Trend USA has just released details of their new engineered, agglomerate stone product called "Trend Q."  Trend Q is a USA-made, 1/4" surface material that is impervious to stains and fading.  It can be made in sizes as small as 12" tiles and as large as 10′ x 4′ slabs.  Containing up to 72% post consumer recycled content, Trend Q not only contributes to LEED certification, but it comes in a veritable cornucopia of colors.  Organic neutral.  Fiery orange.  Brilliant red.  You name it.  Another cool aspect of the product is that it’s made to be applied to all types of surfaces, whether it’s walls, counters, or floors.  Just bust out the water jet machine and make that magic happen. 

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1. Rooftop vegetation and gardens are catching on–though there are still many questions about how and when to apply the technique. 
2. Cleantech venture capital investments are small but growing. 
3. Monster Homes: Enough is Enough – some places will make you pay for that big thing. 
4. Developer sells its LEED certified project and it was "certainly a stellar return." 

This news isn’t all that surprising because the government (at various levels) has shown significant support for green buildings, but recently, NASA set the wheels in motion to have a $54 million LEED Silver building built in Greenbelt, Maryland.  This three story office and laboratory structure will be the future Exploration Sciences Building at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.  And as a side note, NASA has determined that all future buildings will be constructed to the LEED Silver level, at a minimum.  Designed by EwingCole, the completed building will end up at about 265,500 sf.  Looks good.  UPDATED 8/23/2007:  new images swapped out. 

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1. 88% of new homes are crappy, greenhouse gas spewing energy hogs – meaning they don’t meet the comparatively weak Energy Star standards. 
2. Las Vegas golf courses are using better water-efficient landscaping to save over 1 billion gallons of water per year. 
3. Regency Centers is teaming up with the USGBC to implement a pilot program aimed at developing green shopping centers across the country (this is badly needed). 
4. Wells Fargo passes the $1 Billion mark in financing for LEED certified buildings with loans ranging from $10 to $225 million per project. 

Looks like LA City Council has unanimously approved a $400-million mixed-use green development totaling 1.1 million sf called Blvd6200.  Blvd6200 will feature more than 1,000 apartments, 40,000 sf of live-work office space, and 175,000 sf of retail and restaurant uses on a seven-acre site.  Designed by Santa Monica-based Van Tilburg, Banvard & Soderbergh, the new LEED project will occupy a site that spans both sides of Hollywood Boulevard at Argyle Avenue east of Vine Street.  The project is going to be developed by the Clarett Group, a top New York development company, and other than having 10 flex cars available for residents, specifics on green certification aren’t available yet.  I’ll keep tabs on the project.  More images below the fold.  Via Globe St.

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