Green Build Blog

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.

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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.”

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Adobe Systems, a pioneer in desktop publishing software, has cemented its status as a pioneer in green building.

On Monday, the San Jose software company became the first in the country to receive never-before-awarded three platinum certifications for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) — the highest rating awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Most eco-friendly structures are built “green,'’ but Adobe decided to turn its three existing towers downtown — ranging in age from three years to 10 years and totaling almost 1 million square feet of offices and 940,000 square feet of garage space — into an environmentally friendly campus.

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The first two issues of the Journal of Green Building are now available. It is the first publication of its kind to present current research findings and new directions related to green building and high performance built facilities and infrastructure. The journal publishes peer-reviewed articles from authors in the fields of architecture, engineering, design, construction, facilities management, and all disciplines relevant to the life cycle of built facilities and infrastructure. The journal also publishes a series of articles and case studies written by practicing building professionals. These practitioner oriented pieces offer detailed advice on how to incorporate green building approaches and technologies into future projects.

For more information, visit collegepublishing.us.

Many exhibitors are still joining up for this summit, including a few listed below. To sign up, visit green-technology.org.

The Green California summit will be held at the Sacramento Convention Center on March 13 and 14, 2007. It will provide state officials with an unprecedented opportunity to learn about the full range of green products and services that can help the state achieve its goals. It will include seminars and training programs for officials at all levels – an effort that is being guided by the advisory board and other experts within state government.

Read on for a partial list of exhibitors…

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On-site sewage treatment systems are becoming increasingly common with new development projects, and Victoria’s Dockside Green project is setting the bar high with the goal of treating all of it’s waste on-site, with no sewer connection at all. The system won’t shun the sewage system completely however, as it will require an infusion of municipal sewage to kick start the biological processes that will break down the waste from the 1,200 units in the community.

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Green building’s early adherents have proven that they can build high-quality, high-performance structures in a professional, businesslike way. Their passion has not diminished, but it has become more firmly grounded in the realities of the marketplace.

This “new reality” has begun to attract the attention of the financial community. Investors are asking: Do green buildings command premium rents? Do they lease up faster than “conventional” buildings? Are they more valuable than other real estate investments? What is the market potential for green buildings in the future?

In the following pages, we will examine the bottom-line issues of green building across a wide range of building types.

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Following a report by the Beijing Games organizers and the IOC chief inspector Hein Verbruggen, the IOC said work was still needed to improve air quality in the Chinese capital. “Yes it is a specific concern,” IOC Olympic Games Executive Director Gilbert Felli said, citing recent complaints by athletes who competed in Beijing, and other officials.

“The important thing for us is to understand exactly what it is…and to understand what it will be at the time of the Games,” he said. Earlier Verbruggen told reporters environmental pollution was an issue that needed to be addressed.

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China intends to build one of the world’s biggest solar power stations at a cost of 765 million dollars, state press reported Tuesday. The 100-megawatt facility, to be built in Dunhuang, an oasis town in northwest China’s Gansu province, would be a collaborative effort between the local government and Beijing’s Zhonghao New Energy Investment, Xinhua news said. The project would take five years to construct, it added.

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The Albany City Council gave preliminary approval this week to three ordinances that comprise its proposed green building program. The ordinances are scheduled to go before the City Council for final approval Dec. 4.

The ordinances introduce the following changes:

• Projects with more than 10,000 sq feet of non-residential space will be required to use recycled water for construction for designated project areas.
• Construction and demolition/renovation projects with costs more than $75,000 ($25,000 for demolition only projects) are required to divert at least half of all debris for recycling.
• More time will be permitted for inspections.

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