Ken Levenson, right, of 475 High Performance Building Supply speaks at conference.475 High Performance Building Supply
For years, American college campuses have been early adopters of green building materials and techniques. Along the way, they’ve learned making smart investments in durable, low-energy, low-maintenance green building – while increasingly necessary – is not simple. To attain multi-faceted green goals, some of America’s leading institutions of higher learning have turned to the Passive House building standard, a voluntary energy efficiency building standard that reduces a structure’s environmental footprint.
Among the thought leaders in green building is Brooklyn, N.Y.-based 475 High Performance Building Supply. The company’s chief operating officer and co-founder Ken Levenson recently weighed in on the important intersection of green building and higher education, and the synergies obtainable through this essential linkage.
Asked about the importance of universities and major campuses turning to sustainable building, Levenson stressed universities have long led intellectual inquiry, research and scientific testing.
“They are the cornerstones of what’s possible,” he says. “It’s huge that leading schools like Cornell, Dartmouth and Harvard are utilizing these sustainable building methods. This adoption signals a vote of confidence in making this approach more widely available and mainstream. Beyond that, universities are also massive energy users. As part of their general efforts to support climate action it’s important they demonstrate buildings can run with dramatically greater energy efficiency and reduced carbon emissions.”
Many choices
Considering the breadth of sustainable building approaches available, how can universities be sure their approaches to green construction and building are correct? Levenson says there is no silver bullet. Identifying the best sustainable building strategy requires a systems-thinking approach to the building as a whole.
As his company has worked on different types of projects, it has identified a developing commonality that can be distilled into an approach Levenson and colleagues call the “Smart Enclosure System.” The Smart Enclosure focuses on more than the end result of building performance. It also provides a logical, simple, actionable framework to help professionals reach that objective. “We package these Smart Enclosure details in e-books and CAD details we make freely available to building professionals in an attempt to spread knowledge of sustainable best practices,” Levenson says.
Ultimately, the hallmarks of high-performance buildings – comfort, energy efficiency and durability – can be attained a number of ways, he adds. They extend from the retrofits undertaken by Harvard and Dartmouth to Cornell Tech’s newly constructed building.
Passive House fits
Use of Passive House by Ivy League institutions has drawn considerable attention. But Passive House is perfect for any institution or individual paying utility bills on properties they own, Levenson says. The systems approach is appropriate for large buildings, towers and campuses. And the durability and long-term performance resulting from the methods can be beneficial to anyone using them.
“When you build along these net-zero goal guidelines, you are opening yourself up to a building system offering quality, durability and efficiency over the long term,” he says. “It has an ecological benefit and saves energy. But [it’s] also a comfortable, healthy and ultimately affordable style of living. Better yet, it reduces utility fees and maintenance needs over time as these are highly durable buildings. So really, it’s a win-win all around in terms of high returns for sustainability, affordability and healthy living.”
Long ago, Levenson says, 475 realized the creation of energy-efficient buildings alone wouldn’t solve our environmental and climate crisis. Required are carbon-efficient buildings made of carbon-efficient materials that are more natural and less toxic. The materials also must function in modern, high-performance buildings.
“A Passive House focuses on quality airtightness and energy efficiency, Levenson says. “This is key, but we want people to go a step further, and not just lower energy use, but lower reliance on ecologically detrimental building materials. In our quest for efficiency, we can’t revert to using further damaging, toxic materials. That’s where I believe we’ve really tried to set ourselves apart in the industry.”