Yesterday, First Lady Laura Bush, architect Robert A. M. Stern, and landscape architect Matthew Urbanski unveiled the design of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Texas. Located on the east side of SMU's campus, the design will complement the consistent Georgian architecture of the rest of the university. And when complete, the $250 million building will be LEED Platinum certified.
Last week at Greenbuild 2009, Perkins + Will unveiled its new Precautionary List, which tracks 25 of the most common dangerous chemicals found in commonly used building materials. The list provides an explanation of the properties of the chemicals with suggested alternatives. Some of the chemicals on the list include: arsenic, lead, urea formaldehyde, and cadmium, just to name a few.
Yes, it's that time again. For the eighth year in a row, BuildingGreen has just announced their list of Top-10 Green Building Products. BuildingGreen sifts the products from new additions to the GreenSpec Directory, a print and online guide that organizes green products according to LEED credits, as well as from coverage in Environmental Building News. The GreenSpec Directory has over 2,100 products, and these ten are some of the best of what's been added to the directory. Any favorites among the group?
According to a new study by Booz Allen Hamilton and the USGBC, green building will support 7.9 million jobs and pour $554 billion into the American economy over the next four years. Of that, $396 billion will be attributable to wage growth in green building jobs. Green construction spending currently supports 2 million American jobs, so we're talking about growth of nearly 400%!
The USGBC has unveiled a half-dozen new credits for LEED which are being investigated in a pilot program currently underway. Pilot LEED credits include: Life Cycle Assessment of Building Assemblies and Materials; PBT Source Reduction; Medical and Process Equipment Efficiency; Innovative Ventilation; and Preliminary Integrative Project Planning & Design (2 credits).
The Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) conducted a post-occupancy study of 25 LEED commercial projects in Illinois and just published the first round of results from their research. The Regional Green Building Case Study Project is one of the first post-occupancy studies to measure energy performance, greenhouse gases emissions, water use, transportation effects, construction and occupancy costs, health benefits, and occupancy comfort on a regional scale. Although CNT found that some LEED projects perform better than others, they also determined that investing in energy efficiency pays off.
You already know that we're media sponsors for West Coast Green 2009. If the self-sustaining show home isn't enough to get you out, maybe the living walls or Innovation Pipeline will. Or maybe some of the keynote speakers, such as Ray Anderson, Gavin Newsom, Andrew Winston, or Cameron Sinclair, will get you out. Who knows?! The marketing campaign is in full swing, and we have three more reasons you should register now:
At one time, Paradise Park Children's Centre in London had a lush vertical hydroponic garden covering certain portions of the structure. That time is no more, reports The Architects' Journal, the BBC, and the London Evening Standard. The building, designed by DSDHA, called for a living wall to mitigate against planting the structure on a portion of open park space. DSDHA retained landscape architect Marie Clarke and had the green wall system installed at a cost of £100,000.
The NY Times picked up on a trend that's been gaining momentum for a long time. In "Some Buildings Not Living Up to Green Label," Mireya Navarro discusses the "gap between design and construction, which LEED certifies, and how some buildings actually perform." Navarro's not breaking any new ground here, especially for those ensconced in the green building world; however, like the ingredients of a hot dog, the general population needs to understand what LEED is made of.
Would you be shocked to learn that a LEED building may or may not be energy or water efficient? Don't be.
For the third year in a row, we'd like to announce that Jetson Green has teamed up with West Coast Green as a media partner. One of the reasons we're doing this is because it gives us the opportunity to pass on a 20% discount on full conference registration. Another reason is because the speakers and exhibitors are really good and friendly. I loved the Harbinger House last year, too, so let's see what's in store for 2009.
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