Security and Safety

EcoLogo, CleanGredients Streamline Ingredient Selection Process

1 mins

OTTAWA – EcoLogo, a Canadian green certification and marketing organization, has announced that it will make it easier for manufacturers to formulate products that meet its green certification criteria by streamlining the audit for products using ingredients listed on the CleanGredients database.

CleanGredients is an online database of institutional and industrial cleaning ingredients developed to help manufacturers of green cleaning chemicals and products select environmentally preferable chemical ingredients.

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U. Va. Seeks Certification for Five Buildings

2 mins

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.

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County Hopes to Strike Gold with its First Green Building

9 mins

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.

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Elementary School to Exceed State Energy Requirements

2 mins

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.

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Oil from Algae?

8 mins

There was recent news about the discovery of 200 marine dead zones all over the world. These dead zones occur when water becomes devoid of oxygen because algae have consumed it. The algae create the oxygen deficit because of their ability to prosper in polluted water that kills off all other marine life but them. With no competitors or predators to curb their numbers, the algae are free to grow uncontrolled and consume oxygen.

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Rainforest Alliance Offers Guide to Green Building Wood Sources

2 mins

WASHINGTON — To assist architects and contractors in finding green wood building products, from doors and decking to flooring and furniture, the Forest Stewardship Council has compiled the “SmartGuide to Green Building Wood Sources.” The guide, a comprehensive listing of all FSC-certified suppliers in North America, including contact, company and product information, can be downloaded for free at www.rainforestalliance.org/greenbuilding.

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Sustainable Dining, At a Hospital Near You

4 mins

VANCOUVER, Wash. — Two hospitals in Clark County, Washington, have been exploring ways to support local growers and offer fresher and healthier food options to patients and visitors. It’s part of move toward relying on increasingly local, and oftentimes sustainable, farms. It’s also part of a national trend toward improved experiences for those who come to the hospital as patients or visitors, or, in some cases, as diners.

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Project FROG May Push School Trailers to Leap Ahead

4 mins

SAN FRANCISCO – Mayor Gavin Newsom unveiled "Project Frog," a modular classroom prototype that offers schools a high-performance building that straddles the line between a permanent facility and a modular trailer.

Newsom made the announcement at San Francisco City Hall on March 21 before a crowd of local TV newscasters, concerned citizens and city officials.

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