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.”

Work at the sites included lighting and HVAC upgrades and control systems, replacement and retrofit of existing plumbing fixtures, conversion of turf grass to native meadows, increased use of environmentally-preferable office supplies, the adoption of a comprehensive green cleaning program, increased recycling, improved indoor air quality management, and the creation of a Green Champion employee volunteer team. In total the work will reduce energy use by 40 to 50 percent and water consumption by nearly 50 percent at each site.

In Chester County, PECO’s Berwyn Campus, consisting of 3 buildings, received Silver LEED-EB certification. One of only five LEED Existing Building Campus’ in the United States, the $895,000 investment also included the creation of a native meadow, improving local habitat and reducing storm water run off. About $300,000 in work at PECO’s Phoenixville Service Center also resulted in Silver LEED-EB certification. PECO’s Berwyn Campus and Phoenixville Service Building also are the first LEED-EB certified buildings in Chester County.

In Bucks County, PECO’s Warminster Service Building was awarded Gold LEED-EB certification. The $750,000 project also included the creation of a local native meadow, providing additional local habitat and reducing storm water run off. The facility is the first LEED-EB certified building in Bucks County.

“These awards highlight a tremendous effort by our project team,” said Denis O’Brien, PECO president and CEO. “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.”

“PECO’s LEED certification demonstrates tremendous green building leadership,” said Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO & founding chair of the U.S. Green Building Council. “The urgency of our mission has challenged the industry to move faster and reach further than ever before, and PECO serves as a prime example of just how much we can accomplish.”

These LEED certified sites join PECO’s West Chester facility, previously awarded Silver LEED certification for New Construction. Other environmental projects include the installation of a new Crown Lights messaging system at the company’s Center City headquarters, additional upgrades to secure LEED certification for 5 additional company buildings, throughout the region, the increased use of hybrid and biodiesel vehicles, and support for community and customer environmental and energy efficiency projects.

PECO’s environmental efforts contribute to and support Exelon 2020: A Low-Carbon Roadmap, the comprehensive environmental plan of PECO’s parent company. Exelon 2020 sets the goal of reducing, offsetting or displacing more than 15 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year by 2020. The corporation will do this by reducing or offsetting the company’s carbon footprint, helping customers reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, and providing more low-carbon electricity in the marketplace.

PECO also offers many programs to help customers save energy, reduce their environmental impact and save money. PECO Smart Ideas, our full suite of energy efficiency and demand reduction programs, provides valuable information, incentives and rebates for residential and business customers. Programs include a home energy e-audit, discounted CFL bulbs in stores across the region, a refrigerator pick-up and recycling program, and other money saving discounts and rebates.

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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.

You start saving energy the day you install Energy Manager. It can also provide accurate, valuable information by measuring, monitoring, and reporting energy use and workstation occupancy when it’s Convia-enabled. As a result, Energy Manager can contribute up to 10 LEED credits.

What is Herman Miller Energy Manager?
Herman Miller Energy Manager is a proprietary electrical circuit control system that connects building power
with the modular power of Herman Miller workstations, enabling a truly integrated control solution for
end-to-end power applications. Energy Manager is the first technology application to enable energy
consumption to be monitored, measured and controlled at the electrical circuit level, while also optimizing
real estate use and lowering overall operating costs.

How does it work?
Herman Miller Energy Manager units are mounted inside the wall of Herman Miller frame-and-tile based
workstation systems, or are mounted discreetly to a panel. It works by controlling two of the four circuits of
power feeding a cluster of workstations. Providing programmed or occupancy-based control of power
delivery, it allows control of powered devices plugged into those two circuits so they either are on or off—a
result of occupancy in the workstation cluster.
Occupancy sensing through Energy Manager is especially important in today’s offices where people typically
spend half their time outside their workstations. Innovative features including “virtual metering” of electrical
circuits, which allows the product to pay for itself in no more than three years based on electrical savings
alone.
For ultimate energy savings capabilities, Energy Manager can be Convia-enabled. A Web-based gateway
from Convia, Inc., a Herman Miller subsidiary, provides programmable on/off control of selected circuits and
overhead lighting, as well as other building control systems. Facilities managers have the ability to monitor
and measure energy use in real-time and from the convenience of their personal computers. And with power
consumption measured at the electrical circuit level, they have access to the information they need to further
develop and adjust energy saving strategies. Additionally, actual occupancy data (i.e. which workstations are
occupied, when, and for how long during the course of a day) is also reported through Convia’s Global
Gateway at 10 minute intervals. This data can be used to generate reports and optimize real estate to further
reduce operating costs.

How is the product energy efficient?
Significant amounts of energy can be saved if task lighting and powered devices in workstations are
controlled so they are on only when needed and off when not occupied. Herman Miller Energy Manager
creates that capability.
Additionally, Energy Manager’s ability to provide detailed, objective reports can be critical in helping
companies measure and verify their progress toward their energy management and real estate goals.
Businesses seeking to be better corporate citizens often urge their employees to engage in socially responsible
behaviors (e.g. turning out lights, unplugging laptop power supplies, turning off printers, etc.). The data from
Energy Manager can let businesses see the impact of their behavior, quantify the impact of changed behavior,
and be a motivating force in encouraging people to “do the right thing.”
Developed with the environment in mind, Energy Manager can contribute up to 10 LEED® credits for
optimized energy performance, measurement and verification, recycled content and regional material.

When is it available for customer order?
Energy Manager will be available for order in August 2009.
What can be controlled by Energy Manager? What areas of the workstation?
Energy Manager offers a fully integrated solution, allowing for control over all electrical devices in every area
of the workstation cluster.
Energy Manager can provide programmed or occupancy-based control of power delivery to two of the typical
four circuits within a cluster of up to eight Herman Miller workstations. Any device or combination of
devices powered by two of these four circuits can be controlled. The other two circuits are unaffected,
preventing the unwanted depowering of certain devices that must remain always on. Devices can be added,
removed or changed from Energy Manager as needed. The product can be connected to any building power
system via floor, ceiling or wall in-feed.

What applications and markets is it best suited for?
Until now, energy saving strategies largely have been limited to the larger building infrastructure. There was
no effective way to bridge the gap between the architecture and the occupants. Energy Manager enables
profound new electricity savings at the workstation cluster level. It is appropriate for use in a broad-base of
commercial environments, including commercial office, retail, hospitality and education buildings.

Is Energy Manager available exclusively to Herman Miller workstations, or can it be installed in any
workstation?
Energy Manager can be incorporated exclusively into a new or existing Herman Miller systems installation. It
can be connected to the electrical system of Herman Miller’s Vivo® interiors, My Studio Environments™,
Ethospace® system, Prospects®, and Action Office® system.

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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.

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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.

“We’re excited that they honor the mountain stick architecture from the outside, but inside they are really state-of-the-art in terms of sustainability,” Holdt said.

The lodges also will receive LEED points for using Colorado flagstone and granite as well as low-emitting stains, paints and carpets.

LEED is a point-based system where building projects are graded for satisfying specific green building criteria in six categories. Platinum is highest, gold next, then silver.

“It increased our construction cost by 2 percent, but over time, the energy savings will more than compensate us for that,” Holdt said.

The 100-room Longs Peak Lodge opened in early June. The smaller Rams Horn and Emerald Mountain lodges, which will add another 100 rooms, will open in early spring.

“We can sleep about 3,500 people now,” said Laurie Van Horn, spokewoman for the YMCA.

The project also includes a conference center with seating for 1,200 and two new eight-bedroom family cabins.

Donor-funded projects include the $1.2 million Legett Christian Center and the $1.2 million Mootz Family Craft and Design Center.

The new conference center and lodges are behind the Ruesch Auditorium. Twenty-eight structures were relocated or removed to make way for the new buildings.

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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.

The new site, created with the support of the USGBC, includes descriptions of credit requirements, tips to streamline submissions, online calculators, and user forums for specific credits. LEEDuser operates through the prism of the five LEED rating systems: New Construction, Core & Shell, Schools, Commercial Interiors, and Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance. It provides diagrams illustrating key aspects of each prerequisite and credit, a checklist of tips, and samples of completed LEED submissions.

“Our goal with LEEDuser is to demystify LEED while supporting projects in achieving the highest possible environmental goals says Building Green President and LEED faculty member, Nadav Malin,

LEEDuser is now available in beta release with free registration. Beginning in October, the website will be available by subscription

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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.

The Northwest outfit is planning to sources materials and employ craftsmen on a localized basis, as well as incorporate reused and recycled elements where possible, including its famous cups. It will also attempt to derive 50 percent of the energy used in its company-operated stores from renewable sources by 2010 via energy-saving actions including replacing the incandescent bulbs in its spaces with LEDs.

The back-to-basics approach is spearheaded by Arthur Rubinfeld, the president of Starbucks Global Development and the executive credited for creating the store atmosphere that helped define the brand in the early 1990’s. Rubinfeld returned to the company last year.

“Ultimately, we hope customers will feel an enhanced sense of community, a deeper connection to our coffee heritage and a greater level of commitment to environmental consciousness,” says Rubinfeld.

Starbucks recently completed construction on two stores in Seattle, including one just blocks from its original location, and one in Paris that reflect their new design strategy.

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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.

“Sustainable design and construction have become a core philosophy at Bowdoin,” said Director of Capital Projects Don Borkowski. “Attaining LEED certification on any project is certainly notable. To be the first new hockey arena in the country to achieve certification on a complex project such as Watson Arena is something everyone at the College can be proud of. It’s a great achievement.”

LEED is a voluntary, consensus-based rating system for high-performance sustainable buildings that provides a measurable standard for building owners and occupants.

“It seems counterintuitive that an ice arena, a huge building that ordinarily would use so much energy, could be LEED-certified,” said S. Catherine Longley, who, as Bowdoin College’s senior vice president for finance and administration and treasurer, oversees the College’s many sustainability efforts.

“But when we discovered it was possible, we knew it was the environmentally responsible thing to do. The building’s mechanical, refrigeration and dehumidification systems were all chosen with energy optimization in mind. As a result, Watson Arena uses 14 percent less energy than a comparable facility would, reducing greenhouse gas emissions as well as operating costs.”

The USGBC awards points in six environmental categories: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, and innovation and design.

“The green building movement offers an unprecedented opportunity to respond to the most important challenges of our time, including global climate change, dependence on non-sustainable and expensive sources of energy, and threats to human health,” said Rick Fedrizzi, USGBC president, CEO and founding chair.

“The work of innovative building projects such as the Sidney J. Watson Arena is a fundamental driving force in the green building movement.”

Sustainable features and practices for which Watson Arena earned LEED credits include:

o Storm water management system includes two infiltration systems that divert clean rainwater from the roof into the aquifer, and two retention ponds to remove sedimentation and debris from storm water runoff while minimizing peak flow rates into the watershed.

o Preferred parking for low-emission and fuel-efficient vehicles.

o Landscaping with indigenous plants that require no irrigation minimizes maintenance, conserves potable water and avoids compromising water quality.

o Low-flow showers, faucets, toilets and urinals result in a 38 percent reduction in water use over that of typical fixtures.

o Eighty-two percent of generated construction waste (515 tons) was diverted from landfill to recycling.

o Thirty percent of the building products include pre- and post-consumer recycled material.

o Forty percent of building materials came from within 500 miles, reducing emissions from transportation while supporting the local economy. _

o All adhesives, sealants, paints, coatings and carpet systems used are low-VOC (volatile organic compounds).

The $20 million arena features a 90-ft. by 200-ft. ice surface and seating for 1,900 spectators.

In addition to Bowdoin’s men’s and women’s hockey teams, the arena is also used by nearly 600 skaters from the community, comprising hockey leagues and skating groups that serve everyone from so-called “pee-wees” to senior citizens.

The arena is named in honor of Sid Watson, who guided the Bowdoin hockey program to extraordinary heights during his career behind the bench. Watson was an inaugural member of Bowdoin’s Athletic Hall of Honor in 2002 and was awarded the Hobey Baker Legend of Hockey Award by the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 2001. He was also inducted into the Andover Hall of Fame, the Northeastern University Hall of Fame and the Maine Sports Hall of Fame. He passed away in April 2004 at the age of 71.

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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..

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42″ Panel Height and LEED Clarification Slides

8/1/2008 -  Credit Interpretation Request
There is much confusion in the design community regarding the number 42 inches and its relationship to the allowable height of movable systems office furniture. We seek clarification that a systems furniture panel could be more than 42 inches tall in this credit since that number is for the eye level of the seated person, not necessarily the maximum height of the panel.

The Reference Guide refers to the calculation of Direct Line of Sight to Perimeter Glazing and provides Table 1, which includes a column labeled “horizontal view at 42 inches,” which may be the source of confusion. The Guide advises that the designer use open plan offices and configure high panels perpendicular to windows to keep views open. It does not state that panels cannot be taller than 42 inches.

It is our understanding that what actually determines whether there is a view for 90% of regularly occupied spaces includes the size and location of perimeter glazing (windows) and what structural components might block views. A person who is seated with their eye level at 42 inches can easily see over a somewhat taller panel to the view if the windows are large enough and appropriately placed. As is illustrated in the horizontal view diagram of Figure 2 in the Reference Guide, a plane of vision isn’t restricted to a straight line, narrow field, it expands out to a wider vertical plane. There is likely to be a maximum height of panel, but that would have to be determined case by case.

For this CIR’s purpose, we request agreement that a panel up to 45″ tall could be acceptable in a situation where the perimeter glazing is of the appropriate size and placement and required submittals support that the view is available to 90% of the seated occupants.
 
9/5/2008 -  Ruling
The way in which this credit is determined is if there is a direct line of sight from a point 42 inches above the floor to perimeter glazing. The perspective in this credit is taken from the seated position, requiring that there be no obstructions above that height in the view. There is no prescriptive requirement for the height of the panels used. In order to support that the credit requirements have been met, please provide floor plans and representative sections highlighting the areas with direct line of sight and showing interior partitions and perimeter windows with respect to the view at 42 inches above the floor.

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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.

Gold is the second-highest of the four possible certifications under LEED. In that respect, the Consol Energy Center would outdo two other new sports venues — the $1.5 billion Yankee Stadium and the $850 million home of the New York Mets, neither of which achieved any level of LEED certification.

“We’re delighted not just to be certified but to be a leader in the field,” Penguins CEO Ken Sawyer said yesterday.

After touring the arena site, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said having such a high-profile building be so environmentally friendly can only help bolster the city’s image in the eyes of the world.

“When you have the only NHL hockey arena that’s a [LEED Gold] building, that’s going to speak volumes to the rest of the country that Pittsburgh is a progressive city, it does invest in environmentally sustainable policies, and it’s good news when you talk about the image of Pittsburgh and all that we’re achieving here toward that end,” he said.

Of major sports venues, the Washington Nationals’ ballpark in Washington, D.C., has a LEED Silver designation, the third-highest, and arenas in Atlanta and Miami have basic LEED certification, according to the Green Building Council.

The Consol Energy Center would join 14 other buildings in Pittsburgh as gold-certified, including the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.

Penguins officials, who are overseeing the construction, always wanted to achieve the basic level of LEED certification in the arena. But as they researched the matter more, they realized they had the chance to reach gold.

“We wanted to have it happen. We wanted to get gold,” Mr. Sawyer said, adding the decision won’t increase the project’s $321 million budget.

LEED certification is based on a system that awards points in categories such as energy and atmosphere, building materials and resources, water efficiency, indoor environmental quality, and innovation and design.

The Penguins will benefit from some of the building’s signature design features, such as the huge glass atrium that will face Downtown and spacious open concourses, both of which will bring in more natural light, one of the factors in the ratings.

Officials also are hoping to earn points for the amount of green space around the building, recycling, using materials bought locally for construction, the purchase of at least some electricity from “green” power sources, water management, indoor air quality, heating and cooling efficiency, and the selection of environmentally friendly paints.

Mr. Sawyer said the arena also could benefit from its urban location and its proximity to public transit.

“If we built out in the suburbs on a piece of farmland, that’s a negative,” he said.

The team won’t know for sure until after the arena opens whether it achieved the designation.

But Mr. Sawyer said he was “pretty comfortable” that there will be more than enough points available to earn the rating.

While many of the green features might not be readily noticeable to fans, they, too, will profit from better air quality, improved heating and cooling, and other environmentally friendly aspects, he said.

During yesterday’s tour, Mr. Sawyer said the arena is on pace to open before the 2010-11 hockey season. Much of the building’s structural steel has been erected and some of the seating bowl and open concourses already are taking shape at the site.

Center ice is now a concrete slab covered by a three-foot-high mound of dirt. But it won’t be that long before the first puck drops.

“I couldn’t be happier,” Mr. Sawyer said. “We’re on schedule, on time and on budget. It’s going to be one terrific building.”

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