The U.S. Green Concrete Council has just released the industry’s first-ever comprehensive resource on concrete and sustainability. “The Sustainable Concrete Guide—Strategies and Examples” is a guide to strategies for the best use of concrete in high-performance, long-lasting, green buildings.

The guide includes case studies, technical data and references, and numerous practices that can be implemented immediately, the Council said. In addition to general overview of basic,the drills down to such topics as carbon footprints, thermal transmission, stormwater management, and how to reduce, reuse and recycle.

The last part of the guide profiles 12 projects throughout the U.S., all of which utilize sustainable concrete practices and techniques.  The profiles include three specific types of structures: parking structures and parking lots; single-family and multi-family residential structures; and commercial, institutional, and industrial structures.

The book was written by Andrea J. Schokker, professor and head of the civil engineering department at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Schokker is a member of the Board of Direction for the American Concrete Institute and is the chair of the ACI’s committee on the sustainability of concrete.

The U.S. Green Concrete Council was established in 2009 with the purpose of disseminating information on sustainable concrete.

“The Sustainable Concrete Guide—Strategies and Examples” can be purchased through American Concrete Institute website.

When Ric Richards recently acquired an aging McDonalds in Cary, N.C., he knew the place needed an overhaul.  The 25-year-old store was fraying at the edges.

LED lighting at Cary McDonalds

Richards decided to give these particular golden arches a green touch.

Once he’d decided that the building needed replacing, the decision to go eco-friendly was not difficult. Richards knew it made sense from a business standpoint – it would cut energy costs dramatically – and he figured it would resonate with the educated customers living in the Research Triangle region, especially those interested in lower-carbon living.

“I felt it was the right thing to do,’’ said the owner-operator whose green restaurant celebrated its grand opening this winter. “We all need to be more geared for sustainability as we move into the future. We need to build buildings or live at home using fewer resources.”

Creating the third green-credentialed restaurant in the nation proved just a little easier in the Raleigh-Durham area, because the leading LED manufacturer Cree Lighting is just down the road.

Cree representatives, Richards and architect Logan Luzadr of LMHT Architects collaborated to light the restaurant’s public spaces completely with LEDs, which use less than 20 percent of the energy consumed by comparable incandescent lighting and only about half the energy used by CFL lights.

Virtually all of the restaurant’s lights are LEDs, making the LEED (for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design ) Gold-rated building a showcase of state-of-the art lighting.

Not only are the LEDs more efficient than other types of lighting, they don’t contain any mercury, which has been a downside of CFLs.

“If you didn’t know the lighting in McDonald’s was LED, you probably wouldn’t notice, but that’s the point. The Cree LED lights in the Cary McDonald’s give off the same beautiful light you would expect from an incandescent but consume just a fraction of the energy,” said Cree executive Gary Trott. “This allows the store to layer in accent lighting for a more pleasing environment while still meeting LEED-certification standards.”

Lighting doesn’t just come from a socket, however, and Luzadr’s design assured that day times at the McD’s would be naturally lit. The building was constructed with 360-degrees of windows in a cupola above the eating area with 19 Solatubes – tunnels that carry sky light – spread across the restaurant.

“Aesthetically the restaurant looks terrific,” said Richards, who explained that lighting was a key focus of the rebuild because it does double duty, saving energy and improving the feel of the cafe.

The other aspect of green building that Richards wanted to be sure to get right was the heating and cooling system. His “green team” of Luzadr, operations manager Tony Myers, green site designer Brian Stoltz of Commercial Site Design in Raleigh and green advisor Skanska USA, came up with an enclosed Hydronic Water Boiler System (available in residential versions)  that cuts energy use, in part, by using humidity to keep the restaurant at an even temperature.

The technologically advanced system gives the restaurant a different tactile feel, Richards says.

“I own seven restaurants and I can tell the difference. I just built another one (with the) same style and design, very aesthetic…and it’s energy efficient, but it feels different.’’

Richards estimates his return on the green energy investments will be just five years. Figuring the ROI on the other green changes will not be an easy mathematical formula, but the improved aesthetics and environmentally sensitive changes are tangible but immeasurable rewards.

Among the other features in the LEED-certified builiding:

• All the seating and cabinets and other décor elements were glued together with lower VOC adhesives

• Table tops are made of wheatboard and sunflower seeds (recovered from food processing) or bamboo, a renewable source.

• Countertops are Vetrazzo, which uses recycled concrete and glass.

Speaking of concrete, the concrete from the demolition of the predecessor store was sent out for recycling. The concrete that was installed in the parking lot is recycled stock. While the green team was pondering the heat island effects of being encircled by concrete, an inevitable outcome of being a drive-through restaurant, they added areas for vegetation to curb runoff and mitigate heat effects.

One day someone on the team muttered that they should think about putting in a couple places for electric vehicles to plug-in. Heads snapped. Of course they should. So they did, partnering with NovaCharge in Florida to install two charging stations, which have already been used.

Inside, energy and water savings continue with low-flow faucets and toilets that use 1/10^th of a gallon to flush, a vast savings over even the going green standard of a 1.6 gallon flush.

Topping it all off are placards throughout the restaurant that explain the changes, as well as an electronic presentation of how the building was constructed.

Now, as for that McDonald’s food…it’s being prepared with EnergyStar appliances. But it bears acknowledging that, in all honesty, a big burger is not the poster food for the green movement.

However, a recent  sustainability report by the fast-food giant shows that McDonald’s is well aware of changing tastes, as well as pressures on the food supply. The report noted that 98 percent of the whitefish used in Filet-O-Fish sandwiches came from fisheries with “favorable sustainability ratings” and that healthy sides for Happy Meals are offered in the top McD markets. Those sides include fruit bags, cherry tomatoes, corn cups and “Apple Dippers.” And there are those salads and parfaits. So those who eschew burgers, can at least chew something else.

The report also said that 80 percent of the cooking oil used in McDonald’s in Europe is converted into biodiesel. The EU has a stronger biodiesel network than the U.S. But more and more U.S. restaurants are recycling their cooking oil, including the Cary McDonald’s.

Copyright © 2010 Green Right Now | Distributed by GRN Network

As climate change accelerates, leading investment groups are asking to hear more from corporations about their plans to adapt and survive in a changing world.

U.S. investors – pension funds, labor, religious and other institutional investors – filed a record number of climate change resolutions in 2009.

The 95 shareholder resolutions were filed with 82 U.S. and Canadian companies, some of which face special challenges from climate change, according to a news release by Ceres, a coalition of investors, environmental and social responsibility groups.

The number of resolutions represent a 40 percent increase over 2009 and were likely encouraged by recent guidance from the Securities and Exchange Commission on climate disclosure.

“As the SEC recently affirmed with its disclosure guidance, climate change presents clear material risks and opportunities for U.S. businesses – and investors have a right to know which companies are well prepared and which are not,” said Mindy S. Lubber, president of Ceres, which helps coordinate the shareholder filings.

Companies targeted by the resolutions include oil and gas corporations such as ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, as well as the nation’s largest coal companies, electric utilities, homebuilders, “big box” retailers, financial institutions “and other businesses that investors believe are not adequately disclosing and managing potential climate-related business impacts,” according to Ceres.

Tar sands open mining, Alberta (Photo: U.S. Dept. of Interior.)

Investors want to know about the risks companies are taking with certain business practices that could increase a company’s carbon footprint and work against sustainability.

Resolutions, for example, targeted ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips over the companies’ plans to spend billions to extract fossil fuels from Canada oil sands deposits. The  shareholders want more information about the environmental impacts of this controversial practice, which faces legal challenges in both Canada and the U.S. They also asked for the companies’ assessments of potential risks to their reputation over oil sands extraction, a more complex, costly way to extract oil for petroleum.

Other resolutions asked big coal and electric utilities about their plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as the U.S. readies for possible regulation of GHGs.

“We want our companies to closely look at the impact climate change legislation and regulation have on them, to realistically assess those risks, and to consider the indirect consequences of climate change-driven regulation and business trends on their activities,” said Jack Ehnes, CEO of CalSTRS, the California teachers’ retirement pension fund, which manages $131 billion dollars in assets.

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, whose office oversees the state’s $129.4 billion pension fund and filed resolutions with CONSOL Energy Inc. and engineering firm KBR, also spoke out on behalf of more transparency.

“Investors cannot remain silent to the threats of global climate change, which has the potential to negatively impact businesses and their long-term profitability. The New York State Common Retirement Fund wants the companies it invests in to more clearly assess and better manage the far-reaching risks of climate change,” DiNapoli said.

Image: state.pa.us

A combination of federal and private sector funding will be the basis of Pennsylvania’s $48 million Green Energy Revolving Loan Fund, providing money for energy-saving and renewable energy projects in existing, non-residential buildings around the state.

The Recovery Act will contribute $12 million to the fund, while The Reinvestment Fund, TRF, will add $36 million and will serve as the program’s manager. Governor Edward Rendell cited TRF’s track record of investing in green and sustainable energy as key elements in the selection process.

Federal guidelines require any potential manager to contribute at least $18 million to the fund. TRF doubled that commitment.

The $48 million total investment is projected to support 500 jobs on projects designed to reduce energy consumption by nearly 800 billion British Thermal Units — enough to power more than 23,000 average homes in Pennsylvania for one year.

Prior to the new commitment, TRF has financed more than 2,526 projects in the Mid-Atlantic region, delivering $939 million. The Department of Environmental Protection and TRF are in the process of finalizing the fund’s guidelines.

“President Obama and Congress had the foresight to make renewable energy and energy conservation a key part of the federal Recovery Act because these are areas that are critically important to the nation’s future,” Rendell said. “This new revolving loan fund is the latest opportunity to be born of that wise decision and, under TRF’s management, the program will put hundreds of people to work incorporating green technologies into buildings that ultimately, will save consumers millions of dollars each year.”

Retrofitting doesn’t always get the attention that new green building generates, with its “net zero” and passive solar designs.

Empire State Building (Photo: Empire State Building Co.)

But the impact of retrofitting can be great, and it comes with the bonus of preserving historic and treasured structures — like the Empire State Building.

The iconic New York high rise, built in the 1930s, has received an award for its 2009 retrofit, which is expected to save 38 percent of the building’s energy and $4.4 million annually.

The Sustainable Buildings Industry Council gave it the “Beyond Green High Performance Building Award”, which recognizes the energy efficiency and air quality improvements planned for the retrofit, designed by a collaboration of real estate company Jones Lang LaSalle, the Clinton Climate Initiative, energy efficiency experts Johnson Controls and the Rocky Mountain Institute.

In addition to the energy savings, the redo is projected to prevent 105,000 metric tons of carbon emissions over the next 15 years.

The collaborators hope that the Empire State Building will serve as an example of what can be accomplished with existing buildings because buildings are the single biggest energy users in any city or town.

Managers for the Empire State Building say the retrofit will save tenants money for electricity, a top tenant expense after payroll and rent, and also help them curtail turnover,  because of improved indoor comfort. Tenants will benefit from the energy-saving features of more thermal-protective windows, fresh air ventilation, a state-of-the-art cooling HVAC system.

The Rocky Mountain Institute, whose experts helped guide the retrofit, say the award comes at an opportune time, just as they are launching a RetroFit initiative.

See more on the project on this YouTube video:

If you had the money and connections, you could build a snappy green house these days. Sink a geothermal heat pump to tap Mother Earth’s energy, slap up some solar panels, finish it out with non-toxic drywall, cork floors, denim insulation, recycled glass countertops and floors made from sunken ship decking.

Green house (Image: Axepin/dreamstime.com)

But does a green house a green home make? The answer to that is….of course not. Green builders, and those who live in green houses, soon bump up against what some land planners have known all along: It takes a village to bring green to its fullest expression.

Sure it’s cool that net zero houses can push the meter backward. But it is far better to have that household ticking away in a neighborhood where the kids walk to school, mom and pop hop a train to work, and gramps shops for pickles down the street – when the community garden’s cukes have been exhausted. The whole works would be powered by clean energy, connected to local food sources and friendly to local wildlife.

This is not a vision that most of us live, or even recognize, especially those of us in sprawling suburbs, where the tomatoes come from diesel trucks, work is over the horizon and our ‘hood was built to the unwritten specs of tract housing — build first, ponder later.  We are stranded us in spots that fail to take advantage of solar or wind power, in subdivisions isolated from basic services; where getting to the “corner store” can require a two-mile drive and you couldn’t get there greenly anyway because no one saw the need to install a bike lane, trolley or bus system.

But new, more sustainable living arrangements needn’t be unattainable. We can’t roll up the suburbs. But with the right community leadership, open-minded homeowners and creative developers, they can be reshaped to be more green, and we’re not talking about the lawns. All these engines of change are engaged in hundreds of projects across America that will — if circumstances favor their development — create new paradigms for the 21^st Century of community sustainability.

The very best designed green neighborhoods may still be on the drawing board, evolving, but striving projects are on the ground right now.

Suburban green, bringing it home in St. Charles Maryland

Head south of the nation’s capital into Maryland and you see a rolling mix of  rural communities and tract housing  interspersed with McMansions encased by private turf fiefdoms.

About 22 miles south of the capital off U.S. Highway 301, an aging middle-class development of traditional houses appears. This master planned community launched in the 1960s and known as the St. Charles community has neither the glitz of the mansions nor the quaint appeal of surrounding towns, but its density, once something shunned as suburbanites spread their wings, has made it prime for new life as a green town.

The St. Charles plan calls for large work zones and schools close to housing

Developer ACPT is building an adjacent community of 11,000 new homes that will be green from the ground up, while also offering the existing 13,000 homeowners energy retrofitting assistance.

This grand vision byACPT calls for new housing units to be connected to centralized solar and geothermal power stations and form the center of one huge affordable, regenerating oasis of sustainability.

Make that salable sustainability, too. CEO Steve Griessel wants to provide something average Americans can afford, and he’s nearly certain that customers won’t be able to resist the triple appeal of reasonable upfront costs combined with ongoing energy-savings, enhanced by nearby schools and work centers.

“Until now, everyone looks at this stuff, anything green — the first assumption is that it’s interesting but expensive and people are not willing to pay the premium,’’ Griessel says. “Our entire thesis here is to say that’s just not true.”

Actually, St. Charles is joining a list of green building enclaves, some more green than others, that are finding that eco-friendly can be wallet-friendly, from the spare but elegant homes replacing lost houses in parts of New Orleans to the prairie versions popping up in Greensburg, Kansas.

Griessel’s determined to prove the economics can work. He’s worked out a plan that will save the development money by recycling natural resources at every turn and employing the latest technology. Dirt from prepping house sites will be folded into road beds instead of being trucked out. Felled trees will be chipped and reused on site. Software for the entire project will streamline the building process, helping contractors avoid costly mistakes and duplication. Just the new software alone will save 22 percent on what builders call the “horizontal infrastructure” costs – the initial phase of putting in the houses’ foundations and setting plumbing access, Griessel says.

Sketch of a home planned for the St. Charles community

Homes will be built by known builders in the area, such as Ryan Homes and Richmond American Homes and frankly, won’t look much different from other suburban dwellings. Some green building experts would say that ACPT is missing a beat by not orienting the houses to passive solar building standards that can absorb and retain the sun’s heat.

Michael Kinsley, a development expert with the Rocky Mountain Institute says that every municipality and developer should be looking at orientation today, or risk muffing an opportunity to conserve energy. When sustainable siting is not considered “that’s a deficiency on the part of the developer and the local authority” that is “committing the residents to much higher energy costs for generations, when a very simple regulatory change could have avoided that.”

Kinsley, however, speaks highly of communities that pursue retrofitting of homes and businesses. Greening the community is win-win, he says, because it “plugs a leak” in the local economy by putting the building trades to work and keeping more dollars in the pockets of homeowners. “Any community where the building trades are out of work, they should be emphasizing energy efficiency…the markets are right there. You have a low risk, high return opportunity and it’s largely ignored by economic authorities.”

From that perspective, St. Charles’ above-average energy aspirations will help provide. The community will need just about every trade and building expert imaginable to finish the gargantuan neighborhood which will be powered by a 75 acre, 10 MegaWatt solar farm, an underground geothermal plant, and a nearby natural gas plant (which Griessel endorses because it burns cleaner than other fossil fuels). The houses will have Smart Meters and Energy Star appliances. They will be LEED-certified and right-sized for families (starting at 1,650 square feet), enabling residents to save money on electricity, commuting and mortgages.

The community will incorporate several schools (up to nine), within walking distance of homes, and a job center where businesses will be offered incentives to congregate. All of this will cut down on the St. Charles community’s carbon footprint, improve the quality of life and reduce commute times and energy costs. Wild lands will be preserved on the community perimeter, adding another livability element, and keeping to the spirit of St. Charles 1.0, it is expected to house 40 percent of the county’s population on two percent of its land.

Master planned communities of the past took some of these matters into account, earmarking spots for gas stations and grocery stores, but rarely, if ever, did they seriously, let alone simultaneously, address energy efficiency, restrain sprawl and pursue work major work centers.

St. Charles will be different. “Ten years from now people will be living in homes they can afford. Their children will be going to school down the road,” Griessel said. “They’ll be closer to work and there will be less need for a second motor car… And this will also come with 50 percent smaller utility bills.”

Energy Star appliances have become commonplace. But did you know that buildings can be certified as Energy Star structures? This week, the EPA is celebrating 10 years of Energy Star for Buildings.

The first Energy Star building, Ridgehaven in San Diego

The buildings program got its start with the EPA’s Green Lights program in 1991, which addressed the need for energy efficiency through a voluntary, public/private energy partnership by promoting efficient lighting systems in commercial buildings.

The Green Lights concept was simple – energy efficient lighting could significantly reduce the pollution caused by a building, improve lighting and save money. To help businesses understand the concept, Green Lights provided a method for businesses to report and measure energy savings.

As Green Lights gained in popularity, the EPA  realized that buildings could improve their energy efficiency by as much as 30 percent by making overall efficiency improvements.

(Buildings in the U.S. are responsible for about 40 percent of carbon emissions as well as 40 percent of energy consumption and 13 percent of water consumption, according to the U.S. Green Building Council.)

Meanwhile, in 1992, the EPA introduced Energy Star, a voluntary labeling program that promoted energy-efficient products to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The first products labeled were office-related machines such as computers and monitors. Eventually the EPA expanded the program to include all sorts of equipment ranging from heating and cooling systems to home appliances.

In 1995, Green Lights became part of the Energy Star program, and evolved to become Energy Star for Buildings, certifying its first building, the Ridgehaven Green Building in San Diego four years later.

Headquarters to the city’s Environmental Services Department, the 73,700-square-foot Ridgehaven building achieved an energy performance rating that was better than 90 percent of similar use buildings in the United States.

Ridgehaven was built in the early ‘80s and was “greened up” in 1996, according to John Helminski, the city’s Emerging and Renewable Technology Program manager. It received the Energy Star honor in 1999.

Richard Hays was the director of the environmental department at that time, says Helminski, and
“it was his vision to create a green environment to promote a healthier work environment, and a more sustainable environment that reused existing elements in the renovation.” For instance, Helminski says, they saved existing doors and ceiling tiles. If a tile was cracked, it was crushed and consolidated into new tile. The carpeting also was made from recycled materials.

“In 1996,” Helminski says, “there were not a lot of consumer products available for green efforts. It was rare to find recycled carpet in those days.” Ridgehaven used recycled plastic bottles in their carpeting, which was very innovative for the times.

Since the tenants worked for the city’s environmental department, the employees were all on board with the “green” message. The building did face some obstacles when the renovation project was taken to City Council. Helminski says they had to persuade the council that they need 10 percent more funds to make the building green. At least one council member called it a waste of money, he says.

Fortunately, San Diego Gas and Electric’s Chuck Angel stepped in to help. Angel was able to prove the energy efficient aspect of the project, and along with developer David Gottfried, known as the grandfather of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), came up with the idea on how a building should be more efficient and a better environment for the employee.

“Ridgehaven,” says Helminski, “was a test pilot of the future LEEDs rating system.”

LEEDs, which came into being in 2000, is the internationally recognized green certification system used by the USGBC. It insures that a building has been designed using methods that improve performance in energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality and stewardship of resources.

Ironically, says Helminski, Ridgehaven is not yet LEED-certified. Once they have installed a solar system and made additional retrofits on the heating and cooling system, he says, “We will take it through the LEEDs process.”

As members of the city’s environmental services department, Ridgehaven employees, clearly get the green message. Everyone has a blue bin for recycling. Everyone takes their lunch scraps outside to the compost bin. It’s ingrained.

Tenants do make a difference, says Energy Star’s Beard. “In a typical office building , 30 percent of energy is wasted – lights are left on, as well as computers, faxes and copiers. Heating and cooling systems may be inefficient.

“From a management and personal perspective, a lot can be done. You need a corporate and individual commitment,” she says.

Not all of America’s office workers are on board the environmental wagon, acknowledges Helminski. “It’s a mindset,” he says. “It takes education and time.”

Fun Facts:

• The EPA estimates that since the Energy Star for buildings program was initiated, it has helped prevent the emission of nearly 120 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, the equivalent of electricity use from 60 million homes.

• The oldest building to earn the Energy Star: Cambridge Savings Bank in Cambridge, Ma., built in 1820.

• The tallest building to earn the award: Aon Center in Chicago at 1,136-feet high (higher than three stacked football fields)

• The largest building: USAA McDermott Building in San Antonio, measuring 4.5 million square-feet.

• Famous buildings: Wrigley Building in Chicago; Chrysler Building in New York City; Prudential Tower in Boston; One Wall Street, New York City; Transamerica Pyramid in San Franciso; 7 World Trade Center, New York City.

Among some the Energy Star Buildings’ notable tenants are Amazon.com in Seattle; National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C.; and MTV in Santa Monica, Ca.

Copyright © 2009 | Distributed by Noofangle Media

When they roll out the red carpet in Copenhagen, it will be green.

Copenhagen carpet, green even though it's red

Actually, it will be red in color — we wouldn’t want our world leaders walking on a tertiary color. But it will be eco-friendly, because among those firms that will get to show their green wares on this world stage are a Belgian company that makes carpets for large events, and a US bioplastic maker that’s replaced oil-based fibers in carpet with a plant-based product called INGEO.

The carpet, by French carpet producer Sommer Needlepunch (which is owned by Belgian DS Textile Platform group), is 20,000 square meters of cushy, red floor covering made with INGEO bioplastic fibers, developed by Minnesota’s NatureWorks LLC.

The carpet will cover the floors of the Bella Center at the Copenhagen Climate Conference, where thousands of government and NGO leaders will converge to discuss needed global carbon reductions over the next two weeks. (The conference runs from Dec. 7-18)

This unique collaboration is reducing the greenhouse gas emissions of making an event carpet this size by 60 percent compared with using fibers from polypropylene — the usual fossil-based material used in such carpeting, according to NatureWorks.

The Eco2Punch carpet is already winning awards and getting attention in the industry. Sommer Needlepunch is proud to be the first company to find a cradle-to-grave solution for event carpet, thanks to its partners in the project, said Patrick van Pottelberge, who noted that the carpet suffers from no compromises in quality and meets Europe’s stringent flammability standards.

When it’s rolled up after the Copenhagen Climate Conference, the carpet will be recycled via a process that returns it to a lactic acid that can be used as an industrial feedstock for making more Ingeo products.

“The carpet going into Copenhagen will be collected by another company in Europe (Galactic). They will depolymerize it, to recover the feedstock, which we can use it to make plastic,” said Steve Davies, marketing director for NatureWorks.

The beauty of this type of recycling, he said, is that it doesn’t result in a lesser, secondary use, but a recapture of the vast majority of the original material, which can be used to remake the same product or something similar.

And while “event carpet” is a fairly boutique item, similar efficiencies are helping create ever more eco-friendly applications in the residential and commercial carpet markets, he said. The INGEO plastic, when used as the only ingredient for a carpet does not have the durability of nylon carpet. In pure form, it’s perfect for the temporary carpet. But as a hybrid blend with tougher nylon, it can reduce the energy required to make everyday carpet, he said.

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

Over the last eight years, green construction has created 2.4 million jobs and contributed $173 billion to the US economy. It is estimated that in the next four years, despite an unstable economy, both numbers will more than triple, according to a new study from the U.S. Green Building Council and Booz Allen Hamilton.

The study reports that green building will support 7.9 million U.S. jobs, adding $554 billion into the American economy, including $396 billion in wages.

“The study demonstrates that investing in green buildings contributes significantly to our nation’s wealth while creating jobs in a range of occupations, from carpenters to cost estimators,” said Gary Rahl, Officer, Global Government Market, Booz Allen Hamilton.

The report was released this week at USGBC’s annual GreenBuild International Conference & Expo. “Our goal is for the phrase ‘green building’ to become obsolete, by making all building and retrofits green – and transforming every job in our industry into a green job,” said Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO and founding chairman of USGBC in a statement. “This study validates the work that the 25,000 people gathered here at Greenbuild, and every member of our movement, do every day.”

The report factored in everyone involved in green construction from the design architects, to the laborers, and even the truck drivers that deliver the materials.

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

PHOENIX — When the Greenbuild Expo 2009 landed in Phoenix Nov. 9 with 30,000 participants, the circus came to town for Mick Dalrymple. He runs the a.k.a. Green Eco-Friendly Building Center, the Phoenix area’s first store of its kind.

Phoenix Convention Center

Dalrymple also sits on the national board of the U.S. Green Building Council, the organizer of Greenbuild Expo and International Conference, which this year (its eighth) has packed 1,800 exhibitors into the recently expanded Phoenix Convention Center.

An electrical engineer, former Hollywood filmmaker and graduate of the Thunderbird School of Global Management, Dalrymple first came to green building as a way out of an oil-based U.S. national security policy. He would give talks on how green building could lead to energy independence, and when people complained they couldn’t find where to buy these mysterious carbon-neutral products, he opened a store.

Dalrymple has enthusiasm and some concern for the abundant new green technologies and materials on hand.

Just as former Vice President Al Gore cautioned the green builders at an opening celebration Wednesday night, Dalrymple warned against “greenwashing” – selling something as green that isn’t.

“The business has become more mainstream and a lot of the traditional channels are starting to be populated with ‘light’ green materials. They may be better, but nowhere near what is possible, or they may use toxins or child labor to produce it,” Dalrymple said, noting that the maze of certifications in the industry sometimes can lead to more, rather than less confusion. He also mentions the small percentage of recycled materials in some so-called recycled products: “Why not recycle more? I want to see more things recycled—pecan shells or pistachio shells—stuff people normally think of as waste. Why is it waste?”

Dalrymple also has some idea of where the wild things are at the jam-packed Greenbuild Expo 2009.

• LED residential lighting
  

“I’ve been waiting five years for the next step in LED. I think this will be the year of the LED. I have a background in film and I just love lights,” Dalrymple said.

Cree's Indoor Recessed Light

He may be right. LEDs (light-emitting diodes), traditionally the light on your clock radio—use less energy, live eons longer, dosn’t emit heat, work with a dimmer switch and don’t contain the mercury of compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). Until now, LED fixtures have been too expensive and didn’t look “warm” enough for household use. New technology has improved the products and brought the price down. The life of an LED can be 50,000 hours (or more than 5 years if you left it on around the clock).

Cree LED Lighting, a growing green company based in North Carolina, is working to improve the quality and price of LEDs. Cree offers “Cree True White Technology,” to deliver warm color and very high efficiency. Its LR6 LED uses 12 watts to deliver the equivalent of a 65watt incandescent. LR6 and other fixtures can be retrofitted into existing recessed lighting hook-ups, last about 12 years in homes and cost under $100.

RAB Lighting’s outdoor LPack, made for over garage doors and pathway lighting, uses about 13 Watts to light the equivalent of a 55 watt  incandescent for 50,000 hours; at $140, it comes in a cool aluminum housing that looks sort of like an over-sized Blackberry.

• Composite Flooring.

“Shredded bamboo is now made into flooring that has patterns and looks fabulous. And the popularity of cork flooring is growing, almost replacing bamboo,” Dalrymple said.

A fast-growing grass, bamboo is a renewable resource, but for optimal environmental imprint, it shouldn’t be harvested before 5.5 years and should come from the hardy moso species. Ask questions when shopping.  Some manufacturers use formaldehyde for bonding—but they don’t have to.

Teragren Flooring doesn’t use formaldehyde and offers an array of Floorscore-certified  (a third-party certification by Scientific Certification Systems) bamboo flooring; this year Teregren sells water and bacteria-resistant countertops, in addition to flooring.

Sustainable Flooring's shower cork

Cork flooring isn’t exactly new – Frank Lloyd Wright used it in his 1936 masterpiece Fallingwater with good reason.  It’s a natural insulator, is silent and reduces jostling of the joints and spine when you walk on it. The best cork comes from the Mediterranean. A softer version grows in China, but the durable stuff is firm and a by-product of the wine-cork industry in Portugal and Italy.

Both Expanko and Sustainable Flooring show gorgeous samples of Mediterranean cork tile and mosaic cork tile. Expanko provided the new floors when Fallingwater was restored.

With flooring, comes the danger that what adheres it may be manufactured with formaldehyde and other toxins. A new product from Smith & Fong Plyboo, SoyBond, is formaldehyde-free, made from soybeans for use with bamboo. Plyboo also makes a line of nontoxic plywood.

• Certification and label help.

With the mainstreaming of green building, new green labels abound at Greenbuild Expo — and at every home improvement store. But which ones mean anything? Dalrymple says keep in mind that a third-party rating, like Green Seal for paints, cleaners and other products, is likely to be more dependable than the “green this or green that” labels created in the marketing departments of home improvement companies. A growing legion of online help is available to sift out the scientific from the marketing messages.

Ecolabelling is a tool for anyone. It’s a nonprofit that tries to compile data on every green label in the world and tells you what the label is worth.

The so-called “Amazon.com of green building products,” Buildingease helps designers, contractors and others search for certified green products. Click on “3″ to find legitimate third-party green product ratings. It’s a one-stop portal for researching, rating and buying green building products at the lowest price.

Mick Dalyrmple, owner a.k.a. Green

The newest entry in online aid is GreenKonnect, a search engine built for the green building industry. The Beta version bowed at Greenbuild Expo.  Watch for the actual launch. Utilizing a database of LEED-certified building projects and green products used in LEED buildings, site organizers hope to become a first stop for architects, engineers and contractors planning projects for LEED certification or other types. It will be free to everyone at first. Later, manufacturers will pay, based on product sales.

Thousand of products and so little time. A solid two day’s of looking is on display at Greenbuild Expo. For detailed listings, visit the Greenbuild website.

Then, if you plan to transition into a green home, start small, says Dalrymple. “Buy a few low energy bulbs. See how you like it. Pretty soon you’ll be opening a green products store and wondering: why did I do that?”

(Kate Nolan writes about the environment and health in Phoenix. She worked formerly as areporter for The Arizona Republic; managing editor at Phoenix New Times and editor at Playboy.)

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

Where there’s a need, there’s a way. Turns out that the biggest number of ENERGY STAR homes are being built in steamy Sunbelt locations where keeping the AC under control is an urgent need.

The top market, with the most ENERGY STAR-qualified homes built since the program begin in 1995, is Houston, with 144,000 homes.

The next top cities with the most homes built to these guidelines include Dallas, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Los Angeles, according to a list released by the EPA, which announced today that there are now 1 million ENERGY STAR-qualified homes in the US.

The ENERGY STAR program requires that buildings take extra steps to conserve energy by using sufficient insulation, a tight building envelop, high-rated windows and efficient heating and cooling systems, making them 15 to 30 percent more energy efficient than homes built to standard code.

Along with passing the 1 million mark, the ENERGY STAR “label” for homes is growing in popularity, said EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson.

“This is an amazing achievement for the Energy Star program – but the real winners are the 1 million American families who have the chance to save money and keep harmful pollution out of the air. That’s great news for anyone who wants to cut costs and protect our planet,” Jackson said. “We’re going to keep the number of Energy Star homes growing, because every new Energy Star home is a step towards lower costs, cleaner air, and communities that are environmentally and economically sustainable. We’re giving everyday American homebuyers the power to lower their bills and join the fight against climate change.”

The EPA, which oversees ENERGY STAR, estimates that the existing ES-rated homes will save their owners, collectively, $270 million on their electric bills this year, while cutting greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to operating 370,000 cars for the year.

The cities with the most Energy Star-qualified homes:

• Houston, TX (144,000)

• Dallas-Fort Worth, TX (103,000)

• Las Vegas, NV (80,000)

• Phoenix, AZ (73,000)

• Greater Los Angeles, CA (57,000)

• Greater New York, NY (25,000)

• Tucson, AZ (19,000)

• San Antonio, TX (19,000)

• Sacramento, CA (18,000)

• San Diego, CA (18,000)

• Columbus, OH (17,000)

• Des Moines, IA (16,000)

• Indianapolis, IN (14,000)

• Austin, TX (13,000)

• Greater Philadelphia, PA/Wilmington, DE (12,000)

• San Francisco-Oakland, CA (11,000)

• Boston, MA (10,000)

• Denver, CO (7,800)

• Orlando, FL (7,600)

• Oklahoma City, OK (7,500)

Want to know more? You can take a virtual tour of an ENERGY STAR home at the program’s website. You also can find an ENERGY STAR builder in your home state or city, using the website’s builder finder.

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.

Owens Corning is working with Heritage Environmental Services, the largest privately-held environmental services company in the United States. Heritage will provide dedicated, convenient drop-off centers that will recycle and process shingle tear-offs.

“Millions of tons of asphalt roofing shingles are sent to landfills every year, wasting valuable resources such as asphalt and aggregate,” Bill McDaniel, president and chief executive officer of Heritage, said in a statement. “With the combined efforts of Heritage and Owens Corning, material that would have been wasted will now be reused and made into roads.”

Owens Corning said that recycling glass-based asphalt shingles is a cost-effective alternative to producing new asphalt and helps preserve resources. Last year the Asphalt Institute estimated that the asphalt from recycled shingles has a potential value of more than $1 billion, which is variable upon the price of asphalt.