Posted By Betsy Kraat
PHILADELPHIA, PA–Following more than a year of work, PECO recently received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Existing Building (EB) silver and gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council for five local buildings.
In total, PECO now operates six LEED certified buildings representing nearly half of all LEED-EB certified buildings in Pennsylvania.
“In 2007 we launched a major environmental initiative for our company and our customers. The work at these sites is our demonstration of how important it is to take steps to reduce energy use and how those steps will pay off by reducing energy costs and helping the environment.” (more…)
- Herman Miller Energy Manager
Energy Manager is a simple device you add to your Herman Miller systems furniture—new or retrofit—to improve its performance by saving electrical energy.
Energy Manager controls two of the four circuits of power in a cluster of workstations. When a person sits down to work, an occupancy sensor detects their presence and turns on the devices in the cluster plugged into those two circuits—task lights, printers, monitors, chargers, etc. When the cluster is unoccupied, the devices automatically turn off. (more…)
Abdon M. Pallasch, The Chicago Sun-Times
Former President Bill Clinton on Thursday exhorted university officials from around the country to do a better job leading the way on making their campus buildings greener.
“For all the good we’re doing, we’re just piddling compared to what we ought to be doing and compared to what we could be doing,” Clinton told 250 college administrators meeting at the Palmer House Hilton.
“Think about it: 6.7 million jobs lost. And all this work out there is laying on the ground, begging to be done with an absolute certain high return. I am anxious to speed this up. For all the good you’re doing, we should be doing three, four, five, 10 times what we’re doing as a country.”
Clinton has become a crusader for environmental renovation as a catalyst for energy conservation and putting people back to work.
If solar panels or green roofs could be seen going up on campus roofs around the country, other builders would follow suit and put people back to work, helping fight unemployment as well as saving energy, Clinton told the receptive audience.
“Every time somebody sees a project on one of your campuses, fixing a building, you are having an impact, even beyond the fight to produce climate change and lower your utility bills,” Clinton said.
Margaret Jackson The Denver Post
YMCA of the Rockies is seeking Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification for the three new lodges it’s building as part of a $40 million expansion.
The organization hired Neenan Archistruction to design and build the lodges at the YMCA campus outside Estes Park.
Using what’s known as “panelized” construction, the company had the walls manufactured in a Severance factory and assembled on site, eliminating 80 percent of the waste typically generated during a project’s framing, said Mark Holdt, vice president for planning and project development at the YMCA. (more…)
- LEEDuser.com
LEEDuser.com provides credit-by-credit guidance for anyone working on LEED certification.
Nicholas Tamarin — Interior Design, 7/24/2009
If navigating the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED certification process has left you feeling at sea, BuildingGreen has come to the rescue. The publisher has created LEEDuser.com, a new website that provides credit-by-credit guidance for anyone in the midst of the exhaustive process. (more…)
- Starbucks Vows LEED Goal for New Stores
The Seattle outfit will also sources materials and employ craftsmen on a localized basis, as well as incorporate reused and recycled elements where possible.
Nicholas Tamarin — Interior Design, 7/14/2009
Slinging joe may sound like a basic concept, but java giant Starbucks is kicking it up a notch for the planning and design of the next round of their ubiquitous stores. Matching the shade of their logo, the Seattle-based company is aiming to achieve LEED certification for all new company-operated stores beginning in 2010, in addition to providing licensed stores and other business partners with design plans and guidance on construction. (more…)
July 27, 2009
Building Design and Construction
Bowdoin College’s new Sidney J. Watson Arena, dedicated January 18, 2009, has become the first newly constructed ice arena in the United States to earn coveted LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the United States Green Building Council (USGBC).
The USGBC certified the Brunswick, Maine, ice arena’s LEED status July 16, 2009. Two Bowdoin College residence halls were granted LEED Silver certification in 2006. (more…)
Yum! Brands’ Environmentally-Friendly KFC and Taco Bell Restaurant Awarded LEED Gold Certification; Recognition Confirms Company’s On-Going Commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility
Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM), the world’s largest restaurant company and parent of Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC, has constructed the Company’s first building under the United States Green Building Council’s LEED®(Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program. Yum! Brands’ KFC-Taco Bell restaurant in Northampton, Massachusetts has been awarded LEED Gold certification.
Developed through the collaboration of architects, contractors, engineers, environmental groups, government agencies and more, LEED is a nationally accepted and independent system to measure environmental performance of buildings. LEED certification is determined by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC).
Buildings granted LEED certification are recognized for their environmental commitment in the areas of sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality and innovation in design.
With the assistance of some of the leading sustainability and restaurant experts, Yum! Brands opened the KFC-Taco Bell restaurant in Northampton in December of 2008 as part of the Company’s on-going commitment to corporate social responsibility. The restaurant marks Yum’s first building constructed under the United States Green Building Council’s LEED program. More..
There has been a lot of interest generated in better understanding the 42″ panel height requirement in LEED Commercial Interiors, Credit EQ 8.3. In August the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) issued a Credit Interpretation Request (CIR) that clarifies what is and is not required with regard to panel height for this credit. To help clarify the requirements attached below are two slides and the actual credit interpretation that can be used in discussions with designers and clients about why taller panels are acceptable. (more…)
Thursday, April 23, 2009
By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh’s new arena not only will be the newest in the National Hockey League when it opens in 2010 but the greenest in sports.
On Earth Day, the Penguins and the city-Allegheny County Sports & Exhibition Authority announced that they will seek a LEED Gold certification for the $321 million complex, which is being built adjacent to Mellon Arena.
The LEED Gold rating not only would be the first for any arena in the National Hockey League but also the first for any major sports venue in the country, according to the U.S. Green Building Council, the developer of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design system. (more…)
