Monthly Archives: April 2012

Federal District Judge Ruling

A Federal District Judge has upheld a 2010 ruling against the City of Albuquerque’s 2007 Energy Conservation Code and in favor of the Air Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI). The code raised energy efficiency standards for multifamily and commercial … Continue reading

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UrbanGreen Report

According to a report by UrbanGreen, the New York chapter of the USGBC, the building codes in NYC should reduce the city’s greenhouse gas emisionns by 5% and save $400 million in energy costs by 2030.

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2012 International Green Construction Code

The ICC has now introduced the 2012 International Green Construction Code to the public. The IgCC provides the building industry with language that broadens and strengthens building codes to accelerate the construction of high-performance, green buildings. It provides a vehicle … Continue reading

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DOE SunShot Initiative

The DOE SunShot Initiative issued a request for information (RFI) relating to the physics of reliability in photovoltaic (PV) devices. The eight questions associated with this RFI aim to identify PV failure mechanisms that could improve the testing, design, and … Continue reading

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Draft of LEED 2012

The draft of LEED 2012 will open for a 4th public comment on May 1. The draft of LEED 2012 will incorporate final technical revisions based on public comment feedback, and will incorporate credit requirements that have been positively impacted … Continue reading

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Greener Schools

A study by the USGBC Center for Green Schools and McGraw Hill Research Foundation showed a link between green building strategies and student and teacher performance within green schools.  A white paper titled “The Impact of School Buildings on Student … Continue reading

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DOD Budget

Congress passed a defense budget preventing the Department of Defense from spending money to achieve LEED gold or platinum certification.  However, the Pentagon reports that it may still end up constructing buildings to those standards.  The military aims for LEED … Continue reading

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March Architectural Billing Index (ABI) Score

The AIA reported the March Architectural Billing Index (ABI) score was 50.4, following a mark of 51.0 in February. This score reflects a slight increase in demand for design services (any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings). The … Continue reading

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Architecture 2030, New Energy Projections

According to Architecture 2030, new energy projections from the federal government show the building sector is on its way to achieving long-term goals in energy and carbon reductions.  New projections from the US Energy Information Administration are encouraging.  According to … Continue reading

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Deutsche Bank Report Analyzing Actual Energy Savings

Deutsche Bank has released a report analyzing actual energy savings achieved through multifamily retrofits and encouraging capital investments in energy retrofits of affordable housing in New York City.  Deutsche Bank and Living Cities analyzed savings in over 21,000 units that … Continue reading

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