A Trickle of Living Buildings Could Become a Waterfall
The New Buildings Institute reports 53 verified net zero buildings and nearly 300 others in the “emerging” state. One of those projects is Pittsburgh’s Frick Environmental Center which truly demonstrates smart sustainability. The project, orchestrated for the city by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, proves that net-zero can be achieved within a reasonable budget. The team had to model every technology it considered from an energy and a monetary standpoint recalls Rob Aumer, the project’s architect. If the energy savings or the monetary savings didn’t pan out, it was eliminated from the project—for instance, radiant floor heating and the Earth Tube passive air conditioning. “We couldn’t pick every su
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