Fire station benefits from earthquake 20 years ago

Last Friday marked the 20 year anniversary of the Loma Prieta Earthquake, probably most infamous for causing collapses of a major sections of both the Oakland Bay Bridge and the I-880 freeway. The quake occurred during Game 3 of the World Series, resulting in 57 deaths and over $6 billion in damages. It was the most powerful seismic event to hit the Bay Area since 1906.

The Loma Prieta Earthquake was ultimately the impetus for some major updates to building codes in California that targeted soft story structures - multistory buildings with open first floors typically used as retail space. This type of construction was attributed to a particularly high failure rate in 1989. As a result, years later many cities around the region adopted Community Action Plan for Seismic Safety (CAPSS), a program designed to retrofit existing buildings that are must vulnerable and better withstand a similar event. The City of Berkeley has developed quite an extensive soft story program and integrated it to building codes and fire protection programs.

The NPR show, Forum had an interesting interview with members of the California Emergency Management Agency and a few others on the CAPPS program and related topics. Although they do try to cover a lot of area during the interview (communications, basic preparedness and healthcare in disasters), I found it informative and providing some insight valuable to professionals in the field.

I was particularly interested in finding structures that had been built or retrofitted to be seismically safe and according to LEED standards. There were only a few but the on I found closest to a GreenZoneSolution was the New Hills Fire Station in Berkeley. Placed into service in November 2006, the station received LEED NC certification (v2.1) and is fully equipped with emergency backup power and home to Engine Company 7.

According to a press release from Berkeley city officials, the basis of the LEED certification was primarily focused on:

• Landscaping that conserves water and reduces waste
• Permeable paving reduces stormwater runoff, recharge groundwater aquifers, and allow soil microbes to naturally filter and treat pollutants
• Reduced energy use through the installation of extra insulation, high-performance windows, and high-efficiency lighting, appliances, and mechanical systems
• Diversion of more than 75% construction waste from the landfill

Photos I could find were limited, but at a glance the New Hills Station certainly appears to be a modern design. I wish I could provide more information on the function, layout and aesthetic value but at this point it does seem safe to say it's a Renewable, Reliable and Remarkable way to remember a tragedy 20 years ago.

NOLA still recovering

NPR did a story just last week about the Phillip Wheatley Elementary School in NOLA that has been closed since Katrina and has now been placed on a watch list of endangered sites developed by the World Monuments Fund. The interview was with John Klingman, Professor of Architecture at Tulane who described the building as "designed with principles of sustainability and modernism in mind". It's actually quite a shame when you listen to the story. Clearly the fact that the city could/would flood was not unheard of and the original architect of the school designed it such that it was built on stilts, keeping it dry and providing natural ventilation and shade for children to play during recess. Built in 1955, the structure was considered innovative, even then. But plans to upgrade the building seem to have gotten lost in the growing pile of bills in New Orleans and now it looks like not only will it not undergo desperately needed renovation but be torn down completely. Listen to the full NPR story and read a transcript of the interview here.

The Phillip Wheatley Elementary School: then and now... an example of what could've been Renewable, Reliable and Remarkable.

  

50 posts in 50 days

Congratulations to me, I've managed to make 50 posts consistently over the past 50 days. What started as a rather impulsive attempt to consolidate my observations, experience and education is beginning to turn into a legitimate position now (to me anyway...) worthy of further investigation, testing and formalization. I'd like to thank all my regular visitors and contributors and invite all of you to continue to participate here but also challenge you to engage me as I start to form these case studies into a formal thesis. Follow my GreenZoneSolution Knol, where I will be developing a structure around my work and looking for feedback from professionals in the various industries to help shape my theories. Thank you very much,
Josh

How do you eat an elephant?

One of the biggest challenges in modern emergency management is figuring out were to begin. Emergency Managers must be able to evaluate a site with a critical eye toward what likely problems might arise (intentional or accidental),  and if something does occur, what is the impact in terms of damage, injury and disruption to operations. I can't tell you how many times I've sat around the table with collegues throwing around the hypothetical, "If we really wanted to do some damage here where would we start?", trying to put ourselves in the perspective of the badguy. Without a systematic approach the process will overwhelm most people and the result is that nothing is accomplished, even by well represented committees with the best of intentions.

The Hazard Vulnerability Analysis (HVA) is a subjective assessment routinely used by safety professionals to create an assessment of potential risks that a site, facility or community may face. The process involves identifying hazards and the potential negative impacts that would arise if the situation should actually come to fruition.  

I am working on augmenting a standard HVA so that it could be used to consider the impact of a disaster on a site and include elements of sustainable design. The goal is to identify and quantify the risks that are most probable to affect the people, structures and contents, as well as impact on operations. Every assessment process includes some level of subjectivity that is influenced by the individual assessor’s experience, education, or perspective.

To achieve a balance of those factors, the HVA tool is distributed to a variety of persons representing disciplines from both inside and outside of the target facility or community seeking their input. Each evaluator brings their personal knowledge and expertise to the practice resulting in a comprehensive evaluation process.  The total average scores as presented by all the participants for each category will be calculated to determine the overall assessed level of probability and severity for each considered hazard. It's far from perfect but what it does do well is make a clear recommendation on where to focus planning and mitigation efforts otherwise the process can be completely overwhelming.

sample of an HVA

I am wondering how this could be integrated with the LEED guidelines so that they could be truly Renewable, Reliable and Remarkable.

So, how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!

LEED 2009 - What's missing?

I have just recently had my first opportunity to review the entire updated 2009 edition of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and honestly, it's the most in depth look I've really ever taken at what is considered by most to be the current standard in sustainable design. Being new to the field, I don't have a strong frame of reference to compare it with previous versions but perhaps that is something to take advantage of - the Japanese call it shoshin, beginner's mind - the ability to see things as if for the first time, every time. I'll go with that approach. Just a few observations and opportunities I'd like to remark on...

Since this was the first time I was going to take a deep dive into the guidelines, I'd like to reflect upon them with my own background and interests to see what kind of suggestions I thought might be helpful in augmenting them to include measures for health, safety, security and disaster mitigation in the same context. Several sections stood as obvious places to start:

Sustainable Sites - Section 1: Site Selection states that "previously undeveloped land whose elevation is lower than 5 feet above the elevation of the 100-year flood as defined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)". This is certainly an excellent suggestion to make from the perspective of avoidance of flooding, a common disaster in some areas of the country and one which most insurance policies will not cover. One suggestion I might make is to consider expanding the standard to increase the minimum to 10 feet above flood stage or too limit rebuilding on land that has flooded to the specific level more than once within the 100 years. My concern here is that the 100 year flood might actually become more common with emerging effects on weather from the impact of climate change. This could be similar to the standard FEMA has for rebuilding on ocean front property following hurricanes.

Sustainable Sites - Section 6.1: Storm water design - quantity, states that "the intent is to limit disruption of natural hydrology by reducing impervious cover, increasing on-site infiltration, reducing or eliminating pollution from stormwater runoff and eliminating contaminants. Design the project site to maintain natural stormwater flows by promoting infiltration. Specify vegetated roofs, pervious paving and other measures to minimize impervious surfaces. Reuse stormwater for non-potable uses such as landscape irrigation, toilet and urinal flushing, and custodial uses". These are certainly prudent guidelines to follow and I think the emphasis should be placed on limiting disruption of natural hydrology, versus building or expanding infrastructure such as storm sewers or retaining walls to limit storm water, which seems to be the standard practice in traditional construction projects.

Energy and Atmosphere - Sections 1: Onsite renewable energy and EA 6 Green power - "The intent is to encourage and recognize increasing levels of onsite renewable energy self-supply to reduce environmental and economic impacts associated with fossil fuel energy use." I would expand the standard beyond simply including net metering but feed-in tariffs (incentive structure to encourage the adoption of renewable energy through government legislation), as well. Also, an improvement would be to include emerging microgrid technologies, renewable district energy and recognition of the importance of having the ability to be independent of utility companies and an aging, unmaintained infrastructure.

Innovation in Design - My comments here are less specific and difficult to measure but in general I would like LEED to some how to recognize the user experience as a critical factor. What I mean is that, I think we would all agree that some people might be willing to spend a little extra to "go green" but probably are less likely to be inconvenienced or made to stand out if they wish to blend in. My fiance is very supportive when she hears my ideas but she insists she will not live in a steel and glass box. How can the aesthetic and user experience be considered and measured? I don't have an answer yet, I'm just throwing that one out there.

I also noticed that LEED minimum program requirements state that structures must be "designed for, constructed on, and operated on a permanent location on already existing land. No building or space that is designed to move at any point in its lifetime may pursue LEED certification". I am just wondering what Bucky would say about that? I am actually writing this post from my fifth wheel trailer. LEED for RV's anyone? Renewable, Reliable and Remarkable...

GZS Dictionary of Important Terms: Passive Survivability

Source: Alex Steffen of WorldChanging.com

Passive survivability is the idea that in an age of increasing climate instability and Wexelblat disasters, it is part of the design brief of a good building to make sure that its inhabitants can survive outages in services (especially power), and that the best way to make sure buildings promote survival is to build them full of systems which don't need as much electricity, tap water, etc. in the first place.

Passive survivability can be achieved by incorporating the sustainable design features that have been so actively promoted by the green building community: cooling-load avoidance strategies, capabilities for natural ventilation, a highly efficient thermal envelope, passive solar gain, and natural daylighting. Indeed, these measures are so important that they may need to be incorporated into building codes. Buildings can go even further with features such as generating and storing photovoltaic electricity and collecting and storing rainwater....

GZS Dictionary of Important Terms: Green Infrastructure

Green Infrastructure (directly from wikipedia):

Green Infrastructure is a concept originating in the United States in the mid-1990s that highlights the importance of the natural environment in decisions about land use planning. In particular there is an emphasis on the "life support" functions provided by a network of natural ecosystems, with an emphasis on interconnectivity to support long term sustainability.

Green infrastructure programs managed by EPA and partner organizations are intended to improve water quality generally through more extensive management of stormwater runoff. The practices are expected to reduce stress on traditional water drainage infrastructure--storm sewers and combined sewers--which are typically extensive networks of underground pipes and/or surface water channels in U.S. cities, towns and suburban areas. Improved stormwater management is expected to reduce the frequency of combined sewer overflows and sanitary sewer overflows, and provide other environmental benefits.

How could you apply this concept in a project you are working on now to make it Renewable, Reliable and Remarkable?

Read more about Green Infrastructure