AIA, Green Building Initiative Partner to Promote Sustainable Buildings
The First No-Cost Step to High Performance Building: Changing Your Mindset
Pursuing the Elusive Goal of a Carbon-Neutral Building
Startups Following Serious Materials Into Green Walls
Tell Congress to Unleash the Potential of Energy Efficiency!
Register for FREE Web Seminars
Hot Air on Wind Energy
Recovery Plan for New York
AGC to offer series of courses on building information modeling (BIM) for contractors
Groundbreaking energy efficiency retrofit going on at Empire State Building
Getting To Be Green; Red Tape, Costs Burden Projects Trying To Earn Certification From U.S. Green Building Council
David Holt: The stories and song of Appalachia
Measuring Earth's Gravity Field: GOCE’s 'Heart' Starts Beating
Earthshine Reflects Earth's Oceans And Continents From The Dark Side Of The Moon
Retreat of Andean Glaciers Foretells Global Water Woes
Global warming could take bite out of Midwest corn, report says
Coal-Fired Power Plants Bill Faces Sebelius Veto
Climate of 2009 February in Historical Perspective Including Boreal Winter
Chicago unveils first networked solar plug-in station for electric vehicles
Breaking the silence about Spring
AIA, Green Building Initiative Partner to Promote Sustainable Buildings
PORTLAND, Ore. -- The Green Building Initiative, the administrator of the Green Globes rating standard, and the American Institute of Architects have agreed to work together to promote the design and construction of energy efficient, environmentally responsible buildings.
GBI President Ward Hubbell and AIA EVP/CEO Christine McEntee recently signed a memorandum of understanding on behalf of their organizations to seal the deal.
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The First No-Cost Step to High Performance Building: Changing Your Mindset
Currently, U.S. buildings consume two-thirds of our power supply and emit 40 percent of the greenhouse gases. This is a staggering statistic when you consider that right now we have the technical capability to cut these numbers in half, cost effectively. But only by changing our approach to buildings will we be able to do this.
Albert Einstein famously defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results. It seems this is exactly what some in the commercial development industry intend to do. For example, energy efficiency advocates have spent the last week refuting a recent study commissioned by NAIOP, a real estate development trade association, that said buildings that use 30 percent less energy were too costly and those that use 50 percent less energy weren't possible.
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Pursuing the Elusive Goal of a Carbon-Neutral Building
Early this year, a new building opened on the Yale University campus that set out to achieve the architectural Holy Grail in the age of global warming -- getting to carbon neutral. Designed by Hopkins Architects, a British firm with a long history in the green building movement, the new home of the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies is, on almost all counts, a striking success. It has simple but beautiful lines, incorporates the latest sustainable ideas and technologies without loudly announcing them, and manages to transform what had been a ruined landscape into a green campus. In a feat of no small symbolic value, the school bullyragged the university into shutting down a fossil fuel power plant that had formerly occupied the site.
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Startups Following Serious Materials Into Green Walls
E2E Materials, a spin-out from Cornell University, has developed an ecologically friendly version of particle board that consists of natural grass fibers and soy resins. Right now, the company sells it to skateboard manufacturer Comet Skateboards, but the company also recently completed validation testing so that its products can be used to build office furniture.
This coming August, contractors on a LEED project in Syracuse, New York will incorporate it into a building.
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Tell Congress to Unleash the Potential of Energy Efficiency!
Targeting: Members of the U.S. House of Representatives
We need aggressive action from Congress to curb global warming emissions and build a clean energy future. The recently introduced Save American Energy Act will address our pressing economic, energy and environmental challenges by requiring that utilities gradually increase energy savings - an average of one percent a year starting in 2012 through 2020.
By establishing an Energy Efficiency Resource Standard, the Save American Energy Act will reduce consumers' energy bills, create jobs, cut global warming pollution, and avoid the construction of over 300 expensive new power plants.
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Register for FREE Web Seminars
If you are looking to effectively manage "green" performance within your portfolio of existing buildings, then please join us for any of these short, interactive Web Seminars to learn more about the dynamic, cost-effective, design and assessment tool, Green Globes®, Continual Improvement of Existing Buildings. Green Globes® helps establish a baseline, prioritize and plan the right improvements, monitor success and compare multiple buildings within your portfolio.
All presentations are at 10am PT | 1pm ET, are the same content and are free of charge.
Tuesday, April 14
Thursday, April 16
Tuesday, April 21
Thursday, April 23
Tuesday, April 28
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Hot Air on Wind Energy
Don't expect wind power to replace coal as the nation's main source of electric power, whatever Obama's interior secretary said.
Interior Secretary Salazar said that the amount of "developable" wind power off the East Coast could produce more energy than all the coal-fired electric plants in the U.S., and that wind's potential to replace most of our coal power "is a very real possibility." We find his claims to be wildly optimistic, to say the least.
It's true that government studies show there's enough offshore wind to generate far more than coal plans currently do – in theory. But converting that wind to enough electricity to replace what's now produced by coal won't happen anytime in the foreseeable future. The Interior Department itself made clear its offshore wind estimate was a gross figure of potential resources only, saying in a report that there are several obstacles to achieving that.
We calculate that converting wind to enough electricity to replace all U.S. coal-fired plants would require building 3,540 offshore wind farms as big as the world's largest, which is off the coast of Denmark. So far the U.S. has built exactly zero offshore wind farms.
Another government study last year concluded that to supply just 20 percent of U.S. electricity with wind turbines would require land-based equipment taking up an area "slightly less than the area of Rhode Island," plus scores of offshore wind farms.
A Salazar spokesman says the secretary did not mean to say that replacing coal power with offshore wind power was a realistic goal, but was only trying to draw attention to its potential.
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Recovery Plan for New York
In addition, the 24th Congressional District will receive $7.3 million for three transit agencies that operate in areas of the district that have populations greater than 200,000. $2.65 million will go to CENTRO of Utica to serve Oneida and Herkimer Counties, BC Transit will receive $3.65 million to serve Broome and Tioga Counties, and Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit (TCAT) will be provided with $1.1 million. $26 million for transit assistance will go to areas of the state with populations smaller than 200,000. The Recovery Bill also includes $8 billion to develop high speed rail. There are 11 high speed rail corridors throughout the country, and I am working to ensure that the Empire Corridor between Niagara Falls and Albany receives funding from the Recovery Bill. Mass transit will increase tourism and allow people to get to jobs and to run errands. It is the first step in rebuilding our downtowns and creating economic opportunity.
School modernization, repair, and energy efficiency efforts in New York will receive $3 billion over the next two years through the economic recovery package. New York school districts will also get $1.7 billion to address unfunded education mandates. This funding will prevent cutbacks and layoffs, which will protect jobs and keep teachers in the classroom teaching our children.
AGC to offer series of courses on building information modeling (BIM) for contractors
Arlington, VA – April 6, 2009 - A new national education program being launched today will make it easier for construction firms to lower costs and speed construction work by taking advantage of virtual design and construction technology, the Associated General Contractors of America announced. The first-of-its-kind educational program is designed to give construction professionals a broad understanding of the Building Information Modeling (BIM) process.
The new program, known as BIM 101: An Introduction to Building Information Modeling, is the first of six planned courses in the BIM Education Program series. The series is designed specifically for construction professionals eager to learn the essential concepts of BIM, Sandherr noted. The course instruction is supported by real-world case studies and is designed to serve as a foundation for advanced courses.
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Groundbreaking energy efficiency retrofit going on at Empire State Building
Beginning in February 2008, the Empire State Building has been used as a test bench to create a replicable process to reduce energy consumption and environmental impacts," said Anthony E. Malkin of building owner, Empire State Building Company. "Most new buildings are built with the environment in mind, but the real key to substantial progress is reducing existing building energy consumption and carbon footprint."– while simultaneously enhancing profitability and tenant comfort. This is a real program, happening in real time, creating real green jobs."
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GETTING TO BE GREEN; RED TAPE, COSTS BURDEN PROJECTS TRYING TO EARN CERTIFICATION FROM U.S. GREEN BUILDING COUNCIL
An explosion of interest in "green building" - especially for its savings on energy costs - has many builders asking similar questions: What does it take to get LEED certified, and is it worth it?
Adam and other practitioners describe a certification process that takes about a year and can cost up to 5 percent of the value of a project.
"They're very slow," said Art Kamm, an engineer with Kamm Consulting in Deerfield Beach active in more than a dozen green building projects. "There's just not enough people for the amount of projects trying to get LEED certified."
"And it's expensive," Kamm said. "By the time you prove you meet all the standards, for the design architect, the landscape architect, the mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineers and the civil engineer, you could be looking at a $50,000 bill or up to $200,000 for a large project."
The Green Building Council recognizes growing pains for nine-year-old LEED and is working to streamline procedures. "Check the Web site for LEED Version 3 coming soon," said Olga Alvarez, president of the group's South Florida chapter.
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David Holt: The stories and song of Appalachia
Folk musician and storyteller David Holt plays the banjo and shares photographs and old wisdom from the Appalachian Mountains. He also demonstrates some unusual instruments like the mouth bow -- and a surprising electric drum kit he calls "thunderwear."
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Measuring Earth's Gravity Field: GOCE’s 'Heart' Starts Beating
ScienceDaily (Apr. 8, 2009) — GOCE’s (Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer) highly sensitive gradiometer instrument has been switched on and is producing data. Forming the heart of GOCE, the gradiometer is specifically designed to measure Earth’s gravity field with unprecedented accuracy.
In order to get the maximum performance from the gradiometer, GOCE was designed to provide a highly stable and undisturbed environment. However, GOCE has to orbit Earth close enough to measure the tiny differences in gravity, which forces it to endure significant drag from the uppermost layers of the atmosphere.
The atmospheric drag is compensated for by the ion engine, which is able to deliver between 1 and 20 milliNewtons of thrust (the force equivalent to our exhaling).
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Earthshine Reflects Earth's Oceans And Continents From The Dark Side Of The Moon
ScienceDaily (Apr. 8, 2009) — Researchers from the University of Melbourne and Princeton University have shown for the first time that the difference in reflection of light from the Earth's land masses and oceans can be seen on the dark side of the moon, a phenomenon known as earthshine.
Sally Langford from the University of Melbourne's School of Physics, who conducted the study as part of her PhD, says that the brightness of the reflected earthshine varied as the Earth rotated, revealing the difference between the intense mirror-like reflections of the ocean compared to the dimmer land.
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Retreat of Andean Glaciers Foretells Global Water Woes
Earlier this year, the World Bank released yet another in a seemingly endless stream of reports by global institutions and universities chronicling the melting of the world’s cryosphere, or ice zone. This latest report concerned the glaciers in the Andes and revealed the following: Bolivia's famed Chacaltaya glacier has lost 80 percent of its surface area since 1982, and Peruvian glaciers have lost more than one-fifth of their mass in the past 35 years, reducing by 12 percent the water flow to the country's coastal region, home to 60 percent of Peru's population.
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Global warming could take bite out of Midwest corn, report says
WASHINGTON — Global warming could sock Illinois right in the Corn Belt—to the tune of $243 million a year, a national environmental group estimated in a report released Thursday.
The Environment America study, based on government and university data, projects rising temperatures will reduce yields of the nation's biggest crop by 3 percent in the Midwest and the South, compared to projected yields without further global warming.
According to the report, Iowa would be hit hardest, losing $259 million a year in corn revenues.
The nation overall would lose about $1.4 billion in annual corn revenue, the group said.
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Coal-Fired Power Plants Bill Faces Sebelius Veto
The Kansas House of Representatives and Senate have approved a compromise bill that would allow the construction of two large coal-fired power plants in southwestern Kansas.
Although House Bill 2014 passed by big majorities in both houses April 3, it faces an uncertain future.
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has promised to veto the bill. That means both the House and Senate would have to come up with two-thirds majorities to override Sebelius’ veto.
Sebelius has said she’s confident that her veto will stand.
The bill passed the Senate with enough votes to spare, Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt said. However, the House approved the coal-plant bill with less than a two-thirds margin.
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Climate of 2009 February in Historical Perspective Including Boreal Winter
Global Highlights:
* Based on preliminary data, the globally averaged combined land and sea surface temperature was the ninth warmest on record for February and the eighth warmest for boreal winter (December-February) and the January-February year-to-date period.
* Warmest above-average temperatures during December 2008 - February 2009 were present across Mexico, eastern and northern Europe, western Russia, southern Asia, and most of the continental U.S. Cooler-than-average temperatures occurred across Alaska's panhandle, southern Canada, the northern U.S., and southern and eastern Russia.
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Chicago unveils first networked solar plug-in station for electric vehicles
Carbon Day Automotive has announced the unveiling of the first solar-powered electric vehicle charging station in the City of Chicago. Located and operational at the City of Chicago Department of Fleet Maintenance, it was one of the focal points of the recent IOC tour on April 5th, 2009 where guests were able to see the nation’s foremost Solar Plug-In Station™ that was designed to pave the way to fuel plug-in electric vehicles. It will be used daily by the City of Chicago to fuel the city’s electric vehicles with power from the sun. Carbon Day Automotive is the sole Midwest distributor for Coulomb Technologies ChargePoint Networked Charging Stations. When paired with Carbon Day’s Solar Plug-In Station, it is a source of totally renewable and clean energy that addresses the needs of drivers, utilities and governments.
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Breaking the silence about Spring
Did you know that in 1965 the U.S. Department of Agriculture planted a particular variety of lilac in more than seventy locations around the U.S. Northeast, to detect the onset of spring — in turn to be used to determine the appropriate timing of corn planting and the like? The records the USDA have kept show that those same lilacs are blooming as much as two weeks earlier than they did in 1965. April has, in a very real sense, become May. This is one of the interesting facts that you’ll read about in Amy Seidl’s book, Early Spring, a hot-off-the-press essay about the impacts of climate change on the world immediately around us – the forest, the birds, the butterflies in our backyards.
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