Other top states include Illinois, Virginia and Washington, with 2.69, 2.42 and 2.18 square feet of LEED-certified space per person, respectively. The top LEED states per capita, including the District of Columbia:

Since 2002, the National Mall in Washington, DC, has been the venue for five successful Solar Decathlons. For 2013, Solar Decathlon organizers decided to extend the competition’s reach beyond Washington and showcase energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies to a new group of visitors and sponsors.

The following teams have been selected from around the world to compete in 2013:

Arizona State University and the University of New Mexico (Tempe, Ariz., and Albuquerque, N.M.)

Czech Technical University (Prague, Czech Republic)

Hampton University and Old Dominion University (Hampton and Norfolk, Va.)

Middlebury College (Middlebury, Vt.)

Missouri University of Science and Technology (Rolla, Mo.)

Norwich University (Northfield, Vt.)

Queens University, Carleton University, and Algonquin College (Kingston and Ottawa, Ontario, Canada)

Santa Clara University (Santa Clara, Calif.)

Southern California Institute of Architecture and California Institute of Technology (Los Angeles, Calif.)

Stanford University (Palo Alto, Calif.)

Stevens Institute of Technology (Hoboken, N.J.)

The Catholic University of America, George Washington University, and American University (Washington, DC)

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Charlotte, N.C.)

The University of Texas at El Paso and El Paso Community College (El Paso, Texas)

University of Calgary (Calgary, Alberta, Canada)

University of Louisville, Ball State University and University of Kentucky (Louisville, Ky.; Muncie, Ind.; and Lexington, Ky.)

University of Nevada Las Vegas (Las Vegas, Nev.)

University of Southern California (Los Angeles, Calif.)

Vienna University of Technology (Vienna, Austria)

West Virginia University (Morgantown, W. Va.)

Yudelson unveiled a list of 10 other green megatrends destined for growth in 2012, both in the U.S. and abroad.  His over-riding advice given during a recent worldwide webinar was  “You make money if you go green. If you don’t go green, you’re at a marketplace disadvantage.”

Ten Green Megatrends for 2012

U.S. Trends

1. Green Building Growth to Rebound

2. Federal Momentum Has Slowed

3. LEED-EBOM Will Gain Momentum

4. Water Issues Grow in Importance

5. Zero-Net-Energy to Gain Traction

Global Trends

6. Green Building Movement Will Continue to Grow

7. Performance Disclosure

8. Global Carbon Ratings

9. Solar Power Stalls

10. Building Management Goes Into the Cloud

A modest recovery in 2012 is projected to turn into a stronger upturn by 2013. Overall, nonresidential construction spending is forecast to increase by more than 6 percent next year, again with stronger numbers on the commercial and industrial side. Again, hotel construction is expected to pace the commercial/industrial upturn. The institutional sector is also poised for a significant upturn in 2013. Overall growth for institutional facilities is forecast at almost 4 percent, with healthcare again expected to be one of its strongest sectors.

• 3,500 commercial and 5,400 residential projects were LEED certified with cumulative totals exceeding 11,000 and 14,600, respectively.
• 31,800 commercial and 61,500 residential projects were registered.
• More than 125,000 projects are now incorporating the LEED green building rating system.
• As of the close of enrollment in October more than 61,000 LEED APs had opted into LEED AP with specialty credentials.
• More than 175,000 professionals now hold a LEED Professional credential.
• The Center for Green Schools at USGBC placed the first Green Schools Fellows in Sacramento and Boston, and commissioned the first nationwide survey on green schools , hosted a Healthy Schools Summit and released its inaugural “Best of Green Schools” list.
• The Greenbuild trade show/conference in Toronto had a record number of partnerships, sold out the expo floor and welcomed 23,000 attendees.
• The USGBC App Lab launched in November as part of LEED Automation
• Cumulative square footage of LEED-certified existing buildings surpassed LEED-certified new construction for the first time.

Continuing the positive momentum of a nearly three point bump in October, the ABI reached its first positive mark since August. As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate nine to twelve month lag time between architecture billings and construction spending.

Countries are being encouraged to voluntarily make deeper cuts on carbon emissions. The UNEP report, released last month, said the world is losing ground in controlling heat trapping greenhouse gases.  A legal treaty with binding targets and voluntary measures by all countries is needed to keep the Earth from gaining more than 2 degrees Celsius by the end of the century.

The UN believes that could be achieved with investments in clean energy and other measures to tackle emissions, but the investments would reduce the global rise of DGP by 0.2%.  The conference is also discussing the details of a climate fund to help poor countries adapt to changing weather patterns and move to low-carbon growth. The fund is meant to scale up to $100 billion annually by 2020, from $10 billion as of now.

Asphalt shingles will see demand rise 7.3% per year to reach 155.5 million squares in 2015.  The share of laminated shingles is expected to rise from 40% in 2010 to 85% in 2015.  Metal roofing demand will grow 3.6% annually to 22 million shares. Other roofing demand growth is forecasted as 1.9% for bituminous low slope roofing, 2.3% for elastomeric roofing, 10% for roofing tiles in West and South. All other roofing types will see a combined 3.7% rise in demand to reach 19.5 million squares by 2015.

Buildings in the Net Zero Energy Building program must address four areas

1. May only be built on grayfields or brownfields
2. All energy needs must come from on-site renewable energy sources
3. The project may not block access to fresh air, sunlight and natural waterways
4. The building must contain design features intended solely for human delight and the celebration of culture, spirit, and place appropriate to its function.

The investment includes a $2 billion commitment made through the assurance of a Presidential Memorandum to energy upgrades of federal buildings using long term energy savings to pay for up-front costs, at no cost to taxpayers.  In addition, 60 CEOs, mayors, university presidents and labor leaders committed to invest nearly $2 billion of private capital into energy efficiency projects, and to upgrade energy performance by a minimum of 20% by 2020 in 1.6 billion square feet of office, industrial, municipal, hospital, university, community college and school buildings.

The announcement builds on a commitment made by 14 partners of the Clinton Global Initiative America meeting in June to make energy upgrades across 300 million square feet, and to invest $500 million in private sector financing in energy efficiency projects

New construction starts dropped 24% in 2009 and leveled off in 2010. .In 2012, the top-line numbers are not expected to show much change, but McGraw Hill forecasts that some sectors in the construction industry will show gains, such as housing and commercial buildings.

The 2012 Dodge Construction Outlook includes the following forecast:

• Single-family housing climbing 10 % in dollars and 7% in the number of units
• Multifamily housing increasing 18 % in dollars and 17 % in units
• Commercial buildings increasing 8 % in dollars
• Institutional buildings falling 2%
• Manufacturing buildings increasing 4% in dollars
• Public works construction falling 5%
• Electric utility construction dropping 24%

The American Institute of Architects’ Architecture Billings Index (ABI), a leading economic indicator of construction activity, increased in October with an ABI rating of 49.4 compared with 46.9 in September.

Google will continue other clean energy and efficiency efforts, including renewable energy procurement, data center efficiency projects and over $850 million investment in renewable energy technologies.  According to Reuters,

Google has been doing research to drive down the cost of renewable energy since 2007. Two years ago, Google predicted that they would only take a few years to develop renewable technology that could produce electricity more cheaply than coal.

A one-coat solar paint can be formulated by incorporating power-producing nanoparticles, called quantum dots, into a spreadable compound.  The paint film can be applied to any conductive surface without special equipment.

• The United States has 1.4 gigawatts of installed solar power capacity, ranking it fifth globally
• Total revenue of photovoltaic cell and module shipments grew nearly 3% in 2009, from $3.34 billion in 2008 to $3.43 billion
• During 2009, shipments of solar cells and modules to domestic customers increased to 601,133 peak kilowatts, nearly 15% higher than in 2008
• The average price of PV cells decreased more than 34% in 2008-2009 from $1.94 to $1.27
• PV cell and module shipments increased for the sixth consecutive year in 2009, reaching a record of 1,282,560 kilowatts

•           Produce more energy than is consumed on an annual basis

•           Limit freshwater consumption and return treated water back to the same watershed

•           Reduce, reuse and recover waste streams, converting to zero landfill

•           Apply an integrated approach to energy, water and waste management to capture and commercialize the resource value and/or enhance the ecological productivity of land, water and air.

The 2007 version of Standard 90.1 has actually already been surpassed by ASHRAE 189.1.   According to an estimate by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), “Standard 189.1 could lead to site energy savings between 10 percent and 34 percent over Standard 90.1-2007, based on the minimum prescriptive recommendations of the new standard—and possibly even higher, since further energy-saving measures were incorporated after the NREL inquiry.”  However, because the standard only results in theoretical improvements rather than real and absolute performance improvements actual performance is expected to be somewhat less than what is being modeled.

Documented energy disclosure requirements are currently required at some state and local levels—including in Austin, TX; Boulder, CO.; New York City; Chicago and Washington, D.C.—and are currently under consideration in Philadelphia.

By completing a SQ Readiness Assessment a company will be able to determine whether it is ready to qualify for any of the UL standards.  A report will show any gaps in a company’s existing programs and the requirements for specific UL standards for purposes of certification.

Since 2007, DOE has invested $60 million in the Incubator program for photovoltaics, accelerating the development of technologies that have attracted more than $1.3 billion in private investment. Traditionally, the Incubator primarily focused on solving hardware challenges.

• Develop a policy to use energy more efficiently
• Establish targets and objectives to meet the policy
• Use data to make decisions on energy use
• Measure the results
• Review effectiveness of the policy
• Continually improve the managing of energy efficiency

Jacobson goes on to say that cool roofs actually add  to global warming.   The theory is that cool roofs do lower the temperature of urban surfaces, but they also reduce cloudiness since the cooler urban temperatures stabilize the air. This reduces vertical transport of moisture and energy to the clouds, and allows for more sunlight to reach the surface.  The cool roofs then reflect more sunlight back into the atmosphere which in turn increases absorption of the energy by carbon black, which then increases heating of the atmosphere.

The study has been called into question by Dr. Hashem Akbari of Concordia University, and formerly with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Heat Island Group.  Akbari added that other benefits of cool roofs are well documented and beyond dispute, and include reduced energy demand for air conditioning and reduced urban heat-island effect.

Jacobson’s study did not examine the fact that cool roofs reduced demand for electricity to run air conditioning in hot weather. But a recent study done at the National Center for Atmospheric Research showed that the decrease in air conditioning use, which occurs mostly in the summer, might be more than offset by increases in heating during winter months.

Jacobson added that installing photovoltaic panels on roofs offers an effective approach that both reduces emissions of greenhouse gases due to burning of fossil fuels for energy production, while at the same time converting sunlight to electricity rather than reflecting sunlight that is “absorbed again by pollutants in the air, creating heat.”

An optional addendum to Fannie Mae Form 1004, the most widely used appraisal form for mortgage lending purposes, allows appraisers to document green features. This is particularly focused on energy saving equipment and assemblies.  The release of the form follows the Appraisal Institute’s training program for valuing green attributes in buildings.

• Develop a policy to use energy more efficiently
• Establish targets and objectives to meet the policy
• Use data to make decisions on energy use
• Measure the results
• Review effectiveness of the policy
• Continually improve the managing of energy efficiency

The 10 states most in need of improvement (from dead last to #42) are: North Dakota; Wyoming; Mississippi; Kansas; Oklahoma; South Carolina; West Virginia; Missouri; Alabama (also one of the top six most improved states); and South Dakota.

The six most improved states include Michigan, Illinois, Nebraska, Alabama, Maryland, and Tennessee.

While implementation of some parts of the program will begin in 2012, compliance for power plants and other of the worst polluting facilities actually starts in 2013, with others joining in 2015. In total, the plan will cover 85 percent of California’s emissions.

In general, the program will require pollution producers like refineries and cement manufacturers to buy permits, called allowances, from the state. Each permit allows for a specified amount of greenhouse gases each year, with the amount declining over time.

Companies that cut emissions and have extra allowances can then sell the permits in a marketplace; greenhouse gas emitters could purchase those allowances if they failed to cut emissions. Polluters that reduce emissions could turn a profit if the market price for extra allowances rises above the initial cost of the permit.

A company can also meet up to 8 percent of its emissions reduction obligations by purchasing carbon “offsets,” or investments in forestry or other projects that reduce greenhouse gases.

The program, modeled on similar programs in Europe, is also designed to be able to link up with plans in other states and elsewhere to increase the size of its market for carbon allowance trading.

The concept of investigating the wall of the domain is scientifically significant, because the walls that separate each domain are only a few nanometers thick but could change the course of energy research. A collaboration of three campus research groups focused on using feral oxides — particularly bismuth feral oxide — as a material for the domain wall, which raised the maximum voltage to 15 volts, a dramatic increase from silicon — the material used for powering computers and many electronic devices — which only has a maximum output voltage of just one volt, according to Ramesh. Although bismuth feral oxide can excite more electrons to a higher energy state than silicon, silicon can produce more electrons and is therefore still more energy-efficient, according to a co-author of the study.

Even though bismuth feral oxide is not likely to replace silicon in the near future as a semiconductor, studying the domain walls opens a new avenue of research that could eventually yield fruitful results and produce higher energy-efficient solar cells.

• More than 77% of American and Canadian building owners will include green building elements in their facility plans in the next 12 months.
• Efficiency in buildings remains the top global strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, led by the US and Canada (52%), followed by Europe (28%), China (27%) and India (24%)

ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2007, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, has been established by the
DOE as the commercial building reference standard for state building energy codes under the federal Energy Conservation and Production Act.
As a result, states are required to certify by July 20, 2013, that they have reviewed and updated the provisions of their commercial building code
regarding energy efficiency, including a demonstration that the provisions of their commercial building codes regarding energy efficiency meet or
exceed 90.1-2007.

The DOE also has issued a rule that requires new federal buildings, for which the design for construction begins on or after Oct. 11, 2012, to
meet the requirements of 90.1-2007. Prior to the new rules, federal and commercial buildings had to meet requirements in the 2004 standard.
The DOE noted that the newer version of the standard contained 11 positive impacts on energy efficiency. These impacts included changes
made through the public review process in which users of the standard comment and offer guidance on proposed requirements.

ASHRAE and IES currently are working on the 2013 standard, having published the 2010 last year. Some 30 percent energy savings can be
achieved using the 2010 version of Standard 90.1 vs. the 2004 standard. Without plug loads, site energy savings are 32.6 percent and energy
cost savings 30.1 percent. Including plug loads, the site energy savings are estimated at 25.5 percent and energy cost savings 24 percent.

GAF is North America’s largest manufacturer of commercial and residential roofing. It has relations with over 100,000 roofing contractors

Oregon became the 23rd U.S. state to formally recognize Green Globes when it signed into law two bills that specifically name the GBI’s environmental assessment and rating system while the City of Portland, Maine has written Green Globes into its revised green building code.

GBI president Ward Hubbell recently testified before Congress in support of an open playing field for green building certification in the federal sector, particularly within the General Services Administration (GSA). Hubbell urged the GSA to reconsider its LEED-only policy, arguing that competition will lead to innovation in the green building sector and citing examples from other government agencies that have used the Green Globes rating system to assess and certify buildings.

“This unprecedented solar project will not only produce clean, renewable energy to power the grid in states across the country, but it will help us meet the SunShot goal of achieving cost competitive solar power with other forms of energy by the end of the decade,” said Secretary Chu. “In addition, Project Amp will create at least a thousand jobs across the U.S. and increase our global competitiveness in the clean energy race.”

The label will be standardized across many product categories and will require third-party-verified life-cycle assessment—meaning that the EPD accounts for environmental impacts from acquisition of raw materials through disposal or recycling. According to UL Environment’s website, its EPD product categories so far include structural steel, laminate flooring, carpet tiles, window films, and a variety of other building materials, lighting products and textiles. For more information, visit www.ulenvironment.com.

This will differentiate homes built by Ryland Homes and put competitive pressure on the new home industry market to follow suit. Ryland Homes commits to having the homes it builds energy rated by RESNET certified Home Energy Raters and it will provide a label on every new home built that contains the HERS Index score of the home and advertise the home’s index rating. For more information go to http://www.ryland.com/

Lifestyle Homes, a builder based in Brevard County, Florida has committed to have all of their homes rated and marketed with a HERS Index. Lifestyle Homes participates in both the ENERGY STAR and Builder Challenge programs. They are now building Zero Energy Homes. The company was recently recognized by the Department of Energy Builders Challenge Program for producing the lowest HERS rating for a Zero Energy Home during the International Builders Show in Orlando this year. LifeStyle Homes guarantees that all of there homes receive a 60 on the HERS Index. For more information on LifeStyle Homes visit their web site at http://www.buildingalifestyle.com/

The Small and Medium Office guide is the first installment in the 50 % Series, which will address three additional main commercial building types: K-12 Schools, Medium to Big Box Retail Buildings, and Large Hospitals. The Advanced Energy Design Guide for K-12 School Buildings is the second guide being developed in the 50 % series, and has been sent for public review. That guide is intended to provide user-friendly, ‘how-to’ design guidance and efficiency recommendations for elementary, middle and high school buildings, resulting in facilities that consume 50 % less energy than conventional schools.

The development has caught the attention of the US Department of Energy. A team of scientists from DOE will be studying Coolwrap applied to two buildings in the cities of Nainital and Pannagar, in Uttarakhand. The product has already been tested at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and PUT laboratories in Singapore.

At the same time Q-Cells SE marked a new world record of their own in the field of major polycrystalline solar cells. The Fraunhofer ISE (Institute for Solar Energy Systems) in Freiburg (Germany) confirmed the record efficiency rating of 19.5% on an area of 243 cm².

The high-performance solar cell is based on the new Q.ANTUM cell concept, developed
by Q-Cells in recent years. On the occasion of the biggest industry fair in the
world, Intersolar 2011 in Munich, Q-Cells has been nominated for the Intersolar Award 2011 for the first kind of these solar cells, achieving an efficiency rating of 18.45%.

Projects can accumulate points for adding reflective roofs, using recycled building materials during the construction process to divert trash from landfills, and for building along the light rail to avoid urban sprawl. The city developed the new code using part of the $700,000 in stimulus money Phoenix received through the Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Program. The rest of the money has been used to provide incentives for homeowners and businesses going green.  Phoenix has waived fees for more than 22,000 permits participating in the incentive program.

State, local and regional governments are primary participants in the building process. These authorities having jurisdiction oversee building permits, inspections, energy codes, accessibility requirements and other codes and standards in their communities. The Institute’s new National Council of Governments on Building Codes and Standards provides an opportunity for state, local and regional code agencies to work together on these important issues that cross state lines.

Among those competing are dozens of state and local entrants, including courthouses, town halls, schools, libraries, and community centers.  They include Colorado’s Dillon Town Hall competing against Indiana’s Kokomo High School, and Florida’s Manatee County Historical Courthouse being compared to the Hawaii State Capitol Building.