collisions with glass, nearly 300 species have been reported as collision victims, including hummingbirds, woodpeckers, kingfishers, woodcock and birds of prey. We do not usually see dead stricken birds by the buildings. It is most probable that they die elsewhere as a result of the collision. The injured may also be eaten by a cat, raccoon, fox, or dog before we found them.

In fact, birds cannot perceive transparent or reflective glass as a barrier to be avoided. During the day there are two possible scenarios. First, they don’t detect the reflected scene by windows. The hazard to birds is even greater when there is more natural habitat around thus the scene seems more real, and when there are large panes of glass.

Second, when there is a transparent glass that allows views of habitat on the other side of a building or views of plants inside the building: 

Birds can't see glass and don't understand the architectural cues, such as window frames, mullions, and handles, that help people detect it

Even small windows can be dangerous to birds that are accustomed to flying through small gaps between trees and shrubs:

During the night, there is another reason for bird collisions. Lighting is an attractant especially for migrating birds who often fly at night. Brightly lit buildings can draw birds in where they can hit windows or other obstacles. It is said that in cities the biggest kills typically occur at night during spring and fall migrations, when building lights appeared to lure birds into deadly collisions.

In this picture each little spot is a migrated bird that has been trapped in the light beam. They circulated in the beam for several hours until some people reported to turn off the light. 

In order to mitigate the rate of building bird collision, it is recommended to incorporate bird-safe design elements into new architecture for commercial buildings and homes at early stage. In case of existing buildings, retrofitting is another solution: For example, applying tape, film, paint, or decals to the exterior to create visual barriers; installing netting in front of the glass or using exterior shutters; and modifying interior and exterior lighting regimes.

In broader view to this problem we can notice that, while all native birds are protected by law, such sources of mortality (i.e. window collisions) are simply overlooked. Now a few communities have some requirements in this case. For instance, the City of Toronto has new requirements for bird-safe design. Minnesota has a state law requiring all state-owned and leased buildings to adhere to “Lights Out” parameters to benefit migrating birds and save energy. And Federal legislation has been proposed requiring bird-safe design for federal buildings. (To get the Minnesota Bird-Safe Building Guidelines click here)  

In case of green buildings, LEED has applied some criteria to mitigate this problem (Green buildings by having ample openings, windows and attractive environment for birds, have a potential risk of collision). Provisions related to bird safety are included in the newest version of LEED v3 (2009) as a part of the Innovation and Design (ID) category. Also in some design categories, LEED points may fulfill bird-safety needs at the same time as they fill needs for sustainability and efficiency in other categories. Currently, LEED v4 offers a pilot “bird credit” for those who design and build in a bird-friendly manner.

Have you thought why stone has been largely overlooked by the green building movement, while some products made of recycled plastic are regarded green??!!!

Stone is one of the earliest building materials. It is surprising that stone almost requires no special manufacturing processes and is so durable that stone structures built thousands of years ago are still used today!! (Very few contemporary “green” products may act the same in this case). Besides from that, stone has all the attributes of a green product. It requires almost no chemicals to produce or maintain, it emits no VOCs or hazardous airborne pollutants, and it is water-resistant. In areas with large temperature fluctuations, stone can play the role of a thermal mass. Also some stone even has good solar reflectance. Concerning biophilia concept, as buildings that connect people with nature, it is fair to mention the universal attraction of natural materials like stone. The truth is that stone is most natural material used by human being in the first place to accommodate our ancestors.

A life-cycle assessment (LCA) of granite and limestone claddings has shown that granite cladding compared to brick and mortar, precast concrete, and aluminum had the least detrimental environmental profile, followed by limestone, then brick (a virtual tie), and aluminum. In case of embodied carbon, sandstone, granite, and marble have lower amount than brick, timber, and steel (University of Bath’s ICE).

By comparing stone quarrying to a modest forestry operation, we can understand that the deteriorating habitat impacts are much less than logging and milling wood. Even the amount of site disturbance and soil and habitat loss from forestry operations far exceeds that of quarrying.

Stones that have not been crushed, called dimension stone, can be used as flooring, exterior cladding, solid surfaces, and interior walls, as well as for landscaping and many other applications. Moreover, the crushed stone can also be used in many other industries (concrete, asphalt, landscape, etc.) and this reduces its leftover.

Of the estimated 1.88 million tons of dimension stone produced in the U.S. in 2011, approximately 43% were used by the building industry. (For comparison, this figure is about 20% out of 95.6 million tons of total produced raw steel). Roughly half of the total U.S. stone market is imported from Brazil, China, India, Italy, and some other countries.

Stone Types and Uses

The primary types of dimension stone sold today are granite, limestone, marble, slate, and sandstone. (There are many others, including basalt, soapstone, and quartzite, etc.)

 Different quarries have different looks. Therefore, for designers and architects that search for a specific stone color or type, purchasing locally can be very difficult. Hence, the route that stone takes from processing to site can vary from a few miles to thousands of miles! Moreover, there are some stones that are imported from Brazil or another country and sent to Italy or China for processing before being sent to the U.S. Even stone quarried in the U.S. is regularly sent oversees for processing and then sent back to the U.S. This obviously wasteful practice is due to lower overseas labor costs. For sure, transporting stone from quarry to jobsite does have a negative environmental impact due to the need for heavy equipment and trucks transportation. A study of embodied carbon and natural stone shows that transportation is the main contributor of embodied carbon in stone. However, by considering the long service life of stone and its durability, those transportation impacts may not be quite as significant (in a 100-plus-year lifespan).

A major problem involved with stone is that tracking it from an extraction quarry to its final market can be nearly impossible since just like a commodity, both imported and domestic stone are often sent across the globe and may be processed elsewhere. This makes third party verification system unable to properly judge about some related issues.

There is a misunderstanding problem with stone quarrying. In fact, many people don’t distinguish between quarrying and mining. In mining a lot more material is taken out of mines than in quarrying. For example, in order to produce 1 pound copper, about 143 pounds of rock is needed. Furthermore, stone comes from rock which is at the surface and even at the end of a quarry’s production; the obtained area might be usable land in some cases (i.e. proper for lakes).

The point is although stone is not the greenest material or a complete one; it is close to some best materials that are considered sustainable. Most of the problems of applying it in construction industry are manageable. Therefore, it is essential to increase its valuable functionality in common belief by conducting some more well-organized researches in this case.

To read more about this article go to this link.   

Large Format Porcelain Panels (LFPP)

With the recent concern about green buildings and the increased attention towards green products, it is not surprising to see many new green products that are able to meet the required beauty and inspiration, strength, durability, and recyclability. The growing market for green products prioritizes nature as a vital source of inspiration and the sole provider of all material that are used in manufacturing cycle.

Large Format Porcelain Panels are extremely thin panels that can be used for both interior and exterior parts of construction. These panels are regarded as a green product with recyclable content which introduced to market in 2012. However, the major part of this product is porcelain that has been manufactured and used for more than 2000 years from Ming Dynasty vases to small tiles, bathroom fixtures, and urinals.  

New porcelain panel products are very thin, similar to tile with 1⁄8" (3mm) and 1⁄4" (6 mm) thickness. This thickness typically includes a thin fiberglass mesh backing for added strength. The size of these panels are as large as 5' x 10' or 3' x 10'. These panels are not heavy that result in easier installation not
only for walls and floors but also even for ceilings. They can be easily cut to de desired shape (like glass) and are also flexible enough to be applied for curves. Other merits for these panels are being strong, dense, nonporous, and impervious to moisture; resist scratching, staining, fading, and cracking; not affected by freezethaw cycles; chemical-resistant;  not a food source for mold or mildew; extremely low-maintenance; and non-emitting VOCs or other chemicals.

This product is produced in a few manufacturing companies in Italy and has not yet fully commercialized. Therefore, there is a high transportation cost for using LFPP in U.S. However, due to its lighter weigh compared to other similar tiles and its ample benefits over other products they are imported to U.S. market.  

The cost of this product is around $20–$25/ ft2 (uninstalled cost), which is less than most stone or recycled-content surface material. This figure may decrease by commercializing it in today’s market and manufacturing it in the U.S.

 Due to the large scale of the product, there are some cares in the installation process that are explained in this video.

Before starting the installation, the surface should be clean, dry, solid, compact, and without any loose parts. The flatness of the surface should be measured at least by a two meters long rod. The flatness differences must be smoothed by suitable self-leveling products. Due to the sensitivity of the installation, before applying adhesive it is recommended to outline the laying areas.

For additional information go to these links:
EBN_March 2013
STONEPEAK
LAMINAM

Badgir

Badgir (wind-tower) or wind catcher is a traditional structure used for passive air-conditioning. Wind catchers are found throughout the Middle East, from Pakistan to North Africa. They are built in many regions of Iran, predominantly on houses in areas with a hot arid climate. Wind catchers are mostly brick towers which generally rise from 30 cm to 5 m above the roof (the tallest badgir in the world, built in Yazd, Iran is 33.35 m above the roof).

Click here to see more pictures

Wind catchers may have different functions due to different circumstances however, in all these rolls, wind catchers generate air circulation. These functions may be directing airflow downward using direct wind entry, directing airflow upwards using a wind-assisted temperature gradient, or directing airflow upwards due to temperature gradient cause by sunlight as in solar chimney. 

  

When there is a wind through the open face of wind tower, literally it is caught and forced to flow down the tower to cool the interior parts. The air is not necessarily a cool air yet it provides cooling effect due to the circulation. This cooling effect can be maximized with exposure to water evaporation. Therefore, wind towers are usually equipped with a fountain or a pool of water. The wind blow on the water surface leads to temperature reduction. 

Scientifically speaking, the electromagnetic radiation emitted by the sun is made of photons of different energies. The absorption of photons by air molecules causes a gain in kinetic energy and hence molecules will move faster and get warmer. The motion of air molecules combined with Earth rotation causes the wind. Wind is an important factor in evaporating water and thus cooling the environment. Badgirs are designed to tolerate the heat using the effect of wind and evaporation. In hot weather as the temperature increases, the average kinetic energy of the particles increases. This can be seen in the Maxwell-Boltzmann equation:   

Where m is molar mass of the molecules, v is its velocity, T is the temperature and K is a constant known as Boltzmann Constant. Hence, temperature is defined as the measure of the average kinetic energy of the particles. By increasing the kinetic energy the speed of inter-molecular movements increases. Furthermore, the second law of Thermodynamics states that the total entropy of the universe is always increasing. Therefore, due to the high kinetic energy, evaporation takes place and the fastest moving particles leave the surface. If vapor steam formed inside the Badgir is allowed to expire into the air taking away energy and entropy, the system will work at high efficiency. This is why the system works better in the arid climate with low humidity. In hot dry climate, some water molecules have high kinetic energy so they are bouncing up at high speed to escape into the air as gas (water vapour). This involves a change of state from liquid to gas and can take place all the time at any temperature. During evaporation, warm wind does work on water molecules by giving them kinetic energy to overcome the inter-molecular attraction exerted on them by molecules under them.  The amount of energy absorbed by water is given by the following equation:

Q = m . L

Where Q is the amount of energy needed to change the state of water, m is the mass of water and L is the latent heat of vaporization of water (2.27 × 10^6 Joules per kg). The energy is taken from the surroundings into water as latent heat to keep water temperature constant. Therefore, evaporation is an endothermic process that cools down the surroundings. Since evaporation is an endothermic process, Badgir can cool down buildings by evaporating great amounts of water.

Solar Chimney

There are some ways to take the advantages of sustainable ventilation during design and construction phases of a dwelling rather than the operation and maintenance phase that are called passive ventilation. Although these passive designs were traditionally popular for ages, they have become the center of attention in modern constructions due to their affordability, simplicity, efficiency and being environmental friendly.  

Solar chimney provides natural ventilation by utilizing the solar energy to create different air pressure and consequently air convection. Just like in fireplace that the air and smoke from a fire will raise through a chimney, the low dense warm air tends to go out through the tunnel and generates air movement and brings cooling effect. This movement can be intensified by increasing the gap between the low and high existing temperatures of the building envelope. Therefore, it is reasonable to make the sunlight collector a good energy absorber by using dark colored thermal mass materials. 

To further maximize the cooling effect, we can integrate the solar chimney with a Trombe wall and force the air to go through underground ducts before it is allowed to enter the building. This system may be reversed during the cold season, providing solar heating instead.

Some advantages of implementing this system are:

• The system even works with diffused solar radiation.
• It can be implemented in windless areas and is not necessarily reliant on wind.
• The system is reliable and not liable to break down.
• The system does not need a large space and minimal exposure to exterior is sufficient.
• Cooling water is not necessarily needed in this system which is important in countries with major problems with drinking water.
• The needed building materials are sufficiently available everywhere.
• In very hot days the system still has a suitable ventilation effect.

This simple system can be designed and built in much larger scale (solar tower) in order to generate electricity out of the solar-thermal energy. 

Trombe Wall

Trombe wall is defined as south facing mass wall (concrete, brick or masonry) that has the ability to absorb a lot of heat and is covered by a glazed surface (glass) that has a few inches gap between the pane of glass and the wall. Thermal mass gets the heat from sunlight and during night slowly releases it into the internal space through the upper vent in the wall. The function of glass is transferring short wave length radiation that heats the wall while stopping longer wave length radiation back out from the wall.

                                          

The function of Trombe wall can be better understood in these figures in which we can see two openings (vent) in the wall, one on top and the other in the bottom. In wintertime, the higher dense cold air near the floor enters the bottom opening and through the process of Trombe wall, it gets warmer and goes back to the inner space from the upper opening. The simple trick is that after the sun goes down, the hot wall will still keep heating air and exchanging that heat into the room. Once the wall gets cold, we need to stop the interaction of outside cold air with the inside air, therefore a one way flap is used on the bottom vent to prevent the reverse cooling cycle.

In summer we need to stop the Trombe wall heating inside. One way is using a proper roof overhang and shading trees. Another way is closing both vents; however we can take the advantages of another trick by making the Trombe wall act like a solar chimney. (how?)

A Need for Paradigm Shift in Evaluating Sustainable Building....... "Living Building Challenge"

In not a distant past, our recognition of the nature’s value and magnitude of our negative impacts on the built environment have arisen some major sustainable movements. Over the last twenty years, green building has attracted a major attention in building industry and has become one of the most important and progressive trends. This ever growing importance in reaching sustainable construction can be attributed to the fact that we will no longer have: a stable and predictable climate, adequate affordable and available energy, water and other critical resources; or that the natural life-supporting systems on the planet.

In today’s world, energy is one of the most valuable assets. Though, energy efficiency methods are the main principals of different operations within US, specifically for building construction with consuming 48% of the total energy and 76% of the nation’s electricity. Considering the high level of water and material usage by buildings as well as huge amounts of waste, the necessity of the shift to improve building’s energy efficiency is become more obvious. This will lead to longer life of the building and reducing energy cost, while the comfort of occupants is also insured. Efforts to improve a building’s energy efficiency will extend the life of the building, increase occupant comfort within the building, and reduce energy costs. These efforts will further enable sustainable development to bring environmental, social and financial benefits.

The growing market demand for certified green buildings and the associated need for ever-evolving benchmarks have brought the main impetus behind a paradigm shift that is currently underway in how buildings and developments are designed and built. This real appetite in marketplace has convinced those interested in going beyond LEED and net zero-architects, engineers and builders. Furthermore, the achievement of LEED certification for over 10,000 applied projects and around 30,000 registered projects at the present time while some of them are LEED-Platinum with small first-cost premiums, signaling the need for defining the next level of high performance buildings. In response, Living Building Challenge, “a philosophy, advocacy tool and certification program” that promotes the most advanced measurement of sustainability in achieving higher levels of sustainability in the built environment, is derived.

 The Living Building Challenge is a certification program for buildings that have been occupied for a minimum of one year and was originally endorsed by Jason F. McLennan with subsequent further development that initially launched in 2006 by the Cascadia Region Green Building Council a Chapter/Affiliate of USGBC to inspire the creation of true sustainability in the built environment. This strict technical requirement that covers all buildings at all scales, provides some substantially higher benchmarks for project teams seeking to move beyond the levels of the LEED Rating Systems with a performance-based, post-occupancy evaluation of a project’s efforts comprising maximum efficiency and sustainability. A more comprehensive set of criteria is being evaluated compared to other rating systems. Projects striving to meet these criteria need to employ innovative strategies and systems.

Living Building Challenge is a combination of seven performance areas (Petals): site, water, energy, health, materials, equity and beauty, which are further divided into 20 imperatives (shown in figure 5), each focusing on a specific sphere of influence named  “Typologies” including renovation, landscape or infrastructure, building, and neighborhood.  Projects should be aligned to one of these typologies to identify the needed imperatives. 

 Two rules govern the standard:

• All elements of the Living Building Challenge are required for a building to be certified. Some of the requirements have temporary exceptions to acknowledge current market limitations. Exceptions will be modified or removed as the market changes.

• Living Building designation is based on measured, rather than modeled or anticipated, performance. Therefore, buildings must be operational for at least twelve consecutive months prior to evaluation.

The above rules can be manifested in five stipulations:

1. The building must generate all of its own, renewable energy on-site

2. The building must capture and treat all of its own water

3. The building must use only non-toxic and sustainable-sourced construction materials

4. The building must be placed on already-developed sites in order to reduce urban sprawl, and

5. The building must be beautiful and inspiring to its occupants and others.

The overall goal of the trend is achieving a better sustainable construction and high-performance operations in order to decrease resource use, reduce operating costs and increase general effectiveness. Numerous systems and methods that were considered “alternative” a few years ago are being incorporated into codes and standards. Meanwhile, Studies have demonstrated that, on average, sustainable designed and operated buildings use less energy and water, have lower maintenance costs, and have higher levels of occupant satisfaction than comparable buildings. However, green building certification in framework of a third party system does not guarantee that a building will achieve continued optimum performance. Every building is unique and there is high variability in performance of a building.

Ref:

Anonymous. (2006). Cascadia Region Green Building Council Issues "Living Building Challenge, 9, 13

Eisenberg, D., Persram, S., Spataro, K. (2009), Code, Regulatory and Systemic Barriers Affecting Living Building Projects. The Summit Foundation King County Green Tools.

International Living Future Institute, LIVING BUILDING CHALLENGESM 2.1, (2012), www.livingbuildingchallenge.org

International Living Building Institute “FAQ.” (2011). URL: https://ilbi.org/about/faq

Krippendorf, J. (2010) New Living Building Challenge launched, Journal of Commerce, 20, 3

Spataro, K., Bjork, M., Masteller, M. (2011). Comparative Analysis of Prescriptive, Performance-Based, and Outcome-Based Energy Code Systems. Alaska Housing Finance Corporation.

Wang, N., Flower, KM., Sullivan, RS. (2012), Green Building Certification System Review, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory