Real estate management and investment firm Hines has released the Hines Embodied Carbon Reduction Guide.
The free guide, produced with Magnusson Klemencic Associates (MKA), is the result of a two-year effort, relying on MKA’s industry-leading knowledge of carbon accounting and involvement in programs such as the Embodied Carbon in Construction Calculator (EC3) Tool, according to a news release.
The “108-page program aims to create more sustainable development practices at Hines while establishing an industry standard for quantifying, tracking, and reducing embodied carbon in the commercial real estate development process,” the release says.
“By sharing the Embodied Carbon Reduction Guide with developers, engineers, contractors, material suppliers, investors, and other industry partners, Hines and MKA aim to affect lasting, responsible, and sustainable progress toward reducing the built environment’s carbon footprint,” the release says.
In a related developed, Hines says that its Salesforce Tower Chicago project, a 60-story, 1.2 million-sf office tower recently topped out. The firm says it is the first building to achieve a 19% overall reduction in carbon emissions by using the guide. Nineteen percent equates to a total verifiable structure carbon savings of over 7 million kilograms of C02, which equates to taking more than 1,500 cars off of the road for a year.
Related Stories
| Feb 8, 2012
Houston signs on to Better Buildings Challenge
The challenge has about $4 billion in federal and private-sector funds, which it will use for building energy upgrades nationwide in the next two years.
| Feb 8, 2012
OSHA offers free health and safety consulting for small businesses
The consultants offer confidential, non-punitive advice.
| Feb 8, 2012
Controversy over pay for prisoners on roofing job in Michigan
The disagreement was over whether the prisoners should have been paid prevailing wage for their brief time on the job because the project was paid for with a U.S. Department of Energy grant.
| Jan 30, 2012
ZigBee and ISO 50001: Two new standards to make buildings greener
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.
| Jan 30, 2012
New firm-fixed-price rules on federal contracts impact construction industry
Contractors will need to be on the lookout for policies such as the Contractor Accountability for Quality clause.
| Jan 30, 2012
Roofer’s fatal plunge demonstrates need for fall-prevention regulations
“The biggest problem is getting our workers to use the equipment,” says Michael J. Florio, executive director of the organization.
| Jan 26, 2012
Tampa moves to streamlined online permitting system
The system will replace an inefficient patchwork of old software and is designed to provide businesses, homeowners, and contractors with online access to permitting and licensing information.
| Jan 26, 2012
EPA to collect more data, seek comments before finalizing mud rule
The EPA says it will seek more data and is accepting comments until March 5.