May 28, 2008
| San Francisco Bay area passes carbon tax |
| Los Angeles Times - May 21 |
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District's board voted 15-1 to charge businesses 4.4 cents per ton of carbon dioxide they emit. First of its kind in the U.S., the carbon tax will be effective July 1st and apply to nine counties in the San Francisco Bay Area. At 4.4 cents per ton of carbon dioxide emissions, the tax is expected neither to generate a windfall of cash for local government nor induce much change in polluting industries. Power plants, refineries and other big smokestack polluters would be hit the hardest, whereas most of the 2,500 newly regulated businesses would pay less than $1 a year. The tax is expected to raise $1.1 million in the area, which will be used to study the region's pollution sources and develop ways to reduce emissions. |
|
| Singapore launches incentives to promote green building movement |
| Channel News Agency - May 22 |
The green building movement in Singapore has gained momentum and its Building and Construction Authority (BCA) hopes to spur it further through its Green Mark Incentive Scheme. BCA's scheme includes a $20 million fund, which has been set aside for green building projects. So far, $2.6 million has been committed to 17 projects. There are over 100 green buildings in Singapore and BCA said another 200 are waiting to be certified. |
Notable green building projects... Residential building receives first LEED approval in bureaucratic Lake Tahoe A Lake Tahoe developer has built the community's first LEED certified home. Building green houses might seem the norm in Lake Tahoe, but in reality, a lot of innovation and ambition have been killed by the number of rules developers must follow when building in an environmentally sensitive area. The 2,600-square-foot house is expected to achieve a LEED gold rating. Dunkin' Donuts' first LEED certified restaurant to serve as a prototype according to the company Dunkin' Donuts is building its first LEED certified restaurant in St. Petersburg, Florida. The building will serve as a prototype for the company according to Stephen J. Caldeira, chief global communications and public affairs officer for Dunkin' Brands, which operates Dunkin' Donuts. Dunkin' Donuts has more than 7,900 restaurants in 30 countries worldwide. Office Depot's store prototype earns LEED pre-certification The Office Depot's store prototype design earned volume pre-certification under a U.S. Green Building Council pilot program. The LEED Portfolio Program is designed to create a volume certification path to allow companies to incorporate LEED attributes into a prototype design before implementing across several buildings. Owens Corning pursuing LEED certification for its Oregon based foam insulation facility Owens Corning, a glass fiber technology manufacturer with sales of $5 billion, has announced that it is pursuing LEED certification for its Gresham, Oregon based foam insulation facility. The Gresham facility would join the company's Toledo, Ohio world headquarters in being LEED certified. Prindle Institute becomes Indiana's first LEED 'gold' certified facility Greencastle, Indiana's DePauw University's Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics has become the first in Indiana to earn a gold rating for energy efficiency and environmental design from the U.S. Green Building Council. |
