Page 7 - April 2015 Issue

Google Unveils Biodome Plans

With its recently released plans, featuring flexible spaces and pedestrian-

Tfriendly design, Google seeks to redefine the corporate campus. 5
ECH GIANT GOOGLE has announced
plans to transform four sites at
its Mountain View, California,
headquarters. Architect Bjarke Ingels
of BIG and Thomas Heatherwick of
Heatherwick Studio collaborated on

the innovative design, which features large, exible

geodesic canopies that blur the boundaries between

inside and outside. These protect modular block

structures, which can be easily reconfigured to

accommodate new projects.

In addition, the campus design includes ample bike

and pedestrian paths, restaurants and other retail, to

be enjoyed by employees and neighborhood residents

alike. The project would also transform parking lots into PHOTO CREDIT: GOOGLE

natural landscapes, rehabilitate nearby waterways and Energy-efficient home appliances
create wildlife habitat. The plans were submitted to the
Mountain View City Council on February 27. Although the exact measures vary, the RMIT, Think Brick and CSR House research is consistent in
confirming the impact of energy-efficient home appliances. In the Think Brick example, home
appliances accounted for nearly 50% of all energy use in a home, and 45% of total LCE over the

See more at http://bit.ly/1HqGml3 home’s 50-year life. The extent to which this energy use can be reduced is shown in Figure 6. The
first two columns are the same as Figure 4: the HIA and CSR benchmark houses with standard

appliances. The third column reflects the impact of the energy-efficient, low-emission appliances,

lighting and hot water that were actually installed in the ‘as built’ CSR house. Operational energy is www.greenbuildermedia.com 04.2015

Embodied Energy: It Mattersreduced by 46% compared to the standard CSR house, and total lifecycle emissions are reduced by
33%.

When these efficiencies are put in place, emissions embedded in the materials of the house become
much more significant as a proportion of total emissions. Operational energy still accounts for 61%
of total BC, but initial embedded emissions – not accounting for maintenance, replacements and end

As operational e ciency of homes improves, more attention will beof life disposal – are now 29% of the total. The designers and owners who are investing to push
down operational emissions are therefore starting to take a closer look at the initial embedded
emissions that make the operational savings possible.

Figure 6: Life cycle carbon comparison of the standard 5 Star HIA house and the 8 Star CSR house
over 70 years in north-western Sydney.

2500

2000
paid to the embodied energy of materials, an Australian study predicts.HE BULK OF CARBON emissions from homes
kgCO2e Per m2 1500
are produced while the building is occupied,
especially in more extreme climates. The
conventional wisdom is that investments

T made to increase energy efficiency pencil
out, because they save so much energy over IMAGE CREDIT: EDGE ENVIRONMENT

the long term—even if they require materials and products 1000 End of life
with high embodied energy. Yet as buildings become 500 Maintenance
more e cient, the proportion of emissions represented by 0 Operation
construction materials increases. Australian sustainability Transport
consulting rm Edge Environment recently prepared a report Material
titled Energy-E cient Dwellings: Can Embodied Energy Spoil
HIA CSR CSR (as built)

the Story? to address this issue. The report used Life-Cycle

Assessment (LCA) to compare the energy performance Odcecsuigpnanertsbeahnadvibouurilders can directly control. It predicts that,

(measured by emissions produced) of a standard Australian Wahsahteivgerht-hpeeorrfigoinraml daesnigcne, thme ahotemrei’as losccbupeacnotsmwiell heavveera-mmaojorreefsfetcatnondtaortdal,BC. Occupiers
house and the CSR house, an energy-e cient demonstration idnsesutteaprllmpedilniheeowrmsheewtahpehprloitahniecnebsvuaieldrseintugsi’sende,nlhvooewwlop-meeaminsyuispselsudigoe-ifnnfesacptippvlerialoyndctoeusscttohtresereawnardielrlaenleedanshjeoowhyeeaftf,ichioewnttthheose
home in Sydney. The analysis considered location, use, ptlhuge-inasdavrea. nThteasgeec,hobicyesbceaninogverawbhleelmt,opoositieverlybour niledgaetrivselay,nthdedinetesnitgionnes rosf the original

construction and end-of-life decommissioning. The study dreesdignuecres,dbueilmdeirsssainodnowsnfeorrs.tWheehsaavemneotbquuainldtifiinedgthme aeftfeecrtisaolfso, cwcuipthantlibtethleaviour in our
concludes that more attention should (and will) be paid to sacunopaplsyotsristdotihfetheoercceCuSnpRtaHinato’lus.sues.eItoifstaelcwhanyicsawl oinrnthovsatrteiosnsintog,rhedouwceeveenr,etrhgaytuesaesein-otfh-eusheofmunec. tionality does
the embodied energy of construction materials, and points

out that materials account for about half of the emissions that Read the full report here: http://bit.ly/1wXipRZ

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