Energy Efficiency

The number of firms involved in AIA’s voluntary pact to slash energy consumption in buildings gre...
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Rendering courtesy Carlo Ratti Associati
Carlo Ratti Associati designed the garden with an innovative net-zero energy climate control syst...
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Rendering courtesy of B+H + mcCallumSather
The project’s net-zero goals led to the development of a new curtain wall system.

Georgia Tech Research Institute has a contract to install tiles embedded with piezoelectric material into the “vapor trail” of the Visitors Center at the Kennedy Space Center in Orlando, Fla. The activated tiles act as a kind of keyboard that shows the planet and different aspects of NASA’s mission statement. Courtesy Formations Studio.
Research on piezoelectricity moves closer to practical applications for infrastructure and buildi...
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The global market for products and services related to achieving net zero energy in residential and commercial buildings is projected to hit $1.4 trillion by 2035. Image: Navigant Research
Technology and regulations will be the drivers, says Navigant Research.

Euclid Chemical upgrades to a dependable and efficient system that will meet their needs for year...
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The 50,600-sf John J. Sbrega Health and Science Building is highlighted by an atrium that connects labs and serves as a “learning commons.” Achieving zero-net-energy in this building did not impact its $31.5 million construction budget. Image: Courtesy of Bond
Bristol Community College wants to be carbon neutral by 2050.

Rendering courtesy of Vincent Callebaut Architectures
The project, which has been commissioned and is in the design phase, would eliminate CO2 and prod...
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The Adam Joseph Lewis Center, home of the environmental studies department. Wikipedia Public Domain
The gathering will address climate change and new sources of energy.

Pixabay Public Domain
Agencies must quantify the specific impacts when possible.
The University of Texas at Dallas Student Services Building was the first university building in Texas to Receive LEED Platinum ststus. Photo: Wikipedia Public Domain.
The new initiative screens projects to see if they are investor-ready.

A large roof can become a resource that saves significant money on energy consumption and helps...
read moreSolar carports being installed in the parking lot of Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah.
Wanting to capitalize on the abundant energy produced by the sun, the Real Salt Lake professional...
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The Net Zero Plus Electrical Training Institute in Los Angeles expects to consume 51% less energy and produce 1.25 times the energy it uses, thanks to a $15.5 million retrofit. Image courtesy of NZP ETI.
The goal of the Net Zero Plus Electrical Training Institute is for this structure to become a mod...
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Brock Environmental Center in Virginia Beach, Va. Photo: Prakash Patel, courtesy SmithGroupJJR
The education building generated 83% more energy than it consumed over the last year en route to...
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Certification programs have only scratched the surface of assessing the performance of existing buildings. A new certification program, BREEAM USA, hopes to change that by making it easier for owners and managers to find out where their buildings stand and how they can make improvements. Image: Pixabay
BREEAM USA, an offshoot of a program already in place in Europe, aims to ease the point of entry....
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Robinson Starmills mall in San Fernando, Philippines. Photo: Robinsons Land, via Inhabitat
The Robinsons Starmills mall in San Fernando recently turned on a 2.9 megawatt rooftop PV plant....

Marist School, a private Roman Catholic college preparatory school, creates a highly-sustainable...
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A 24-story building with 241 affordable housing units will include a charter school, medical center, cultural spaces, and a supermarket. Image: Dattner Architects
The 24-story curved building would be 70% more efficient than comparable housing in New York City...

Photo Credit: Nick Merrick
The Exploratorium at Pier 15 in San Francisco and the West Branch of the Berkeley Public Library...
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An aerial view of Folsom Field at the University of Colorado at Boulder, which has recently completed an extensive expansion and renovation of its sports complex that included the addition of a new Sports and Medicine Performance Center, built in partnership with Boulder Community Health and open to the public. Image: Courtesy of Mortenson Construction
This two-year project enhances the experiences of athletes and fans alike.

A new report from Navigant foresees a steady climb in commercial demand for wireless sensors, as developers and their AEC partners seek better ways to make their buildings smarter and interconnected. Image: Navigant Research
Europe and Asia will propel that growth, according to a new report from Navigant.
With the full O&M package, solar adopters are able to maximize return on investment, optimize...
read moreThe StratIS app gives property managers wireless control over thermostats and door locks. Image: StratIS
Ease of installation is one of StratIS’s selling features.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons
The most detailed model ever for a city this size will help Boston meet its long-term energy use...
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Photo: Pixabay.
Flawed energy efficiency research yields misleading, confusing results.

A rendering of what Masdar City was expected to look like upon its completion as a net-zero city. Credit: Forgemind ArchiMedia, Flickr Creative Commons
The $22 billion experiment, to this point, has produced less than stellar results.

The Kazakhstan Pavilion, designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, shows the wind-turbine cutout at the top of the sphere. Rendering courtesy AS+GG.
Creating a 25-story energy-generating globe for Expo 2017 in Kazakhstan put Adrian Smith + Gordon...
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