Friends Center this July. Insert shows structure on last year's tour, sans straw and stucco.
Architect
Hubbell & Hubbell
Project Architect Juergen Zierler
Builder
Volunteers
Electrical Consultant
Armondo Rios
Plumbing Consultant
Karim Carlock
Permiculture Consultant
Ava Torre Bueno
Project size
7,200 sq. ft.
Sustainable Features
(features planned but not yet implemented are shown in italic)
Alternative building envelope
Light-gauge steel framing; exterior walls and some interior walls are plaster- coated straw bales
Roof system
High R-value Homasote roof sheathing; additional roof insulation provided by sub-sheathing cotton batt insulation
Engineered wood materials
Recycled plastic lumber for support rails under straw bale walls; recycled newspaper board, ‘Homasote’ roof sheathing; composite ‘Hardie board’ soffits and exterior paneling
Passive Solar
Roof overhangs & pergola covered areas
Active Solar
Radiant floor heating from embedded tubes carrying solar heated glycol solution; domestic hot water from solar heat exchanger
Windows/daylighting
6-foot diameter domed skylight in central meeting room; windows in all outer rooms; high windows in clerestory wall for additional light; Solatubes in all inner rooms
Ventilation/Air Circulation
All windows open; inner rooms ventilated with low-volume blowers
Water efficiency
Showers with low-flow heads; waterless urinals; motion sensor actived circulating pumps for instant hot water to sinks and showers
Water Recycling
French drain collects rainwater from roof and pad areas; wastewater and graywater plumbing separated for future graywater system; stored rainwater used for permaculture irrigation
Landscaping
All irrigation via drip system; all slopes and plantings mulched with chipped/shredded tree trimmings; slopes and open areas are planted with fruit trees and xeriscape shrubbery; parking lots to include permeable paved 'islands' planted with food bearing trees
Recycling Center
Recycling storage bins for bottles, cans and newspaper are located on site
Construction waste management
Construction steel scraps are recycled; Homasote scraps from roof sheathing are shredded and used for compost; waste lumber from concrete formwork is used by the church youth group for beach bonfires.
Non-toxic
Low-VOC materials used for waterproofing, sealers and wall finishes
Material minimization
Most concrete floors to be left uncovered; exterior wall stuccoed with pre-stained plaster
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T he Friends Center, near the junction of I-15 and I-805, is rather different from any GreenBuilt project we’ve hosted. First, there is the dramatic structure itself, a creation of architects James and Drew Hubbell: a V-shaped structure with a large round meeting room in the center. Hubbell structures are known for their angles and curves, and you are hard pressed to find any straight lineshere.
The building will be the home of four groups: The San Diego First Church of the Brethren, The San Diego Friends Meeting (Quakers), the Peace Resource Center of San Diego, and the American Friends Service Committee. Since these organizations promote peace and justice, they found it appropriate to construct a building that would provide a minimum environmental impact, and provide a pleasant and healthy working and meeting environment.
The choice of building materials is also extraordinary. The project is intended to be a demonstration of environmentally-sustainable construction throughout. The structural elements are all steel. The exterior walls, and some interior walls will be straw bale. I don’t believe there is a single piece of wood in the entire structure.(For a description of strawbale construction and its advantages, click here.)
But perhaps the biggest surprise is that, with the exception of the final roofing and stucco work, this structure has been built almost entirely with volunteer labor: members of the Friends Center volunteer their time when they can. Many project members are not experienced in construction and rely on advice from the architects, structural engineers, city inspectors, and some skilled tradesmen in the building industry. And much of the raw building material has been donated.
A consequence of using volunteer labor on a project of this size is that it takes longer to build; the project is in its third year, and will probably be completed in 2009. Fortunately, the Friends Church is in no hurry.
Your host Ken Aeschbacher, who will lead the Tour, is one of only three full-time workers. He is also a volunteer, and has been with the project from the start. Ken has a wealth of information about every aspect of the project: about the steel frame you will see, and about the environmentally-sustainable materials that will complete it.
More care can be put into a project like this when you’re not working against a deadline. Ken showed me several stockpiles of reclaimed building materials, including slabs of Italian limestone rescued from a crusher during the airport retrofit. He admits that he’s not sure where these materials will be used; but he has time to decide.
As of this writing in mid-August, the straw bales are all in place, the outside walls of the structure have been finished, and the outside windows and doors are in place. However, the interior has not been finished. In particular, the inside of the exterior walls has not been covered, you will be able to appreciate the appearance of the completed structure on the outside, as well as see the “bones” of the steel-and-straw structure on the inside.
But the real value comes from listening to Ken describe a model of “green” construction, from start to finish, is. I’ve included many features that are planned but not yet implemented in the feature list on the right; Ken can speak to you about all of these.
And, who knows? You may want to become a volunteer.
Last year, before straw and stucco... |
And today |
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