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Oakland International Airport’s New Terminal Gets Silver

2010-03-20T20:47:54Z

The new Terminal 2 at Oakland International Airport (OAK) in California was recently awarded LEED-Silver certification by the USGBC, according to a recent blog post. It is the first airport passenger terminal in the United States to be awarded a silver certification, the post said.

The terminal—housing Southwest Airlines’ gates at the airport—achieved the certification for conserving energy, materials, and water, and incorporating other sustainable strategies.

The executive director of the Port of Oakland, Omar Benjamin, explained in the post how the new Terminal 2 at OAK signifies the Port’s commitment to sustainability: “The Port of Oakland’s environmental leadership is exemplified through this prestigious award. Our investment in state-of-the-art green building practices will result in long-term savings of energy, water, and operating costs that will continue throughout the life of Terminal 2. Additionally, our community is benefiting as we are reducing the airport’s operational impact on the environment.”

OAK’s Terminal 2 extension and renovation earned a Silver certification for a host of sustainable features, including energy efficiency measures that exceed California energy standards by 25 percent and reduce carbon emissions by an estimated 211 tons yearly; diversion from landfills of more than 80 percent of jobsite waste; 24 percent less water use than a conventionally built terminal; use of low-VOC paints, carpets, glue, cabinetry, and plywood throughout; an advanced stormwater treatment system that channels runoff into swales that remove waterborne pollutants; and establishment of a “green housekeeping” program to reduce environmental and health impacts of cleaning products and chemicals.

Terminal 2, completed in 2007, added 108,000 square feet of space to the airport, including seven new gates; an expanded ticketing and passenger screening area; a centralized food, beverage, and retail shopping area. Together, these areas add significant capacity to a facility that is the fourth-largest of its kind in the state of California.

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Chris Timmerman
Contributing Writer
Green Education Services
www.greenedu.com

Chrysler Plant Earns LEED Certification

2010-03-20T20:18:28Z

A brand new Chrysler plant in Michigan that will produce a high-efficiency engine has also earned a LEED Gold certification, according to a recent article. This makes it the first engine manufacturing facility to earn a LEED certification.

The $364 million Trenton South assembly plant outside of Detroit will become the home of the new Pentastar V6 Engine, which will first be used in 2011 models of the Jeep Grand Cherokee, the article said. Eventually, 800 employees will work at the facility.

The Trenton South plant is one of only four auto plants to receive a LEED certification. Built on a brownfield site, with a significant percentage of recycled materials incorporated into its design, the plant will emit less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than a conventionally built plant, to the tune of more than 12,000 metric tons per year. Specifically, 44 percent of building materials included recycled content, and the new plant will lower total energy use by 39 percent, resulting in a savings of over $1.25 million per year. Also, total water use has been reduced by 1.5 million gallons per year compared to the previous manufacturing facility.

“The Trenton South Engine Plant has established a new industry benchmark for efficient, environmentally conscious design," said Scott Garberding, Head of Manufacturing, Chrysler Group LLC, in a press release. "This Gold certification is tangible evidence of Chrysler's dedication to the environment and to the well-being of our surrounding communities.”

During construction, more than 90 percent of construction waste (amounting to about 6,750 tons) was recycled and diverted from landfills. As part of Chrysler’s ongoing commitment to reduce waste, the plant will divert more than 670 tons of waste from landfills as part of its day-to-day operations, the release said.

Other green features of the Trenton South plant include the fact that over 80 percent of the building materials were procured from regional sources, and the incorporation of high-performance insulation and high-efficiency lighting into its design. Outside, the building’s impact on its site has been softened with the planting of native grasses and trees, while the building itself features a white roof membrane and is surrounded by light-colored hardscape, to lessen the facility’s contribution to the heat island effect.

The Trenton South plant was designed by architectural services firms BEI Associates of Detroit and Harley Ellis Devereaux of Southfield, Michigan. The facility was constructed by Walbridge, also of Detroit.

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Chris Timmerman
Contributing Writer
Green Education Services
www.greenedu.com

Europe’s First LEED-Certified School

2010-03-18T00:44:20Z

The first school in Europe built to LEED for Schools standards was recently awarded a Gold certification, according to a recent USGBC news release. The school in question—Istituto Tecnico Commerciale “Floriani,” located in Trentino, Italy—becomes the first Italian building to achieve such a high certification.

“With each new LEED-certified building, we get one step closer to USGBC’s vision of a sustainable built environment within a generation,” said USGBC President, CEO & Founding Chair Rick Fedrizzi. “Students attending the [Istituto] will experience firsthand the benefits of green building and will thrive in a healthier, more productive environment. The [Istituto] efficiently uses natural resources and makes an immediate, positive impact on our planet, which benefits not only today’s students, but generations to come.”

The school project, commissioned by Trento province, was implemented with assistance from Trentino Technology District for Energy and the Environment (Habitech Distretto Tecnologico Trentino per L’energia e L’ambiente), a sustainability consultancy.

The school’s design incorporates many green design features, including a green roof; a tank for rainwater collection and reuse in irrigation and for flushing toilets; external paving surfaces with a high solar reflectance to minimize the building’s heat island effect; low-flow bathroom fixtures; and dedicated waste collection areas on the building’s various floors. In addition, rapidly renewable materials were incorporated into the building’s design where possible, and individual thermostats installed in the building’s classrooms allow for greater thermal comfort. Meanwhile, during the building’s construction, project managers took care to ensure the recycling of construction materials.

Three other schools in Italy are currently undergoing LEED certification, the release said.

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Chris Timmerman
Contributing Writer
Green Education Services
www.greenedu.com

LEED-Certified Starchitecture in New York

2010-03-17T02:04:07Z

An iconic new residential tower in the Chelsea section of New York City recently received LEED certification, according to a recent Inhabitat article. The tower, known as 100 Eleventh Avenue, was designed by well-known French architect and Pritzker Prize-winner Jean Nouvel.

With a façade composed of 1,700 different panes of glass, the 23-story building—housing 73 residential units ranging in price from $1.6 million to $22 million—exemplifies the potential for green building in a dense urban environment like New York City, the article noted. In fact, the building’s glass façade stands out as the most highly engineered and technologically advanced curtain wall ever constructed in New York City.

Some of the building’s green features include extensive use of FSC-certified wood, recycled materials, low-VOC paints and carpets, and an indoor air quality management system. Through the building’s striking design and orientation toward the south and west, daylight and views are maximized for the building’s occupants.

The building’s façade caught the eye of the New York Times’ architectural critic, Nicolai Ouroussoff, who commented that “its mix of grit and glamour — embodied in a glittering facade that seems to have been wrapped around the curved front of a black brick tower like a tight-fitting sequined dress — is apt to temper whatever you may feel about the Wall Streeters and art-world insiders who are likely to move into its apartments.”

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Chris Timmerman
Contributing Writer
Green Education Services
www.greenedu.com

Sweden To Build 2,000 Wind Turbines

2010-03-14T21:41:48Z

Swedish Enterprise and Energy Minister Maud Olofsson recently announced the upcoming addition of 2,000 wind turbines to the country’s alternative energy stores, according to a recent Inhabitat article. The turbines would be brought online over the next 10 years and provide 10 terawatt hours of clean energy per year to the country’s grid.

The wind turbines will help the Scandinavian country reach its goal of having 50 percent of all electrical needs satisfied by renewable sources by 2020. Most of the energy produced in Sweden is already fairly green, coming predominantly from hydroelectric and nuclear sources.

“Sweden has extremely good prospects for rapidly increasing the production of renewable energy, especially from the burning of biofuels, cogeneration plants and windpower,” Olofsson wrote in a newspaper column.

The additional wind turbines would be matched by expansions in other renewable energy sources, like biofuel and solar power, increasing overall output from renewable sources to 25 terawatt hours

Sweden is already a major consumer of renewable energies, and it stands out for its consumption of sustainably-produced ethanol. In 2008, Swedish ethanol producer Sekab inked a deal with Brazilian ethanol producers to import 115 million liters of ethanol yearly, the first deal of its kind. The biofuels, produced according to certain social and environmental standards, are helping the country cut carbon dioxide emissions from farming, production, and transport by at least 85 percent compared to petroleum, according to a Reuters article about the deal. Altogether, Sweden imports about 800 million liters of ethanol yearly, about half of it from Brazil.

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Chris Timmerman
Contributing Writer
Green Education Services
www.greenedu.com

Sustainability Grows in Foodservice Industry

2010-03-13T22:37:02Z

A recent Foodservice Equipment and Supplies article points to a growing trend among foodservice operators to integrate sustainability into their planning and operations.

The article cites a recent National Restaurant Association survey that found that 18 percent of fine-dining restaurants said that they plan to devote more of their resources toward going green in the next year. Family-focused restaurants announcing similar plans to devote an increased proportion of their resources to developing and implementing sustainable practices increased to 43 percent in 2009, a 26 percent increase over 2008’s numbers. Meanwhile, 27 percent of quick-service restaurants said they’ve devoted more resources to sustainable business practices in 2009, an eight percent increase from the previous year.

Foodservice providers are being faced with consumers that have expanded their definition of value to include sustainability, the article notes, with notions of quality being informed by ideas of sustainability and longevity.

Foodservice providers looking for areas to accelerate the greening of their businesses can look to energy efficiency, water conservation, use of alternative and renewable energy sources, recycling, and improved ventilation as good starting points, the article said. Additionally, the LEED for Retail pilot program provides members of the foodservice industry with guidelines for creating greener operations.

Given the nature of a foodservice provider’s work, LEED projects involving major foodservice components can earn more credits in the Innovation in Design category than in the past. The article cites a Harvard University project that earned credits through its waste-reducing pulping and food composting program as an example of this kind of innovation.

Check out the article for more ways that foodservice providers can sustainably transform their business practices.

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Chris Timmerman
Contributing Writer
Green Education Services
www.greenedu.com

Chicago Homeowners Let The Sunshine In

2010-03-13T21:53:10Z

A pilot program in the Chicago area will provide 100 local homeowners with solar panels, and another 130,000 homeowners with smart meters to monitor their home energy use, according to a recent Architect’s Newspaper article.

Rooftop innovation is becoming commonplace in and around Chicago, the article notes—the city boasts more green roofs than any other city in the country, as well as a growing green roof industry.

The program, spearheaded by local energy utility ComEd, will distribute meters to homeowners in the Humboldt Park neighborhood of the city of Chicago, as well as the suburbs of Bellwood, Berwyn, Broadview, Forest Park, Hillside, Maywood, Melrose Park, Oak Park, River Forest, and Tinley Park, according to the article. Homeowners receiving the smart meters can also apply for the solar panel systems. The area covered in the pilot program includes a variety of socioeconomic demographics, allowing the utility to monitor energy use in different population groups, the article said.

“Applicants will be evaluated on the orientation of their houses, the square footage of their roofs, and other factors. And the home’s wiring will need to be up to code,” said Maryl Freestone, ComEd project manager for the solar pilot. The pilot program is made possible by a $5 million stimulus grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.

The 100 lucky homeowners, whose homes are to be outfitted with solar panels, will be able to sell the excess power generated by the panels back to ComEd, and half of the houses will be provided with battery storage for power outages as well. The units have a capacity of approximately 3 kilowatts per house, and each system would be valued at roughly $30,000.

About 8,000 of the homeowners receiving the smart meters will also receive advanced display devices or thermostats to be able to further control their energy use. Customers will save money if they reduce their energy usage during peak hours, according to the article.

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Chris Timmerman
Contributing Writer
Green Education Services
www.greenedu.com

Building for LEED Gold Success

2010-03-12T02:38:05Z

The newest addition to the Toledo Public Schools (TPS), Hawkins Elementary School, is aiming to receive a Gold certification under the auspices of LEED for Schools, according to a recent article on Greenprofs.com.

The $11.4 million building was constructed as part of TPS’s Building for Success program, which aims to rebuild or renovate more than 50 area schools during a 12-year period. It opened in January.

The building was designed by The Collaborative, a consortium of local architectural and engineering firms formed to work together on the Building for Success program.

The 60,000 square foot building now houses almost 500 students, teachers and staff. Oriented to optimize the penetration of natural lighting into the building, the building also features a host of other measures that enhance its sustainability, including the integration of local materials into the building’s construction; high-efficiency windows; the recycling of 75 percent of the project’s waste during construction; an onsite helix turbine that helps light the lobby and corridors when light levels are low; a white reflective roof that reduces the building’s heat island effect; and an ice storage unit that allows the school to utilize ice as part of its cooling system.

Outside, a rain garden and bioswale filters storm water runoff, while inside the school utilizes low-flow water fixtures and waterless urinals. Together, these two water conservation measures allow Hawkins to save 40 percent of the water than a similar conventionally built facility would.

School officials hope that the building’s green features, as well as its location adjacent to the Toledo Botanical Garden, will help it act as a laboratory, educating students about environmental science and energy efficiency.

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Chris Timmerman
Contributing Writer
Green Education Services
www.greenedu.com

California Prison Goes Green

2010-03-11T01:46:45Z

A $20 million mental health care facility at the high-security Salinas Valley State Prison in California recently received a Silver certification under the auspices of LEED for New Construction (LEED-NC), according to a recent article.

The 36,000 square foot facility is the first new building in the state prison system to receive a LEED certification. The facility was recognized for both its green a cost-efficient features. For example, the facility is projected to reduce its water consumption by 56 percent compared to a similar conventionally built facility, while simultaneously reducing energy use by 37 percent and lower sewage conveyance by 70 percent through a state-of-the-art vacuum plumbing system.

The facility, which provides housing and inpatient mental health care for 74 residents, opened in April, 2009. The facility earned a score of 33 points from the LEED rating system, out of a possible 69 total points.

The facility’s LEED certification is part of a larger statewide initiative, spearheaded by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, to certify all new state-owned facilities. In addition, though the construction of the facility predates the adoption of CALGREEN in January of this year, the building integrates measures that are compliant with both LEED and CALGREEN. Specifically, energy performance measures, construction waste management plans, and the reduction of water and material resource use, and building commissioning satisfy both certification systems, according to a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) press release.

“CDCR has shown leadership in conserving energy on a grand scale, through reducing electricity usage to saving water,” said CDCR Secretary Matthew Cate, in the press release. The Salinas Valley State Prison staff and contractors worked hard to make sure this new facility was LEED certified, our first prison to achieve such a designation in California. Our goal is to make all future prisons LEED certified, a standard.”

The facility was designed by Nacht & Lewis Architects of Sacramento.

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Chris Timmerman
Contributing Writer
Green Education Services
www.greenedu.com

Going Green, Orange County Style

2010-03-09T02:30:20Z

Offering further proof that "sustainable" need not mean "spartan," a recently constructed luxury single-family home in the Southern California city of Costa Mesa has become the first custom residence in Orange County to receive LEED Platinum certification, according to a recent Jetson Green article.

Despite its generous size (5,000 square feet), the home exceeds the California Energy code by 40 percent and is not expected to generate an electricity bill outside of standard add-on fees, the article notes.

The 7 bedroom, 7 bathroom Costa Mesa Green Home, as the residence is known, was designed by architect David Gangloff, and is the brainchild of developers Steven and Karen Blanchard. Green aspects of the home’s design include durable, sustainable, and non-toxic materials; ventilation design that optimizes indoor air quality; use of high-efficiency HVAC equipment and Energy Star-rated lighting; construction with highly insulated walls and windows; a no-water, native landscaping scheme; and reuse of shower gray water for toilet and irrigation purposes. On the roof, solar photovoltaic panels power the home’s entire electrical load.

A showcase worthy of even the most discriminating buyer, the home is currently available for purchase.

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Chris Timmerman
Contributing Writer
Green Education Services
www.greenedu.com

Wind Energy Keeps Iowa Power Costs Low

2010-03-09T02:12:04Z

Wind energy accounts for up to 20 percent of Iowa’s total electricity production, and is helping maintain the state’s low energy costs, according to a recent article. A recent study holds Iowa up as a prime example of how alternative energy and other measures to combat climate change can be accomplished affordably.

The study was conducted by the Iowa Policy Project (IPP), a nonpartisan, nonprofit research organization based in Iowa City. IPP researcher and co-author of the study David Osterberg points out that Iowa’s example proves that action can be taken on climate change: “Those people who tell us we can't do anything about global climate change because it will be too expensive are wrong, Iowa is proving it wrong.

According to the study, wind power produced 3,670 megawatts of electricity in the state, enough power to run 940,000 homes. This makes Iowa the second-largest wind producing state in the country, after Texas. If the power were used solely within the state’s confines, three quarters of the state’s homes could run on wind.

The state’s unique combination of weather and geography play in its favor: nearly three quarters of the state consistently has enough wind at 80 meters above the ground to reliably produce wind energy.

At the moment, coal-powered plants produce about 75 percent of the state’s electricity, and there is one nuclear plant in the state, the article said.

The study found that Iowans paid about 6 cents per kilowatt hour in 1998, climbing to to 7 cents per kilowatt hour by 2008. Over the same time period, national average electricity costs went from 7 cents per kilowatt hour to nearly 10 cents. “Amidst Iowa's massive expansion of wind power, our average electricity prices have remained below the national average and in fact have not increased as quickly as the national average price in the last four years,” the study’s authors noted.

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Chris Timmerman
Contributing Writer
Green Education Services
www.greenedu.com

USGBC, Clinton Climate Initiative Team to Make Cities “Climate Positive”

2010-03-08T02:58:47Z

The Clinton Climate Initiative, an offshoot of the Clinton Foundation, recently launched a new program to guide cities and towns toward becoming “climate positive,” meaning that they would reduce carbon emissions below zero. According to a recent BeGreenNow post, the concept behind making cities climate positive lies in getting developers and government officials to work together holistically to enact large-scale energy saving strategies. The effort is being undertaken in conjunction with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), originators of the LEED building certification system.

Climate positive strategies include clean energy generation, sustainable building techniques, enhanced waste management, transportation, water management, and outdoor lighting systems.

Below, a video featuring former President Bill Clinton explains the Climate Positive Development Program effort.

Thus far, a number of significant development projects around the world—from Florida to India to South Africa, Canada, and Sweden—have committed their efforts to becoming "climate positive."

For more on the Climate Positive Development Program, visit the Clinton Climate Initiative’s website.

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Chris Timmerman
Contributing Writer
Green Education Services
www.greenedu.com

7-Eleven, LEEDing By Example

2010-03-08T02:46:26Z

A new 7-Eleven in the central Florida town of DeLand aims to be the first outlet of the convenience store chain to achieve a LEED rating, according to a recent Creative Loafing article.

An adaptive reuse of an auto mechanic shop, the site surrounding what is now the 7-Eleven was previously covered in an impermeable asphalt surface. However, a third of the site now includes landscaping that includes drought-tolerant, native plants, and permeable surfaces. The plants are fed by an efficient drip irrigation system, while an outdoor eating area with cypress pergolas and arbors allows customers to enjoy the store’s leafy surroundings.

In addition to the building’s landscaping and irrigation system, DeLand’s new 7-Eleven stands out for other sustainable features, including light-colored concrete parking areas and roofing surfaces that work together to reduce the heat island effect; a high-efficiency HVAC system with a UV system that eliminates viruses, bacteria, and mold from interior air; LED signage and lighting that minimizes energy demand and heat output; skylights that bring natural light deep into the store’s interior; high-efficiency restroom fixtures; low-VOC interior finishes; and high-efficiency Greenblock Insulated Concrete Form walls, which also protect the building under extreme conditions, such as hurricane-force winds. In addition, many of the store’s construction materials were sourced from an area within a 500-mile radius, and much of the store’s construction contains recycled content. Half of the word used in the store was certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, the article notes.

The store was designed by architecture firm Burke Hogue Mills and TLC Engineering for Architecture of Orlando.

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Chris Timmerman
Contributing Writer
Green Education Services
www.greenedu.com

Coming Soon To China: The World’s Greenest Skyscraper

2010-03-05T00:59:43Z

A new building in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou that claims to be the world’s greenest skyscraper will open this coming fall, according to a recent EnergyBoom article. The 71-story, 2.3 million square foot Pearl River Tower aims to be the most energy-efficient tall building ever built.

In fact, it plans to be so thoroughly energy-efficient so as to capture the title of tallest Zero Energy Building (ZEB) in the world. Creating more power than they take from the energy grid, ZEBs are usually quite small. The Pearl River Tower will be the first ZEB at such a large scale.

Two examples of the Pearl River Tower’s commitment to the ZEB title: the building’s rainwater collection system utilizes solar heating to provide hot water for the building, while the body of the building incorporates wind turbines into its design. These wind turbines are uniquely designed to operate at lower wind speeds, doing more than just generating electricity: the openings help reduce the overall wind load on the skyscraper.

Another green attribute is the building’s cooling system. Upon completion, Pearl River Tower will become the largest radiant-cooled office building in the world, with raised floor ventilation, heat sinks, and vertical vents.

Throughout the building, solar panels will feed power to window blinds that open and close automatically in sync with the sun. The exterior walls are designed with an 8” gap, wherein heat that enters through the building’s windows will be trapped and rise to heat exchangers located on upper floors. Working in tandem, these features enabled building architects SOM to install a heating system that is 80 percent smaller than in conventionally built skyscrapers.

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Chris Timmerman
Contributing Writer
Green Education Services
www.greenedu.com

Qatar Convention Center to Seek Gold

2010-03-03T02:43:47Z

The 177,000 square meter Qatar National Convention Center, currently under construction, will be seeking a Gold certification under the LEED for New Construction (LEED-NC) rating system upon its completion next year, according to a recent Inhabitat article on the building. If granted the certification, it will earn the distinction of being one of the world’s first high-performance green convention facilities.

The dramatic building—instantly recognizable for its superscale depiction of the sidra tree, a traditional Qatari symbol, along its front façade—will feature a whopping 3,700 square meters of solar panels, in addition to its other resource-saving features. Designed by Yamasaki Architects, the building is based on a concept by well-known Japanese architect Arata Isozaki, and has a total budget of $720 million.

The building will contain 40,000 square meters of exhibition space; a conference hall for 4,000 delegates; a 2,300-seat lyric style theater; three additional tiered auditoria; theatre-style seating, and banquet space for up to 10,000 people in exhibition halls; a total of 57 meeting rooms; lounges and hospitality suites; a business center; and media rooms. The massive building is located in Education City, a new global educational hub under development.

The aforementioned rooftop solar panels will provide roughly 12 percent of the building’s total power, according to the article. Inside, the center will be outfitted with occupancy sensors, water-efficient fixtures, LED lighting, carbon dioxide monitors, and variable air-volume systems that minimize the use of resources and improve the center’s indoor air quality. The center will also boast a special wireless convention management system that reduces the need for paper while providing convention delegates with free Internet access.

Learn more about the Qatar National Convention Center on its website.

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Chris Timmerman
Contributing Writer
Green Education Services
www.greenedu.com