The Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) introduced Green Footstep, a new online carbon footprint calculator that is the first to account for a building’s emissions over time. The tool allows design teams set goals for carbon emission reductions through the lifetime of the building. Case studies are available that show how some project teams have successfully used Green Footstep. More information can be found at www.greenfootstep.org.
Second Nature, a Massachusetts non-profit organization, has launched the Campus Green Builder (CGB) website. The site provides green building resources for campus and university designers. As a portal, CGB provides information targeted at under-funded higher level education institutions. It offers links to available grants, sustainability expert information, case studies, and blogging opportunities among peers. More information can be found at www.campusgreenbuilder.org.
The American Institute of Architects released a report titled “Green Building Policy in a Changing Economic Environment”. The report found that one in five cities with populations greater than 50,000 now have incentive programs for the construction of energy-efficient buildings. The findings also show that green building programs in the US have increased 50% in two years, with 138 cities now promoting green building. The western US cities have the highest number of green building programs offered by 56 cities in six states.
Southwest Airlines announced that they are developing a “green airplane’ that contains recycled carpet, synthetic leather seating and an improved on-board recycling program. The changes would result in a reduction of 4 pounds of weight per seat which would save fuel and reduce carbon emissions.
Burrito chain Chipotle Mexican Grill has announced plans to install solar panels on 75 restaurants over the next year. The panels are expected to produce about 500 kwH of electricity which will make Chipotle Mexian Grill the largest direct producer of solar energy in the restaurant industry.
According to a new consumer survey from the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, fewer Americans see global warming as a threat. About 35% of Americans surveyed consider global warming to be a “very serious problem”, down from about 44% in April of 2008
A survey by CoreNet Global and Jones Lang LaSalle reports that companies are investing funds to achieve sustainability goals. The survey showed that 70% of corporate real estate executives consider sustainability to be a critical business issue. Energy labels such as ENERGY STAR and HPE are considered by 46% of executives when making leasing decisions. And 41% always consider certifications such as LEED, BREEAM, IEMA and Green Star. Almost ¾ of those surveyed said they would pay a premium to retrofit owned space to meet sustainability criteria.
GreenExpo365.com is a new free resource that is about to launch in the coming weeks to provide architects and builders an opportunity to network around sustainable building issues. The site will cover live trade show events, live video presentations, web workshops from industry experts, blogs and chat opportunities and a full resource library accessable 24/7. Registration on the website is available for setting up a free account. A virtual trade show from this site will take place February 1-4, 2010.
NASA will be breaking ground on the highest-performing building in the federal government’s portfolio. The building at Ames Research Center in Sunnyvale, CA is being nicknamed “Sustainability Base”. It will showcase some of the agency’s most advanced recycling and intelligent control technologies originally developed to support NASA’s human and robotic space exploration missions. The goals for the project include
Zero net energy consumption for the building
Reduced potable water onsumption by more than 90% compared to a conventional design
Reduced building maintenance costs.