AGC releases decarbonization playbook to help assess, track, reduce GHG emissions

USGBC says that LEED's strength comes from its continuous evolution.

Unions have learned to help employers win contracts with bids made competitive through good safety practices.

Specifying air curtains as energy-saving, cost-cutting alternatives to vestibules in 3,000-square-foot buildings and larger has been a recent trend among consulting engineers and architects.

The bill is similar to a White House planto cut $8 billion worth of building costs by the end of the 2012 fiscal year, and to establish a panel to identify other sites worth selling or donating to nonprofits or state and local governments.

Much of that growth will be in the European Union, where near-zero energy buildings are mandated by 2019 for public buildings, and by 2021 for all construction.

A Construction Specifications Institute webinar will focus on the lessons learned through the design and construction of a LEED-certified industrial project, Better Living Mill Shop, the first industrial building in Central Virginia to earn LEED certification.

The group will develop a low-cost seismic retrofit model that would benefit aging brick-and-mortar structures. It involves bolting steel brackets to existing wooden floor and ceiling joists.

These developments demonstrate the dynamic nature of the market and the continued need for development of program standards of many different types that help builders and owners translate high performance and sustainable buildings goals into practical measures on the ground.