| The new administration and green building practices |
| Green Building Elements - November 6 |
President-elect Obama will inherit enormous problems, and no one expects him to place green building anywhere near the top of his priorities. However, a look at the green culture of Chicago and the philosophies of those on the short list for cabinet posts reveals a potential national shift toward environmental building practices. Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley has endeavoured to make Chicago the greenest U.S. city. His Green Building Agenda, unveiled in 2005, offered new green building standards, incentives, and education for builders and architects. |
Green Building Focus
DOE Report: Achieve 50% energy savings for retail buildings
CleanEdge - November 3
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) released two reports on how to achieve 50% energy savings over the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Standard 90.1- 2004 in grocery stores and medium-sized retail buildings. The reports found that achieving 50% energy savings is possible in each climate zone. According to the reports, reaching 50% energy savings provides a positive return on investment at today's energy prices and can be met without photovoltaic electricity generation.
Report: green supply chains in emerging markets
GreenBiz - November 10
Companies are experimenting with ways to make their global supply chains greener amid pressures to address environmental concerns, public health issues and stakeholder expectations. This Report, "Greening the Supply Chain in Emerging Markets: Some Lessons from the Field," examines green supply chain initiatives and identifies the value they can bring to a company. Fostering business continuity, maintaining quality, protecting brands and strengthening the bottom line are all benefits of green supply chains. Greening the Supply Chain is aimed at achieving improved environmental, health and safety performance; increasing efficiencies in the use of energy, water or other natural resources; reducing the environmental and societal impact of business operations upon local communities and the global biosphere; and expanding economic and quality of life opportunities.
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| USGBC lists 125 LEED projects in Northern California |
| U.S. Green Building Council - November 10 |
The U.S. Green Building Council lists projects that have achieved LEED certification. Updated in early November 2008, the list shows 125 LEED certified projects located in Northern California. |
| Gore urges 100 percent renewable energy in ten years |
| Business Green - November 10 |
Obama has outlined plans to ensure energy suppliers get a quarter of their energy from renewable sources by 2025. But speaking at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco late last week, Gore urged Obama to go way beyond his election pledges and set a target of switching the US to 100% renewable energy within 10 years. Obama has pledged to invest $150 billion over 10 years in clean technology. Gore mapped out how much of that money should be invested, highlighting energy efficiency and an overhaul of the US electricity grid as the most cost-effective means of cutting carbon emissions. |
| Chain stores and fast-food focus on LEED prototypes |
| New York Times - November 7 |
A race is under way among chain stores and fast-food restaurants to build environmentally-friendly outlets to curry favor with consumers and to lower operating costs. Most chains are focusing on LEED prototypes. The trend could change the look and function of thousands of stores. The green building boom is partly driven by retailers’ desire to capture the attention of consumers who are fascinated by hybrid cars, energy-saving lights and wind turbines. Subway unveiled its first “eco-store” in 2007 and has opened four more. Target, Office Depot and Staples have opened green stores, and Best Buy plans to do the same. |
| Architecture 2030 Challenge and LEED Report Card |
| Architect Magazine - November 1 |
Announced two years ago, the Architecture 2030 Challenge is rapidly gaining acceptance by building professionals. It stipulates reducing new building's green house gas emitting energy consumption by 50 percent by 2010 and achieving carbon-neutral new buildings by 2030.
USGBC's LEED program only involves 5 to 6 percent of the new commercial buildings in the US. As of September 2008, there were 1,705 LEED certified buildings, with 13,741 registered in the LEED certification process. In March 2008, the nine year-old LEED system got its first report card. Titled "Energy Performance of LEED for New Construction Buildings," the report was commissioned by the USGBC and conducted by the New Buildings Institute (NBI). Its results raise questions about architectural awareness of green and sustainable building science.
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