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Regulations Demanding Actual Data Are Leapfrogging LEED
“It’s not how efficient the building is but how much energy it really uses that matters.” That’s the gist of many comments in a thread on BuildingGreen’s blog (and, simultaneously, on several email discussion groups) about how to measure the actual energy performance of LEED buildings.
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How Green Is Your College?
Last week, the Sustainable Endowments Institute released its 2009 Green Report Card. As GreenBiz reports, it compiles the green and not-so-green aspects of 300 colleges and universities through the United States and Canada. The Report Card was designed to identify those schools that are leading by example through their commitment to sustainability initiatives on campus.
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5 ways to ride wave power
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To slow global warming, install white roofs
Builders have known for decades that white roofs reflect the sun's rays and lower the cost of air conditioning. But now scientists say they have quantified a new benefit: slowing global warming.
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Home buyers look to cut climate control costs
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Home buyers increasingly want architects to give them green features like extra insulation instead of extra room to host in-laws, an architects' trade group said.
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Office Building Is 100% Sewer-Free
The sewer systems we use today are entirely ineffectual and unnecessary. The primary flaw in our design is that we use freshwater to dispose of feces. This is perhaps the most ineffectual thing to do with human manure — it pollutes fresh water, and it requires municipalities to maintain extremely costly sewage treatment infrastructures. Even after treatment, sewage can still wreck havoc on rivers and groundwater.
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Taking a Bite out of Cement’s Global Warming Potential
Hardcore greenhouse gas (GHG) geeks will recall that cement is a huge source of greenhouse gas emissions, with approximately 1 ton of CO2 equivalent emitted into the atmosphere for every 1 ton of cement produced. Damn. Forget your carbon guilt from flying, people! Cement is responsible for 5% of the Earth’s CO2 emissions, and it’s the third largest source of greenhouse gas pollution in the US according to the EPA.
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Group to promote state legislative efforts to build green schools
A trade group that promotes green building design is urging state legislatures to form caucuses to support environmentally sustainable schools.
The U.S. Green Building Council, the Washington, D.C.-based group that promulgates the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating tool, is spearheading the "50 for 50" effort to lower school energy and maintenance costs and bolster student learning and health.
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Green Building Standards Under Construction
The world's leading certification system for sustainable architecture is set to undergo its most sweeping changes in 2009. The proposed revisions encourage designs that would reduce a building's impact on global climate change.
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UN climate talks advance on forests, industry
U.N. climate talks in Ghana are making progress on ways to help developing nations slow deforestation and have eased disputes over use of greenhouse gas targets for industrial sectors, delegates said on Monday.
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Eco-tower rising in Lower Manhattan to include hotel and meeting space
Developers recently broke ground on an Earth-friendly, $600 million mixed-use skyscraper in Lower Manhattan that will include condominiums, retail, a boutique hotel and meeting space. Located at 50 West Street, the 580,000-square-foot tower is expected to achieve LEED Gold certification when completed in 2011.
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U.S. Utilities Advance Solar Projects
Several major U.S. utility companies may accelerate plans to integrate solar power into their electricity mix following a fact-finding trip to Germany.
Twenty-three electric utilities were represented on the trip to Germany, the world's leading producer and installer of photovoltaic (PV) solar cells. All of them may now advance solar projects in the United States, a trip leader said, further expanding a growing solar market.
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The Costs of Not Building Green
Despite the narrowing gap in cost between green building and traditional "to-code" building, most builders and home buyers still perceive the green option to be significantly more expensive. The reality is that due to increased builder education and an influx of affordable green building products, a building can be built green within the same budget as a non-green building. According to Clark Wilson, CEO of Austin based Green Builders, Inc., "It’s our job as builders to find those green products that don’t drive up the price of the home."
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California First State to Adopt Green Building Code
The California Building Standards Commission announced on Friday the unanimous adoption of a statewide “green” building code, the first in the nation. The new standards will call for a 20% improvement in water use efficiency for both residential and commercial plumbing fixtures as well as target a 50% increase in conservation for water used in landscaping. The new code will also require all new construction to reduce energy consumption by 15%.
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90% Of Israeli Homes Have Solar Water Heaters
I recently noted that Hawaii has enacted a law that requires all new homes to install solar water heaters. Eventually, Hawaii may have as many water heaters as Israel, where 90% of homes have solar water heaters installed. When viewed from above, the Jerusalem often glitters with the shine of the thousands of solar heaters that adorn rooftops.
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Can Green Designs Solve A Housing Crisis?
The walls of Elmer Bear Eagle's house are covered in mold. The black intrusion began in the basement. It crept up the sides. Now it blocks sunlight through the windows.
The problem is fairly common throughout the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in southwestern South Dakota. Overcrowded conditions-homes built for four people have held more than 20-contribute to high levels of indoor humidity, creating a mold haven.
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Rebuilding Greensburg The Green Way
Greensburg, Kan. was flattened by a major tornado in 2007. The town decided to bring it back in a completely "green," sustainable way. Alex Cohen talks to Greensburg's former mayor, John Janssen, about the decision to rebuild that community using an environmentally friendly approach.
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Green Cleaning Required in LEED for Existing Buildings
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) first released LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance (LEED-EB) in November 2007. The reference guide for the system is due out in June 2008, and, as of July 1, all projects seeking certification must register under the new version.
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Utility-Scale Solar Thermal Growing Fast
Concentrating solar power (CSP) plants produce electricity at a utility scale by using mirrors or lenses to concentrate sunlight. New technology has made CSP the fastest growing utility-scale, renewable energy source in the U.S. after wind power, with utility companies such as California’s Pacific Gas and Electric and Arizona Public Service planning to add over 4,000 megawatts (MW) of new CSP over the next ten years.
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U.N. calls on Asian nations to end deforestation
The United Nations has called on more Asian leaders to agree to a plan to end deforestation by 2020 to slow down the destruction of plants and animals, a top official said on Friday.
About 80 percent of the world's known biodiversity could be found in forests, where about 1.6 billion people also depend for their survival, Ahmed Djoghlaf, executive director of U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), told a news conference in Manila.
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CO2 and Other Greenhouse Gases
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most important of many human-generated “greenhouse gases”—gases that are contributing to a gradual warming of the planet. These gases, many of which have always existed in the atmosphere, contribute to a balance of heat flows that has given us a relatively stable climate. Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, however, the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has grown from its historical average of 280 parts per million (ppm) to over 380 ppm and counting.
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Sustainable Real Estate: UN urges investors to embed PRI in property portfolios
Institutional investors world-wide are being urged to engage with property fund managers to embed the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment(PRI) in their decision-making.
The call is being made today by the UNEP FI Property Working Group, whose members include 18 property fund managers from Japan, India, Austria, Europe and the US, amid concern that the property industry is moving far too slowly to address its environmental footprint including greenhouse gas emissions.
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Unusual Green Architecture In Japan: Namba Parks
In a city with few green spaces, Namba Parks is a welcome swath of green for the inhabitants of Osaka.
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Chinese Eco-City Planned For One Million Inhabitants
The Tangshan region near Beijing will soon be home to a new ecological city with one million inhabitants.
The new city in China will consist of 150 square kilometers with an initial stage that will have a scope of 30 square kilometers. A deep-water port and industrial area are also being planned in conjunction with the city.
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Is LEED green enough? Conversations from Dwell on Design LA 2008
At this past week's Dwell on Design LA conference and expo, one of the most striking conversations centered on whether LEED standards are enough to meet the growing climate challenge. Energy consumption by buildings contribute to almost half of carbon emissions in the U.S. As a result, many city governments, including Los Angeles, have created ordinances for new buildings to comply with LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards.
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Recycling & Environmental News