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| Green Corner Articles |
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Kevin
Brooks
Senior Project Manager
LEED 2.0 Accredited Profesional
Harbison-Mahony-Higgins Builders |
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Existing Buildings - The Green Elephant
in the Room
By Grant French, with Steve Miller and Kassandra
Sutherland
While new construction projects tend to
capture Green Building headlines, in reality, the greatest opportunity
to address the environmental impact of the building lies in the
existing building sector.
View
article...
As featured in the Autumn 2007 Swinerton
Quarterly
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Physician Heal Thyself: The Increasing
Recognition of the Importance of Green Healthcare
By Kevin Brooks
We have all heard the reports of the rapidly
increasing costs of healthcare, not only in total dollars, but
also related to the share of our economy - and we have all seen
our monthly premiums increase!
View
article...
As featured in the Autumn 2007 Swinerton
Quarterly
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Setting Up a Green Project: You Want
to Do What?
By Kevin Brooks
It is 3:30 p.m. on a Friday afternoon and
you have just shut down your computer in anticipation of a relaxing
weekend when the Owner calls "You know, now that you have
submitted your GMP, I'm wondering if we can make this a "green"
job. I was thinking of using bio-diesel in the earthwork equipment
and changing the single-ply roofing membrane to TPO. And what
do you think about replacing the the sheet vinyl flooring with
rubber flooring? Can you have a proposal on what it would take
to make this project "green" by Monday at noon?"
View
article...
As featured in the Summer 2007 Swinerton
Quarterly
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Swinerton's Green Resistance: Back to
the Basics and the Future
By Kevin Brooks
In 1997, Swinerton Builders completed an
inaugural office building ifor Gap Inc. at their San Bruno, California
campus. Designed by William McDonough + Partners, it featured
revolutionary technologies and systems, including operable windows,
an underfloor air distribution system (UFAD), an energy-efficient
mechanical system, interior finished with low volatile oraganic
compounds (VOCs) and high recylced content, lots of daylighting
and, who could forget, a living roof - its most notable feature.
View
article...
As featured in the Spring 2007 Swinerton
Quarterly
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The
Three Little Pigs Got It Right: Straw Bale Building Makes it Mainstream
By Kevin Brooks
Another back-to-the future technology, straw
bale construction has gained increased notoriety and attention over
the past several years, not only by high-end, ecology-minded homeowners,
but also by the media. The Wall Street Journal recently ran an article
on straw bale construction in its Marketplace section.…
View
article...
As featured in the Autumn 2006 Swinerton Quarterly |
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The
Day Before Tomorrow: Understanding Global Warming and Construction's
Contribution
By Kevin Brooks
By now, we have all read the headlines and
heard the news bites about global warming and the increasing accumulation
of green house gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere. A continually expanding
quantity, frequency and scope of reports in the media on global
warming, particularly in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, are
ensuring that the story is heard. An Inconvenient Truth,
Al Gore's documentary on global warming, was just released a few
weeks ago to critical acclaim.…
View
article...
As featured in the Summer 2006 Swinerton Quarterly |
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Suburbia:
Modern Lifestyle or Economic Boondoggle
By Kevin Brooks
It’s late Friday afternoon and, after
a long week, you’ve packed it in and are finally on your way
home. As you sit in your car on your 40-mile-drive home, you listen
to the traffic report on the radio; the announcer calls out stop-and-go
traffic, including several accidents, ahead of you. You sigh to
yourself and note that it looks like another two-hour commute, as
you remember that you need to stop by the local Target to pick some
things up. There has to be a better way, you think…
View
article...
As featured in the Winter 2004 Swinerton Quarterly |
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How
Green Is Your Power Bill?
By Kevin Brooks
You’ve been struggling with the local
utility for the past 18 months to bring permanent power and gas
to your project. Now, with less than three months before substantial
completion, they announce that each regulator on the gas meter assembly
needs to be vented separately, you need to add additional louvers
to the room and a fire damper, and you’re still waiting on
permanent power.
View
article...
As featured in the Fall 2004 Swinerton Quarterly |
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The
Bottom Line: Making a Business Case
for Green Building
By Kevin Brooks
Over the past several years, there has been
an ongoing shift in the business paradigm relative to the recognition
of “Green” issues in business models and the corresponding
evaluation of the associated costs and benefits. Books such as Natural
Capitalism, Cannibals with Forks, The Triple Bottom Line and many
others have all expounded the importance of developing more reliable
information on the costs and financial benefits of “Green,”
including the incorporation of environmental externalities —
benefits not readily quantifiable, at least in terms of a traditional
cost-benefit analysis, and thus not typically included in business
models — into such evaluations. View
article...
As featured in the Summer 2004 Swinerton Quarterly |
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Shades
of Green: Wood vs. Steel Framing
How Sustainable is Your Framing System?
By Kevin Brooks
Recently, there has been much discussion concerning
the benefits of steel framing over conventional framing lumber.
This is particularly true as the high density residential market
has continued to sustain itself, particularly in West Coast urban
centers such as the San Francisco Bay Area. Indeed there has been
a flurry of different steel framing systems and products, which
have been rushed to the marketplace of late to address the low-rise
and mid-rise, large commercial and multi-family housing market sectors.
In addition to economic advantages, these light gauge steel framing
(LGSF) systems all promote the perceived environmental benefits
of steel over wood. View
article...
As featured in the Spring 2004 Swinerton Quarterly |
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Turning
Light into Free Energy: Swinerton Goes Solar
By Kevin Brooks
You’re on your way to work and you pass
one of those yellow emergency call stations scattered along the
side of the highway. You pass these call boxes all the time, but
this time something catches your eye – a blue rectangular
panel mounted atop a pole attached to the call box. You remember
something about solar panels, but atop emergency call boxes? View
article...
As featured in the Winter 2003 Swinerton Quarterly |
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What
are you going to do with your storm water run off?
By Kevin Brooks
It’s the weekend and you’re off
to Home Depot to pick up some more materials for that not-so-simple
weekend project. As you pull into the parking lot, it begins to
rain. You get out of your car and walk towards the entrance and
the gentle rain turns into an all out deluge. You dash inside with
your soaked list of items to pick up and look back at the pooling
water on the parking lot pavement. View
article...
As featured in the Fall 2003 Swinerton Quarterly |
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Indoor
Air Quality - You are what you breathe!
By Kevin Brooks
When you think of air quality issues, you
think of urban areas such as Los Angeles or Houston... View
article...
As featured in the Summer 2003 Swinerton Quarterly
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Energy-Generating
& Earth-Conditioned Buildings
By Kevin Brooks
Anyone who has ever participated in the commissioning
process understands, all too well, the huge quantities of energy
consumed by the buildings and facilities we spend our lives constructing.
View
article...
As featured in the Spring 2003 Swinerton Quarterly |
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Swinerton
Takes Austin USGBC Conference
by (Green) Storm
By Kevin Brooks
Swinerton Builders recently participated in
the U.S. Green Building Council's First Annual International Green
Building Conference and Expo, held in Austin, TX. View
article...
As featured in the Winter 2002 Swinerton Quarterly
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Why Build Green? Cash is King…
and Market Opportunities Abound
By Kevin Brooks
Despite the ever-growing recognition and
adoption of Green Building practices by market sectors and owners
of all types, many skeptics remain, questioning the economic viability
of implementing sustainable construction methods. View
article...
As featured in the Autumn 2002 Swinerton
Quarterly
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The
"Greening" of 260 Townsend
By Kevin Brooks
The new Home Office of the Swinerton Family
of Companies was recently accepted by the U.S. Green Building Council
(USGBC) to participate in its LEED-EB (Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design for Existing Buildings) pilot program. View
article...
As featured in the Summer 2002 Swinerton Quarterly |
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Gold
Stars & Green Bucks
Swinerton Joins Green Building Council
By Kevin Brooks
Swinerton Builders recently became a member
of the U.S. Green Building Council, joining over 1000 other organizations,
including design professionals, governmental agencies, owners, developers
and, most importantly, contractors and construction professionals!
View
article...
As featured in the Spring 2002 Swinerton Quarterly |
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Green
Roofs - Mimicking Nature's Design
By Kevin Brooks
In this edition, we would like to introduce
a green building design concept, one that is relatively easy to
incorporate into a facility's programming and results in great environmental
benefit - the Green Roof. View
article...
As featured in the Winter 2001 Swinerton Quarterly |
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Waste
Busters - Who Are You Going to Call?
By Kevin Brooks
We have all become accustomed to setting out
our garbage every week for the garbage truck to pick up and haul
away to places unknown. View
article...
As featured in the Autumn 2001 Swinerton Quarterly |
