GOING GREEN SERIES: IMPROVING AIR QUALITY
By John Lanzafame
"So how does a historic Northeastern city like Syracuse, NY become a progressive green city? The answer rests in a balance between progress and heritage."
In much of today's discussions on "green buildings" a majority of the focus is on how to engineer green into the construction of new buildings. However, here in the Northeast, thought must be given to our existing buildings that historically represent our heritage and economically represent tremendous sunken energy costs. As the green industry grows, new initiatives such as LEED and GreenGlobes are beginning to recognize the market for the certification of commercial and public buildings. GreenGlobes is an online management tool that enables building owners and facility managers to audit a building's energy usage. The audit is broken into six areas of concern: energy, water, resources (recycling), emissions (hazardous materials), indoor environment, and environmental management. A grading scale of 1000 points is applied to these six areas with energy and indoor environment making up 53.5 percent of the total. The weighting of the scale highlights the importance of these two components when dealing with a building's impact on its environment. While improving the overall energy use of an older building can prove to be both physically challenging and financially expensive, improving the indoor environment through a stone restoration program would be much easier physically and much less expensive with the added benefit of enhancing the appearance of the building.
After completion of the Erie Canal, the village of Syracuse merged with Salina to become the City of Syracuse in 1848. As a direct result of the Canal, salt production in Syracuse increased, contributing to a construction boom in the City. Much of the material used in the construction was natural stone, Tennessee Pink limestone and Vermont marble. These stones can be found in abundance today in banks, Court houses and office buildings throughout the Northeast. So how does a historic Northeastern city like Syracuse, NY become a progressive green city? The answer rests in a balance between progress and heritage. That balance is achieved in part by preserving and maintaining the natural stone in a way that enhances the indoor environment of the building. Naturally polishing stone eliminates VOCs (volatile organic compounds) and carcinogens found in chemicals commonly used for the maintenance of stone. A natural polish captures a greater reflectivity than a topical wax coating thereby maximizing the use of sunlight and reducing the amount of energy needed to light the building. A natural polish improves the sustainability of the material and greatly enhances the beauty of the stone.
It's obvious that natural stone is sustainable material. However, over time stone will dull. During the 1970s it was determined that putting a topical coating such as wax onto the stone would capture some of the luster and protect the stone from deterioration. The concept was not only wrong, it was and remains harmful to the environment. It is important for stone to "breath". Stone must be able to release the moisture that it takes in. If not, the salts in the water will push outward causing the stone to flake and fall apart. This action is known as spalling. Topical coatings seal the stone and prevent moisture from escaping. This greatly increases the incidence of spalling. Putting wax on stone will not protect it from wearing. Dirt, dust, salts, or any granular material tracked into a building by pedestrians will get caught in the wax and be ground into the stone every time someone walks across the floor. Naturally polishing stone allows for a more productive maintenance program by allowing the dirt and foreign particles to flow over the floor. Money is saved on maintenance supplies and on the cost of energy.
At a minimum, wax must be stripped and reapplied to floors once a year. Every time the process is done, carcinogens and volatile organic compounds are released into the air in the building. At the current time, waxing is done on almost all terrazzo floors in schools, public buildings, and universities. Marble makes up 70% of the material at the surface of terrazzo, lending it to the natural polish process. Energy costs and the carbon footprint of the building are reduced enabling the building to earn a higher rating on the Greenglobes or LEED scales.
In conclusion, the process of grinding, honing, and polishing natural stone, is a very viable option for architects and building owners to earn green credits, enhance the building's aesthetics, and maximize the return on the investment in the building. The process successfully strikes a balance between progress and heritage.