H2I3T

This field has 1,301 florescent bulbs planted in it, and they're all glowing. They aren't plugged into anything, however; they're powered solely from the magnetic fields produced by the power lines above. It's all a large art project by Richard Box

Found these notes of Mr D. boles on the net. thought it's worth sharing.

LEED Certification Exam

Test Impressions and Notes

D. Boles 7/17/04

General Comments

• The test is divided into 4 sections, each requiring it’s own study strategy
• Section 1 covers Green Building Design and Construction Industry Knowledge and contains 30 questions
• Section 2 covers LEED Rating System Knowledge and contains 20 questions
• Section 3 covers LEED Resources and Processes and contains 20 questions
• Section 4 covers Green Design Strategies and contains 30 questions
• The system allows you to skip by questions and/or to mark questions you want to come back to later. You will be given a question to review ALL of your answers at the end, or can do so at any time by pressing the review answers button. Questions you have not answered will be marked with an “I’ for incomplete. Questions you have marked will be flagged with a red flag to make it easier to find them. You can call up any question to review your answer and make any changes.
• Studying the LEED Rating system document alone is not enough. It will get the candidate through Section 4, and will help with Section 1, but further study is necessary to pass sections 1, 2, and 3.
• Most of the questions are pretty straightforward, though there a couple are nearly inscrutable. For an example of an inscrutable question, see the second sample question in Section 1 below.
• Many of the questions contained in USGBC-provided test preparation materials (e.g. the “official” USGBC study guide on the web site) appear nearly verbatim on the test. Word to the wise: Study Any of These You’ve Got
• It is common for questions to have all of the multiple choices be legitimate answers for LEED, but the right answer depends on knowledge of which does/does not apply to the particular credit involved (e.g. questions worded like the following:

All of the following are Prerequisites within the LEED rating system except for:

A. Erosion and Sedimentation Control

B. Environmental Tobacco Smoke Control

C. Increased Ventilation Effectiveness

D. Minimum Energy Performance

Section 1 – 30 Questions

• Test takers with significant experience in all aspects of green building/design who have studied the rating system document and the reference guide will fare all right.
• Success really requires a detailed study of the reference manual, paying particular attention to the introductory sections on green building design/construction and the introductions to each individual credit area (Introductory pages to SS, WE, EA, MR, and EQ). Many questions are drawn from these areas.

Sample Questions

Which of the following is the largest component to construction debris going to landfill?

1. Asphalt
2. Wood
3. Metal
4. Drywall

What building type generates the most solid waste per person?

1. Hospitals
2. Schools
3. Offices
4. Supermarkets

Section 2 – 20 Questions

• Passing this section requires knowledge of the background and business case for LEED. A good resource to study would be USGBC’s Introduction to LEED powerpoint presentation. Another good resource to study is the brochure “Making The Business Case For High Performance Green Buildings”, both available on the USGBC web site.
• In addition to these, spend some time reviewing the LEED system background information on the www.usgbc.org web site.

· It’s a good idea to know that it takes a minimum of 26 points under LEED 2.0 for a building to become certified. There could be derivations of this question in other versions of the test, so it might be good to memorize the certified (26), silver (33), gold (39), and platinum (52) point minimums, as well as the maximum number of points possible under LEED 2.0 (69)

Sample Questions:

All of the following are benefits of sustainable design and construction except:

1. Increased Employee Productivity
2. Reduced Construction Costs
3. Improved Employee Health
4. Increased Property Value

What is the first step a project team with a question about a LEED credit is likely to take?

1. Call their designated LEED Project Manager at USGBC
2. Submit a credit interpretation request
3. Read the credit intent in the LEED Rating System
4. Consult the credit interpretation database on the LEED web site

Which of the following is not included in the format of a Credit in the LEED Rating System

1. Goals and objectives
2. Environmental Impact of existing practices
3. Summary of Referenced Standards
4. Criteria to satisfy the credit

Section 3

• Passing this section will be easier with a good knowledge of the resources that are listed in the various sections of the reference guide. For example, questions may ask about which of the 4 listed publications are good green design/construction resources to draw upon.
• Knowledge of resources and processes needs to also include an awareness of what some of the federal government documents, such as the Environmentally Preferable Procurement Guide, are available and what their intent is.
• This section is very heavily weighted toward the process of getting a project registered, and on the process of approval. The best place to study this is the USGBC web site. The candidate should understand:
• How to register a project
• What steps are involved in the entire certification process
• What proper methods for resolving questions are, including the “how to” of each area.
• Credit Intent
• Reference Guide
• Credit Interpretation Process
• Who is (and is not) part of a project team and the project review (hint: there are no USGBC staff resources or project managers available for discussion of projects).

Sample Questions

What is the proper method for registering a project for LEED certification?

A. Download, complete, and mail the project registration form from the USGBC web site

B. Fax a copy of the project description and design intent to the LEED certification coordinator at the USGBC

C. Have the project architect submit AIA form 5931, request for consideration of project for LEED certification

D. Complete the online form available on the USGBC web site

What is the proper method for submitting a credit interpretation?

A. Complete the online credit interpretation request on the USGBC web site.

B. Schedule a conference call with the designated LEED Project Manager at USGBC

C. Download, complete, and mail the project registration form from the USGBC web site.

D. Send a letter or FAX toUSGBC requesting a credit interpretation request form.

Section 4

• Submittal Requirements form the basis of a number of questions.
• The referenced standard section does not contain ALL of the standards that questions refer to, a weakness of the 2.0 standard document. There are some standards that are referenced in the text of individual sections, sometimes somewhat obliquely.
• To pass, the candidate has to know more than just the information contained in the LEED standard document itself. Much of the information is drawn from the detail contained in the reference guide.
• Knowledge of the additional resources listed in the Resources section of each credit will help in several questions.
• Know which ASHRAE standard is which.
• Know which items are prerequisites and which are credits. There are several questions that will ask you to differentiate.

Sample Questions

Which of the following is included in Total Cost when calculating Materials and Resources Credit 3 – Resource Reuse?

1. Electrical panels
2. Ductwork
3. Labor
4. Drywall

Which of the following has the most square feet of surface area?

1. Building shell
2. Interiors
3. Foundation
4. Floors

Which of the following applies to thermal comfort?

1. ASHRAE 90.1 1999
2. ASHRAE 62-1999
3. ASHRAE 129-1997
4. ASHRAE 55-1992

Which of the following applies to Energy and Atmosphere Prerequisite 1 – Minimum IAQ Peformance?

1. ASHRAE 90.1 1999
2. ASHRAE 62-1999
3. ASHRAE 52.2-1999
4. ASHRAE 55-1992

What is the maximum number of Innovation in Design Credits that can be awarded to a project?

1. 2
2. 4
3. 6
4. 8

Which of the following is not included in the ways to earn Materials and Resources Credit 3.2 - Construction IAQ Management Plan?

1. Conduct a bake out of the building at high temperatures for two weeks to eliminate all VOC’s
2. Conduct a minimum 2 week building flushout with 100% air
3. Conduct a minimum 2 week building flushout with new filtration media
4. Conduct a baseline indoor air quality testing procedure

by Neelam Mathews with additional reporting by James Murdock

Construction is underway, albeit with some delays, on one of India’s highest profile and most opulent projects—the Antilia, a 490-foot-tall corporate meeting facility and private residence in Mumbai. Chicago-based Perkins + Will designed the 24-story tower for business tycoon Mukesh Ambani, whose family will occupy roughly 35,000 square feet in its top floors.

Among its interesting elements, Antilia will feature a band of vertical and horizontal gardens that demarcates the tower’s different program elements. A garden level will separate the ground-floor parking and conference center from residential space above, for instance, and the outer walls on certain levels will be sheltered by trellises supporting panels that contain hydroponically grown plants.

In addition to signaling different space uses and providing privacy, these “vertical gardens” will help shade the building and reduce the urban heat island effect. “You can use the whole wall almost like a tree and increase the green area of the site by five or 10 times over what it would be if you just did a green roof,” Johnson observers. “It’s a prototype for buildings of the future.”

Read more:

http://archrecord.construction.com/news/daily/archives/071018perkinswill.asp

A new approach to the cooling of buildings across the developing world that needs nothing but wind and sun to operate has been devised by engineers in India. Writing in the International Journal of Sustainable Design, the team explains the concept of a combined solar chimney and wind tower system that can reduce the temperature of incoming appear by 5 degrees Celsius.

Jyotirmay Mathur of the Mechanical Engineering Department, at the Malaviya National Institute of Technology, in Jaipur, together with architect and urban designer Rajeev Kathpalia of Vastu Shilpa Consultants, in Ahmedabad, point out that the development of energy-efficient, and even passive, cooling systems for buildings is essential in the light of environmental pressures and costs. In the past, they point out, building designers had to rely on natural ways and means for maximising comfort inside buildings.

The team has now reasoned that two distinct technologies - the so-called solar chimney for roof-based based ventilation and a wind tower that provides a draft of air could be combined simply and effectively into a passive cooling system.

They have designed a building that incorporates a multi-storey wind tower clad with heavy stone panels which produces an upward draft of air drawn into the building passively and cooled by the massive tonnage of the stone classing. The air flows through the rooms and corridors and accumulates heat as it does so. This is then carried to the top of the building and vented with large black, thermally conducting, panels providing a way to shed the heat quickly from the top of the building.

The result is a reduction in internal temperature of several degrees. The resulting temperature drop would be sufficient to improve the comfort of people in the building without the need for powered air conditioning that is both expensive to install, maintain and operate.

"The combination of solar chimney and wind tower is found to be a good design option for urban buildings," the researchers conclude, "We have demonstrated how natural resources can be utilised to design sustainable buildings in an urban area where design of truly sustainable buildings is extremely difficult."

http://www.scientificblogging.com/news_releases/solar_chimney_plus_wind_tower_is_fuel_free_air_conditioning


Design of passive cooling system for a building in composite climatic conditions in India

Author: Jyotirmay Mathur, Rajeev Kathpalia Email author(s)
Address: Mechanical Engineering Department, Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur, India. ' Vastu Shilpa Consultants, Sangath, Thaltej Road, Ahmedabad, India
Journal: International Journal of Sustainable Design 2008 - Vol. 1, No.1 pp. 110 - 126

Abstract: A combined solar chimney–wind tower concept has been developed for a typical urban institution building in Delhi. Due to site limitations, the concept of solar chimney based ventilation has been introduced through roof mounted thermo-siphon air panels of 70 m² absorber area. A wind tower provided on the suction side of fresh air has potential for cooling incoming air by 5°C by using 250 m² of stone cladding. Openings for airflow inside the buildings are designed to suit smooth natural ventilation. Evolution of the final design through various constraints is explained in this paper.

http://www.inderscience.com/search/index.php?action=record&rec_id=17060