2nd Green Revolution

Here is a quick announcement regarding the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). In an email to members earlier today, the USGBC introduced a new Web site called GreenHomeGuide.com. Designed to help companies in home construction and remodeling, the site is also available to the public. The new site contains

• A searchable services directory helps green-minded consumers connect with local green building professionals
• Editorial content, written by green building pros like you, helps homeowners find answers to green home questions that are relevant to their location and project

Read the rest of this entry »

In his holiday letter to members, Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO and Founding Chair of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) mentioned some statistics that speak to the boom in green building:

• 27,373 people joined Greenbuild 2009 in Phoenix
• 14 million people are employed by a USGBC member company
• Of the 4,328 LEED-certified projects in existence, some 2,090 – more than 48%! – achieved certification in 2009
• Nearly half of all certifications in LEED’s eight-year history occurred during one of the toughest economic years in memory
• Some 33% of LEED-certified homes are affordable homes, and USGBC has worked to bring LEED Platinum affordable homes to the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans
• With the financial support of USGBC’s individual and organizational donors, five recipients of the USGBC Young Leader Awards and 39 other deserving students and professionals attended Greenbuild 2009 on full-conference scholarships.

- Rick Fedrizzi
President, CEO and Founding Chair
U.S. Green Building Council

Following on the heals of last week’s update about Solar Roadways comes news of an organization called Greenroads that hopes to bring US Green Building Council-like standards to road construction. The USGBC’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification represents an industry-wide set of standards for green building. Greenroads aims to develop a list best practices in constructing sustainable roads.

According to an article from Discovery News, roads that meet these standards will provide a wealth of benefits. The aim of Greenroads is to Read the rest of this entry »

The United States Green Building Council is a relatively new organization, founded at the start of the last decade. However, communities have embraced energy efficient structures and natural materials throughout the history of mankind. Using the materials locally available to construct homes represents the fundamental approach to green building. Born out of the 1970s, Earthships are homes built into the side of hills for insulation. Many of these use old tires, glass bottles, and aluminum cans packed with clay, soil, or mud to serve as the foundation and basis for walls. The recycled – or reused – materials act as bricks and add a high level insulation to the buildings. (See the video clip after the “read more” link.) Read the rest of this entry »

Many internal corridors of buildings do not have natural lighting due to a lack of windows. Skylights have provided natural lighting for years, but light tubes (or solar tubes) offer a new option for bringing outside light into buildings. The technology, discussed briefly in a post earlier this year as part of the Science Channel’s Ecopolis series, allows the units to have a smaller physical footprint than skylights and can subsequently fit into more confined spaces.

On a recent visit to a school in the Denver area, I had a chance to see these devices in action. In a dark interior hallway, bright white natural light streamed down from above. The contrast was stark compared to the rest of the passageway. Read the rest of this entry »

As mentioned in the “November Clean Energy and Sustainability Events” post earlier this month, Wednesday November 11th through the 13th marks the Greenbuild 2009 International Conference and Expo. Taking place in Phoenix, AZ, the expo boasts 1,800 exhibit booths showcasing the latest in innovative products and services. With the world’s largest expo hall devoted to green building, Greenbuild 2009 is the place to go to learn how green can grow your business. Also, look for jobs or recruit employees by participating in the first-ever Green Building Job Fair.

Last year’s Greenbuild Expo in Boston featured record attendance. The following video from Fortune magazine highlights green building technology from last year’s expo.

Nobel Prize winner Al Gore will provide the keynote presentation. Read the rest of this entry »

Rachel Gutter, Head of Education for the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), addressed the Colorado chapter’s Green Schools Summit on October 1st. Gutter works “on a national level to promote and facilitate the design, construction and operations of high performance, green schools and higher education facilities. She oversees USGBC’s National Green Schools Campaign as well as the LEED for Schools Green Building Rating System®, USGBC’s market-specific guidelines that recognize the unique nature and educational aspects of the design and construction of K-12 educational facilities.”

In her presentation, titled “The State of Green Schools,” Gutter stated that the USGBC’s vision for the future of school buildings is to have all green schools within a generation. With more than 125,000 K-12 schools in the United States, this a bold and broad goal. Read the rest of this entry »

Last Thursday, 2nd Green Revolution attended the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) Colorado chapter’s Green Schools Summit. Organized by the USGBC and sponsored by Solatube, The Governor’s Energy Office (of Colorado), Saunders Construction, Inc., and GE Johnson Construction Company (along with several smaller sponsors), the conference covered a broad range of topics within the field of green schools. The presenters included architects, educators, graduate students, and engineers. The first presentation of the day, delivered by an architect from the British firm Gensler, focused on the “International Perspective,” (available as a PDF in 3 parts – 1, 2, 3). Within this umbrella of the international perspective (how other nations are approaching green building in school settings), the lecture specifically looked at buildings as a catalyst for change. Read the rest of this entry »

In a recent email sent out to its members, the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) announced that their new Building Performance Initiative “will be in full swing with the first of five summits planned to raise the level of discussion about how we can ensure that all green buildings perform the way they are intended.” In addition, the new initiative seeks to improve the performance of all buildings in the country by upgrading for “measurably better energy, water, human health and natural resources outcomes.”

The following cities will host the summits, Chicago, IL (September 29th), San Francisco, CA (October 6th), Los Angeles, CA (October 8th), New York City (October 15th), and Washington, D.C. (October 21st). “These summits will convene between 75 and 100 people each, and attendees will bring the experience and expertise of a diversity of sectors, including representatives from local, state and federal governments, USGBC chapters, [Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design] project teams, developers, architects, engineers and many others.” The final report from these summits will be delivered at the 2009 Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in Phoenix, Ariz., Nov. 11-13. Read the rest of this entry »

In the final post on Oregon companies that were featured in the documentary Passion for Sustainability, the future of buildings takes center stage. If Americans are to play major a role in a sustainable future, they can lead the way with the buildings they construct. As mentioned in an earlier post on businesses in Oregon, architects in and around the city are working on designing buildings that have a smaller impact with regards to materials and energy consumption.

Paul Schwer, Principal engineer at PAE, was selected to receive the Better Bricks award as a result of his work in reducing the energy consumption and overall impact of buildings. PAE worked on the Tualatin Valley Water District’s addition (mentioned in an earlier post), as well as Sokol-Blosser’s Wine Aging cellar, both of which achieved Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver status. Mr. Schwer is a proponent of nuclear energy, but not the fission based kind of today’s reactors. Read the rest of this entry »