Aesthetic

• Almost all of the buildings visited were structurally high mass structures with their mass exposed and coupled to finished occupied space. (Mass perhaps twice that of US conventional concrete encased steel frame and deck structures). Exposed system components: Elements such as air ducts, cable trays, conduits, receptacle boxes, etc. were commonly mounted and exposed in the finished space (e.g. Gasser, DLO).

• Buckminster Fuller occasionally asked "How much does your building weigh?" with an eye to shaming us into designing low mass structures. With these buildings it is also appropriate to ask as to what the mass is doing to earn its keep, because support is but one role among others.

• Contrast of rough and smooth (juxtaposition of cheap and chic): Rough frame dimension lumber, plywood, in-situ formed concrete, metal conduit, juxtaposed to high-tech glazing junctions and support assemblies, high-finished metal fabrications and intricate solar control elements. (e.g. Data Pac, Hubner's schools).

• The absence of suspended acoustic tile (SAT) ceilings. None of the 34 buildings visited exhibited any significant amount of this material at all.

• Direct/indirect lighting with fixtures suspended below a bright ceiling plane (note Doug King's comments regarding the importance of a bright ceiling plane, and the proportional levels of brightness between it and the other room surfaces).

• Sound absorption elements: There were interesting, and some times desperate, measures to introduce sound absorption elements. Sound absorption was typically handled with dedicated elements when it was handled at all - and were made either of Tectom-type material or a heavy perforated plaster tile. This appears as a significant unresolved component to the pattern described above.

• There appears to be no consensus on the management of sound attenuation, which varies according to the size & function of the space, and the design sense of the architect. Sound control is less of a challenge though with the "narrow plate" buildings that we mostly encountered. Workstations are closer to a perimeter. Furthermore, the absence of SAT ceilings means that partitions are less likely to give rise to flanking paths for errant noise. (However, what about flanking path via raised floors??).

• Complex facades through elaborate solar controls: Facades routinely included fixed or movable exterior shades / brise-soleils, as well as interior blinds. This is partly to achieve the "daylight equilibration" described above, and partly due to large proportions of glass in the façade.

• Daylighting strategies appeared to favor evenness (quality?) over quantity of available natural light. This in a place with already significantly lower solar intensity. Daylighting solutions tended to suppress the natural light level at the window wall so as to reduce the differential between the light level there and the interior wall. The high contrast between perimeter and inboard levels creates the perception as one enters the room that it is dark and that the lights should be turned on. - (therefore an economic rather than an aesthetic or light quality consideration).
  We also noted very low room ambient light levels (5±fc) in spaces dominated with VDT terminal-focused activity - (DataPac, Metron, Wessex).

• Grass / vegetated roof surfaces: There was a significant presence of grass roofs to filter rainwater destined for in-building use; to reduce run-off rate; to provide extensive, long-term protection for the roof membrane. 'Foamglass' was used as a thermal insulation medium above the water proof membrane. Preferred vegetation was actually not grass, but alpine, "tundra-like" material. This material does not generate much biomass over the life of the roof, eliminating the need to harvest a crop up there every so often. However, annual weedings to remove wind borne errant species, particularly trees, was generally required.

Site

• Parking requirements appear to be one half to one third of what we would expect in the U.S. Northeast for similar scaled development.

• Significant presence of porous paving within parking lots (in ... per cent of buildings visited) in ... per cent or more of the parking area, and occasionally even the traffic surface was one form of porous paving or another. Generally it included a significant presence of grass.

Plan Form

• Workstations generally within 15'-20' of a window.

• Narrow fingered plan forms with a high proportion of exterior wall to floor area.

Building Structure / Envelope

• No evidence that buildings are constructed any tighter than that to be expected in the U.S. Possible exception to this rule are the simpler concrete plate structures where air sealing is relatively easy to achieve (Mader, Gasser, Elizabeth Fry).

• Floor to floor height: consideration for change-of-use flexibility with 3.5 meter being considered a reasonable minimum.

• Concrete building structure (columns and structural flat slab) preferred over lighter weight steel frame structures with non-structural, thin concrete slab. The structural mass appears generally to be ... per cent of what might be typically expected in U.S. buildings of similar size and function, which would be predominantly steel-framed rather than concrete-framed.

• Integral beam-and-plank systems: using both concrete or wood beams and concrete or terracota planks/blocks.

• Double facades: We did not visit any high rise buildings which is where examples of these assemblies are usually to be found. Note Herzog's analysis of their value).

Building Systems

• Ventilation air frequently tempered (cooled in summer, warmed in winter, each by approximately 10(F) by drawing it in through earth-coupled tubes. It appears that using a somewhat porous material such as concrete that the small percentage of hours in the year at which condensation might occur is insufficient to cause any microbial activity in these tubes.

• Mechanical systems downsized or eliminated in consequence of the coupling to the high thermal (structural) mass within the conditioned envelope. (e.g. BRE, Gasser, JCampus.).

• Ventilation rates appeared to be somewhat lower than those required by U.S. design standards.... (but perhaps individual control and reliance on windows offsets this ...).

• Solar controls used to equilibrate daylight (especially on shallow plans? all plans?).

• Indoor waterfalls that actually remove humidity from the air.

• Clever, carefully designed mechanical systems that reduce fan energy (a surprisingly big energy user in commercial buildings) to 1/10th that of typical buildings.

• The use of carefully designed (and in some cases elaborate) ventilation systems that rely on gravity and wind for the power to move air - some using only these natural forces, some combining mechanical and natural power.

Design Process

• Thoroughly integrated design teams (for the buildings visited) established at the outset and culled or eliminate the cost premium of creating green buildings by expanding the functional capabilities of various building components, and by supporting innovation in design team members.Design fees de-coupled from construction cost so far as selection and engagement are concerned - (southern Germany and Switzerland).Architects commonly include a construction management responsibility in their scope. The fee is proportionally increased.

On to Part 4: Details

Green Grand Tour

Green Grand Tour - Context

Green Grand Tour - Observations / Patterns

Green Grand Tour - Details

Green Grand Tour - Comparative Analyses

Green Grand Tour - Stories and Vignettes

Green Grand Tour - Conclusions

Green Grand Tour - the Article

Green Grand Tour - the Presentation