News
EPA and Three Partners Launch Design Challenge
SAN FRANCISCO — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and three sustainable building industry partners have launched the “Lifecycle Building Challenge” competition, inviting the nation’s architects, builders, recyclers, educators and students to submit ideas that facilitate the reuse of materials from buildings undergoing disassembly.
New GBI Software Can Compare Hundreds of Design Alternatives
PORTLAND, Ore. – The Green Building Initiative has developed a new life cycle assessment tool that it says will make it easier than ever for designers to take into account a proposed building’s potential impact on the environment during its lifespan. The tool can assess embodied energy, solid waste, air and water pollution, and global warming potential.
West Coast Green Ideas Still Reverberate
Although the West Coast Green Conference & Expo in San Francisco occurred almost five months ago, it set some waste management standards that are worth noting. The expo, using a combination of composting, recycling and carbon offsets, successfully diverted 96 percent of its garbage from landfills.
U. Va. Seeks Certification for Five Buildings
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — School officials are making a commitment to have all new construction on campus qualify for LEED certification, and they currently have five projects that may do just that.
Although striving for LEED certification often leads to an increase in design fees, facilities upgrades and construction costs, school officials realized it can create a prompt payback on investment, so they made LEED a top priority in campus design.
County Hopes to Strike Gold with its First Green Building
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — The new $16.6 million county education center in Gwinnett County does more than just rest on its 233-acre site; it lives on it.
Designed by Atlanta-based Lord, Aeck & Sargent, the 59,000-square-foot Gwinnett Environmental Heritage Center is the county’s first green building, and features several sustainable elements, including a water recycling program and a living, green roof that allow the center to “give back” to the environment.
Building Council to Introduce LEED for Schools Construction Category
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Green Building Council is scheduled in March to launch its LEED for schools rating system, which was created specifically for design and construction of K-12 schools.
Based on the LEED for new construction category, the LEED for schools system will update key areas that have the greatest effect on children in the learning environment.
Elementary School to Exceed State Energy Requirements
LINCOLN, Calif. — Construction is under way for the 55,647-square-foot Lincoln Crossing Elementary School, and the building is set to exceed state energy requirements by 22 percent.
Expected to cost approximately $20 million to build, the school will house 660 students and 29 teaching areas. Features of the energy-saving design include high-performance HVAC and lighting systems, an energy-efficient building shell, sustainable building materials, day lighting, deep overhangs and high-tech glazing.