See on Scoop.it – Green & Sustainable News

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — Mayor Edwin M. Lee on Monday announced that the Moscone Center has received LEED Gold certification, the first convention center on the West Coast to attain the green building honor.

“Mayor Lee also introduced preliminary legislation to establish the Moscone Expansion District, increasing hotel room taxes to help pay for the Moscone Convention Center’s expansion, which will add more than 200,000 square feet of underground and aboveground convention and meeting space. The proposed approximately $500 million expansion will create about 3,420 new jobs and generate $700 million in revenue for the first seven years, and projects hotel occupancy will increase to an average of 87.6 percent. “

See on californianewswire.com

See on Scoop.it – Green Energy Technologies & Development

New Industrial Efficiency Technology Database (IETD) delivers rich and relevant information about the best available and latest energy efficient technologies and practices…

See on www.eceee.org

See on Scoop.it – Green & Sustainable News

Much of the environmental control is achieved through passive means, before resorting to less efficient, active systems such as air conditioning. Fresh air filters through a desiccant, then to conventional chillers. As the desiccant extracts moisture, it also cools the air inside. But to keep the desiccant functioning, energy is needed to remove the accumulated moisture. This is where sustainable technologies come in: An on-site biomass boiler—fueled entirely with green waste from the city’s national parks—and hot air collected from the top of the glasshouses provide sufficient energy to cool the conservatories.

“The result is not an experimental building, but its ventilation strategy has an experimental component,” Finch said. “In a globalized environment, there is so much interest in how we deal with density and this combination of urbanism with a garden that is both an attraction and nature is a wonderful solution. If they can cool these glasshouses through natural cooling, we should ask why it can’t be done in other buildings?”

See on oliveventures.tumblr.com

See on Scoop.it – Green & Sustainable News

How does access to sustainable modern energy services for more than 1 billion people act as an integral catalyst to overcoming poverty in developing nations?

“Sustainable energy is the golden thread that connects economic growth, social equity, and a climate and environment that enables the world to thrive.”

See on earthandindustry.com

See on Scoop.it – Green Building Design – Architecture & Engineering

USG Corporation (NYSE: USG), a leading building products company, today announced a strategic collaboration with GE Lighting to offer an integrated new monolithic and sustainable ceiling system….

“The breakthrough of our integrated ceiling and lighting system offers uninterrupted channels of lighting and acoustical panels for a desired design aesthetic without compromising performance.”

See on www.4-traders.com

See on Scoop.it – Green & Sustainable News

While conditions in residential construction throughout many parts of the world may be challenging right now, those seeking long term growth opportunities need look no further than the green building and energy efficient housing sector.

See on designbuildsource.com.au

See on Scoop.it – Green Building Design – Architecture & Engineering

Chicago’s plan to turn the former site of the nation’s largest steel mill into a model green development recently took the global Sustainia Community Award.

“The Master Plan for the Chicago Lakeside Development was created by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill in conjunction with Sasaki Associates and Antunovich Associates. It calls for 13,575 new homes, 17,500,000 square feet of retail and commercial space, a new high school, a 1500-slip marina, and 125 acres of new park lands. The project is a certified LEED-Neighborhood Development and will incorporate innovative green features such as a stormwater management system that will filter runoff to recharge Lake Michigan.”

“With approval from the Chicago Plan Commission, the Lakeside project has begun construction on Phase 1 of the development, which will see 800,000 square feet of retail, restaurants, office space and new residences go up over 76 acres. The entire Chicago Lakeside Development will take 25-45 years to completely develop.”

See on www.earthtechling.com

See on Scoop.it – Twitter & Social Media

Several Facebook page administrators are up in arms over the site tweaking its EdgeRank algorithm, making users more likely to see brand-based posts with higher levels of engagement and not posts with only a comment or two.

See on allfacebook.com

See on Scoop.it – Green Building Design – Architecture & Engineering

A new type of greenwash has found its way into the industry as a result of the green building boom and a need to retrofit everything.

“A more recent example is Starbucks’ new LEED certified drive through coffee shop in Colorado. Design blog Blouin Artinfo has rightly pointed out that while the drive through is made completely of prefabricated structures built from reclaimed materials sourced from within a 500-mile radius of the building’s location, a location that encourages the use of the car flies in the face of its green intentions.”

See on designbuildsource.ca

Reflections on Energy

My own history and experience as an Engineer working in the Architectural/Engineering/Construction industry has taught me many lessons regarding our built environment, misconceptions and popularized belief, politics and codes, industry forces and other influences.

Energy is fundamental to everything in the physical world.  We often talk of embedded energy, when discussing materials.  This is the energy used to mine, harvest, refine, transport, produce, assemble and otherwise used to construct a finished product.  Some of this embedded energy can be recovered through recycling, reclamation, re-using, re-fitting or some other form of energy recovery which enables some to all of the embedded energy to be recovered.