HUD–Head up Rectum when it comes to HVAC Common Sense!
July 25, 2010
During the past week I had the opportunity to test a multi-family renovation for seniors. The property was a HUD project being renovated in order to keep it in the HUD fold of an affordable designation. I don’t understand the financing or how it was being handled, but HUD money is certainly involved. The project is trying to obtain a recognized third party Sustainable Renovation certification, which is how I get involved.
The apartments are paying close attention to sealing the thermal envelope of each unit. The Blower Door tests showed substantial reduction in Air Changes per Hour Natural. They were coming in below .2 ACH natural. That is pretty impressive in a renovation. I haven’t previously had any renovations test that low.
Here is my problem. HUD specs stated, so I am told, that the renovation of the HVAC system, all new, just be replaced matching what was there. Are you kidding me? We have 1.5 ton Heat Pump air handlers in apartment units that should have 1/2 of that. We are talking about the humid southeast. We are going to have an Air Conditioning unit come on, super cool the air and turn off. Where is any concern about dehumidification? Where is there any concern about the energy efficiency of the unit, whether it be in the cooling or heating mode?
A well designed space, to a recognized third party standard(ie. Energy Star), should have a ton of coolant to approximately 800-1200 Square Foot of living space. Here we have 1.5 tons to a unit less than 500 SF. That doesn’t make sense to me.
Everything coming out of Washington these days is about energy efficiency, alternative energy and sustainable(Green) building practices. We are in the process of throwing billions of dollars at energy efficiency and energy alternatives. If HUD or any other government unit just specifies “replace what is there with the equivalent,” what kind of standard is that? It isn’t a standard. It isn’t adhering to what HUD, Department of Energy, the GSA are vocalizing.
Another question is what about Indoor Air Quality? If affordable housing renovations are going to result in less than .25 ACH natural, the point at which most sustainable programs, including Energy Star, say you need outside air delivered, aren’t these senior citizens, in this particular project going to be breathing some funky air? Put another way aren’t we putting them at risk? Last I looked infants, children and seniors are the most susceptible to breathing problems and resultant illnesses. What kind of standard is “Just replace what’s there?”
To me this is the ultimate in “Don’t do as I do, but do as I say.” This is “Green Washing” at its best. All buildings, multi-family, houses, offices, commercial space, schools must be looked at as a system, not a collection of individual items. I mean do we design cars just based on how the tires hold up.
If this is the prescribed path of energy efficiency adhered to by a government entity, entrusted with helping to provide affordable housing for our most at risk citizens, we are in some serious trouble. Can’t we do projects that provide solutions and jobs for the long haul, not just quick fixes that provide jobs?
In the defense of contractors doing this kind of work, their hands are tied. They want the work, people want and need the jobs, and I don’t blame them–its tough out there in the construction business. When they even try to voice an opinion they jeopardize their ability to get the job, so its just “Shut-up and do it.” There is nothing sustainable about doing something 1/2 assed other than we will be doing it again and again in the future to the same buildings.
“There is never time to do it right, but there is always time to do it over.”
Where are we going with this Green, Sustainable, Energy Efficient, Healthy Building Movement?
July 4, 2010
Where are we going with this Green, Sustainable, Energy Efficient, Healthy Building Movement?
I kind of lost some interest in blogging and tweeting the past few weeks. Main reason is I periodically get overwhelmed by the amount of daily information I am inundated with regarding Green Building. I have to constantly ask myself, “What are you going to do?” I mean how and what do I contribute to the over-abundance of information out there. Then I laugh and say I don’t know, on one day I have answers and the next day I have doubts. Many days I feel stuck in limbo or purgatory. The amount of information, for someone in tuned to this movement, to absorb or understand is staggering. Someone unsophisticated to this field would be overwhelmed.
I do know this: The only thing I bring to this field is common sense, field application and good and bad experiences of over 30 years in the building business.
Why do I feel this way? I am a boots on the ground individual. I work daily with affordable non-profit builders and Low Income Housing Developers trying to get them to apply Energy Efficient and Sustainable Building practices sensibly and cost effectively to their multi-family and single family projects. Because what very few seem to understand, it is still about money and common sense applications. There just isn’t enough money laying around to go for out there ideas and product. At the moment in the world of for-profit building, there is not only no money, there isn’t any building, by normal standards, even going on.
There are a couple of things that haunt me in this world I work in.
1. Many urban, low income and affordable housing occupants aren’t embracing this movement. Why? Too technical for them. Not being explained simply. Not applying the Keep it Simple Stupid(KISS) rule.
This group is about reality. What does it do for me in allowing me to survive life? Many redevelopment and housing agencies spend thousands of dollars on upgrading apartments and building new efficient housing, but the occupants are not educated about how to live in one or what the benefits are. They are just given the keys, crank the heat up to 80 or the the AC down to 65 and go about life.
2. The information put out by the web, magazines, social media, e-mails and newspapers is daunting to the man on the street. It is dominated by Building Scientists, Architects, Technocrats, Bureaucrats, Engineers and the dominant organizations in the movement(USGBC, RESNET, Energy Star, DOE, EPA, NAHB, Enterprise Foundation to name a few..)
I see very little information put out by hands on people. The people who can tell you what is right, what works, what doesn’t work, what is cost effective and what is pure baloney. The people you have to convince this makes sense, so they will support the evolving processes, and we haven’t spent all kinds of dollars just to watch this movement stagger along blindly.
I additionally see very little participation in this critical movement by Hispanics, Blacks, and Blue Collar Workers. When I attend conventions, training sessions, classes, seminars, design charrettes, developer meetings I scan the audience to see about the ethnic mix and sad to say it is predominantly white Americans or highly educated Europeans and Asians.
I know this, until you commonize the language, the approach, the goals and relate it to the man on the street in terms they can understand, this movement will continue to be the property of an educated society. The money thrown at it will be like a front end loaded investment fund or non-contributing non-profit, the majority of dollars will sustain the overhead and operation, but the real work will be minuscule in application because of a lack of an understanding and dedicated work force.