New Study by Green Building Consultant Highlights U.S.-Ready European Green Building Innovations
Tucson, AZ December 18, 2008—The Mechanical Contractors Education and Research Foundation recently released an informative new study written by Jerry Yudelson, lead green building consultant with Yudelson Associates, with contributions from Paul Ehrlich of Building Intelligence Group LLC. The report describes green building technologies being implemented in Europe that can be used in the U.S., especially chilled beams and active or dynamic facades.
The research study entitled, “European Green Building Technologies” consisted of a high-level study of European innovations, followed by in-depth research, and finally site visits to selected projects and interviews with European green building experts. The interviews were held in the spring and summer of 2008.
Yudelson’s team concluded that several widely used technologies should be considered for use on projects in North America. The featured solutions included radiant heating and cooling systems incorporating either panels and beams or slabs, and what are referred to as active facades - exterior walls in which the optical or thermal properties change dynamically in response to local climate, occupants’ preferences, ambient lighting, or utility demand-response programs.
According to the study, however, each of these technologies also pose design and construction challenges. Each requires not only proper design, but needed to be carefully selected based on the project type, cost considerations and the environmental conditions in which they will be used. In many cases, the European systems used familiar components and climate-control mechanisms, but did so in different ways. Taken as a whole, the innovations provide useful conceptual insights and a source of practical ideas for green building projects in North America.
“We believe that architects, mechanical engineers and contractors have much to learn from the European experience,” says Yudelson, “and we’re pleased that this new study provides easy access to that knowledge.”
About Yudelson Associates
Yudelson Associates is a leading international firm in sustainability planning and green building consulting. The founder, Jerry Yudelson, is widely acknowledged as one of the nation’s leading experts on green building and green development. He is the author of eight green building books and serves as Research Scholar for Real Estate Sustainability for the International Council of Shopping Centers, a 70,000-member international trade organization. He is a frequent green building speaker at industry and professional conferences and chairs the industry’s largest annual show, Greenbuild.
For more information on Yudelson Associates please visit http://www.greenbuildconsult.com.
