Falls City High School Green Construction Program

INTRODUCTION

We are building a bathroom for our athletic field. This project will provide a permanent facility to replace the Porta-Potties!
We began construction Spring 2008 and expect to finish by June 2011.

WHAT DOES 'GREEN' MEAN?

The word "green" means sustainable and renewable. When it comes to buildings, this ideally means:

Use of recycled materials or materials that can be harvested indefinitely, such as wood from responsibly managed forests.
Use of materials that do not harm human health, such as manufactured wood products that emit formaldehyde into the air for years.
Design features that minimize the use of resources needed to operate and construct the building and minimize the waste materials created by the operation of the building.
Use of materials that are biodegradable, reusable, or recyclable when the building is eventually decommissioned.
Use of design and materials that are highly durable.
Building design that takes advantage of "natural services" available on site, such as light, heat, air, and rain water.
Click here to check out the Living Building Challenge for detailed information on the ideal green building.


Go to the Solar 4R Schools website

What Makes This Project Green?

LOCAL AND RECLAIMED MATERIALS

Some of the building materials have been obtained locally, minimizing the use of fuel needed to transport the materials. Some of the building materials were obtained at a large discount from Habitat for Humanity Re-Store, a store that sells donated salvaged building materials. Some of the materials, like the wood used to frame the foundation footing was salvaged scrap wood.

STRAW BALE WALLS

The walls will be made of 18" wide straw bales. Most straw is an agricultural waste that is burned. Straw bale buildings put that waste material to use. The straw bales were donated by Delbert Hoekstre, a local farmer.

The straw bale walls provide excellent thermal and sound insulation.

The walls will be plastered with three layers of lime-based plaster. This will create a durable, breathable, attractive finish for the walls.

Straw bale walls can last at least as long as walls made from modern building materials.

This website — www.strawbale.com — has a lot of information about straw bale construction.

We will be hiring Traditional Natural Plaster Company, a contractor that specializes in straw bale plastering, to assist us with the plastering.

WASTE COMPOSTER

The waste produced in this bathroom will be composted in a Clivus Multrum waste composter. Rather than flushing the waste with a large amount of water to a centralized treatment facility, this system is basically a large container in which an environment ideal for the decomposition of the waste is created. The system is operated by simply adding wood shavings to the composter periodically while an automatic spray system keeps the waste at an ideal moisture level. Over several years, the waste breaks down into a small quantity of a rich, biologically non-hazardous, soil-like material. Any harmful bacteria that may be present in the fresh waste are destroyed during composting. Odor is eliminated with the use of a power vent that vents to a roof vent.

WOOD

Almost all of the lumber used to frame the building was milled by our students from logs obtained from within three miles of the project using a portable mill loaned by Bob Young.

FOUNDATION

The foundation stem walls are made from Faswall blocks, partially donated by Shelterworks, a Philomath, Oregon company. These are large cinder-block-shaped blocks made from 85% chipped recycled wood scraps and 15% cement. The wood is mineralized to make it rot-proof. The blocks contain a layer of insulation that, in combination with the chipped wood, gives them a higher insulation value than a conventional cement wall. The voids are filled with cement and are rebar reinforced. They have the added advantage of being easily assembled by inexperienced builders compared to building forms. And there is no wood to discard after forms are built.

ROOFING MATERIALS

The shingles, donated by Ecostar are made from 80% recycled rubber and plastic.

The underlayment, donated by Teclar is made from recycled plastics. It is much lighter and more compact than tarpaper, making it more fuel-efficient to ship, and is easier to work with.

TANKLESS HOT WATER HEATER

Water for hand washing will be heated by a point-of-use tankless hot water heater, donated by Eemax. A conventional hot water heater uses energy keeping a tank of water hot regardless of whether hot water is being used. This type of hot water heater produces hot water instantaneously and only when the hot water tap is turned on. It uses no energy when there is no hot water demand.

LIGHTING

Conventional incandescent light bulbs are very inefficient, converting most of the electricity they receive into heat rather than light. Compact fluorescents are much better, using about one third the amount of electricity and lasting much longer. However, like all fluorescent bulbs, compact fluorescents all contain small quantities of mercury, a very hazardous chemical. Most of the mercury in fluorescents end up in landfills when the bulbs are discarded. We will be using special LED lighting donated by EarthLED. Their Evolux bulbs provide the same amount of light as a 100 watt incandescent bulb using only 13 watts. They contain no hazardous chemicals and for the amount of use they will get for this project they should last about 50,000 hours. That is equivalent to 17 years of eight hours daily use!

The lighting will be controlled by occupancy sensors donated by Leviton. When the sensors detect movement in the room, they will turn on the lights and keep them on automatically, and turn them off a pre-set amount of time later. The sensors will also override the light switch when there is a high enough level of natural light in the room.

AMBIENT LIGHTING DESIGN

Ambient lighting design involves allowing natural light enter the building. This decreases the need for electric lighting. This project will have two ambient light features: Sun Tunnel skylights donated by Velux and a south-facing clear story roof design.

Sun Tunnel sky lights transmit light through the roof down a highly reflective round shaft. They are much easier to install than traditional sky lights and add beautiful natural light inside of buildings.

Windows placed in the vertical section of the roof will allow sunlight to enter the building at ceiling level and scatter around.

This arrangement also allows light to enter directly in the winter where it can warm the interior. But in the summer, when the sun is at a high angle, the eaves overhanging the windows will prevent sunlight from entering the building directly and overheating the building.

See diagram at right.

INSULATION

The insulation is blown in and is made from recycled newspaper that is treated with borate to prevent insect infestation.

PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM

The Bonneville Environmental Foundation provided a grant for a photovoltaic system (solar panels). The grant included the hardware itself, educational materials, and planning assistance.

Brian Samp and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local #280 have been incredibly generous in their donation of time, funding, and materials towards this project. Brian, along with five other electricians did the installation of the photovoltaic system.

The system is "grid tied," meaning the building will have normal electrical service but will also generate its own electricity with the solar panels. That electricity can be used as the building needs it but any electricity that is generated that is not needed by the building at that moment is fed back into the electrical grid. The utility company then uses "net metering," in which credit is given for excess electricity generated. This system should meet a net of all the electrical needs of the building. A simple diagram of a grid-tied building is at left.

We are able to monitor the performance of this system through the internet. You can, too, by going to: www.solar4rschools.org/schools/falls-city-high-school.

Stairs and ADA Ramp

In the fall of 2010, students built an cement ADA ramp and set of stairs for access to the building. This was done with a $14,000 grant for Oregon Department of Transportation. The students built the forms, and under the supervision and of Mike Younk and Mike McConnell (who donated their time) poured the cement and did the finish work. Mike McConnell is currently working with the Falls City School District’s FACES program to build the handrails.

Project Donors and Donations

SERVICES
Michael Pemberton	architectural design and drafting		$ 1,500
Precision Structural Engineering	building engineering plans	www.structure1.com	$ 3,000
City of Falls City	20 person hours labor		$ 1,000
City of Falls City	permit fee waivers		$ 1,800
Brian Samp	electrical system installation		$ 5,000
Northside Electric	electrical system permits, project sponsorship, power pole electrical service connection	www.northsideelectric.com	$ 1,500
Traditional Natural Plaster	Discount on plastering services	www.traditionalplaster.com	$ 500
Bob Young, local resident	loan of portable sawmill		$ 300
Polk County HALO employment program	630 person-hours of labor	www.haloprogram.org	$ 6,300
Sub-Total			$ 20,900
MATERIALS
Ecostar	roof shingles	www.ecostar.carlisle.com	$ 1,400
Teclar Construction Products	roof underlayment	www.teclarcp.com/index.htm	$ 100
Simpson strong-ties	framing hardware	www.strongtie.com	$ 1,100
Shelterworks	Faswall insulated wall form blocks	www.faswall.com/sustainability.html	$ 1,200
Evolux	LED lighting system	www.eemaxinc.com	$ 600
Leviton	occupancy sensors	www.leviton.com/OA_HTML/ ibeCCtpSctDspRte.jsp ?section= 12457&minisite=10025	$ 160
Eemax	tankless hot water heater	www.eemaxinc.com	$ 180
Velux	skylights	www.veluxusa.com/products/ residentialSkylights/sunTunnels	$ 350
Weyerhaeuser	manufactured I-joists		$ 400
VanWell Building Supply	lumber	www.vanwells.com	$ 300
Local land owner	logs for milling		$ 1,000
Habitat for Humanity Re-Store	building material 50% discount	www.bentonhabitat.org	$ 400
Moen	faucet fixtures	www.moen.com	$ 200
Service Partners	cellulose insulation	www.service-partners.com/default2.asp	$ 700
Square-D	electrical system equipment	www.schneider-electric.us/products-services/products/square-d-products
Emerson Vineyards	electrical system equipment	emersonvineyards.com	$ 200
Delbert Hoekstre (local farmer)	straw bales		$ 300
Sub-Total			$ 8,590
GRANTS
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 280	cash donation	www.ibew280.org	$ 1,500
Carl Perkins Grant - 2007	cash grant		$ 600
Carl Perkins Grant - 2008	cash grant		$ 4,100
Carl Perkins Grant - 2009	cash grant		$ 890
Mid-Willamette Educational Consortium	cash grant		$ 2,420
Oregon Department of Transportation	cash grant		$ 14,200
Bonneville Environmental Foundation	photovoltaic system	www.b-e-f.org	$ 10,000
Sub-Total			$ 33,710
TOTAL DONATIONS			$ 63,200