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cebu weekend

Hello everyone!

Ana and I just got back yesterday morning from our weekend in Cebu. It was tiring but every minute was well worth it. While we’re still working on the photos and the articles, we’ll give you first a preview of our trip. Too bad Lilli Beth and Green Guide were not able to join us because of work and their theses.

Our two-day trip started with a very early 4:15am flight to the Cebu. Good thing our hotel had vacant rooms and checked us in immediately when we arrived. We were still able to grab a good three hours of sleep before we hit the furniture show.

Day 1, Friday, was spent going around the CebuNext Furniture Show at the Waterfront Hotel. We ooohed and aaahed over the impressive furnishings from Cebu’s top furniture and lighting companies. We even got to meet some famous designers like Kenneth Cobonpue, Vito Selma and Clayton Tugonon. Talk about being star struck! Read all about our feature on the CebuNext show tomorrow.

We spent Friday night with two friends, photographer Ian Santos and architect Chito Basit, who both happened to be in Cebu as well. After dinner in Ayala Terraces (which very much resembles Greenbelt 3) we went to the highly recommended Z Bar at The Tinder Box along Archbishop Reyes Ave. in Banilad. The bar’s interiors were designed by Kenneth Cobonpue. To call it beautiful or interesting would be an understatement. Again, special thanks to Ian and Chito for being our photographer and “sponsors” that night, hehe!

Day 2 started early with a cab drive to Mactan Island to visit BE Resort (formerly known as Microtel, Mactan). Maybe because of her lack of sleep, Ana almost forgot her camera! Along the way, we got a glimpse of Sharngri-la Mactan’s lush driveway and uber private Abaca Boutique Resort’s gated front.

It was like a breath of fresh air when we finally arrived at the white, bright, and colorful place of BE Resort. Unfortunately our tight schedule only allowed us to stay around two hours to shoot a couple of the resort’s areas.

In the afternoon, we made a quick visit to Kenneth Cobonpue’s inspiring showroom. We almost missed the place because we were looking for a showroom with a ”Cobonpue” or a “Hive” signage. We didn’t expect that the site was actually an unassuming place which also includes the designer’s workshop/factory. 

Our last stop, but definitely not the least, was the house of Ted Gonzales, uncle of Zina, a good friend of mine from UP Interior Design. His passion for architecture, interior design and art produced a lovely place which he and his parents call home.

This week is not enough to feature everything about our trip. So, we will be dedicating the next two weeks for all the design goodness that we have encountered in Cebu starting tomorrow with our feature on the 2010 CebuNext Furniture Show.

conscious living: the lighter light

Halogen and incandescent lamps are probably the most flattering to use for interior spaces. They’re also equally flattering for people because they complement most skin tones. The problem is that they consume a lot of energy (30-50W per bulb). Although there are already warm white (yellowish) CFLs, they don’t have the same kind of “light quality”. The light coming from CFLs still looks “flat”. Probably it has something to do with differences in their light spectrum and light intensity. Not sure. On top of that, halogen lamps are just too hot (because of the high wattage) and they don’t last long.

Late last year, I was so happy to find out that Luxen, one of my favorite lamp stores in Ortigas Home Depot, started to carry LED lamps (LEDO brand from Australia) that were meant to replace the conventional halogen lamps and other accent lighting fixtures.

For 3W directional lamp, it produces light equal to a 30W halogen minus the high temperature. They are also dimmable and come in different types for different applications. Plus, they are projected to last for 25 years! They just come with a hefty price tag: P3,000 per 3W LED directional. However, in the long run it will save you more money compared to the cheaper halogen lamps that consume more energy and has a shorter lifespan.

I already tried the LED directional lamps in one project, and personally, I’m pleased with the results:

Now, here’s a better news. There’s a new LED bulb from Pharox that is designed to replace our conventional CFL bulbs for general lighting. Take note, CFLs are supposed to be phased out in 10 years. Although CFLs are relatively lower in energy consumption, the mercury content in the bulbs makes them hazardous to people and to the environment especially during their disposal.

Unfortunately, the Pharox LED bulbs are only available in 110V (so it will still require a ballast), can only fit an E26 base (we typically use an E27 base) and cost $49.95 for the 6W bulb (roughly P2,300.00). Hopefully they’ll come up with bulbs that can fit our local specs.

To know more about Pharox and the advantages of LED bulbs visit www.mypharox.com.

conscious living: how green is green? (part two)

Everyone is talking green and selling green–green fashion, green furnishings, green houseware, green building materials. But are we sure they are ”green” enough?

One of the related concepts of carbon footprint is embodied energy. Another way to determine the greenness of a specific building material or product is to look at its embodied energy index.

Embodied energy is the sum of all the item’s/material’s energies used in processing (from extraction/harvesting of raw materials to manufacturing), packaging, transportation to the site, construction and eventual use, and finally its disposal. Put simply, embodied energy looks at the entire lifecycle of the material and computes how much energy is consumed.

Embodied energy is also called by different terms: cumulative energy demand, embedded energy, virtual energy or hidden energy. The relation of embodied energy to carbon footprint is through the CO² byproducts of the energy consumed by the material. Meaning, the more energy used to harvest, manufacture, transport, use, and dispose a product, the  more CO² is being produced.

Therefore, the smaller the embodied energy of the product is, the “greener” it becomes.

Bangui Windmills in Ilocos Norte, Philippines. Photo by Sir Mervs

SOURCES OF ENERGY

The embodied energy of materials is mostly similar from region to region, regardless of where it was manufactured. Although most material production processes are universal, the type of energy utilized may not be the same. A country whose power plants are mostly coal-fueled will have its products having a higher carbon footprint than a country which relies on geothermal or wind power (for example Iceland, which uses mostly geothermal and hydroelectric power) .

IMPORTED VS. LOCAL

Be careful on buying imported products and building materials. Even if the product from another country is green, it may not be the greenest decision to purchase it. Transportation costs will add a significant amount to its embodied energy. Plus, the energy used to process the product may not be from renewable sources. Of course, recycled materials and handmade products have a lower embodied energy. Therefore, make sure that the other stages in the product’s lifecycle saved/will save on energy to compensate for its international shipping. Otherwise, love your own and buy local products! You do not only help the environment, you also help the local economy.

EMBODIED ENERGY INDEX

Most computations for the embodied energy only consider the manufacturing process (starting from the acquisition of raw materials to the finished product ready for shipping).

At the bottom are some values from the Center for Building Performance Research, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand to give you a comparison of the commonly used building materials today. (Unfortunately, we don’t have values yet for our country.)

Hope this will help you make greener choices and purchases next time. -green guide

conscious living: how green is green? (part one)

One of the difficulties encountered by designers in green design is specifying green building materials. How does one classify a material “green” in the first place? How does one measure the “greenness” of the material? How does one choose one green material over the other?

Luckily, a measuring system was developed to determine the “greenness” of materials – THE CARBON FOOTPRINT.

The carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions of a particular product. For simplicity’s sake, the greenhouse gas most referred to is the carbon dioxide (hence the term – carbon footprint).

To find out the carbon footprint of a particular material, one has to add all the CO² byproducts emitted during the extracting, harvesting, processing, transportation and installation of the building material. Fortunately, you don’t have to compute for yourselves, as most common building materials have already been derived. These figures can easily be found in the internet.

Next to wood, bamboo is the greener alternative.

One rule of thumb to gauge the amount of carbon footprint of a material is to discern the amount of energy used to process and transport it. The more energy was expended to create it, the higher is its carbon footprint number. That’s why wood is seen more as a greener material than steel. The amount of energy to smelt, shape and form steel is tremendously higher than harvesting wood. (Then of course, we’re talking about cutting trees. But that’s a topic for a different time.)

Also, the more distance the product has to travel from the factory to the site, the higher is its carbon footprint number. Say you found imported floor tiles from Europe that markets itself as green. It does not necessarily make it greener than local floor tiles, because it had to travel so far (and consume more amounts of fuel) to reach your space. Thus, one of the advocacies of green design is using locally produced materials. Most local materials have inherently lower carbon footprint due to their proximity to building sites.

The carbon footprint can also be used to assess one’s lifestyle.

Cascio’s cheeseburger footprint–do you eat green?

This carbon footprint calculator here can compute how much you’re consuming against the world’s average. Check it out and see if you’re really living a green life.

conscious living: give the gift of clean air

[images above, clockwise from top left: spider plant, peace lily, Janet Craig dracaena, and philodendron selloum)

If you’re thinking of giving something “green” this Christmas, consider heading to White Plains or Manila Seedling Bank for green gifts—literally.

Houseplants are great gift options to give friends all year round. You are not only giving them something pretty to decorate their homes, but you are also giving them the gift of fresh indoor air. Yup, houseplants can clean the air from toxins such as VOCs (volatile organic compounds), according to studies conducted by NASA. VOCs are vapors that evaporate from volatile liquids or the gases that are given off by synthetic materials (like the bad smell that comes from new furniture made of hdf /mdf panels and plywood).

But not all plants are effective in filtering the air. Here are the TOP 10 HOUSEPLANTS THAT ARE EFFECTIVE IN CLEANING INDOOR AIR.

1. Reed palm (Chamaedorea sefritzii) – Local suppliers call/pronounce this as ziprichi.
2. Spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum) – This is the plant that is said to be excellent in absorbing formaldehyde.
3. Janet Craig dracaena (Dracaena deremensis `Janet Craig’) – This is also great for plant cuttings arranged in a vase.
4. Weeping fig (Ficus benjamina)
5. Peace lily (Spathiphyllum `Mauna Loa’) – Our late german shepherd, Biggie, loved to bite on this plant’s flowers because he thought they’re the white butterflies that he often chased around. Haha!

6. English ivy (Hedera helix)

7. Heartleaf philodendron (Philodendron scandens `oxycardium’)
8. Elephant ear philodendron (Philodendron domesticum)
9. Golden pothos (Epipiremnum aureum) – Locally known as “yellow water plant”.
10. Selloum philodendron (Philodendron selloum) – Designers often use the leaves of this plant for minimalist arrangements.

(Source: Wolverton, B.C. et al (1989). “NASA report Interior Landscape Plants for Indoor Air Pollution Abatement”)

The good thing about this list is that all of the plants here, except for the english ivy, are tropical plants and are available here in the Philippines. In fact, half of the species listed are planted around our house. You can read more about this topic here and in David Pearson’s  The Natural House Book.

TIP: When you give plants as gifts, place them in a nice ceramic pot, or wrap the seedling bag with a cloth to make them presentable. Add a gift card on a stick that may also have the plant’s name and the maintenance instructions.

conscious living: cool spaces 06 – elevate, ventilate, insulate

A green space is a space that is built with the local climate in mind. Our country is a tropical climate. And one of the major difficulties of tropical climates is cooling interior spaces.

Cooling a space mechanically generally takes up as much as 50 percent of the electricity bill. By cutting down on your use of the air-con, not only do you save energy and money, but also any greenhouse gases that may have been emitted by the production of electricity. This series looks at the various ways of being comfortable without turning on the energy.

ELEVATE, VENTILATE, INSULATE

We can learn a lot in designing for the local climate by looking at our own vernacular houses. Design elements from these houses are perfect examples of how to passively cool your own space.

Bahay Kubo: Illustration by Arch. Stanley Fernandez

Elevate

The most famous of these vernacular houses (at least in Luzon) is the bahay kubo. The bahay kubo has an elevated flooring. Air is freely allowed to pass through underneath and in between the bamboo slats of the floor, ensuring interior circulation.

The elevation also ensures that the floor will not have the same temperature as the ground (in those cases where the ground has absorbed the heat of the entire day).

Ventilate

Ever wonder what the vents on the roof eaves are for? Their purpose is to remove the heat accumulated underneath the roof. The space between the roof and the ceiling serves to trap the heat and prevent it from directly entering the rooms beneath. Conversely, the bigger the space, the bigger is the capacity to absorb more heat. That excess heat has to be ventilated.

Old houses have high-pitched roofs (and high ceilings) for that function. Indigenous tropical houses from around Southeast Asia, including the very popular Balinese style, call for high-pitched gable roofs (inverted V). At both ends of the roof, vents are placed to allow the wind to pass through completely. The steep slope also prevents roof leaks during heavy downpours.

Insulate

The bahay na bato (typical houses found in Intramuros and Vigan) has a ground floor made up of thick adobe walls. The walls kept the temperature so low that the space was sometimes used as cold storage for perishable items.

Adapting to modern times, the thicker and denser the wall material, the better it can absorb and prevent the heat from entering the space. Try using a thicker section of concrete hollow blocks. Other cladding materials such as adobe or bricks are also ideal due to their abundance, and if lucky, can even be quarried and produced from the site itself.

Previous: proper orientation, maximize openings, cross ventilation , stack effect, sunshades

conscious living: cool spaces 05 – sunshades

Bahay kubo in CELL, Cavite

A green space is a space that is built with the local climate in mind. Our country is a tropical climate. And one of the major difficulties of tropical climates is cooling interior spaces.

Cooling a space mechanically generally takes up as much as 50 percent of the electricity bill. By cutting down on your use of the air-con, not only do you save energy and money, but also any greenhouse gases that may have been emitted by the production of electricity. This series looks at the various ways of being comfortable without turning on the energy.

Sunshades

One of the most efficient ways of preventing direct sunlight from entering spaces is providing sunshades.

Sunshades are horizontal or vertical elements that are strategically placed at windows and other openings to directly block the sun’s rays at any given time of the day. Sunshades can also protect the exterior face from added heat gain, keeping the interior cool. There are certain structures that even placed them on the roof!

Window overhang. Photo by Jacob Termansen from Tropical Style by Gillian Beal (2003)

Sunshades come in all shapes and sizes. They can be large fins at the sides of a window or a group of flat louvers covering it entirely. They can also be a lattice or mesh covering the entire structure. They can be made of steel, aluminum, concrete or wood. Plants, specifically vines and hanging varieties, can also be allowed to creep over exterior supports (and if it’s a fragrant, flowering kind, can generate a nice scent inside when the wind passes through).

Vertical louvers. Photo by Jacob Termansen from Tropical Style by Gillian Beal (2003)

Here is the rule of thumb for the use of sunshades. For north or south-facing windows, use horizontal sunshades due to the vertical position of the sun. For east or west-facing windows, use vertical sunshades due to the low angle of the sun at mornings and late afternoon.

The size and design of sunshades can be computed based on the orientation, location and size of the window. Just ask your capable designer (make sure he/she knows the formulas). Or you can download The Solar Tool from the internet (http://ecotect.com/products/solartool).  Try the trial version for free!

Wide roof eaves of the Manosa house

If you have a limited budget, think about redesigning the biggest sunshade you may already have – the roof eaves! Lengthen the roof eaves to at least two meters. Consider lowering and extending the roof line (if your roof is sloped) to at least eye level and partially protecting your windows. That way, even while standing up and the sun is low on the horizon, you will not experience glare.

Previous: proper orientation, maximize openings, cross ventilation , stack effect

Next: elevate, ventilate and insulate

conscious living: cool spaces 04 – stack effect

A green space is a space that is built with the local climate in mind. Our country is a tropical climate. And one of the major difficulties of tropical climates is cooling interior spaces.

Cooling a space mechanically generally takes up as much as 50 percent of the electricity bill. By cutting down on your use of the air-con, not only do you save energy and money, but also any greenhouse gases that may have been emitted by the production of electricity. This series looks at the various ways of being comfortable without turning on the energy.

Stack Effect

Hot air rises. Cold air sinks.

In essence (and without getting too technical), this is what stack effect means in tropical climates. It is a scientific fact that air movement in interior spaces follows these directions: up for hot and down for cold.

How does stack effect influence the design of spaces?

Illustration by Arch. Stanley Fernandez

Let’s start with a typical room. Having taller or higher windows allows hot air to escape above. It also implies that a higher ceiling is beneficial in keeping the heat as far away from the living zone.

(This is also the main reason why air-conditioning units should be placed above or near the ceiling, so the cold air could naturally sink and not overwork the motor. Overworking the motor leads to consuming more energy. But we’re advocating natural ventilation here as much as possible.)

If the building or house is multi-story, the ground or lower levels are usually cooler than the floor right under the ceiling. Place the important spaces (or where you spend the most time in) on the cooler levels.

In his own home, National Artist for Architecture Bobby Mañosa located the bedrooms on the ground floor. To him, having a cool, comfortable space to rest and sleep in is more essential. The living room, dining room and kitchen are located above (which are quite open and ventilated too).

Stack effect can also be used to divert the hot air out of the space. Chimneys or flues can act as passages for heat to rise and escape. Since chimneys are quite impractical in this climate, stairwells become the main avenue for the hot air. Ensure the release of hot air by providing egresses above the stairwell. The openings can be operable louvers or clerestory windows.

Previous: proper orientation, maximize openings, cross ventilation

conscious living : cool spaces 01– proper orientation

A green space is a space that is built with the local climate in mind. Our country is a tropical climate. And one of the major difficulties of tropical climates is cooling interior spaces.

Cooling a space mechanically generally takes up as much as 50 percent of the electricity bill. By cutting down on your use of the air-con, not only do you save energy and money, but also any greenhouse gases that may have been emitted by the production of electricity. This series looks at the various ways of being comfortable without turning on the energy.

Proper Orientation

One of the best tools you can apply to your space is a compass. Finding the orientation (where the north, east, south and west) of the space will help a lot in identifying, literally, the hot spots.

For our country, the sun (the major source of heat) travel, most times of the year, from east to west in a southern path everyday. From that alone, at any time of the day, three out of four sides of your space is exposed to the direct rays of the sun. Plus, the tropical sun, coupled with the thinning ozone layer and little cloud cover, can be quite intense. The sun can be found at the east in the morning, south at noon, and west in the afternoon. That leaves north as the coolest part.

Diagram by Arch. Stanley Fernandez

Let’s say you’re building your dream house. You place at the north side of your home the important spaces or rooms you spend the most time at during the day. It can be the bedroom or the den. You can place large window facing northwards, assured that no direct sunlight shall enter that room. (The absence of direct sunlight does not necessarily mean dark spaces. The intensity of the tropical sun can light up spaces indirectly.)

It’s also a lot easier if you want the space cooler because you are not starting from a higher temperature. An additional fan (that coincidentally uses a lot less energy than an air-con) may be all that’s needed.

You normally want to put the service areas at the hot parts (east and west) of the house. That can be the kitchen, laundry, bathroom or other spaces you spend time in fleetingly.

So, save up on future energy costs by just finding the right places for your spaces.

Next: proper orientation; maximize openings; cross ventilation; stack effect

conscious living with green guide

[I am so happy that my good friend, Green Guide, has agreed to be our guest blogger for our Conscious Living section! Green Guide is an architect and a graduate student majoring in Building Science under the College of Architecture in UP, Diliman. With his substantial background in sustainable design, he is one of the most credible individuals I know who could share basic, yet proactive, strategies on how to be “green” everyday.

For his first entry, he starts off with changing our perception that green design is complex and too technical for ordinary people.  ]

GREEN IS SMALL

Let’s start small.

Green design is considering being small.

Small means taking up less space.

Having less space is having less of other things.

Less space is having less clutter. With a smaller space, we do not have the compulsion to fill it up. We have fewer objects (furniture, knick-knacks, bric-a-brac and/or, god forbid, other non-biodegradable products) to buy, store and display. In fact, we gain more space to buy, store and display the more important things (furniture, knick-knacks, bric-a-brac and/or other biodegradable products).

Less space is having fewer costs. With a smaller space, we don’t need to build, roof and finish a bigger area. (Save on construction expenses!) We spend less time and effort in cleaning up the place. (Save on cleaning products!) We have less space to maintain and upkeep. (Save on repair bills!) And with a smaller space, we spend less if we ever want to redo things again. (Save on renovation costs!)

Less space is having fewer complications. With a smaller space, we save on lights and power in cooling the space. Consequently, we reduce our electric bills. By saving on energy, we contribute in burning less fossil fuel. With a smaller space, we gain a bigger open area. That open area can turn into a garden. And if we plant a tree in that garden, that tree can absorb all the carbon dioxide and pollution in the surrounding area.

Having less space does not necessarily mean small thinking. It’s just having the bigger picture in mind.