Environmental Responsibility

Design for Natural Cooling of Exterior Gathering Areas

craig@craigwilliamson.com — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 18:31:00 GMT

One of the most underutilized facilities on a property, whether it's a business or residence, are the ones outdoors. The phrase “weather permitting” is one you will find attached to several outdoor activities and events. There are several different methods used to combat the rain, wind, and sun and make exterior gathering areas usable for more days out of the year. Gazebos and canopies provide shelter from the sun and rain. Screens act as a windbreaker and keep out the bugs. Temperature, though, is difficult to control without placing so many physical barriers that your exterior area becomes interior. If it's too hot, people tend to stay indoors.

Costa Rica's tropical climate can be uncomfortable to those not adjusted to it. Exceptionally humid days compound the effect, and the heat will feel absolutely oppressive. The key to minimizing the heat is to view it as it relates to people. While the actual temperature outside can be high, the perceived temperature is what matters to those using the facility. Sweating is the natural defense of the body to being exposed to uncomfortable temperatures, but it also leads to discomfort and makes the perceived temperature rise.

The first and foremost defense against the head is to block or reduce direct sunlight. It's a well-known fact that being in the shade feels cooler than being in sunlight. Building a gazebo or having a permanently affixed canopy will achieve this goal. Additionally, some landscaping will be of benefit to this area. Strategic placement of trees around your outdoor area can provide shade not only to people under them, but it the air beneath them is cooler. The presence of shade is also psychologically beneficial as it is associated with relief from the sun.

Air management is also crucial to the effort. Hot air rises, and cool air sinks. Much like a house, all of the heat will be at the top, and you should provide a way for it to escape. Otherwise, body heat builds up beneath the ceiling. Also take into consideration that while you may be shielded from the sun beneath a structure, the structure is absorbing the heat and can transfer it down to you indirectly. A pathway to let that air escape will reduce the humidity and the heat.

When we sweat, the water evaporates and carries excess heat with it. Air currents amplify the effects of this process and reduce the perceived temperature. While stiff winds can cause problems for outdoor gatherings, a gentle breeze will make a hot day much more bearable. Use this to your advantage by placing your exterior gathering areas where they have access to the wind. If you have a problem with too much wind, you can place a windbreaker to slow it down while still receiving the benefits. You can consider wood, stone, or metal latticework depending on your architecture and aesthetic preferences. Even a tightly spaced wrought-iron fence can be used to reduce some of the wind, and you can plant ivy for added effect.

If the heat is still too high, you can consider employing some green technology. Since people lose a lot of water through sweat, offering a source of cool water can do wonders. Alternatively, a few companies are producing solar-powered misting machines which pump a very fine, cool mist into the air and have another mechanism to draw it (and the heat) out. A simpler option is to use a solar-powered fan to increase the airflow. You can't control the sun, wind, or humidity, but if you keep their effects on the body in mind, you can alter how they are sensed by people using the facility.

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About Sustainable Energy Sources – Sun, Water, Wind

craig@craigwilliamson.com — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 23:07:00 GMT

While people, in general, would prefer to live green and embrace green technology, it's unlikely that they would welcome a situation without the modern conveniences that we've grown accustomed to. When you flip a switch, you expect a light to go on. It can be disconcerting when it doesn't happen because most people are used to being connected to a power grid with a seemingly endless supply of energy. That being said, some of your customers might worry about connection to an alternative-source grid or being a freestanding entity.

The main concern of the average person, when contemplating a home on a green power grid or a self-sufficient home, is that the natural resource being tapped is unstable or won't produce enough power to meet their needs. While solar panels are usually attached to a battery for night-time use, the weather is a mitigating factor. If the power is used at night and there's a few rainy days in a row, even a massive battery system will eventually run out. Wind turbines can suffer from a lack of weather, so to speak. If it's not sufficiently windy that day, power isn't generated. Barring drought, water power is a reasonably safe bet, but its availability is limited.

Let's look at the different sources for green energy, examine the pros and cons, and consider a few methods to ensure the continuity of power.

Solar Power

Solar power is one of the most popular and widely used green technologies. There have been astounding advances in solar panel design which have increased their efficiency and reduced the necessary size. The reason they're so popular is that they can be placed on practically any surface that receives sunlight, and the space required to implement the power system for a home is minimal.

Several homes across the world are partially or predominantly powered by solar panels attached to the roof. Their primary drawbacks include weather damage and the inability to generate power at night. With a large enough implementation, however, the solar system can generate an excess of power which is stored in batteries, so power continues throughout the night. Even so, several homeowners prefer to be hooked into a traditional power grid so that they will have power even in circumstances where the solar panels are ineffective. An arrangement is often made to feed excess power on sunny days back into the community's grid in exchange for an equal amount of power later at no cost. In effect, it neutralizes the environmental effect of drawing from a fossil fuel grid.

Most of the time, solar panels are used to provide localized power. The panel is attached to the building it provides power for. There are, like wind and water power, large installations of panels in solar fields, but that requires a large plot of land which is free of vegetation and wildlife. As such, olar fields are usually placed in arid areas where development is unlikely.

There are a few other photovoltaic technologies still in development, but they're currently not practical for commercial use.

Wind Power

Wind turbines are growing in popularity for green power companies and consumers. They provide clean energy without the emissions of fossil fuel plants, and wind is an abundant, widely available source. Due to the maintenance required to keep a turbine in working order, they are less likely to be used in an independent power system. Due to the moving parts in a turbine, they require inspection, lubrication, and replacement parts. Some choose to use a very small turbine to offset the cost of power and carbon footprint of their homes, but the amount of these turbines required to provide consistent power prevents most from relying solely on independent wind power.

One of the major drawbacks of wind power is that it is highly inconsistent. As a general ball-park figure, over half of the power will be generated in less than 20% of the operation time. Short, heavy gusts of wind are the primary workhorse, and the calmer winds provide much less power than is necessary to keep a constant supply to customers. It is very unlikely that any wind farm will produce power to its full capacity, so the availability of electricity can be spotty if too much is drawn from the grid.

As a result of its inherent supply instability, the amount of turbines is often increased to ensure availability or to compensate for expansion. That can require quite a bit of land, and that land becomes unusable for other developments. Also, turbines can be an eyesore, and people just don't want to look at them. Those facts have prompted several companies to do offshore wind farms. Turbines are placed out at sea where they won't be seen and will have maximum access to the wind.

Water Power

Hydroelectric power has been in use for a long time. Large rivers are often dammed to collect the kinetic energy of the water and convert it into electricity. These plants can often supply a large population with consistent power, but once a plant is at capacity, there are very few options to increase output aside from installing higher efficiency generators. Hydroelectric power varies in availability even though it can be routed over long distances. If the dam is at production capacity, you're not going to get on that grid unless you're putting power in.

If an appropriately sized water source is available to you, there are certainly options to utilize it for both mechanical and electric power. Water wheels have been in use for centuries to power mechanical devices, and they can certainly be used to run a generator. Another option is to use the water power to pump river or ground water through a filtration system and into homes. Again, the moving parts require maintenance, and the average homeowner would be ill-equipped and disinclined to repair it, but it is an option.

There are also relatively new technologies that utilize tides and ocean waves to generate power. As these methods grow into maturity, I'm sure they will see wide use across the world in coastal areas.

Comprehensive Power Plan

Now that we've seen these three systems, we know that none of them are 100 percent consistent. There is plenty of power to be had, but it might be necessary to draw from multiple sources to ensure that power is available at all times. Otherwise, people are much less likely to purchase a home in a green development. Ideally, a house can be designed to incorporate solar panels and become mostly self-sufficient. To ensure self-sufficiency, further power can be drawn from a wind farm or dam to cover all the bases on cloudy weeks. A well-planned green power development will make sure that their customers have a reliable source of electricity, so if the power plan has tapped into all of the available resources, you shouldn't worry about the availability of power. It's green, it's clean, and it no longer comes with all the hassle.

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GCC Green Solution – LEED Platinum

craig@craigwilliamson.com — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:52:00 GMT

What's the difference between a LEED Certified development and one that's LEED Platinum Certified? Quite a bit. LEED certification comes in varied levels as judged by a LEED inspector. There is a checklist for developers to follow for acquiring points, and the LEED inspector verifies that the proper procedures and materials have been used. Once the total number of points has been determined, the development is assigned a level of certification ranging from the bottom, simply LEED Certified, all the way to the top of the scale, LEED Platinum.

There are different subsets of certified developments including homes, schools, commercial buildings, and more. While you can apply for LEED certification after construction has begun, it is prudent to start the process before you break down as LEED Platinum requires a start-to-finish inspection of the building process. It requires that all aspects be examined including: “sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality” (www.gbccr.org). Let's look at a few of the considerations for becoming LEED Platinum certified.

Pre-Planning and Site Selection

To begin, you should contact a LEED inspector and read through the guidelines that stipulate what is required to acquire the points you need for LEED Platinum. There are factors that you may not initially think of when planning your development, so going straight to the source, your local LEED inspector, will assist you immensely.

Where you place your development is very important. You shouldn't build in wetlands or in places where it would greatly disturb the natural wildlife. That would cost you a great deal of points. A great deal of time should be devoted to the planning stage of your development, and that will reduce most of the headaches later on. For example, in the architectural design stage of planning, you want to maximize your usable space by eliminating all functional obsolescences so that the overall footprint of the building takes up less space. That alone will reduce your costs of construction as well as adding points when you consider climate control, building materials, and sustainable energy options.

Even access to public transportation, alternative fuel sources, and bicycle lanes are a factor in accumulating points.

Water and Energy

Throughout a LEED construction process, efficiency is key. Water and Energy should be supplied by local and renewable sources. Reducing and recycling wastewater, stormwater management, and water-efficient landscaping will add quite a few points. Pulling your power from renewable sources by employing solar panels and wind-generated electricity are also very important.

Water and energy management are where technological advances will assist you the most, so keep up with the latest news on this front. Water heaters, for example, are being produced in smaller size and higher efficiency. The old model of water heater keeps a large quantity of water at a specified temperature, and it must continually refill and reheat the water. It requires a lot of space, and it wastes energy. For a home, you can employ a much smaller heater which can be mounted on a wall. It heats the water as necessary and doesn't expend energy unless hot water it required. That also benefits the homeowner by reducing operating costs and providing a consistent source of hot water.

Materials and Resources

The highest levels of LEED certification require that you use the appropriate materials in the construction process and eliminate waste. Anything that can be recycled in the construction process, and during operation of the building, must be collected. You should use certified wood, local materials, and renewable materials in your construction.

The reason you use local materials is to reduce the fuel expended to bring the materials to your site and therefore transportation costs. Many of the materials which are discarded in normal developments can be reused for your next development or stored and sent to a recycling center. The guidelines for this area of LEED certification can save you quite a bit of money in development costs, and it's worth a lot of points in the certification process, so pay special attention to what you can do in this area.

Operation and Innovation

When everything is put together, there's still a little left to be done. Equipment should be in place on the property to monitor the energy and resource efficiency. Also, the indoor environment quality will be considered. Management of tobacco smoke, carbon dioxide, and even use of daylight are used to determine the indoor quality. The main point of this area is to ensure that the health of the building's occupants is protected and all resources are consumed at maximum efficiency throughout the life of the building.

LEED certification also takes into consideration any innovation you've made in the design and building process. If you find a better way to do something and share it with everyone else, you'll accumulate points. Employ the latest technology and use the latest in green design and green building techniques, and if you can find any ways to make them better, do it!

LEED Platinum certification is a long road, but it's worth it for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, LEED Platinum places your development at the highest quality for efficiency and health, so the end result is that the profits you can reap are much higher. Your development will also be set apart as a leader in green development, so that is free publicity. Striving for Platinum certification will guide you in reducing construction costs, raising property value, and preserving the environment we share. It has its challenges, but it's definitely worth it.

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Defining Sustainable Development: Environmental, Economic, and Social

craig@craigwilliamson.com — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 16:52:00 GMT

When attempting to create a sustainable development, there are three primary factors you must consider. The environmental, social, and economic implications of a development must be balanced to provide the optimal condition. Each arm of a sustainable development must be addressed, and there's much more to it than just building a green home which addresses the issues of environmental sustainability. In this post, I'm going to examine each arm of sustainable development in its extreme and bring them together in balance at the end.

The Environmental Arm

This is the first thing that comes to mind when sustainability is discussed. The extreme of this arm is an absolutely “green home” which strives for zero impact on the surrounding environment. An absolute green home can be imagined as one which is closely integrated with the environment. It uses completely biodegradable building materials, disturbs none of the wildlife, uses unobtrusive technology such as passive solar, and produces zero waste. All of that at the cost of comfort to the occupant. It is an attempt to use as few resources and as little space as physically possible so that they can be replenished, and it will leave no discernible mark when the occupant is gone.

When focusing on just the environmental aspect, cost and comfort go out the window, so we won't look at those quite yet. It can be assumed that the cost will rise and comfort will fall. Those are the sacrifices necessary to live in an extreme situation. The positive aspect of this arm is that the occupant would live in complete harmony with his or her environment, and the impact of their life on the area would be zero to negligible. The health of the occupant will also be improved as it will not suffer from the emission problems many cities have.

The Economic Arm

The goal of purely economic building is to throw up a structure as quickly as possible with as little cost to the developer as can be achieved. It just has to stand long enough for the buyer to purchase it. In this arm, we are completely discounting the environmental and social implications of doing business in this way. Naturally, if you're building with only cost and speed in mind, you would have little concern for the health and safety of the occupants nor the ecosystem.

This arm is all about maximizing your immediate profit. To clear out large plots of land, you would slash-and-burn until you had a wide expanse of land that you could fill shoulder to shoulder with shacks. This is a popular model for a certain segment of developers, the fly-by-night variety, because it's all about the money they can make today instead of building a reputation for the future.

The Social Arm

The social aspect of development is the central piece which ties together the economic and environmental arms. The extreme of this arm is that you build a large, affordable house which is extremely comfortable. The developer makes no profit, and the environment surrounding the property is destroyed. It's all about making the customer happy right now without any thought to the future.

This is a bad way to build because it will waste material and resources. Ultimately, the operating costs of the home will be enormous, and the health of the occupant will suffer because of the lack of concern for the surrounding area. It's also a horrible model for a business to run on because they will go bankrupt quickly.

Defining Sustainable Development

Now that we're familiar with the extremes of each arm, let's look at the middle ground. A sustainable development is one where the buyer is comfortable, the impact on the environment is low, and the profit to the developer is high. Resources are used logically, and they are replenished naturally. All around, a sustainable development is a green home which is also a dream home.

The word, “sustainable” is tagged on to all sorts of other terms now, but the most important sustainability is the total sustainability of all parties involved. A sustainable development is one where all of the parties walk away happy, and they remain that way in the long term. It unifies the concern of your customers with concern for your business and provides a way that both can survive and thrive by preserving the ecosystem which supports us all.

If I had to sum it up in a sentence, it would be this: Sustainable development is a building practice which strikes a balance between providing our desires for the present and our needs in the future.

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Environmental and Social Responsibility – Why Here, Why Now?

craig@craigwilliamson.com — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 20:48:00 GMT

The words “environmental responsibility” may invoke thoughts of donating your time and resources to making the world a better place for yourself and those around you, doing your part to preserve the natural beauty of the land. While that is certainly an aspect of environmental responsibility, there are many benefits for businesses, homeowners, and developers to invest in eco-friendly Real Estate. Central America is the perfect place to start, and the best time to get started is now.

The Benefits of Environmental and Social Responsibility

When considering a location for development, one of the most attractive factors is the aesthetic quality of the land surrounding the property. Most homeowners would place their dream home on a beach, overlooking a canyon, or placed in some other beautiful location which is untouched by the relentless flow of glass, concrete, and steel. However, proximity to businesses and work is an equally important factor. So, how do you balance natural beauty with modern convenience? It would appear that they are mutually exclusive.

It is certainly possible to have both, and that is the goal of environmental responsibility. The key is to use the currently available technology and development techniques to preserve the area while integrating your development into it. By doing so, you are creating a perfect place for your customers.

What does that mean to you? That means more sales at a higher profit. Several developers I've spoken with are wary of the green initiative because they believe that it's the “right thing to do”, but that their business will suffer from the cost of building green. It is seen as a profitless chore as opposed to business opportunity. Many developers don't know that the added cost in green development, which may be lower than you think, will easily be recouped later. In fact, you will garner a greater profit from going green than you will by sticking with old techniques.

By adhering to the guidelines of environmentally responsible development, you will open yourself to a new and quickly expanding market. This market is full of people who are exclusively looking to purchase green Real Estate. They want solar power, clean water, grass, trees, and wildlife on their property. Those people are willing to pay a premium for those benefits, and it's completely possible for them to have it if you build it. Even if a buyer isn't exclusively searching for green property, it certainly is an added bonus that is well worth the extra cost and definitely will not put them off. That translates to more money in your pocket, less risk, and the satisfaction of doing the right thing.

The Green Building Council of Costa Rica and LEED Certification

The Green Building Council of Costa Rica (www.gbccr.org) is an organization which promotes green building practices and LEED certification of properties. It encourages sustainable development of green homes and businesses as well as continued education for developers in LEED building practices. It is modeled after the United States' Green Building Council, and follows many of the same practices. My goal is to use the GBCCR as a template to create and assist Green Building Councils across Central America and promote green building and sustainable practices in other countries.

To become a member of the Green Building Council of Costa Rica, visit the website and follow the instructions there. There are also accreditation courses available for those interested in becoming a LEED Accredited Professional. The advantage to being a LEED AC is that you are taught all of the requirements to develop LEED Platinum properties, and you are set apart as one of the highest quality green builders in Costa Rica.

LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, and it is a rating system which certifies developments with an environmental rating. People from all stages of development are involved from the architects to builders to interior designers. The qualifications for the ratings are developed by a volunteer committee comprised of working professionals who come to a consensus regarding different practices and establish best practices. They contact third party advisory groups to provide technical data and reports to establish what constitutes as best practices.

For a development to be LEED certified, it must follow the guidelines set by the LEED committee in development as well as operation. The property must, of course, be a green property, but there are different levels of “greenness.” These are identified by the LEED rating which ranges from the lowest, “LEED Certified”, to the highest, “LEED Platinum”.

To make a property LEED certified in Costa Rica, a developer must contact the Green Building Council of Costa Rica and apply for certification early in the process. That allows the GBCCR to monitor the building process and building techniques used.

Why Here? Why Now?

Costa Rica contains 6% of the biodiversity in the world. For the amount of land, that is an enormous amount of species. All across Central America, there is a massive trend towards preserving the ecosystem and developing green. Costa Rica, especially, is a hotspot for investment potential for businesses and homeowners alike.

Our location is one that allows for an exceptional opportunity: provide modern amenities and convenient locations in a place whose beauty is unmatched. For example, the Guanacaste Country Club (www.guanacastecc.com) is a LEED Platinum certified community which provides its residents with every modern convenience and fantastic natural beauty in a convenient location. It is such a successful development because it gives customers exactly what they are looking for.

The development trends are spreading out in every direction and consumers are hungrily buying up lots, so the risk of development is minimized. Naturally, you want to develop in a place which is growing, and that's precisely what is happening now.

Now is the perfect time to get into green building. Those before you have shown that the model is highly profitable and stable, yet it is not too late to establish yourself as one of the major players in the green industry. As an example of an industry in this phase, let's look at search engines. When Google started, it was certainly not the first search engine. It had plenty of competition from Yahoo, Ask Jeeves, and several others. However, by acting when they did and innovating in the field, they have become the number one search engine on the internet, and competing with them as a brand new company would certainly be a daunting task. The reason the other search engines are still around is that they established a customer base early on.

Green developers have the same opportunity as Google. You can become a major player in the industry by adapting to the trends now instead of waiting until you are forced to. The laws are changing to push for industry standards regarding eco-friendly practices, and it is much more difficult to completely restructure your operation to comply with the laws than it is to start now and make the change on your own terms. Even if your goal isn't to become the Google of Real Estate, you will at least secure your position with your own customer base by implementing green procedures now.

The place is here, and the time is now. Look into it, and you'll see that it's the best move you can make for your company now and in the future.

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