From Green Right Now Reports

Owens Corning today announced that it is launching a new program that simplifies recycling asphalt shingles
for its preferred roofing contractors. The company said it will be the first roofing manufacturer to connect contractors with convenient recycling facilities through a national strategic alliance.

Based on a pilot conducted in Indiana, Owens Corning plans to will roll out the program nationally, starting in the Midwest. Contractors will pledge to recycle their shingle tear-offs.

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By Ashley Phillips
Green Right Now

The town of Greensburg, Kansas was destroyed after a tornado ripped through their community in May of 2007, but it is not only coming back stronger than before, but much greener.

One project currently taking place in Greensburg is the Chain of Eco-Homes. When completed, 12 homes will serve as a “living laboratory” for unique environmental building. Two Eco-Homes already exist, Silo Eco-Home, equipped with a vegetable garden green roof, and Solar Eco-Home, the winner of the 2005 Solar Decathlon Competition and donation from the University of Colorado.

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Green Right Now Reports

West Coast Green, a gathering that‘s part expo, part trade show and part thought conference, will be showcasing leading edge green projects when it opens at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco this coming weekend.

One of the largest conferences devoted to the “built environment,” the event attracts speakers with architectural, design and construction expertise from around the nation.

Visitors to the 2009 conference, Oct. 1-3, will be able to see demos of hundreds of products, as well as examples of green design, such as a large hanging garden constructed on a bamboo framework that will be suspended over the bay. The installation aims to show how green can be beautiful and useful, using vegetation to mitigate heat, sequester carbon and improve water and air quality.

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By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now

The US Green Building Council has pronounced New Orleans home to the biggest green neighborhood in the world, thanks to the efforts of Brad Pitt and the group Make It Right who have built 13 LEED Platinum certified, storm-resistant homes and are planning another 150 more in the Lower 9th Ward .

The neighborhood, already impoverished, was among those hardest hit by post-Katrina flooding when New Orleans levees failed after the 2005 hurricane.

Pitt and Make It Right Executive Director Tom Darden accepted an award for their accomplishments at the Clinton Global Iniative meeting in New York on Thursday.

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By Melissa Segrest
Green Right Now
They’ve been around for hundreds of years, but when you think of a metal roof, energy efficiency and attractive, colorful design may not be the first thing that comes to mind.
Forget about the tin roof on Grandpa’s farmhouse. In recent decades, the industry has evolved to the point that metal roofs [...]

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By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now

While people scurry to devise new green components for homes, Don Blalock is in the enviable position of launching one that he’s been nursing along for the last six years.

His Aeonian brick will build houses that are significantly more energy efficient than conventional homes; help them qualify for LEED platinum certification and withstand hurricane force winds up to 240 mph. They’ll also resist heat, mold, mildew and termites, says Blalock whose goal is to build “the most structurally sound house that’s livable that will last for a very long time.”

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By Melissa Segrest
Green Right Now

If anyone knows about energy-efficient, environmentally responsible buildings, it’s the U.S. Green Building Council. The booming non-profit wrote the book when it comes to guiding and recognizing those who create the world’s greenest buildings.

It should come as no surprise, then, that the council’s new headquarters in Washington, D.C., has received their own highest rating for environmentally smart buildings – platinum.

Before you assume they’re tooting their own horn, a look at all of the green elements of the council’s new 75,000-square-foot office may allay suspicions. (Besides, if they didn’t build the most energy-efficient and environmentally sound building possible, more than a few fingers would wag.)

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By Ashley Phillips
Green Right Now

The Sears Tower is undergoing a renovation of massive proportions. As the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, the Sears Tower is already relatively eco-friendly, meeting Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) criteria. But now it is aiming to be even greener.

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By Melissa Segrest
Green Right Now

Photo: Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas

Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas in Austin was the first hospital to receive the LEED Platinum award

For too long, hospitals have been less than healthy — inside and out.

They burn massive amounts of medical waste that spew the carcinogen dioxin into the air. They are energy gluttons, operating 24/7 — creating untold amounts of greenhouse gases and leaving massive carbon footprints. They traditionally have used about twice as much energy as regular office space. From toxins in lab chemicals to dangerous elements that leach from IVs and catheters made of vinyl plastic tubing, the place you go to heal may not always be good for you.

That is changing, thanks to powerful non-profit groups, architects with green expertise and some of the nation’s largest hospital systems.

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Donna Arch, 51, owner of Thermal Moisture Imaging, Southampton, Penn.

What I do:

I am President and Founder of an Infrared Testing Company, located in Southampton, Pa. I oversee the daily operations of the company.

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From Green Right Now Reports

Montage Beverly Hills, the 201-room luxury hotel that opened November 2008 in Beverly Hills, has earned Gold certification under the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED for New Construction rating system.

This is the first certified ultra-luxury hotel in Southern California for LEED for New Construction and one of only four Gold certified hotels worldwide designated by this third-party benchmarking system designed to encourage the design, the construction and the operations of more sustainable buildings. Montage Beverly Hills is also the first newly constructed mixed-use hotel and residential project to be LEED certified as a single development, denoting it as a high performance building that is a responsible, efficient and healthy place to live and work.

“We’re gratified to have created and be operating Southern California’s first hotel and residential project to obtain Gold level certification,” Alan J. Fuerstman, founder and CEO of Montage Hotels & Resorts, said in a statement.

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John Neal, age 26, Oakland, Calif.

What I do:

I’m currently the construction manager for Sustainable Spaces in San Francisco. Sustainable Spaces is a home performance retrofitter that offers turn-key solutions for homeowners to improve the health, comfort and energy efficiency of their homes.

The first step of our process is a GreenUP, a comprehensive home energy assessment conducted by Home Performance Specialists trained in building science. This results in a personalized roadmap of each home, which then guides our specially trained construction crews on how to most effectively retrofit the home’s heating, cooling and ventilation systems.

My role is to work with construction crews and our clients during the construction phase to ensure that each job runs smoothly, our crews can work safely, and that every solution performs optimally and every client is satisfied with the work completed.

How it helps:

Our clients, homeowners, feel the benefit of our work first. Depending on what work was performed they will typically lower their energy bills, improve indoor air quality and occupant health, and will live more comfortably in their homes.

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