July 6, 2017

Bialosky + Rust Belt Riders

A proud partner of Rust Belt Riders composting since 2017, we wanted to share how far we have come since then. We have diverted over 3,700 pounds of food waste from landfills and kept 3,270 pounds of harmful greenhouse gasses out of the atmosphere.

This year, Bialosky Cleveland took a leap towards a more environmentally-friendly office, by separating our food waste from our landfill trash. Sustainability is an important principle at Bialosky Cleveland and we strive to act more green-minded. We focus on sustainability in our work, as many of our employees have LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certifications and our firm takes on many LEED projects. By adding an environmental initiative to our everyday lives, we remember the purpose behind the sustainable principles we apply to our projects.

Since mid-February, Bialosky Cleveland collected over 528 pounds of food waste. This is equivalent to keeping 464 pounds of greenhouse gasses from entering the atmosphere. When food waste goes into a landfill, it cannot break down properly and it produces large amounts of the harmful greenhouse gas, methane. By separating our organic food waste and allowing it to decompose naturally, we prevent methane from being created and keep the air a bit cleaner.

Our food waste is picked up every Friday afternoon by a Cleveland composting company called Rust Belt Riders and is transported to various local community gardens, where it is used as organic fertilizer.

 

Rust Belt Garden in downtown Cleveland, OH.

I recently toured Rust Belt Garden in downtown Cleveland with Michael Robinson, CFO of Rust Belt Riders. At this location, people in the neighborhood take care of the garden and receive fresh fruit and vegetables grown with compost in return.

Plants were grown with compost in Cleveland, OH.

The employees at Rust Belt Riders are knowledgeable about the biology and business of compost and they ensure Bialosky’s food waste is re-used in ways that best serve the community and environment. The company also services other well-known Cleveland businesses, such as University Hospitals, Spice Kitchen, and City Club of Cleveland.

Rust Belt Riders are creating compost with food waste.

We recently added an architectural touch to our composting bin – a wooden cover cut with our in-office laser cutter out of reclaimed wood. A few Bialosky architects and designers collaborated on the design and creation of the cover.

Compost cover made by Bialosky designers.

Composting our food waste keeps sustainability on the minds of Bialosky employees and reminds us to be more environmentally conscious in our professional and personal lives.

June 3, 2014

A Modern Farmhouse: Construction Update

A lot of construction happened since the last blog post and we have moved into our (mostly) finished house. It is proving to be a very comfortable home and we can hardly wait for winter to see how it performs in the cold. Okay, maybe we can wait a bit for that.

Entry
Earlier we explored the foundation system and in this post we’ll discuss the wall and roof systems. Let’s quickly review the four basic control layers to be considered in every building enclosure:

1. Water:  Keeps bulk-water out of the structure.

2. Air:  Keeps conditioned air inside and unconditioned air outside.  Air also holds moisture, so air moving through the structure is a bad thing.  As the saying goes, build tight and ventilate right.

3. Vapor:  Controls the amount of vapor permeance through the structure.  It’s inevitable that some amount of moisture will get into your walls, so you need to allow them to dry-out.

4. Thermal:  AKA insulation… Slows the transfer of heat through the structure.

The wall we constructed is a ventilated rainscreen system.  A rainscreen is an exterior wall construction where the siding stands off from the weather barrier creating a capillary break allowing for drainage and evaporation.  Some of the benefits of this system include prolonged life of the siding and finish (due to temperature and moisture equalization of the material), minimizing the chance of water intrusion into the wall structure, and keeping the weather barrier dry, thereby prolonging its life.  To minimize the penetrations through the weather barrier the wall construction was sequenced in this manner:  layout studs on floor deck, fasten plywood sheathing to face of wall, place rigid foam board over plywood (only tack in place), roll out building wrap over rigid foam board (do not fasten), place 1x3 furring strips over building wrap (located over each stud), fasten furring strips tight using 4” screws.  The furring strips are what hold the building wrap and the insulation board in place. Below is a list of how the 4 control layers were handled:

Water:  The metal roofing and underlayment keeps bulk water out of the roof system.  The cedar siding is a rainscreen, keeping the bulk water out of the structure.  Behind the siding the 3/4" air gap and building wrap act as the drainage plane for any water that makes its way through.

Air:  Although great care was taken to control air intrusion at the exterior of the structure by using flashing tapes and minimizing penetrations, the primary air control layer is the gypsum board on the walls and the underside of the roof truss (see red line on diagram).  The gypsum board was sealed to the wood structure to prevent air movement from the conditioned spaces into the wall and attic cavities.  We used an EPDM gasket that was easy to install and provides an excellent life-long seal.  We also used a similar gasket at the wall sill plates to seal the inconsistencies in the wood construction between wall and floor.  All rim joists at floor to wall junctures were sealed with spray foam as this is a notorious air-leaking point.

C:UsersptaylorDropboxTaylor Residencex_plans Model (1)

Wall Section Diagram

Gasket_sm

EPDM Gasket

Vapor:  The vapor retarder employed is latex paint over 5/8” gypsum at exterior walls and the 2nd floor ceiling.  It’s inevitable that some moisture will make its way into the wall system, so allowing the structure to dry back to the inside is important.  Latex paint creates a vapor retarder, not a vapor barrier which would not allow the structure to dry.  The attic is continuously ventilated at the eaves as well as the ridge which keeps moisture from building up within the roof structure.

Thermal:  The structure of the wall is 2x6 wood studs at 24” o.c. and the cavities are filled with high density fiberglass batts (R-21).  To enhance the thermal performance the exterior walls have 2” of XPS (R-10) continuous rigid insulation board. This continuity of insulation eliminates the effects of thermal bridging at the studs, resulting in a very high performing wall system.  The attic is filled with blown-in fiberglass at an R-value of 100. The trusses were designed with a raised heal to allow for more insulation at the typical eave pinch-point.  Care was taken to seal the baffles to the structure so air from the eave vents would not move through the insulation, stripping it of its thermal performance. The continuous eave and ridge vents keep the attic from becoming super-heated in the summer and keep it cool in the winter which prevents icicles from forming.

Entry-day

Combined with the foundation systems previously discussed and the Intus Eforte ultra-high performing triple-glazed windows, the building shell of the Modern Farmhouse should prove to drastically minimize the amount of energy needed for heating and cooling, all while keeping our family very comfortable.

April 7, 2014

A Modern Farmhouse: An Introduction

The sheer variety of building systems that can be used to enclose a structure is astounding.  We’ve all come across architects or builders who believe they know the absolute best way to construct a particular building type in a particular environment, but I don’t believe such absolutes truly exist.  The appropriate design solution should be arrived at using a balance of project goals, location, efficiency, economy, skill of trades persons, budget, aesthetics, etc. Over the next few months we'll examine the building enclosure of a low-budget, low-energy-use house that my wife and I designed and are currently building for our family.

Panorama of site during excavation.

IMG_2105

The very first CMUs are laid on the site for the Modern Farmhouse.

The design intent of this project was to create a simple, right-sized modern farmhouse.  One that is beautifully integrated into its site, filled with natural daylight, healthy, comfortable, and uses half the energy of a comparable code-built house….all while sticking to a tight budget.  To achieve these goals we had to find a cost effective high performing enclosure system, supplemented by paying careful attention to site orientation and maintaining a compact 2-story form.  Decisions were not just based on researching system performance (thank you, www.buildingscience.com ), but also became about choosing systems that our subcontractors would be familiar with.  Because we are general contracting the project ourselves and cannot be on site with the subcontractors at all times, a lot of thought was put into choosing the right foundation, wall and roof systems that subs could work with, had construction tolerance, and would still perform. Let’s start with a brief overview of the four basic control layers to be considered in every building enclosure:

1. Water:  Keep bulk-water out of the structure.

2. Air:  Keep conditioned air inside and unconditioned air outside.  Air also holds moisture, so air moving through the structure is a bad thing.  As the saying goes, build tight and ventilate right.

3. Vapor:  Control the amount of vapor permeance through the structure.  It’s inevitable that some amount of moisture will get into your walls, so you need to allow them to dry-out.

4. Thermal:  AKA insulation… Slow the transfer of heat through the structure.

Slab-On-Grade Detail

A building needs to be constructed from the foundation up, so that’s where we’ll start. We chose a fairly typical basement structure for Northeast Ohio:  12” CMU on concrete spread footings.  What’s different is the type, location and amount of insulation used.  To reduce thermal bridging from the earth through the concrete slab and CMU wall, a continuous layer of rigid insulation board was used and the insulation value of the whole system was then increased by adding a 2x4 wall with high density fiberglass insulation. The wall performs on par thermally with insulated concrete forms (a high-performing wall system Bialosky +Partners has used in the past), but is less costly to construct.

Foundation Section of Taylor Residence

Below is a list of how the 4 control layers were handled:

1. Water:  The CMU walls were damp proofed and a drainage board placed over top.  Together with gravel backfill and foundation drainage that daylights on site the basement should be dry for a lifetime (did I really just say that?).

2. Air:  The air control layer is at the interior side of the CMU.  Extruded polystyrene (XPS) insulation board was attached with mastic and all joints were sealed to create this layer.  High Density closed cell spray foam was installed to seal the first floor system to the XPS.  The floor to wall juncture is a notorious air-leaker, so spray foam is a perfect product to seal this area up tight.

3. Vapor:  Polyethylene plastic was placed between XPS and concrete slab, and sealed to the CMU wall. This keeps vapor occurring in the ground from driving through the floor slab into the house. Vapor permeable latex paint over 5/8” gypsum board was used as the vapor retarder at the walls.  It’s inevitable that some moisture will make its way into the wall system, so allowing the wall to dry back to the inside is important.  That’s why we used a vapor retarder, not a vapor barrier which would not allow the wall to dry.

4. Thermal:  The XPS board used as an air barrier pulls double duty.  2” XPS (R-10) was used on the walls, and 2” XPS was placed under the entire concrete slab.  This continuity of insulation also reduces thermal bridging at the foundation wall and slab.  A wall of 2x4 wood studs at 24” o.c. with high density fiberglass batts (R-15) is used to supplement the XPS insulation.  5/8” gypsum board not only finishes the wall system, but is required to meet flame and smoke spread requirements per the building code (XPS foam is not allowed to remain uncovered within an occupiable area). Overall this foundation system is well insulated, didn’t require any special training for the subs, was easy to build, and was inexpensive.  I think it was the appropriate choice for this particular project. Next time we’ll examine the house’s wall, floor and roof systems.

January 29, 2014

So You Want To Build a Culinary School?

Dollar signs ($$,$$$,$$$) are what every College administrator imagines at the mention of a new Culinary Arts Program. Its launch may be one of, if not the most costly investment an institution of higher learning can make. For these reasons and more, its recipe must be artfully constructed with consideration given to both the end user and community’s palettes. Its conception must be artfully balanced to satisfy the institution’s curriculum needs, the technologically entrenched student user’s expectations and prospective donor philanthropic objectives. The development of such a facility affords opportunities for public outreach, rectifying existing campus master planning shortfalls, and the development of synergistic opportunities between existing internal and external College partnerships.

The May Company Building Store Front

The May Company Building in downtown Cleveland, OH is home to both Cuyahoga County Community College's Hospitality Management Centeand acclaimed restaurant Pura Vida.

At first glance, the creation of a new or revival of an existing culinary arts program appears self-contained and finite, when in fact it is quite the contrary. Many of a College’s existing facilities can and should be evaluated for their potential symbiotic relationships with your new culinary facility.  Its only when your perspective elevates to 20,000 feet do these synergies truly reveal themselves.  Performing art centers, conferencing centers, sports facilities, central food service, public programming, are all venues that can take advantage of and enhance a culinary program/facility. This new facility, in addition to fulfilling its primary use teaching the culinary arts, can provide the college with a marketable team-building outreach center, special event pre-function space, or an elegant on-campus restaurant to aid in its fund-raising endeavors.

LCCC Culinary Demonstration Kitchen

Demonstration Kitchen with smart classroom technology for distance learning at Lorain County Community College Ben & Jane Norton Culinary Arts Center

In addition, this investment must exploit the potential of each space beyond its original program and consider the opportunities to utilize its physical environs for alternate educational offerings. Flexible and well-planned teaching kitchens may convert to an A-La-Carte kitchens, with a simple equipment reconfiguration, to service gala events being held in the culinary school’s new multi-purpose lounge/lecture hall/special event space. Accessory spaces normally considered off limits to students should now be seen as invaluable educational tools in support of your new culinary curriculum. Shipping and receiving areas, for example, can serve as a working sanitation and safety labs, or prep kitchens, where students attain first-hand experience receiving, inventorying, cleaning, and prepping food product. Better yet, your new program could celebrate the locally grown food movement with the inclusion of a greenhouse/garden adjacent to or on top of your new facility showcasing the advantages of locally grown produce, while at the same time reinforcing the importance of sustainable building design.

Pura Vida Restaurant Kitchen

Cuyahoga County Community College's Downtown Hospitality Management Center shares space with noted Cleveland restaurant, Pura Vida (pictured here). Having a professional kitchen adjacent and visible to culinary school students provides additional opportunities for students to be inspired, learn, and engage.

You can now imagine that these students, your students, graduate from a program with more than just the traditional culinary education but one with innovative business practices at its core, an embedded understanding of the benefits of local sustainable food communities with a creative approach that these prospective employees associate with added value.

Ben & Jane Norton Culinary Arts Center - Exterior

Exterior View of the LCCC Ben & Jane Norton Culinary Arts Center at dusk.

This post was authored by Bialosky Cleveland Principal Mark Olson, AIA, LEED AP For more info: View this video produced by Lorain Community College with students, professors, and professionals discussing the opening of the Ben & Jane Culinary Arts Center and the launching of LCCC's Culinary Arts Program: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZmZZQOJs9w Cuyahoga Community College offers a similar video with background on their program, focusing on the downtown Cleveland Hospitality Management Center and the Eastern Campus HMC programs, which were both designed by Bialosky: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0iOeGQdoME

January 16, 2014

BPA Goes to Greenbuild 2013

Philadelphia Greenbuild Once a year, for about a week, all eyes in green building culture turn towards a single focus - it’s been San Francisco, it’s been Toronto, Chicago, Phoenix, and Boston.  Every year it is a new city for Greenbuild, the world’s largest conference and exposition dedicated to the green building industry.  This year, its 20th year running, it was Philadelphia.  I had the pleasure of representing Bialosky + Partners Architects at Greenbuild 2013 this past November.  The international convention and expo hosted approximately 30,000 attendees from 90 different countries and touted speakers as varied and prestigious as Rich Ferizzi, President & CEO of the USGBC; Michael Nutter, Mayor of Philadelphia; Nate Silver, author of The Signal and the Noise; and the keynote address was given by former Secretary of State and former First Lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton. Greenbuild 2013 Philadelphia Convention Entry Greenbuild is more than just a world-class convention.  It is also a networking smorgasbord and showcase of all things sustainable.  This year the expo hall was packed with over 800 exhibitors of sustainable products and services.  Huge multinational corporations displayed their full suite of green products right next to small startup companies rolling-out their newest gadget or software to a captive, and captivated, audience. Greenbuild 2013 Convention Multiple parallel tracks of educational sessions provided a plethora of learning opportunities.  Lectures ranged from changes in the newest version of ASHRAE 90.1 to low energy lighting strategies, and from net-zero design to insights on the commissioning of existing buildings.  Some of the most highly anticipated and well attended sessions dealt with LEED v4, which was officially introduced at Greenbuild 2013.  It’s a lot to wrap your head around. Throughout the entire convention, a simple but powerful idea kept presenting itself to me… this is not an isolated, short-lived movement.  This is not a passing fashion.  This is not a fad. Greenbuild 2013 Philadelphia Convention Floor Whether the adjectives used to describe it are “earth-friendly”, or “sustainable”, or “eco”, or “green”… the fact is, the world is changing.  Greenbuild is one time a year when those people keeping track congregate and try to direct that change to be something manageable, and positive, and fun.  Another successful year… now on to 2014… this time it’s New Orleans.

Bialosky Announces Transition Plan

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