Green Building

A lighting retrofit in a University of Central Florida parking garage will yield $42,000 in annual savings, according to Environmental Leader.

October 30th is National Weatherization Day. Home weatherization or weatherproofing is the practice of protecting a building and its interior from the elements, particularly from sunlight, precipitation, and wind, and of modifying a home to reduce energy consumption and optimize home energy efficiency.

National restaurant chain Arby’s recently built a new site in Magnolia, Texas, to earth-friendly standards sufficient to earn it Silver Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

The White House released the "Recovery through Retrofit" report today, which reaches familiar conclusions - retrofitting homes and developing a residential energy efficiency industry can save money, slash carbon emissions, and create jobs right now. The report also had specific policy recommendations that won't be new to any reader of this blog.

A small, solar-powered village now occupies The National Mall as Washington DC just got a little greener. Teams from universities around the United States and Europe converge on the site to compete in the Department of Energy’s (DOE) biennial Solar Decathlon.

A California grocery store was recently built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold standards, incorporating energy and water reduction measures, efficient lighting and recycled materials.

What comes to mind when you think about a design and construction project? For too many seasoned corporate professionals, their mind recalls overruns, finger pointing, being in between designers and general contractors and not receiving what they had hoped for and expected. . But, that’s not the way it has to be.

While navigating through economic troubles, shifting real estate, and uncertainty for all businesses, commercial property managers and owners have been hard pressed to find cost savings opportunities. Solutions may range from turning off lights at night to reduced landscaping. Cost savings strategies run across the spectrum and can often leave tenants making sacrifices.

Kirkenes, Norway, on the border with Russia in the Arctic "High North," will soon host the world's tallest wooden building. The structure is the project of the Norwegian Barents Secretariat, an agency of the country's three northernmost counties that funds cross-border community projects assisting culture, business, youth, the environment, education and indigenous peoples.

The Department of Energy (DOE) announced Sept. 14 that it will allocate $454 million to a new program to make energy efficiency retrofits happen in homes and businesses. New construction is increasingly incorporating ways to conserve energy and water use, but existing buildings continue to gobble up energy in wasteful and detrimental ways.