April 15, 2015
FBI Opens Eco-Friendly Building in South Florida
MIRAMAR, Fla. — The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Miami Field Office and the General Services Administration (GSA) officially named and dedicated a new federal office building in Miramar during a ceremony on April 10.
Bullitt Center First Living Building Certified Office
SEATTLE — The Bullitt Center in Seattle has become the first office building in the world to earn the Living Building Certification, a strict benchmark of sustainability in the built environment. The Bullitt Center confirmed the certification on April 1.
USGBC Adopts Living Building Challenge Requirements
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) will now recognize energy and water requirements from the Living Building Challenge within the LEED green building program, the council announced on April 7.
The Living Building Challenge is touted as a program that sets the highest benchmarks for sustainability in the built environment. The move between the USGBC and the Living Building Challenge means that projects achieving energy and water requirements in the challenge will be considered as technically equivalent to LEED.
Green California Summit Encourages Water Reduction
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Green industry professionals gathered at the Sacramento Convention Center April 7 and 8 for the Green California Summit and Exposition. The California drought was a hot topic of discussion in several presentations that showcased ways to reduce water.
Peter Dahl
HGA Architects and Engineers (HGA) hired Peter Dahl, Ph.D., LEED AP, as a senior associate in the energy and infrastructure group. Dahl will work in HGA’s Minneapolis office, where he will lead sustainable operations in the firm’s three core practice groups: health care, public/corporate and arts/community/higher education.
LED Retrofit Fixture
Nora Lighting expands its LED recessed downlight offerings with the Cobalt Series, a cULus-wet listed retrofit fixture for use in existing insulation contact (IC) or non-IC housings manufactured by Nora and others. Cobalt is available in 4-, 5- and 6-inch apertures and has a 1,000-lumen output. Cobalt downlights include Cree’s latest COB family of LED arrays, delivering brighter illumination and lower power consumption. The units have a high 95 color rendering index (CRI), which allows the fixtures to more realistically reveal colors similar to a natural light source.