New green building web site: greenbuildingsLA.com
GreenbuildingsNYC has a new sister site, greenbuildingsLA that covers all the happenings in green building, with a focus on Los Angeles and the West Coast.
Archive for December, 2006
Santa Cruz adopts LEED; New building codes take effect on January 1
Beginning Jan. 1, most new building projects in the city of Santa Cruz will be subject to green building regulations. The rules have been in place on a voluntary basis for the past year.
“This is a pretty progressive community, but we were lacking in having a functional green building program other cities have,” said Richard Stubendorff, the city’s chief building inspector.
In order to get a building permit, new homes and commercial buildings will have to include a certain amount of green-friendly components, which the program’s authors say could entail extra upfront costs but can pay off through long-term efficiencies.
UK’s Ecobuild conference — February 27 - March 1, 2006
Now in its third year, Ecobuild is the UK’s most established event dedicated to sustainability and the built environment, with a reputation for delivering authoritative content and speakers of the highest calibre.
The Ecobuild 2007 conference, Making Sustainable Construction Happen, takes on the most important issue of bringing about change, debated and discussed in a flexible new format of six half-day sessions, each addressing a key theme.
Boston mandates green building, but passes on LEED
Boston is expected to become the first major US city to require developers to adhere to a strict set of so-called green-building standards, officials said today, for all projects of 50,000 square feet or more.
The Boston standards would not require that the buildings be certified under LEED. “The LEED process can be lengthy, onerous in documentation, and costly,” said James W. Hunt III, chief of environmental and energy services for the city. “Also, we don’t want to rely on a third party to do the certification process.”
Boston’s certification process will be simpler, though the environmental standards will be almost the same as with LEED. Boston’s list includes additional ways developers can choose to help qualify buildings for certification, including using cleaner diesel construction vehicles, recharging groundwater, and establishing transportation plans for future building users.
Green nightclub to open in the Netherlands
Earlier this fall, a new nightclub in the Netherlands (Rotterdam’s “Sustainable Dance Club”) announced plans to power its lights and sound by converting the movement of dancers into electricity. The club will also feature rainwater toilets, biological beer, and walls that change color based on heat generated by its revelers.
Boston to require LEED for large construction projects
Boston plans to amend its building code to require that all large-scale private construction be “green.”
Under the new regulations, all private construction of at least 50,000 square feet must meet the minimum criteria of the United States Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards for new projects.
While other governments have adopted the association’s standards for private construction, Boston is believed to be the first city to revise its building code to adhere to them, said Taryn Holowka, an association spokeswoman.
New green building projects
Jetson Green has posted about some new green building projects:
- Blue Star Corner in the Bay Area with water-efficient plumbing and mass transit nearby.
- Shizen, a net zero energy condo building in Portland.
- 1800 Larimer, a LEED Silver skyscraper planned in Denver.
- Capitol West, a whole neighborhood development in Madison, including condos, townhomes, and lofts.
USGBC gets a new home
The U.S. Green Building Council is pleased to announce our move into a new green office space at:
1800 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Suite 300
Washington, DC 20036Our rapid increase in both membership and staff has allowed us to expand into a new office environment that is a showcase for USGBC’s forward thinking and green building innovation.
New green building in Arkansas will house environmental department
NORTH LITTLE ROCK — The state Department of Environmental Quality dedicated its new headquarters Tuesday, the first “green” state office building designed to save energy. The 117,000-square-foot, $17 million building, in North Little Rock, is expected to be completed and fully operational in May, the agency said.
ADEQ Director Marcus Devine said the building meets Leadership Energy and Environmental Design standards and has been certified by the Green Building Initiative.
Green building can help mitigate climate change, says development summit keynote
The development of environmentally friendly buildings can help stem the tide of global warming of the atmosphere, and so-called green building is becoming more accepted by both the development community and government entities as a tool to slow climate change, said Matt Petersen, chairman & CEO of Global Green. Peterson delivered the opening keynote address at the CPN Development Summit, held Tuesday at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles.
While acknowledging that there are a few cynics remaining, Petersen said mainstream opinion is that “climate change is real.”