Greener Buildings

Chipotle Earns the First LEED-Platinum Certification Awarded to a Restaurant

GreenerBuildings Staff — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:02:00 -0700

A Chipotle Mexican Grill in Illinois with its own wind turbine and a 2,500-gallon underground water cistern to harvest rainwater was certified by the U.S. Green Building Council at the organization's highest rating.

Cisco Debuts the 'Mediator' to Connect and Control Smart Buildings

GreenerBuildings Staff — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 05:25:00 -0700

Networking giant Cisco has rolled out its Building Mediator -- the firm's bid to connect and control smart buildings and their automation systems in order to better manage energy.

DOD Enlists GE for $2M Project to Make Military Base a Smart Microgrid Model

Leslie Guevarra — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 23:14:00 -0700

General Electric, the world's largest industrial company, will work with the Department of Defense in a $2 million project to transform the Twentynine Palms facility, the world's largest Marine Corps base, into a model smart microgrid system.

Climate Corps: The Benefits of Monitoring Your Building’s Performance

Lindsay McCombs — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:34:00 -0700

With falling asset values and limited access to capital, many in the real estate industry are spending their time on the next best thing to doing deals: going green. Not only do energy and water efficient buildings have relatively low operating costs, asset managers report these buildings also have high occupancy rates, quick space absorption and proud tenants.

Fairmont Hotels Power Up Green IT Program

GreenerComputing Staff — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:48:00 -0700

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts are adding eco-friendly IT strategies to the company's Green Partnership environmental program and developing power management, procurement and recycling plans for their facilities.

Mitsubishi Electric Spotlights Products that May Qualify for Stimulus Money

GreenBiz Staff — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:53:00 -0700

Since the passage of the stimulus legislation in February, a number of firms providing energy efficiency products and services have positioned their offerings in terms of their potential to qualify for tax credits under the Recovery Act. Mitsubishi's U.S. operations is among the latest company to do so, listing a diverse array of products.

DesignIntelligence Names Sustainability Role Models

GreenerBuildings Staff — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:47:00 -0700

Pioneer in cradle-to-cradle benchmarking William McDonough, Rocky Mountain Institute Cofounder, Chairman and Chief Scientist Amory Lovins, U.S. President Barack Obama, global architectural firm HOK, Turner Construction Co. and modular carpet manufacturer Interface Inc. are among the role models named this year by the DesignIntelligence Sustainable Design Survey.

Greening Your IT, for Newbies or Experts

Matthew Wheeland — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:02:00 -0700

In this excerpt from a longer interview with IBM data center architect John Lamb, the author walks through the steps companies should take when looking at energy efficiency projects, whether they're just starting out or have picked all the low-hanging fruit.

Climate Corps: A Little Information Goes a Long Way

Sarah Shapiro — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 07:01:00 -0700

It's well-known that information can make the difference in modifying behavior. Cisco is taking this concept to the operational level by installing Power Distribution Units on racks in data labs. PDUs don’t save energy themselves, but instead provide users with consumption and energy load information that can help users identify opportunities to improve efficiencies.

Technology for a Low-Carbon Future

ClimateBiz Staff — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:15:00 -0700

This report from the Climate Group finds that scaling up energy efficiency and renewable energy while avoiding deforestation can dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the short term, and are much-needed steps to achieve global climate goals.

REI Prototype Store Lands Top Sustainable Design Award

GreenerBuildings Staff — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:19:00 -0700

The Association for Retail Environments (A.R.E.) singled out REI's LEED-Gold certified store last week for its holistic design aesthetics and functionality, naming it the Project of the Year in its inaugural Sustainability Awards. A North Face store in Boise, Idaho, and the Founding Farmers restaurant in Washington, D.C., tied for second place.

World's Largest Cement Firms Slow CO2 Emissions Despite Production Growth

GreenBiz Staff — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:00:00 -0700

Efforts by the world's leading cement companies slowed the rate of growth of carbon dioxide emissions from the industry's manufacturing process even while production climbed by 53 percent, according to a new report by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development’s Cement Sustainability Initiative.

The Integrative Design Guide to Green Building

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:35:00 -0700

Green building experts from the 7group consultancy and integrative design pioneer Bill G. Reed provide a clear, practical manual on the whole-building approach to sustainability.

Dumpster Diving: A Green Strategy That Pays Off for Retailers

GreenerBuildings Staff — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:35:00 -0700

Retailers that put green practices to work at their facilities can save tens of millions of dollars a year by managing resources and waste more aggressively, according to SSA & Company.

Cement Industry Energy and CO2 Performance: Getting the Numbers Right

GreenBiz Staff — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:32:00 -0700

This report from the World Business Council for Sustainable Development's Cement Sustainability Initiative summarizes the work thus far in the nearly 3-year-old effort by the council and the industry's largest companies to make global cement production cleaner and greener.