Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Meet the World’s Greenest Office Building

By Vicki Zambito

Construction on the world’s greenest office building has begun in Seattle. Groundbreaking on the Bullitt Center at 15th Avenue and East Madison in the city’s Capitol Hill area began on Monday. The six-story building has been designed to produce as much energy as it consumes. Consider these items:




  • The building will provide all its own water

  • The building will process all its own sewage

  • Timber for the building will come only from forests certified as sustainable

  • The steel, concrete, wood, and other heavy materials will all come from within 300 miles

  • Parking will be provided for bikes – not cars

  • Building materials that contain hazardous substances won’t be used


Building a building this green costs some green. It is estimated that the building’s super sustainable features increase the building’s upfront costs by nearly one-third. But the building’s owner still expects to make money. Four of the six floors already have signed future tenants who are willing to pay a premium to locate there. Jason McLennan, CEO of the Cascadia Green Building Council, calls the construction project, “the most important building being built in the country today.”

Learn more about this story by watching this video: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/flatpages/video/mediacenterbc3.html?bctid=1127563044001




Friday, August 26, 2011

3 Things Happening in LEED Right Now

By Vicki Zambito

1. A Federal Court Judge just dismissed the $100M lawsuit against the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and its LEED Rating System. Henry Gifford and other plaintiffs filed the lawsuit in October 2010 claiming the USGBC falsely advertises that LEED guarantees energy savings in LEED-certified buildings. The court cited a few reasons for its dismissal including its conclusion that the plaintiffs couldn’t prove they were being harmed by the USGBC. To read more, visit http://greensource.construction.com/news/2011/08/110818-Lawsuit-Against-USGBC.asp

2. Now is the time to provide the USGBC with feedback on its proposed 2012 update to the LEED green building rating system. The public comment period opened August 1st and ends on September 14th, 2011. The USGBC collected just under 6,000 constructive comments and recommendations in the first comment period and says it has integrated feedback. To read more, visit: http://www.usgbc.org/Docs/News/2011-07-27%20press%20release%20-%20final.pdf

3. Time is very quickly running out for Legacy LEED APs to upgrade to LEED with specialty. Enrollment windows end on a specific date between August 1st and October 27th, 2011. End dates have been staggered over these three months in order to avoid overloading the USGBC’s systems. To avoid retesting, one way to upgrade is through completing 30-hours of prescriptive credential maintenance. To learn more about your options, visit http://www.redvector.com/leed-cmp/leed_ap_without_specialty.aspx

Friday, August 5, 2011

Top 5 Videos of the World’s Greenest Homes




By Vicki Zambito

I just hit green gold surfing the Internet last weekend. PlanetGreen.com features a play list of videos all highlighting what it bills as “the world’s greenest homes.” I clicked down the list, engaged by the images of some very cool earth-friendly dwellings. Below are links to five of my favorites. I hope you enjoy as much as I did!

1. Hong King Space Saver – Check out this ultra hip 330 square foot apartment which features a futuristic sliding wall system.
http://planetgreen.discovery.com/videos/worlds-greenest-homes-hong-kong-space-saver.html

2. Texas Candy Land - The style is whimsical and fun, but the technology is totally green.
http://planetgreen.discovery.com/videos/worlds-greenest-homes-casa-neverlandia.html

3. Grass Roof Bungalow - The deck is made from recycled milk jugs, there's grass on the roof and different types of solar panels saves this family around $800 a year on the electric bill.
http://planetgreen.discovery.com/videos/worlds-greenest-homes-the-grass-roof-bungalow.html

4. Energy Saving Straw House - Features include a saltwater swimming pool, and a cooling tower inspired by Middle Eastern architecture.
http://planetgreen.discovery.com/videos/worlds-greenest-homes-the-arizona-straw-bale-house.html

5. Beachside Power Saver - It took only six hours for a traditional-looking, pre-fab home to be assembled in one of the most sought after areas of Toronto.
http://planetgreen.discovery.com/videos/worlds-greenest-homes-toronto-prefab.html

For more videos, visit http://planetgreen.discovery.com/videos/worlds-green-homes/.