Green Building Blog - Jetson Green

Google Puts Plans for Beyond LEED Platinum Offices On Hold

Well over a year ago, I heard William McDonough was working with Google on some green design plans near the Googleplex (all hush hush-type stuff covered by an NDA).  Since that time, I haven't really noticed much information on those plans, that is, until I caught this article in Mountain View Voice talking about Google's extraordinary building plans.  It appears that SHoP Architects coordinated the work of several architectural firms to get these preliminary plans going.  But, for the time being, Google has decided to put the green office structure on hold. 

PNC Planning D.C.'s First LEED Platinum Office Building

Within the last couple months, The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. and Vornado/Charles E. Smith released their shiny new design for what could be Washington D.C.'s first LEED Platinum office building.  The 365,000 sf building is planned for the corner of 17th and H Streets, NW, a prime location just two blocks from the White House.  Designed by Gensler, 1800 17th Street/PNC Place will have an Eco Lobby featuring a three-story climate wall that radiantly cools the lobby with flowing water. 

One Waterfront Place Going Super Green

Just recently, I noticed news that One Waterfront Place in the River District of Portland has received Platinum precertification under the LEED-CS program.  One Waterfront Place is said to be the first Platinum precertified project on the West Coast and the first precertified project of any level in Oregon.  And, as you can tell with the above rendering, the $100 million, 270,000 sf commercial office building has a posh location right near the river.  The Class A+ building will have a host of green amenities:

Frieze Harley-Davidson Gets LEED Gold

We're seeing all sorts of companies going for LEED Certification, and the most macho of motorcycle manufacturers is no different.  Just recently, the USGBC announced that the Frieze Harley-Davidson Dealership in O'Fallon, Illinois has been LEED Certified at the Gold level.  It's the first, LEED Harley-Davidson dealership in the Nation.  The 33,000 sf dealership was sustainably designed and built with ICFs with an R-value of forty.  Plus, with over forty Solatubes and all the various green elements that led to a credible Gold certification, it's also partially powered by a wind turbine. 

[Video] GM Installing $78 M World's Largest Solar Roof

Earlier this week, GM announced that they were adding the world's largest, rooftop, solar photovoltaic power installation to its car assembly plant located in Zaragoza, Spain (a factory that manufactures Opel vehicles for sale in Europe).   When the project is completed in the fall of 2008, the solar installation will have 85,000 solar panels covering about 2,000,000 sf of roof space.   Bloomberg further reports that the $78.5 million installation will avoid about 7k tons of emissions per year.

Certified Green Homes to Save Coin on Insurance

It looks like the nation's first provider of green insurance coverage for the commercial sector has decided to expand that coverage into the residential sector.  Fireman's Fund Insurance Company will be offering green coverage to homeowners who either own a green home or who want to upgrade their home with green features in the event of a loss.  So in a loss situation, the homeowners can rebuild their home and have it certified under the LEED system. 

Homeowners with green homes will be offered a five percent discount on their insurance premium.  In addition, homeowners will be able to rebuild and replace as follows:

Five Suggestions for Businesses Confronted with Green Fatigue and Green Noise

You may have noticed an article by Alex Williams in the NY Times yesterday entitled "The Era of Green Noise."  The article hits on some trends we're seeing, especially in the green lifestyle area, with people worn out by the green barrage of choices and information.  Green advertising and/or pitches might get a roll of the eyes, or worse, some backlash.  People may just repel and fight against the message.  So businesses are starting to get concerned about the proper way to move forward given this "green fatigue" from the "green noise."

I've been thinking about this and have a few suggestions for businesses that want to keep a quality connection to their customers. 

Nau Examines the Pros and Cons of LEED

Nau is a budding clothing products company that is committed to sustainability and social awareness in various facets of its business.  They build very cool stores (pictured above) and build them green.  I noticed their website has some info on LEED certification, and just had to use their conversation as a partial vehicle to continue to discuss the green building certification system.  Here's what they said: 

First LEED Certified MLB Stadium [Nationals]

HOK and Devrouax +Purnell teamed up to design what could be the first LEED certified Major League Baseball stadium around.*  As the new home of the Washington Nationals, the stadium has a slew of green features such as high-efficiency field lighting, a 6300 sf green roof, state-of-the-art wastewater system that uses sand filters, and an in-house recycling center.  Originally, architects estimated an extra cost of $10-20 million for certification, but it ended up being only $2 million.  Plus, the up-front costs are expected to be returned in lower operating costs.  For a frame of reference, though, the owners agreed to spend $611 million for the stadium. 

Nissan's $100 M HQ Goes Green, *Snubs* LEED

It's a story that I'm seeing more and more, although I'm not too sure we're seeing a good thing.  Nissan USA spends $100 M to build a brand new office building and plans for LEED Silver certification, but in the end, they decide to spend certification cash on the wetland "rather than have a plaque on the wall."#  Certification gets dropped, but we should ask ourselves a serious question:  Is LEED certification merely about the plaque?  Is that the only benefit we see from LEED?  Spending money to get a plaque?