Minnesota Climate Change Initiatives

Taking steps for climate change has reached the local level in a big way. Mayors and cities councils in Minnesota (and across the world) have declared their intentions of working with a number of programs, which are going to have some impacts on how buildings are built in Minnesota.

Below is the list of Minnesota cities and counties that have formally declared their intent through the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, the Sierra Club's Cool Counties or Cool Cities, and/or Cities for Climate Protection in an effort to lessen their local contribution to global climate change:

Apple Valley
Aurora
Bemidji
Buhl
Burnsville
Chisholm
Duluth
Eagan
Eden Prairie
Edina

Hennepin County

Hibbing

Hutchinson
International Falls
Lake City
Mahtomedi
Milan
Minneapolis
Mountain Iron
Ramsey County

Red Wing
Rochester
Roseville
Sauk Rapids
St. Paul
Sunfish Lake
Tower
Turtle River
Virginia
White Bear Lake
Winona

In addition, Minnesota also recently became the seventh state to pass the “Next Generation Energy Act of 2007” into policy, which sets a state goal of certifying 100 commercial buildings to the Green Globes or U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED standard by December 31, 2010. The bill also mandates utilities to include in their conservation improvement plans programs that facilitate professional engineering verification to qualify a building as Green Globes-certified, Energy Star-labeled or LEED-certified.

Be sure to keep an eye out for more great Minnesota initiatives, and if you can, attend the Mayors' Forum on Green Initiatives on November 27, 2007, 3:45 - 6:00 p.m. at the University of Minnesota to see more on what is happening in the Twin Cities regarding green initiatives. Click here for more information.

Do you know of any local climate change initiatives not mentioned here? Let me know!

And great job, Minnesota!

Building Materials and LEED

I wanted to pass this great information along; it is not new information but sometimes it helps to see it all in one place.

Salvaged Wood from Minnesota

Inhabitat has a great comprehensive working list of what one should look for when choosing building materials. Be sure to check out Part One for specifics on LEED-Homes and material selection.

Green Building 101: Materials and Resources Part One
Green Building 101: Materials and Resources Part Two

And don't forget about the option of a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). While definitely not the most simple way to choose materials, it is the most complete way to ensure that your structure will use the least amount of embodied energy via materials.

And if all else fails and everything seems too complicated, remember that choosing something locally is always a good choice.

Back to the drawing board...literally

Learning lessons every day...


One difference in building in a rural community versus an urban one is that building codes and other mandatory regulations may not be as strictly enforced (if enforced at all). And although the Greenbush project will be employing only licensed contractors, the general consensus was that architectural blueprints were absolutely unnecessary to obtaining bids and permits, and that the floor plans, elevations, and architectural specifications about LEED should be more than sufficient to obtain some construction bids. I was skeptical, but we are trying to build a project that local people could do in exactly the same way. So if they say they don't need blueprints...

Two months into the bidding process, and the project still had no solid bids. Contractors want to bid on the project but are skeptical on giving hard numbers without actual blueprints. I definitely understand and am now kicking myself; some of the green building techniques are different from the norm and the specs, especially about LEED, can be confusing. So right now we're bidding out drafters to draft the blueprints, and the project start date has been put on hold.

We're looking at Spring 2008 to break ground, instead of Fall 2007.

While this will sadden the Greenbush community (and saddened me as well), I am confident that this will end up working out better for everyone. The extra time will allow more education on LEED, Energy Star, and green building techniques to not only the building contractors, but to the general community as well. It will give Greenbush more time in the media spotlight. And it will ensure that the project is done correctly, instead of just pushing forward.

I also have to remind myself that this program is not about just building a "green" house; it's about green building education and utilizing local materials as an economic development stimulus; sometimes we're creating new paths than what people are used to, and it takes a little bit more time. I also remember that the Aitkin project started off just as slowly as this one seems to be, but that in the end, it was a huge success. So thank you to all of the Greenbush people that have continued to support the project. We couldn't get it done with your insight, help, and support. It's going to be a great project, just hang in there!

Credits WE 3.1 & WE 3.2, Indoor Water Use

One challenge I've heard voiced about LEED is that regional needs are not weighted fairly enough. For example, water consumption reduction is vastly more crucial in the dry Southwestern part of the US than in the lush Pacific Northwest, but currently LEED gives the same points for all areas across the US and has no prerequisites to follow on water consumption for dryer areas. LEED does require that at least 3 points are achieved through the Water Efficiency (WE) category.

Here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes we don't have large issues with water consumption, but that doesn't mean that we won't some day or that it's not important.

This specific category has a maximum of 6 points. We are trying for 4 of the 6.



As you can see, we're choosing two from the WE 3.1 credit, and one from the WE 3.2 credit. This is the wording used in our construction specifications concerning water fixtures:

All indoor water-using structures must meet the following requirements:

• Lavatory faucets average flow rate must be less than or equal to 2.0 GPM
• Showerhead average flow rates must be less than or equal to 2.0 GPM
• Toilets, including dual flush toilets, must have an average flow rate that is less than or equal to 1.1 GPF

Note: We have not signed up for WE 1.1, which is a rainwater harvesting system, but we may include a rain barrel or look into this further later.

Vacation

Just a quick note, I will be on vacation from August 9-23! If you need to, please contact Don Heise at dheise@archwoodspecialties.com. Thanks, and see you soon!

Credit SS 2.2, Basic Landscaping Design

This credit is worth 2 points, essentially 1 point for the backyard and 1 point for the front yard. If only the front yard will be landscaped, only 1 point will be awarded for this credit.*

The Greenbush project is going for 2 points. I have included this verbiage into the architectural specs:

Turf (grass) will be drought-resistant turf only and will not be planted in shaded areas or areas with a slope of greater than 25%. Mulch and soil will be added when needed to help reduce erosion and maintain soil temperature. The landscaping itself should minimize water use and synthetic chemicals.

It is the duty of the landscape architect to sign off on this credit; this project so far does not have a landscape architect as we are trying to replicate what a typical person in a rural community would do. I imagine an architect or the builder would be sufficient to sign off.

The main idea for the landscaping so far is to clear as little trees and damage the site minimally during construction as possible. Hopefully this will keep the need for additional planting to a minimum. Not only will this help with stormwater management, but it will cut down on costs as well. The planting we will do will probably include native spreading plants such as wild ginger.

*It is important to note that if only one yard is landscaped that a plan must be in place for the rest of the site to be landscaped in the future. The soil must be stable enough to handle erosion runoff until it is landscaped.