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Surprised Professionals Become LEED Believers

February 14, 2012 by Tyler Caine
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For those who often take part in sustainable buildings, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) can seem like a mature system that has become a notable part of the industry. At the same time, immersion can make it easy to forget that most of the building industry has yet to do a LEED project. Without a doubt, LEED is still a... [read more]

Making Green Building Benchmarking Mainstream

February 8, 2012 by U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC)
with 154 views
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In January, USGBC launched its second advocacy campaign of 2012, Mainstream Benchmarking.  Through this campaign we will advocate for policies that will bring the benefits of energy benchmarking to all commercial buildings.  So why benchmarking? Why now?  The answer is simple. The green building movement has made many... [read more]

Rebuilding Galveston, Texas As An Affordable, Sustainable Community

December 1, 2011 by Kaid Benfield
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   Three years ago, Hurricane Ike wiped out much of Galveston, Texas, including over 500 affordable homes administered by the city’s Housing Authority.  Faced with the task of starting over, the Authority began to rethink how it might improve upon its old public housing model. With the help of McCormack Baron Salazar, a... [read more]

Save $20 Billion By Building Schools Green

November 11, 2011 by Planet Forward
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Here’s a puzzler. Right at the time of day when some kids are most likely to get into trouble, most schools close the door and turn off the lights. Seems silly, doesn’t it? That disconnect, along with a slew of other good reasons, has helped give birth to the community schools movement. [read more]

Greenbuild 2011: Presentation Slides + Wrapup

October 12, 2011 by Green Buildings Alive
with 279 views
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For the 24,000 people who attended the US Green Building Council’s Greenbuild 2011 conference and expo in Toronto last week, there was a simple question: what's NEXT for green building? [read more]

Is This The World's Greenest Neighborhood?

August 26, 2011 by Kaid Benfield
with 738 views
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  As this post is published, I am on vacation in Victoria, British Columbia, a wonderful city that - among other good things - is home to Dockside Green, which some people are calling the greenest development in the world.  At least with respect to new, highly urban developments-in-progress, they may have a case... [read more]

Barbie Gets A Green Roof

August 12, 2011 by Kaid Benfield
with 320 views
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I vacationed in Prague not long ago and wandered into a museum full of Barbie dolls.  Pretty impressive, in its way.  Barbie has come a long way over the years, and her newest incarnation is as an architect with a green home. Bridgette Meinhold previewed Architect Barbie in Inhabitat: “Various people and organizations have long... [read more]

IGCC Series: Transportation Considerations for Green Buildings

June 9, 2011 by Chris Cheatham
with 106 views
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The International Green Construction Code (IGCC) is a model code for cities seeking to promote sustainable building practices through their building codes. The IGCC promotes transition from the current voluntary green construction certifications, like USGBC’s LEED, to mandatory green construction codes. As the most recent revisions... [read more]

Green Building Code Webinar Available Now

June 9, 2011 by Chris Cheatham
with 128 views
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Many of you have been asking about the availability of the webinar on the International Green Construction Code (IGCC) that I completed with Bob Kobet, and Basic Gov.  The webinar is now available online, although you will have to sync the powerpoints and audio.  If you listen closely, you can hear the panic in my voice as... [read more]

A promising new standard: LEED for Neighborhood Development

April 19, 2011 by ECPA Urban Planning
with 529 views
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  I recently had the pleasure of sitting in on a talk hosted by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) that was headlined by three Greater Washington developers working on projects that are hoping to obtain some of D.C.’s first LEED for Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) certifications:  The Southwest Waterfront (The... [read more]

Who Is A USGBC Customer?

April 11, 2011 by Shari Shapiro
with 64 views
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On Friday, the USGBC responded to Henry Gifford's amended complaint with a Motion To Dismiss for failure to state a legal claim (Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6)) and for lack of subject matter jurisdiction (Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1)). In essence, the USGBC's response has two prongs: 1) the... [read more]

If LEED Is A Fraud, Why Aren't Developers Suing?

February 9, 2011 by Shari Shapiro
with 647 views
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Yesterday, I discussed the fact that Henry Gifford filed an Amended Complaint in his suit against the USGBC for fraudulently claiming that LEED buildings save energy.  The post, as well as the Amended Complaint are available here. I also noted that Mr. Gifford and the other plaintiffs probably do not have standing to bring the... [read more]