Title: Achieving Sustainability with Precast Concrete
Date: January-February, 2006
Volume: 51
Issue: 1
Page number: 42-61
Author(s): Martha VanGeem
https://doi.org/10.15554/pcij.01012006.42.61
Click here to access the full journal article
Abstract
Sustainability is often defined as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. While other building materials may have to alter their configurations, properties, or both to be applicable to sustainable structures, precast concrete’s inherent properties make it a natural choice for achieving sustainability with today’s new buildings. In this paper, sustainability concepts are outlined and different rating systems for evaluating sustainable design are introduced. Finally, ways are provided in which precast concrete meets or exceeds one rating system’s requirements to achieve sustainability.
References
1. World Commission on Environment and Development, “Report on Our Common Future,” Oxford University Press, New York, NY, 1987.
2. U.S. Green Building Council, “An Introduction to the U.S. Green Building Council and the LEED Green Building Rating System,” Power Point presentation on the USGBC website. October 2005, www.usgbc.org.
3. Green Value, Green Buildings Growing Assets, www.rics.org/greenvalue.
4. www.energystar.gov.
5. Portfolio Manager, www.energystar.gov.
6. American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers, ASHRAE Standard 55 - Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy, Atlanta, GA, www.ASHRAE.org.
7. American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers, ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2004 - Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality, Atlanta, GA.
8. Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, Illuminating Engineering Society of North America Lighting Handbook, 95 edition, December 2000, New York, NY, www.IESNA.org
9. “LEED for New Construction,” Version 2.2, United States Green Building Council, October 2005, www.USGBC.org.
10. Green Globes, www.thegbi.org.
11. Heat Island Group Home Page, eetd.lbl.gov/Heatlslandl.
12. American Society for Testing and Materials, ASTM C 1549, “Standard Test Method for Determination of Solar Reflectance Near Ambient Temperature Using a Portable Solar Reflectometer,” Conshohocken, PA, www.ASTM.org.
13. American Society for Testing and Materials, ASTM E 1918, “Standard Test Method for Measuring Solar Reflectance of Horizontal and Low-Sloped Surfaces in the Field,” West Conshohocken, PA.
14. Portland Cement Association, 1998 U.S. and Canadian Labor-Energy Input Survey, Skokie, IL, www.cement.org.
15. Portland Cement Association, Design and Control of Concrete Mixes, Chapter 5, EBOO 1, 2002, Skokie, IL.
16. American Society for Testing and Materials, ASTM C 33, “Standard Specification for Concrete Aggregates,” West Conshohocken, PA, www.ASTM.org.
17. “An Introduction to the U.S. Green Building Council and the LEED Green Building Rating System,” a PowerPoint presentation on the USGBC website, October 2005, www.usgbc.org.
18. 1992 National Energy Policy Act, U.S. Department of Energy, www.DOE.gov.
19. U.S. Department of Energy, Final Report on the August 14, 2003 Blackout in the United States and Canada: Causes and Recommendations, 2004, Washington, DC.
20. Massachusetts Energy Code, www.mass.gov/bbrs/780_CMR_Chapter_i3.pdf.
21. New Buildings Institute, E-Bench,nark, www.newbuildings.org.
22. The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Advanced Energy Design Guide For Small Office Buildings, Atlanta, GA.
23. Visual DOE 4.0, Architectural Energy Corporation, Boulder, CO. www.archenergy.com.