HERSHEY, Pa. — The new $239 million Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center was dedicated on Nov. 13 and will see its first patient in early January.
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Global Green USA, the Santa Monica-based American affiliate of Green Cross International that has influenced more than $20 billion in green building projects, is planning its next endeavor: to help the areas devastated by Hurricane Sandy rebuild green.
The organization’s president and CEO Matt Petersen announced the new project on Dec. 3 at the 13th annual Sustainable Design Awards in New York. The plan includes three initiatives: Solar for Sandy, Search for Citizen Sandy, and Greening Schools and Neighborhoods.
DURHAM, N.C. — New research suggests microscopic technology could help increase the efficiency of solar panels in the not-too-distant future. David Smith, a scientist at Duke University in Durham, N.C., and his team developed a metamaterial that has the unique property of maximizing the absorption of solar rays. A metamaterial is a substance that isn’t found in nature but is usually created by taking the blueprint for a previously existing element and altering it to create a new material with different properties.
MCLEAN, Va. — A recent article in USA Today has reenergized the debate on green building. The report, titled “Green schools: Long on promise, short on delivery,” lambasted the U.S. Green Building Council and its LEED certification program, which led to a reply from the non-profit organization, titled “Response to 4th USA Today Article Attacking Green Buildings.” Needless to say, the very public sparring match has made some headlines across the nation and stirred up the discussion about green schools.
Trane, a provider of indoor comfort systems and services, unveils the next generation of IntelliPak I unitary rooftop systems in configurations from 20 tons to 130 tons. The redesigned energy-efficient units are built to work with air conditioning as well as heating. Featuring Trane’s eDrive, a direct-drive plenum fan technology that is up to 20 percent more efficient than traditional forward-curved fans, the systems’ belt-free design prevents particles from building up in the filter, according to the company.
ORLANDO, Fla. — The University of Central Florida had a particularly green 2012, receiving LEED Gold certification in December for an expansion project on its Recreation and Wellness Center, in addition to installing a new photovoltaic system earlier in the year.
DANVILLE, Va. — The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research in Danville, Va., recently received LEED Gold certification for its new Sustainable Energy Technology Center (SENTEC).
RICHMOND, Va. — The state of Virginia is becoming the center of an interesting debate about renewable energy and tax incentives. On one end of the spectrum, Governor Bob McDonnell has happily touted the award of an offshore wind technology demonstration grant to a Virginia utility company.
WASHINGTON — The fiscal cliff is dominating headlines right now and it affects the green building world just as much as any other industry, especially as the political showdown coincides with the expiration of the Wind Production Tax Credit. Republicans have been focusing on cutting tax credits as a means of raising revenue, which is scaring some people in the green building industry. It seems very likely that the credit will be renewed for 2013, as failing to pass a routine renewal would result in a very rapid and public loss of jobs in the wind turbine industry.
JUPITER, Fla. — A new high-tech research center at the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience recently received LEED Gold certification.
