Archive for the 'Policy' Category
This is an audio recording at the SFU City Program from September 24, 2009 with Guido Wimmers (Equilibrium Consulting Inc.), Dave Ramslie (Cascadia Region Green Building Council), Murray Frank (Constructive Home Solutions Inc.): “Boon or boondoggle? Building codes will allow for the construction of six-storey woodframe buildings. Is this good news for planners who want [...]
When does a Prius have the same environmental impact as a Hummer? The 95 percent of the time it’s parked.
Most people don’t spend time thinking about parking spaces unless they’re looking for one. But these 9′ by 18′ rectangles of urban real estate have a vast impact on North American communities. They affect the economy, [...]
“Vauban is a suburb of Freiburg in Germany near the French border. It is car free. People give up their cars to move there. It is a very useful antidote to the sort of thinking that insists that the only way to absorb another million people is to widen the freeway and add more low [...]
The City has developed and approved two passive design toolkits detailing ways to reduce energy use in new buildings, which are a major source of greenhouse gas emissions in Vancouver. The tookits provide best practices for homes and larger buildings for passive design elements such as layout, orientation, insulation, landscaping and ventilation. They are targeted [...]
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has announced that LEED 2009 (including the new LEED Online) will launch officially on April 27, 2009. The same date will see the transition of LEED project registration and certification to the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI), the third party that also administers the LEED Accredited Professional (LEED AP) [...]
U.S. and Canadian Building Teams that fail to figure out how to use the kinds of technologies and innovative design approaches already in place in Europe are going to fall behind competitors who do.
By Jerry Yudelson, PE, MBA, LEED AP
Read full article: Building Design and Construction
I thought of passive survivability as a smart design criterion that could provide another motivation for creating energy-efficient and environmentally responsible buildings. In a future of more intense storms that could cause extended power outages, with an ever-present risk of terrorism that could target energy distribution networks, and with higher energy costs and the prospect [...]
More and more insurers see opportunities to increase revenues, reduce risk and enhance their reputation by offering products and services that reward environmentally “friendly” clients. These are particularly focused on green buildings. Such products could have significant environmental benefits, as buildings are responsible for 38 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and existing technologies can [...]
By all accounts, we are mired in a construction market downturn, with one notable bright spot–the growing demand for green buildings–driven by demonstrable economic benefits.
Research provided by McGraw Hill Construction’s SmartMarket Report, Green Outlook 2009: Trends Driving Change, shows the residential and non-residential green building market more than doubling by 2013, reaching between $96-$149 billion [...]
A law requiring annual energy-use reporting for all California’s nonresidential buildings takes effect in January 2009, and the state Department of General Services has been working closely with utilities to streamline the reporting process. Beginning in 2010 owners of commercial buildings must disclose their energy usage and Energy Star rating to potential buyers, leasers, and [...]
