Groups Align Guidelines for Green Buildings

WASHINGTON — Several associations that develop the construction codes and standards used to create green buildings are working together to bring consistency to high-efficiency structures.

The groups include the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES) and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

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Firms Around the World Commit to Going Green

ONTARIO, Canada — Firms are finding business value and opportunities from green building, including the opportunity to develop new environmentally responsible products, according to McGraw-Hill Construction’s latest SmartMarket Report in partnership with the World Green Building Council (WGBC).

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Tenants Prefer Sustainable Buildings, Research Finds

CHICAGO — Tenants are happier with buildings that make an effort to be sustainable, researchers at Chicago-based DTZ, a real estate and property investment company, have concluded.

Allison Porter, DTZ’s vice president, sustainability services, and DTZ Economist Rebecca Rockey evaluated responses to a tenant survey developed by Kingsley Associates, a research organization for the real estate industry that’s based in San Francisco. The company provides surveys for building tenants, among others.

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Vasakronan Achieves LEED EB:OM

NEW YORK — The largest LEED Volume certification outside of North America has been awarded to Vasakronan, Sweden’s largest property owner.

New York-based Thornton Tomasetti, an international engineering consulting firm based in New York, helped manage the LEED Existing Building Operations + Maintenance (EB:OM) process for Vasakronan, acting as a liaison with the Green Building Certification Institute, facilitating the initial sustainable design charrette, developing the EB:OM prototype, and hosting a series of workshops and reviews.

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USGBC Honors Green Schools

WASHINGTON — The Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) recently honored the 2014 Best of Green Schools recipients. The program recognized 10 individuals, institutions, projects and events that represented the best environmental efforts in schools across the country.

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Manhattan College Student Commons Achieves LEED Gold

RIVERDALE, N.Y. — Manhattan College’s Raymond W. Kelly ’63 Student Commons, which officially opened in October 2014, recently achieved LEED Gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

The $45 million student commons is the college’s first LEED building on campus.

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