Environmental Design & Construction articles from July 2008

Environmental Design & Construction archives from July 2008

Green overload.(EDITOR'S NOTE)
July 1, 2008... We're all consumers. And while ED+C doesn't target the mainstream consumer, we're happy to see that the environmental industry is progressing rapidly into the mainstream. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Green building has started--though only...

Building achieves "double Platinum" designation.(NEWSLINE)
July 1, 2008... Lansing, Mich. -- The Christman Company announced that it has been awarded LEED Platinum certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) for The Christman Building, its recently rehabilitated national headquarters located in downtown...

SCS announces sustainability certification for furniture.(NEWSLINE)
July 1, 2008... Emeryville, Calif. -- Scientific Certification Systems (SCS) announced that five manufacturers have earned certification under its new SCS Sustainable Choice label for furniture. The certification ensures that products earning the label have...

Online community for building industry.(NEWSLINE)
July 1, 2008... Troy, Mich. -- Clear Seas Research has developed Building Materials Talk, an online research panel community for members of the following sectors: HVAC/R, Plumbing, Architecture & Design, Construction, Roofing, Surveying & Mapping, Geomatics,...

Greenbuild365 re-launched.(NEWSLINE)
July 1, 2008... Washington, D.C. -- The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has re-launched its Greenbuild365 website. Visitors will find increased educational offerings, podcasts and expanded resources, along with year-round access to plenaries and master...

Real estate firm forms sustainability university, commits to hire and train 500 LEED and BREEAM accredited professionals.(NEWSLINE)
July 1, 2008... Chicago -- Jones Lang LaSalle is establishing the first sustainability university in the real estate services industry, where employees and clients are learning sustainable strategies, studying for professional accreditation such as LEED and...

Ground broken for 50-story apartment high-rise in Chicago's loop.(NEWSLINE)
July 1, 2008... Chicago -- Chicago-based Jupiter Realty Company has broken ground for its new 50-story, 389-unit rental apartment building at 215 W. Washington Street in downtown Chicago. The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by a host of local dignitaries...

Sustainable Forestry Initiative program marks record growth.(NEWSLINE)
July 1, 2008... Arlington, Va. -- The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) program recorded substantial growth in 2007, including a 750 percent increase in locations with SFI chain-of-custody certification that can track products from certified forests....

Manufacturers taking pricing action.(NEWSLINE)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Midland, Mich. -- Dow Building Solutions announced that due to continuing and unprecedented increases in energy, feedstocks, raw materials, and transportation costs, it would increase prices in the U.S. and Canada by up to an additional 10...

Innovation unveiled, honored at Awards ceremony.(NEWSLINE)
July 1, 2008... Las Vegas -- LIGHTFAIR International (LFI), an annual trade show and conference for architectural and commercial lighting held May 26-30, 2008, celebrated innovative product designs during the LFI Innovation Awards, which took place at the Las...

Headquarters recognized with EPA's ENERGY STAR.(NEWSLINE)(United States. Environmental Protection Agency)(Comfort Control Group)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Richfield, Ohio -- Comfort Control Group's headquarters has been awarded the prestigious ENERGY STAR designation from the Environmental Protection Agency. Only 13 office buildings in northern Ohio have received the certification and only 138 in...

IFMA report: energy consumption declining while utility costs continue to rise.(NEWSLINE)
July 1, 2008... Houston -- Led by a dramatic increase in utility costs, the overall cost of running a facility is 10 percent higher than it was four years ago, according to results from a recent International Facility Management Association (IFMA) research...

Erratum.(Correction notice)
July 1, 2008... In the June 2008 Sustainable Flooring section of ED+C and Sustainable Facility, the photos in the Gerflor editorial by William Thornton, "Resilient Flooring Addresses Maintenance and Hygiene Concerns," were identified incorrectly as being from...

New + Notable.
July 1, 2008... 1 THERMAL SLIDING GLASS DOOR Monett, Mo. -- EFCO Corporation's 5XPT Thermal High Performance Sliding Glass Door is designed for use in high-rise condominiums and hotels, the company reports. The 5XPT incorporates the EFCO E-Strut thermal...

AIA's COTE 2008 top ten green projects.(AIA COTE)(American Institute of Architects)
July 1, 2008... EACH YEAR THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS' (AIA) COMMITTEE ON THE ENVIRONMENT (COTE) SELECTS AND AWARDS EXAMPLES OF ARCHITECTURE AND GREEN DESIGN SOLUTIONS THAT PROTECT AND ENHANCE THE ENVIRONMENT. THE 2008 COTE TOP TEN GREEN PROJECTS...

Negative waste, clean energy, green carpet: Beaulieu Commercial's carpet manufacturing and recycling plants are powered by wind, inspired by sustainable initiatives.(ON THE ROAD IN)
July 1, 2008... "We don't have a 'green line'," says Beaulieu Commercial President James Lesslie, "We only have one tile line." If someone asks for Beaulieu Commercial's "green" carpet tile, they get the same product as someone that specifies the company's...

The Greening of BIM.
July 1, 2008... During the last several years, Building Information Modeling (BIM) has been a popular topic of discussion. While it is highlighted in many high-profile projects, it is equally effective on more everyday buildings. This has also been the case...

NeoCon[R] World's Trade Fair 2008.(NEWS FROM NEOCON)
July 1, 2008... Chicago -- NeoCon World's Trade Fair, the country's largest conference and exhibition of contract furnishings for the design and management of the built environment, returned to Chicago's Merchandise Mart for its 40th annual year, June 9-11,...

Glued Laminated Timbers.(CERTIFIED WOOD)(contracts between Hugh Lofting Timber Framing, Inc. and W.S. Cumby )(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... West Grove, Pa. -- Glue Laminated Timbers from Hugh Lofting Timber Framing, Inc. have been selected by W.S. Cumby to construct the glued laminated structure for the new Dansko showroom and retail outlet in Jennersville, Pa. In keeping with the...

Certified Fire retardant treated wood.(CERTIFIED WOOD)
July 1, 2008... Maple Lake, Minn. -- Fire retardant treated (FRT) wood can be used as an economical substitute for noncombustible materials in many interior applications in commercial, industrial and institutional buildings. Dricon FRT wood is available in...

Collection of FSC-certified reclaimed rosewood columns.(CERTIFIED WOOD)(Forest Stewardship Council)(East Teak Fine Hardwoods, Inc. has introduced recycled Indian rosewood columns)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Dallas -- Traditionally prized for fine wood-working and top quality musical instruments worldwide, rosewood is a highly grained wood best known for its incredible strength and durability, as well as its rich dark or red hue. For the...

FSC-certified Particleboard contains 100 percent pre-consumer recycled content.(CERTIFIED WOOD)(Panel Source International, Inc. has introduced Purekor Platinum Particleboard )(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... St. Albert, Alberta (Can.) -- Purekor Platinum Particleboard from Panel Source International, Inc., is FSC certified, contains no added urea formaldehyde and has 100 percent pre-consumer recycled content, the company reports. The product is...

FSC-certified plantation hardwood ideal for interior millwork.(CERTIFIED WOOD)
July 1, 2008... Portland, Ore. -- Collins Pacific Albus lumber is a new addition to The Collins Companies' Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified product line, CollinsWood. According to the company, Collins Pacific Albus lumber is a light color and...

Sustainably certified 'new wood species'.(CERTIFIED WOOD)(Titan Wood Ltd. has introduced Accoya wood )(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Dallas -- Accoya wood from Titan Wood Ltd. is produced using a patented process that effectively converts certified sustainably grown solid softwood and non-durable hardwood lumber into what is best described as a "new wood species" via...

Complete shading system.(SHADING SYSTEMS)(MechoShade Systems, Inc. has introduced EcoVeil shadecloth )(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Boston -- The EcoVeil shadecloth is made from a new material--a thermoplastic olefin (TPO) based yarn. It looks, feels and performs similarly to the vinyl coated polyester yarns that MechoShade has produced for 35 years, the company reports....

Greenguard-certified fabrics on window shades.(SHADING SYSTEMS)
July 1, 2008... Spiceland, Ind. -- Draper's Phifer Sheer-Weave Infinity, Series SW2000/SW2100 and Series SW2900/2600/2500/2400 are GREENGUARD and GREENGUARD for Children and Schools-certified. They are available on any Draper motorized, manual or...

Solar Shading Fabrics eliminate off-gassing odors.(SHADING SYSTEMS)(Hunter Douglas Inc. has introduced GlacierScreen Solar Shading Fabrics )(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Poway, Calif. -- GlacierScreen Solar Shading Fabrics from Hunter Douglas Contract help preserve indoor air quality by eliminating nearly all odors due to off-gassing, the company reports. GlacierScreen fabrics have been certified to meet the...

Garden roof system available as intensive, extensive.(GREEN ROOFING AND STORMWATER MANAGEMENT)
July 1, 2008... Holyoke, Mass. -- Debuting at the AIA 2008 Convention in Boston, Stevens Roofing Systems' GardenTop systems promote energy savings and help to reduce urban heat island effect, the company reports. The Stevens GardenTop System is available in...

Modular green roof solution.(GREEN ROOFING AND STORMWATER MANAGEMENT)
July 1, 2008... Chicago, Ill. -- Tecta America's TectaGreen modular solution complement the company's TectaGreen continuous green roof system. Known for its environmental performance, flexibility in design, and overall plant health, the TectaGreen modular...

Manufactured drywell enhances stormwater retention.(GREEN ROOFING AND STORMWATER MANAGEMENT)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Woodland Hills, Calif. -- The Flo-Well manufactured drywell from NDS, Inc. captures runoff water before it can become polluted and contaminate surrounding water sources, meeting all regulatory requirements for stormwater retention, the company...

Stormwater filtration device achieves milestone in environmental regulations.(GREEN ROOFING AND STORMWATER MANAGEMENT)
July 1, 2008... Portland, Maine -- Hydro International, a provider of environmentally sustainable products and solutions that control and treat stormwater, wastewater and combined sewer overflows, announced that the Washington State Department of Ecology has...

Water management systems meet clean water act standards.(GREEN ROOFING AND STORMWATER MANAGEMENT)(Triton Stormwater Solutions has provieds underground chambers )(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Brighton, Mich. -- Triton Stormwater Solutions (Triton), a manufacturer of eco-friendly and efficient stormwater chambers, provides underground chambers that help trap and manage environmentally harmful stormwater and runoff. The chambers are...

Style and sensibility.(PARTING SHOT)
July 1, 2008... The desire for a unique home design is an American tradition. Numerous architectural firms advertise custom home designs, and plans for "unique" home designs are readily available via a quick search on the Internet. But how truly unique are...

Welcome to the 8th Annual LEED[R] Guide.(THE LEED GUIDE)(Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)
July 1, 2008... The USGBC laid a solid foundation in the field of sustainable design when it introduced the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System in 2000. Striving to make environmentally friendly design more...

Climate solutions: existing buildings.(THE LEED GUIDE)
July 1, 2008... It cannot be argued that we are entering a new phase of the climate change conversation that's focused on real, practicable, solutions. Over the period of about two years, the dominant question in the public's mind has evolved from "is it...

The next generation of LEED.(THE LEED GUIDE)
July 1, 2008... With its introduction in 2000, the U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System helped to spark a revolution, articulating a new set of integrated, measurable goals that...

Green building returns outweigh costs.(THE LEED GUIDE)
July 1, 2008... Not a penny more. The evidence that green buildings don't have to cost a penny more than their conventional counterparts continues to pile up, as do the studies that validate significant ongoing operational cost savings for both new and...

Building green for education.(THE LEED GUIDE)
July 1, 2008... The Carlstadt Public School became the first K-8 school in New Jersey to achieve LEED certification. What makes Carlstadt unique is the partnership that formed to get the new school construction project underway. DMR Architects worked with town...

Ford heritage project: a living roof update.(THE LEED GUIDE)
July 1, 2008... John D'Annunzio sits down with Roger Gaudette of Ford Motor Land to talk about the performance of the garden roof designed by William McDonough and installed on Ford Motor Company's Ford Dearborn Truck Assembly Building in 2004. Has the roof...

When there's good design ...(THE LEED GUIDE)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... When USG started to design its new headquarters space, the company knew it wanted to be proactive about sustainability, but sustainability was not the first goal and neither was LEED certification. USG's goal was good design, and sustainable...

Setting the standard: a shred of insight as to how the project team for the Aldo Leopold Legacy Center achieved the highest score of any leed-certified building.(THE LEED GUIDE)
July 1, 2008... By now, nearly everyone involved with sustainability has heard of the Aldo Leopold Legacy Center. It's become something of an icon since 2007's Greenbuild. It was the recipient of Forest Stewardship Council-US's (FSC-US) Designing & Building...

Greening building portfolios: speed and scale for immediate and measurable results.(THE LEED GUIDE)
July 1, 2008... Most companies and large institutions own entire portfolios of buildings--portfolios that include office buildings, retail outlets and lodging facilities, classrooms, and a wide variety of special function facilities that house equipment,...

Leed for schools: roi for the next generation.(THE LEED GUIDE)
July 1, 2008... With one school a day now registering with the year-old LEED for Schools program, the message is clear: Americans want more green schools. Only 40 schools had pursued LEED certification through the New Construction program in the eight...

Chapters make USGBC's National Green Schools campaign their own.(THE LEED GUIDE)
July 1, 2008... Volunteers have always been the heart of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). USGBC's exponential membership growth is mirrored in the more than 75 local groups that make up USGBC's chapter network. Through this chapter network, tens of...

Leed and higher education.(THE LEED GUIDE)
July 1, 2008... As America begins a fundamental culture shift toward a truly sustainable economy and way of life, universities will be one of the greatest sources of ideas and innovation. These institutions have the capacity to generate fundamental solutions...

Revolutionary Green: a look ahead to Greenbuild 2008.(THE LEED GUIDE)
July 1, 2008... Paul Revere's Midnight Ride, the Boston Tea Party, and the extraordinary blossoming of ideas that laid the foundation of the American Revolution were inspiration for the 2008 Greenbuild International Conference & Expo, Revolutionary Green:...

Sustainable workplace design: Microsoft building 88, LEED-CI Gold green renovation sets new standard.(THE LEED GUIDE)(Company overview)
July 1, 2008... Microsoft Corporation, one of the world's largest software providers, based in Redmond, Wash., has been experiencing tremendous growth. With more than 36,000 employees based in the Puget Sound area and more than 86,000 worldwide, the demand for...

Ready for take-off: new Indianapolis airport construction spearheads LEED building education in Midwest.(THE LEED GUIDE)
July 1, 2008... One of the nation's largest current building projects is also driving the evolution of forward-looking green building technologies. The $1.1 billion New Indianapolis Airport will move to the front of the line in passenger service and security....

Southern stewardship: two buildings in the southeast reinforce the mission of the National Park Service by pursuing leed certification.(THE LEED GUIDE)
July 1, 2008... On a hillside in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, trees felled for the construction of a new research center were either left on site to provide habitat or mulched and spread to prevent erosion. Rocks and boulders displaced by...

'I' is for intelligent: an intelligent building promotes the benefits of sustainable technologies and recognizes increased occupant and owner satisfaction.(THE LEED GUIDE)
July 1, 2008... It's essentially a high-performance facility manager's state-of-the-art wish list: A facility management system (FMS) electronically advises on everything from relative humidity to tracked energy usage for powering auxiliary lighting....

Certifying green: the state and future of the LEED exam.(THE LEED GUIDE)
July 1, 2008... The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program, offered by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is a voluntary credentialing program that defines a structure's "high-performance green building" system. Driving the system's...

The road to 100 percent accreditation: one firm's sustainable initiative.(THE LEED GUIDE)
July 1, 2008... As recently as August 2007, Amenta/Emma Architects employed only two LEED Accredited Professionals (AP). The 25-person firm was completing the construction documents for Hartford's only LEED-registered school, designing a mixed-use LEED for...

LEED-EB--tangible benefits for those acting now.(THE LEED GUIDE)
July 1, 2008... The estimated 45 million existing commercial buildings in the U.S. contain far more potential to deliver real energy savings and reduce global warming than new buildings ever can, simply because they represent the overwhelming majority of...

In practice: Salem, Ore., Community puts the LEED-H standard through its paces.(THE LEED GUIDE)
July 1, 2008... The story of Pringle Creek Community, a 32-acre mixed-use development in Salem, Ore., begins with the State of Oregon deciding to close down its 275-acre "home" for developmentally disabled children. The state then put the property, located...

Analyzing the real costs for green solutions in labs: on the record: LEED Laboratory experts weigh-in on sustainable laboratory design practices and related costs.(THE LEED GUIDE)
July 1, 2008... Spearheaded by MHTN Architects, ED+C magazine participated in an original roundtable event on of the real costs of LEED certification for labs (of varying size and scope). In this unique, in-depth on-the-record discussion, industry experts...

From green chemistry curriculum to laboratory design: the University of Oregon green chemistry building and systems achieve efficiency and sustainability.(THE LEED GUIDE)
July 1, 2008... The American Chemical Society Green Chemistry Institute describes green chemistry as the "design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances." Like green building, green chemistry...