Build It Bright

Solar and the Green Building

Movement

Ann Jones Gerace

Executive Director
Conservation
Consultants, Inc.
RG08
 What is a Green Building?
- Green buildings are designed to reduce
the overall impact of the built environment
on human health and the natural
environment by:
- Efficiently using energy, water, and other
resources
- Protecting occupant health and improving
employee productivity
- Reducing waste, pollution and
environmental degradation
 The Purpose of Green
Buildings
- Green Buildings help illustrate links
between everyday life, energy
efficiency, sustainability, and
consumption of natural resources.
- Green Building projects provide an
opportunity to raise awareness of
environmental concerns to the
general public.
 What LEED Measures
Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design (LEED)

LEED is an internationally recognized

certification
system that measures how well a building or
community performs across all the metrics
that matter
most: energy savings, water efficiency, CO2
emissions
reduction, improved indoor environmental
quality, and
stewardship of resources and sensitivity to
9 Key Areas: a few examples of
them

Sustainable
Sites
- Discourages development on previously
undeveloped land
- Minimizes a building's impact on ecosystems and
waterways
- Encourages regionally appropriate landscaping
- Rewards smart transportation choices
- Rewards stormwater runoff
- Reduces erosion, light pollution, heat island
effect and construction-related pollution.
 Energy & Atmosphere

Encourages a wide variety of energy

strategies: commissioning; energy use
monitoring; efficient design and
construction; efficient appliances, systems
and lighting; the use of renewable and
clean sources of energy, generated on-site
or off-site; and other innovative strategies.
 Materials & Resources

- Encourages the selection of sustainably

grown, harvested, produced and
transported products and materials.

- Promotes the reduction of waste as well

as reuse and recycling, and it takes into
account the reduction of waste at a
product’s source.
 Awareness & Education

Encourages home builders and

real estate professionals to
provide homeowners, tenants
and building managers with the
education and tools they need to
understand what makes their
home green and how to make
the most of those features.
Making the Biggest Impact in a
Building
Hot Water
Refrigerators
Other
Lighting
Cooking
Heatingand Cooling

The biggest energy users in a building are

Heating and Cooling and Hot Water.
 Benefits of Renewable
Energy
- Creates no climate changing
emissions

- Cleaner air = better quality of life

- Increases independence from

foreign sources
of energy

- Can be “distributed”- power source

closer to
load bring benefits and efficiency to
 The American Clean Energy
and Security Act (HR 2454)
Currently being considered by the U.S House
of
Representatives.
Promotes:
- Efficiency in new and existing buildings,
complementing provisions to require the
nation to obtain 20 percent of its
electricity from
renewable sources like wind and solar by
2020.
Solar Integrated Green
Buildings
CCI Center, Pittsburgh, PA
Conservation Consultants, Inc.
(CCI)
- Conservation Consultants, Inc. (CCI) was
established in 1978 to promote
responsible energy use in homes and
other buildings
- CCI’s expertise is in energy efficiency for
homes and small to mid-sized businesses
- LIURP (low-income usage reduction
programs) for regulated utilities in 50,000
Pennsylvania homes
- Parent the Green Building Alliance
CCI Center – Environmental
Hub
• 12,000 sq. ft.
commercial
building

• Home to four
environmental
organizations

• CCI owner and

operator
 CCI Center – Adaptive
Reuse

 Buildings originally • Green renovation

constructed in 1910 began in 1993
(not including garage)
CCI Center – Design Goals
• Integrated design
goals:
– Energy efficient
design
– Cost efficient
design
– Environmentally
sound materials
and techniques
• Resource-efficient
• Recycling
• Water-efficient
• Non-toxic
 CCI Center – Design
Features
• Gas-fired heating and cooling
• Recycled steel studs and Agriboard
addition
• Extensive daylighting
• High-performance operable windows
• Insulation levels in excess of codes
• T-8 fluorescent lamps with electronic
ballasts
• Salvaged materials
• Access to gardens from every floor
CCI PV
- 2.5 kW PV
Array since
1998. Size to
double this
summer.

- 10 - 15% of
our electricity
comes from
our solar array
DEP Southeast Regional Office Building
Norristown , PA
LEED Gold Office
Building is home to
SERO, who oversees; air
quality, emergency
response, environmental
cleanups, waste
management, water
supply and water
management, and
radiation programs in
the five-county area
(Philadelphia, Bucks,
 PV Features of SERO
- 4.8-kW solar power system
- 30 160-watt-poly crystalline solar
photovoltaic modules
- The panels generate approximately
5,343 kWh per year
- Ensures that the building can offer
consistent and reliable services
during blackouts.
 How Solar Fits with the Green
Building Wave
- The biggest cost of a buildings operation is
energy consumption
- Solar is more than a viable alternative to fossil
fuels
- Renewables can significantly reduce the
environmental impact of the building
- PV on a Green Building provides the ideal
opportunity for public exposure (building as a
teaching tool)
- Nearly every commercial building that meets
LEED's energy efficiency demands has some type
of solar energy system to offset its carbon
footprint
 Tapping into the Green
Building Network
CCI 31 years young
1993 – Renovated South Side office building,
loose coalition supporting green building
1997 – First Executive Director, GBA
1998 - Heinz Endowments, RK Mellon
- 5 environmental organizations
- CCI’s commitment to solar – mission
of “using energy wisely”
2009 – CCI offering solar installer training for
new green workforce
 Green Building Alliance
- GBA Professionals: workshops,
training , community meetings,
demonstration sites
- Lunch and Learn brown bag
lunch workshops
 Marketing
- “Green Building” is often used in referring
to new construction but it applies to
retrofits, too
- Home Performance for Energy Star
- For solar to become accepted and well-
established in PA and other areas with
plentiful existing housing, solar must be
marketed for use in existing homes.
- Demonstration Site (Building as a teaching
tool)
-100 years old -E-mod
-PV solar/net metering -Solar
thermal