The most recent issue of The Bridge, the quarterly publication of the National Academy of Engineering, features an in-depth review of “Building Materials, Energy Efficiency, and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act” - co-authored by Serious Materials’ CTO and VP of Policy & Programs - a timely piece in light of the American Clean Energy and Security Act that calls for the U.S. to reduce its greenhouse-gas emissions by 17% from 2005 levels by 2020, and by 83% by 2050. Energy-saving building measures are central to the bill, currently awaiting approval from the Senate after the House passed the bill last week. Of particular importance is the fact the bill contains a key provision mandating new federal energy-saving standards for buildings, appliances, and industry.  Today, President Obama and Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced an investment from the ARRA that set new standards for new construction and energy retrofitting of both commercial and residential buildings.

Why buildings? Because the built environment (material manufacturing and operating costs) account for 52% of global greenhouse gases - compared to 9% from passenger cars. Reinventing manufacturing process, materials, and construction provides the fastest, largest impact on savings and C02 reductions compared to any other energy sector.

“Between 2012 and 2042, these new standards will save consumers up to $4 billion a year, conserve enough electricity to power every home in America for 10 months, reduce emissions equal to the amount produced by 166 million cars each year and eliminate the need for as many as 14 coal-fired power plants,” Obama said.

Comparison of Full-Frame R-values for various window technologies

It is critical that policy, market education, and advanced science align to make this a reality, and this is precisely the
discussion point Dr. Robin Roy and Brandon Tinianov of Serious Materials review. Today we are seeing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to change our built environment to save consumers billions of dollars, recreate manufacturing jobs, and aggressively tackle energy and climate challenges - starting with the window. Learn about it.

In a city dear to our hearts, reported yesterday, the country’s tallest building is planning a $350 million retrofit in the name of energy efficiency. As widely reported, the renovation includes both alternative energy creation and energy-saving upgrades to accomplish LEED goals and the reduction of the building’s electricity use by 80%, slash C02 emissions, and create water savings of 24 million gallons per year. New energy sources would come from a combination of wind turbines and solar panels. Upgrading of 16,000 windows, green roofs, advanced lighting controls, restroom and elevator renovations are energy conservation renovations on the list. As previously thought a few months ago, the color of the building’s exterior will not be changed to shiny silver. New construction of an adjacent green hotel is also planned. Check out these great photos of what’s planned by the Chicago Tribune.

The Sears Tower has long represented architectural ingenuity and leadership. Its energy retrofit will once again set a new bar as a model example that buildings can, and must, be reinvented. As Smith of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, leading the retrofit and hotel design, so rightly emphasizes, buildings are the single largest contributor to global greenhouse gases, responsible for  52% (versus 9% of passenger cars, for example). Frank Lloyd Wright would be proud. He believed a building should belong to the era in which it is built, and this is the era of energy saving to the benefit of the economy, the bottom-line, and the environment. Sears Tower will model just that - the ideal triple-win that energy efficiency building programs yield: green manufacturing job creation, financial profit, and environmental benefit for the very long life of the building, the city, and its people.

Award-winning business magazine Sustainable Industries today announced Serious Materials’ SeriousWindows as one of its 2009 Top 10 Green Building Products winners. Sustainable Industries’ Top 10 Green Building Products guide is an annual publication profiling industry-leading green building products selected by a panel of expert judges and the Sustainable Industries editorial team. In addition to being included within the July 2009 Clean Energy issue of Sustainable Industries, this year’s Top 10 Green Building Products guide is available as a digital publication that contains 3-D images of green building products that can be manipulated by the viewer and plugged directly into actual design sketches.

SeriousWindows was selected based on its environmental performance, scalability/market impact, innovativeness, design aesthetic, value and compatibility with the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system. Profiled in the guide with accompanying 3-D images, the winners were announced today in a Sustainable Industries Webinar featuring judges from the expert panel. The 2009 Top 10 Green Building Products guide is emailed to Sustainable Industries subscribers and is available for free online at www.sustainableindustries.com/resources.

“In the four years Sustainable Industries has produced this popular, independent guide, green building has advanced to the mainstream,” says Brian Back, Founding Editor and Publisher of Sustainable Industries. “The Top 10 Green Building Products guide provides a unique snapshot of the most innovative building materials on the market today, which are particularly important given the increased strains on environmental resources.”

“We are honored to be recognized by Sustainable Industries with this award. It is critical that we continue to educate our industry colleagues and consumers about the innovations that tackle the largest energy culprit within the built environment – the window,” said Kevin Surace, CEO, Serious Materials. “Windows offer the largest opportunity for improvement – fastest payback and highest savings. And if all buildings in America were to use super-insulating full-frame R-value windows of R-5.0 or more, versus standard single or dual pane windows, C02 emissions would be reduced by over 200 metric tons annually.”

With 28 years of manufacturing experience and more than 10,000 installed projects, Serious Materials provides commercial glass and windows that save more energy than any other brand. SeriousWindows™ super-insulating, full-frame R-5 to R-11 windows exceed ENERGY STAR®® requirements by up to four times and can reduce heating and cooling costs by up to 50 percent. Designed for residential and commercial construction, new or retrofit projects, SeriousGlass™ insulated glass units can be used directly in any choice of framing system and offer the highest energy-savings. A complete family of glass packages are available to meet any performance goal including daylighting, tuned advanced solar heat gain, higher occupant comfort in all seasons, optimal winter insulation, UV protection and  fading reduction, eliminate condensation, noise control, and simplified HVAC  design and loads.

About Sustainable Industries
Sustainable Industries is an independent, award-winning business magazine, web site, event and media company serving top-of-the-pyramid sustainable business leaders on the West Coast and beyond. With offices in San Francisco, Portland and Seattle, Sustainable Industries connects the dots between the environmental and social components of the region’s economy, just as it connects the dots between leading sectors, to raise the stakes in a working definition of sustainable industries. For more information, visit www.sustainableindustries.com.

About Serious Materials
Serious Materials develops and manufactures sustainable green building materials that save energy, save money, improve comfort, and aggressively address climate change. Super-insulating full-frame R-value SeriousWindows™ reduce heating and cooling energy costs by up to 50%. SeriousGlass™ industry-leading insulating glass units have been installed in over 10,000 projects and offer the highest energy savings in the industry. QuietRock® soundproof drywall and QuietGlass® reduce material use, enhance livability, and support dense urban construction. EcoRock™, the only true green alternative to gypsum drywall and five times more environmentally friendly, uses 80% less energy in its core production and has the potential to save billions of pounds of CO2 annually. SeriousWindows, SeriousGlass and super-insulating ThermaRock™ drywall support energy efficiency funding programs as outlined under The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA) including Weatherization (WAP), Green Federal Buildings, State Energy Program (SEP), Energy Efficiency – Conservation Block Grants, Energy Tax Credit for Consumers, and Tax Deductions for Commercial Buildings. The company was commended by both President Obama and Vice President Biden for its advanced energy-saving materials and the work it is doing to re-create American green manufacturing jobs. For more information, visit www.SeriousMaterials.com.

Come “visit” us at the Serious Materials virtual tradeshow booth at the Virtual Energy Forum today and tomorrow only. The Forum is billed as the “world’s largest online energy conference” where attendees can discover sustainability strategies & energy efficient practices; learn about renewable; alternative energies; and implement green building operations. The event is FREE. At our booth, you’ll learn about our super-insulating windows, noise control drywall for sustainable community development and acoustic design, and green manufacturing job creation. DOE, Lumenergi, GreenTech Media - lots of energy brands and people are at the Forum.  Log in and walk around - without the sore feet.

Moments ago, at the San Jose City Council meeting, the country’s first mandatory green building policy was enacted. The Council just voted to amend Title 17 of the San José Municipal Code to add a new Chapter 17.84 to establish Green Building Regulations for Private Development to include LEED (Silver or better) for commercial and Build it Green’s (BIG) Green Point Rated (for residential) rating systems as the mandatory green building standards for the City of San José. This is a great step in the right direction, and we congratulate the city for leading the way for stringent green building control. Straight from tonight’s meeting agenda:

7.2 Green Building Ordinance for New Private Sector Construction.

Supplemental – Memo from the Director of PBCE

* Recommendation: For lack of quorum, transmitted by the Transportation and Environment Committee on June 1, 2009, accept the staff report and consider approval of an ordinance amending Title 17 of the San José Municipal Code to add a new Chapter 17.84 to establish Green Building Regulations for Private Development to include the following:

(a) Establishing the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC), Leadership in Energy
and Environmental Design (LEED) and Build it Green’s (BIG) Green Point Rated
rating systems as the mandatory green building standards for the City of San José.

(b) Establishing the Green Building Refundable Deposit and procedures for the
collection and refund of the deposit.

(c) Describing the process for requesting an exemption from the established Green
Building Standards and pipeline provisions for determining how the standards
apply to projects already in progress.

(d) Listing implementation guidelines to illustrate the application of green building
requirements to projects with multiple buildings.

(e) Analyzing the cost implications resulting from green building requirements in
accordance with California Energy Commission requirements.

CEQA: Exempt. (Planning, Building and Code Enforcement)
(Transportation and Environment Committee referral 6/1/09 – Item 3.9)

We’ve said it before, and so have many others (the President and Vice President of the United States, no less). Energy loss through inefficient windows is a #1 energy culprit. Nearly 5% of total U.S. energy is lost through inefficient windows. The technology and large-scale manufacturing capability is here today to deliver window upgrades crucial for energy and money savings - and great for American manufacturing job creation. If you missed one of our colleagues talking about his green manufacturing job making windows, meet Robin Scott now.

In partnership with the Alliance to Save Energy, join our CTO, Brandon Tinianov, and some of our key partners and industry friends from the DOE, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and CEDA, next Thursday, June 11, at 11AM PST, to discuss and learn:

• Windows & the National Energy Agenda
• What can be done to get the most out of existing opportunities
• Window performance metrics and considerations
• Technology options to achieve savings beyond business as usual
• Cost effective implementation of window upgrades for homes, low-income housing, energy smart schools, and Federal buildings

Register here. No cost. You’ll never look at a window the same again!

Often times, others say things much better than I can. Acoustics By Design is an excellent Midwest acoustical consulting firm that recognizes the implications of good acoustics and green design for the schools that will create our next generation of leaders. Tim Koldenhoven’s recent blog post “My Scarlet Letter | Distractions in the Classroom” is well worth a read.

Much deliberation and thought goes into the look visual appeal of architectural designs. Tim points out, “Goals like reverberation time, STC, and background noise levels certainly are not glamorous when compared to the visual architectural elements of the building; however, they are still critical design standards that ought not be ignored.”

Significantly more funding to create high performance schools is being offered through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).  Projects carried out by ARRA HR-1 grants must be certified, verified or consistent with the applicable standards. LEED Certification is the industry’s most widely recognized green standard, and many of our nation’s schools are being refurbished or built with these standards in mind.

Tim mentioned in his post, “the acoustical standards set forth by LEED exist not only to make the building more sustainable but also to enhance the learning environment and reduce distractions for the student.”

As more and more schools are being refurbished or built according to LEED standards, it becomes increasingly important to keep acoustical design as a high priority.  Koldenhoven recounts the noise surrounding his high school English classroom distracted him from being forced to read studying The Scarlet Letter.

This problem is made worse in that, green building designers seem to be distracted when it comes to acoustical comfort.  In my recent post “The Acoustics of Green Buildings”, I mention that green buildings outperform their ‘brown’ counterparts in almost every measure – thermal comfort, air quality, cleanliness, and general satisfaction. But according to a study by the Center for the Built Environment, a survey of 34,000 respondents found that acoustical comfort is of these green buildings is unacceptable. In fact, the acoustics of green buildings is worse than that of brown buildings!

The good news is that the 21st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act (H.R. 2187) is currently being voted on in the Senate.  If passed, the act would authorize $6.4 billion in 2010 for school construction projects that meet certain environmental standards. H.R. 2187 would allow federal grants to be used by school districts to take measures designed to reduce or eliminate human exposure to classroom noise and environmental noise pollution.

Reducing noise in schools may not help everyone appreciate the merits of The Scarlet Letter, but it will certainly give our children a better chance.

And if you’re interested in learning more about the acoustics of green schools, later this month Serious Materials, in conjunction with Architectural Record, will be offering an “Upgrading School Facilities” webinar which will allow attendees to qualify for sustainable design (SD) credits now required of American Institute of Architect members. We’ll certainly let you know when registration opens.

Environmental Claims Validation launches with Serious Materials’ EcoRock new drywall product

UL Environment Inc. today announced it has validated environmental claims for Serious Materials’ new drywall product, EcoRock™. This represents the first validation of claims by UL Environment since its launch in January 2009, and the first product in the 115-year history of Underwriters Laboratories (UL) to receive an Environmental Claims Validation. UL Environment is a wholly-owned subsidiary of UL, a world leader in product safety testing services.

UL Environment validated Serious Materials’ environmental claims for EcoRock by performing assessments and laboratory tests. An audit was conducted for recycled content, environmental chamber tests were performed to determine volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions, energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence tests were performed to determine mercury content and microbial resistance tests were performed to determine the product’s resistance to mold. The UL Environment audit validates the following environmental claims for EcoRock: 80% recycled content, low VOC emissions (meets CA 01350), mercury free, and highly resistant to mold.

“As sustainable products become more available, third-party validation of claims by credible organizations like UL Environment will be crucial to eliminating exaggerated green marketing claims,” said Steve Wenc, President, UL Environment Inc. “UL Environment applies solid science and more than a century of testing expertise to protect consumers from vague, false or misleading environmental claims.”

Serious Materials, the leader in energy-saving building materials, completely reengineered the manufacturing and ingredients of drywall with the introduction of EcoRock, the only true green alternative to gypsum drywall and five times more environmentally friendly. EcoRock is used like standard gypsum drywall, but requires 80% less energy in its core production. Its manufacturing process eliminates heaters, dryers, calcining, and the burning of fossil fuels. Using EcoRock instead of gypsum drywall would eliminate up to 20 billion pounds of CO2 emissions per year in North America.

“Specifying UL rated and certified products has long been the industry standard requirement for our customers,” said Kevin Surace, CEO Serious Materials. “Green building mandates continue to be required by government policy and industry leading brands who understand the critical environmental and economic impact of the built environment. The launch of UL Environment Claims Validation is yet another indicator that energy-saving building products and green practices are increasingly becoming the norm, and not the alternative. EcoRock’s UL Environment Claims Validation is just as important to us as it is to our customers.”

UL Environment applies a rigorous, independent testing process to the testing of environmental claims and allows manufacturers that successfully pass the tests to apply the UL Environment service logo on product packaging and marketing materials. This not only protects consumers, institutions and businesses, it also reinforces the credibility of companies that produce products with validated environmental claims. Validation also helps companies differentiate themselves in the increasingly crowded “green” product space.