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

Thanks to a $45 million federal appropriation to the Smithsonian Institution, the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, Md., has broken ground on what is expected to be one of the most energy-efficient laboratories in the country. The 69,000-sf lab is targeting LEED Gold and is expected to use 37% less energy and emit 37% less carbon dioxide than a similar building.

The U.S. Green Building Council reports that Chicago has the highest number of square feet of LEED-certified green building projects nationally with 71 million square feet.  

The 113,000-sf Rolling Meadows Elementary School in San Antonio is the Judson Independent School District’s first sustainable facility, with green features such as vented roofs for rainwater collection and regionally sourced materials.

The U.S. Green Building Council and the American Institute of Architects unveiled "Local Leaders in Sustainability: A Special Report from Sundance," which outlines a five-point national action plan that mayors and local leaders can use as a framework to develop and implement green schools initiatives.

Seattle launched a new program that will help commercial property owners and managers assess and improve building energy efficiency. Under the program, all commercial and multifamily buildings larger than 10,000 sq. ft. will be measured for their energy performance using the EPA’s ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager.

A new report from the Cascadia Green Building Council offers best management practices for designing safe, efficient, and effective net-zero water systems for the multifamily, commercial, single-family, and neighborhood market segments.

Can you name the nation’s greenest K-12 school? How about the greenest commercial building? If you drew a blank, don’t worry because our friends at EarthTechling have all the information on those two projects. Check out the Hawai’i Preparatory Academy’s Energy Lab on the Big Island and Cascadia Green Building Council’s new Seattle headquarters.

The Los Angeles Business Council's study on the feasibility of installing solar panels on the city’s multifamily buildings shows there's tremendous rooftop capacity, and that a significant portion of that rooftop capacity comes from buildings in economically depressed neighborhoods. Solar installations could therefore be used to create jobs, lower utility costs, and improve conditions for residents in these neighborhood.