Green Buildings BC

Over the past several decades, our exposure to indoor air pollutants is believed to have increased due to a variety of factors, including the construction of more tightly sealed buildings, reduced ventilation rates to save energy, the use of synthetic building materials and furnishings, and the use of chemically formulated personal care products, pesticides, and household cleaners.

-- US Environmental Protection Agency Webpage, Indoor Environment Division, 2000

• "Indoor air quality requirements have been part of the Workplace Act since 1974 and administered by the WCB since 1985. However, now that these requirements are included in the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation, the scope of application extends beyond industrial establishments, including factories, offices, and shops to virtually all workplaces." For all of these reasons, this site is an important resource.

• Fungal Contamination in Public Buildings: A Guide to Recognition and Management
• Indoor air quality in office buildings: A technical guide, 1995
• Microbiological contamination of residential indoor air
• Office Air: A worker's guide to air quality in offices, schools, and hospitals (1995)

• List of Zero VOC Paint Manufacturers (at: http://www.aqmd.gov/prdas/brochures/paintguide.html )
• Painter's Guide to Clean Air (at: http://www.aqmd.gov/ )

• For offices, here are some of the resources given:
• Building Air Quality: A Guide for Building Owners and Facility Managers (BAQ Guide)--This provides practical advice on preventing indoor air quality (IAQ) problems in public and commercial buildings (free to download).
• The Building Air Quality Action Plan (BAQ Action Plan)--This is intended for building owners and managers. It offers advice for the successful implementation of good IAQ management practices (free to download).
• For homes, there are many resources given.
• For schools, here are some of the resources given:
• Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Tools for Schools Kit--This gives schools practical advice for improving indoor air quality at marginal or no cost using common-sense activities and in-house staff.
• Many more resources.

• One of the most comprehensive compilations of indoor air pollutants, their health effects, measurement and monitoring.
• Excellent and comprehensive background on IAQ problems, but weak on design responses.

• Cutter produces several technical, professional newsletters, directories, monographs etc. for the building industry, environmental and management sectors.
• IEQ Strategies is their indoor air newsletter. California Department of Health Services (Alevantis, L.E.)

Locate and design air intakes to optimize air supply source(s) for the ventilation system. Isolate building air intakes from building exhaust air, vehicular exhaust, cooling tower spray, combustion gases, sanitary vents, trash storage, and other hazardous air contaminants.

-- New York City Department of Design and Construction, High Performance Building Guidelines, 1999

• ASHRAE (1997). ASHRAE Fundamentals Handbook.
• ASHRAE (1996). ASHRAE Systems and Equipment Handbook.

• The Handbooks have become the authoritative North American references for mechanical engineers on HVAC data, calculations, system design and equipment selection.
• These two Handbooks are the most valuable for building HVAC design.

• ASHRAE Standard 62 defines procedures for setting ventilation air supply rates depending on pollutant source strength.
• Due to their complexity and lack of emission rate data, Standard 62's Table 2 is most often used by engineers for outdoor air supply rates, appropriate to different occupancies.

• ASHRAE. (1987). Practical Control of Indoor Air Problems.
• ASHRAE. (1988). Engineering Solutions to Indoor Air Problems.

Reports by the US Government Accounting Office noted that 20% of primary and secondary schools had IAQ problems. More than half had environmental pollutant or building ventilation problems that could affect air quality. The IAQ may directly influence a child's learning by affecting alertness, attentiveness, and absenteeism and indirectly by affecting the performance and productivity of teachers.

-- Handbook of Pediatric Environmental Health, Committee on Environmental Health, 1999

• ASHRAE (1997). ASHRAE Fundamentals Handbook.
• ASHRAE (1996). ASHRAE Systems and Equipment Handbook.

• The Handbooks have become the authoritative North American references for mechanical engineers on HVAC data, calculations, system design and equipment selection.
• These two Handbooks are the most valuable for building HVAC design.

• ASHRAE. (1987). Practical Control of Indoor Air Problems.
• ASHRAE. (1988). Engineering Solutions to Indoor Air Problems.

Green building components will fail to yield their expected benefits without commissioning, the systematic process of ensuring that all building systems perform interactively according to the design intent, that facility staff are properly trained, and that documentation has been adequately provided.

-- Karl Stum, HPAC Heating/Piping/AirConditioning Engineering, 2000, http://www.hpac.com

• A complementary program to CBIP--where CBIP requires a 25% reduction in energy from the MNECB, C-2000 aims for a 50% reduction. Provides additional financial and technical support. C-2000 is made up of: "Process Requirements" in the following categories: Concept Design, Design Development, Construction and Commissioning, and Operations and Maintenance.
• Oriented toward construction, rather than design; and cold weather.

• Case Studies
• Information Resources
• Links and References
• "Model Commissioning Plan and Guide Commissioning Specifications."
• "Commissioning to Meet Green Expectations"

More light!

-- Johann Goethe's Last Words (1749-1832)

Sustainable design can influence student behavior, attitudes and achievement. Studies show that lighting, thermal conditions, and interior air quality directly affect student performance. Sustainable school design has been shown to influence time-on-task, social interactions and participation, all affecting achievement.

-- Dr. Jeffry Lackney, Congressional Briefing , 1999

• Comprehensive coverage of the techniques for using natural lighting in buildings for energy savings and enhanced indoor lighting quality.
• Numerous case-studies illustrate the 'sunlighting" concepts and strategies.

• Thorough and detailed coverage of basic and advanced daylighting concepts, methods of analyzing both quantitative and qualitative performance and the integration of daylight and electric lighting.
• Useful tables and design data.

Often the information available combines all aspects of indoor environmental quality. This first section, therefore, provides those resources that combines these areas.

• The measures listed in this appendix are of a high standard and will be useful to those designers that want a high level of IEQ in their building.
• It is free to download IEQ Appendix as a .pdf file from the website given above.

In recent years, comparative risk studies performed by EPA and its Science Advisory Board (SAB) have consistently ranked indoor air pollution among the top five environmental risks to public health.

--US Environmental Protection Agency Webpage, Indoor Environment Division, 2000

• Crestwood Corporate Centre Building 2
• CK Choi Building
• The Liu Centre
• Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies

• The Probe reports are sponsored by the Builder Group and the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) in the UK. Probe is one of he first-if not the first-project to collect and widely distribute the detailed performance analysis of named buildings.
• This site contains detailed post-occupancy case studies that contain important information on commissioning processes.

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