Greener Buildings

Greenbuild 2009 Blazes a Trail to the Southwest

Leslie Guevarra — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:25:08 +0000

More than 20,000 building and sustainability professionals are heading to Arizona where the U.S. Green Building Council’s annual Greenbuild convention, the world’s largest green building conference and expo, opens next week at the Phoenix Convention Center.

Greenbuild 2009 Job Fair: USGBC Offers Job Seekers a Lifeline

Leslie Guevarra — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:05:39 +0000

Job hunters seeking to break into the green building field or looking for new opportunities will have a chance network with destination companies and organizations at the upcoming Greenbuild 2009 conference in Phoenix, where the U.S. Green Building Council will conduct the first job fair at its annual gathering.

The Phoenix Convention Center's Green Pedigree

GreenerBuildings Staff — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:15:22 +0000

The city of Phoenix's revamped LEED-Silver certified convention center will serve as an appropriate backdrop next week for Greenbuild 2009, the vast showcase for green building innovations and ideas.

New AIA Contracts Offer Tools for Integrated Design to All Developers

GreenerBuildings Staff — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:41:41 +0000

The release this week of a new contract developed by the American Institute of Architects aims to help bring a collaborative effort to building construction and enable integrated design in buildings of all sizes.

YKK Boosts Green Product Line with Window Additions to enerGfacade Line

GreenerBuildings Staff — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:59:26 +0000

Just in advance of the Greenbuild conference, YKK AP America this week unveiled a new aluminum window designed to boost energy efficiency by as much as 30 percent over standard windows.

Johnson Controls: The Quiet Company Raises Its Voice and Its Profile

Leslie Guevarra — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:51:57 +0000

Though a giant in the buildings and automotive industries, Johnson Controls Inc. was long considered a quiet company — seldom a major presence outside its lines of business. That's changing as the firm increasingly raises its voice and its profile to spread its mantra of "Efficiency Now."

Diversey Ups Emissions Reductions Investments, Earns Bigger ROI

ClimateBiz Staff — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:40:33 +0000

One year after setting a goal to cut corporate emissions by 8 percent before 2013, Diversey CEO today announced the company had already surpassed that target, and upped the goal to a 25 percent reduction in the same time frame.

Green Buildings Continue Impressive Growth, New Market Study Finds

GreenerBuildings Staff — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:26:01 +0000

The Green Building Market and Impact Report, released this morning by GreenerBuildings.com, measures the beneficial impacts that LEED-certified buildings have on energy, water, worker productivity and more, and charts the growth of the green marketplace in the coming years.

The Green Building Market and Impact Report 2009

GreenerBuildings Staff — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:46:12 +0000

This second annual report, by Rob Watson and the GreenBiz.com editorial team, explores the impacts that LEED-certified buildings have already had on energy, water, waste and employee productivity -- and projects those impacts for the next 20 years.

Taiwan Skyscraper TAIPEI 101 Aims to Be World's Tallest Green Building

GreenerBuildings Staff — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:25:02 +0000

The owners of Taiwan's landmark skyscraper TAIPEI 101 are teaming up with SL+A International Asia Inc., Siemens and EcoTech International Inc. for an 18-month renovation that project partners say will make the highrise the tallest green building in the world.

Business Owners Beware: Quick Fixes Can Cost More Than Smart Energy Savings Strategies

GreenerBuildings Staff — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:53:54 +0000

Looking to save a little money this fall and winter by turning down the thermostats in your offices? Think again before you fiddle with those temperatures settings. Doing that alone could cost you far more than you save, especially if employees take their workplace comfort into their own hands.

SeriousWindows Selected by Largest Weatherization Agency in U.S.

GreenerBuildings Staff — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:56:27 +0000

Serious Materials, the California company that specializes in energy efficient, eco-friendly building products, is supplying its super-insulating SeriousWindows to the Community and Economic Development Association of Cook County, the largest weatherization agency in the United States.

Owens Corning Works to Keep Roof Shingles Out of Landfills

GreenBiz Staff — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:33:24 +0000

The company's Preferred Roofing Contractors who pledge to recycle their shingle tear-offs will be able to take them to drop-off recycling and processing centers provided by Heritage Environmental Services.

Hotel Guests Need Help Staying Green on the Road, Study Finds

Sookhan So — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:19:36 +0000

A study by researchers at Virginia Tech's Pamplkn College of Business finds that even individuals who are resource-efficient at home are much more wasteful when on the road, and stronger education programs are needed to bridge this gap.

Shining a Light on Climate Change Risk Faced by Companies

Shari Shapiro — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:12:41 +0000

The SEC has changed its metrics for determining when shareholder resolutions regarding climate change risk must be included in SEC documents. The move is expected to make it easier for shareholders to demand disclosure of such risks to their investments.

Answers to Green Marketers' Questions on Ecolabels

admin — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:35:26 +0000

GreenBiz.com’s October 15, 2009 webinar on "The Green Marketing Landscape: Ratings, Labels, and Certifications" yielded far more questions than we had time to answer during the allotted 60 minutes. We've selected questions from among the hundreds asked and submitted them to our three speakers, who graciously provided answers.

Frito-Lay HQ, 2 REI Stores and 3 Transwestern Buildings Attain LEED Ratings

GreenerBuildings Staff — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:13:22 +0000

The headquarters for PepsiCo's Frito-Lay Northern America, REI stores in Texas and Illinois and more than a million square feet of office space in Denver managed by Transwestern have achieved gold and silver LEED ratings.

USGBC Launches Online Resource to Spur Pilot Testing of Proposed LEED Credits

GreenerBuildings Staff — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:13:09 +0000

The U.S. Green Building Council has launched a Pilot Credit Library to enable an array of proposed LEED credits to be tested without a wholesale revision of the rating systems.

Simple Data Center Best Practices Can Cut Energy Use by 20 Percent

Matthew Wheeland — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:30:25 +0000

As part of a partnership with The Green Grid, the U.S. EPA made a number of small tweaks to how it managed one of its data centers, and ended up saving $15,000 per year in energy costs as a result.

Tips for Greener Travels

Leanne Tobias — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 04:51:35 +0000

Business has taken me to San Francisco and environs several times in the last few months. Here's my field report on greener lodging and eco-travel options for those of you who are San Francisco bound.

The Mother of Necessity

Rob Watson — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:08:22 +0000

I was in Jerusalem attending the Israeli Presidential Conference 2009: Facing Tomorrow. It was very exciting to see the path-breaking new technologies coming out here in energy, water and information management.

JLL Enrolls Entire U.S. Property Management Portfolio in Energy Star Program

GreenerBuildings Staff — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:42:34 +0000

The 330 office buildings in Jones Lang LaSalle's U.S. property management portfolio are now enrolled in the Energy Star program to benchmark and manage energy efficiency, the commercial real estate services firm said.

A Regional Green Building Case Study Project

GreenerBuildings Staff — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:51:58 +0000

This report from the U.S. Green Building Council's Chicago Chapter is the first to provide detailed post-occupancy performance data on a regional level.

LEED Buildings Cut Energy and Emissions, Boost Worker Comfort, Study Finds

GreenerBuildings Staff — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:46:37 +0000

The Chicago chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council this week released the first study of post-construction performance of LEED-certified buildings in the region, measuring their performance compared to conventional buildings.

SCI Beta Tests Solution to Deliver Super Accurate Predictions of Energy Use

Leslie Guevarra — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:59:44 +0000

Scientific Conservation Inc., the Berkeley firm that launched its innovative Sciwatch solution to tackle buildings' energy drift in June, has released its newest product for beta testing: an application that measures and predicts a facility's energy use so accurately that its projections can fall within 1- to 2 percent of actual energy consumption, its creators say.