NASA’s Sustainability Base—a roughly 50,000-sf green building at the Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley—is expected for completion next month. Construction officials from Swinerton Inc. and members of the architectural firm William McDonough and Partners and AECOM recycled approximately 92% of the waste created during construction.
The $20-million building incorporates technology used by astronauts and will generate more electricity than it consumes, meeting LEED platinum standards. Additionally, the building will consume 90% less drinkable water than other buildings of similar size that do not meet LEED standards.
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Building, energy performance rating site launched
The Institute for Market Transformation and the Natural Resources Defense Council announced the launch of BuildingRating.org, the world’s first comprehensive resource on energy performance rating and disclosure policies for commercial buildings and homes.
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New ASHRAE standard may be too broad for the Canadian market
New Standard 189.1 from the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), which goes beyond energy efficiency to include provisions that affect construction, post-occupancy monitoring, and site control, may be too much for the Canadian market—at least for now.
| Mar 1, 2011
Honeywell to implement China’s first smart grid project for managing energy use in commercial buildings
Honeywell announced it was selected to develop and implement China’s first smart grid pilot project and feasibility study for managing energy use in commercial buildings, also known as demand-side management. The project is part of a grant agreement signed today between the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) and State Grid Electric Power Research Institute (SGEPRI), sponsor of the project and a subsidiary of State Grid Corp. of China.
| Feb 24, 2011
New reports chart path to net-zero-energy commercial buildings
Two new reports from the Zero Energy Commercial Buildings Consortium (CBC) on achieving net-zero-energy use in commercial buildings say that high levels of energy efficiency are the first, largest, and most important step on the way to net-zero.
| Feb 10, 2011
Zero Energy Buildings: When Do They Pay Off in a Hot and Humid Climate?
There’s lots of talk about zero energy as the next big milestone in green building. Realistically, how close are we to this ambitious goal? At this point, the strategies required to get to zero energy are relatively expensive. Only a few buildings, most of them 6,000 sf or less, mostly located in California and similar moderate climates, have hit the mark. What about larger buildings, commercial buildings, more problematic climates? Given the constraints of current technology and the comfort demands of building users, is zero energy a worthwhile investment for buildings in, for example, a warm, humid climate?
