International Green Construction Code ( IGCC )

The Intl. Code Council launched its Intl. Green Construction Code (IGCC) initiative, “IGCC: Safe and Sustainable by the Book,” which will reduce energy usage and the carbon footprint of commercial buildings.

The initiative aims to develop a model code focused on the design and performance of new and existing buildings, which consume approximately 40 percent of the nation’s energy and produce approximately 40 percent of the nation’s carbon dioxide emissions.

According to Richard P. Weiland, chief executive officer of the Code Council, the development of codes, such as the Intl. Energy Conservation Code and the rapid evolution of new systems and guidelines to address green technology, has led the Code Council to move into “a new era of codes that specifically focus on green buildings and high performance. We are now at a place in the evolution of the sustainability movement that requires the specificity, the reliability, and the enforceability that only a code can bring.”

The development timeline for the IGCC will include public meetings of the Sustainable Building Technology Committee (SBTC), a public comment period on the Committee’s initial draft, and a final draft that will be made available in 2010 as a resource document before it moves through the development hearing and final action hearing stages.

Additionally, both AIA and ASTM will have visible participation in the development process of the green code, which will be compatible with the AIA 2030 carbon neutrality goals. Adolf Zubia, the board president of the Code Council, emphasized the importance of design, architects, and architecture in creating a useful tool for AIA and Code Council members. According to Weiland, the cooperation of ASTM will ensure that the Code Council pursues a development process that is based on recognized and verifiable approaches to standards.

The first public meetings of the SBTC are scheduled for 8 a.m to 5 p.m. on July 28-29 and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on July 30, at the Wyndam O’Hate Hotel in Rosemont, IL. The meetings of the SBTC are open meetings with the meeting dates posted on the Code Council website.

For more information, visit www.iccsafe.org/IGCC or www.iccsafe.org/green.

Chipotle Grill First Platinum LEED Certification

Chipotle Earns the First LEED-Platinum Certification Awarded to a Restaurant

DENVER, Colo. -- A Chipotle Mexican Grill in Illinois with its own wind turbine and a 2,500-gallon underground water cistern to harvest rainwater was certified by the U.S. Green Building Council at the organization's highest rating.

The Denver-based "fast-casual" dining chain of more than 860 restaurants and the USGBC announced the certification today.The restaurant in Gurnee, Il., which opened last fall, is the first to receive the top green rating under the USGBC's retail pilot program for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards covering new construction. LEED's five-tier green ratings start at basic certification and proceed to bronze, silver and gold before reaching the platinum level.In addition to the 6 kilowatt wind turbine, which was expected to produce about 10 percent of the restaurant's energy and is now described as generating "a portion" of the power needed, the Gurnee restaurant features:
• LED lighting• Water-saving faucets and toilets• Energy Star-rated kitchen equipment• Landscaping with native plants, which are irrigated with water captured in the cistern• Parking lot asphalt that reflects the sun's heat instead of absorbing itChipotle started introducing energy efficiency and eco-friendly design elements in some of its buildings in 2001. Its first two restaurants that were constructed with green features are in Texas; one of them was featured in a case study by the utility Austin Energy. The Gurnee restaurant and one that opened in a shopping in mall in Minnesota during the past year were designed to conform to LEED standards. According to the USGBC, Chipotle also has two further restaurant projects registered -- one in Seattle and one on Long Island.The chain awaits word on LEED certification for the Minnesota and Long Island restaurants, a representative for the company said. Image courtesy of Chipotle Mexican Grill.


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Get Your Green Venders Here: Renewable Energy World Conference

In Vegas
March 10 – 12, 2009
Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino

EPA: Environmental Progress in 12 Sectors

News for Release: Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2008

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Industry Makes Green While Going Green

Contact: Dave Ryan, (202) 564-4355 / ryan.dave@epa.gov

(Washington, D.C. - Oct. 7, 2008) Major manufacturing and business sectors are improving environmental performance to cut waste, improve economic competitiveness and gain other important benefits. Steel recycling in the United States reached an all-time high in 2005.

Chemical manufacturers cut air emissions in half from 1995 to 2006. During the same decade, cement manufacturers reduced their waste per unit of production by one quarter.

These environmental trends are highlighted in a new EPA report released today on some of the nation's most important economic sectors.

"America's leading industries are not just making beverages and manufacturing chemicals – today they are also producing real environmental results," said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson. "They are proving that smart environmental performance is smart business."

EPA's 2008 Sector Performance Report provides environmental profiles of 12 major sectors of the U.S. economy:

• cement manufacturing,
• construction,
• ports
• chemical manufacturing
• colleges and universities
• food and beverage manufacturing
• forest products
• iron and steel
• metal casting
• oil and gas
• paint and coatings
• shipbuilding and ship repair.

The third in a series of sector-based environmental performance reports, today's update shows the location and concentration of sector facilities across the country, and provides expanded analyses of energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.

The report shows each sector's environmental impact, including air emissions, water discharges, and waste disposal. It also gives a 10-year portrait of performance trends for the nine industrial sectors:

for example, air emissions per unit of production fell from four percent to 67 percent from 1996 to 2005, representing more than 300 million pounds fewer air emissions each year.

Using government and industry data and case studies, the report also shows areas of progress and highlights where targeted efforts are still needed.

The 12 sectors represent more than 856,000 entities employing more than 12.6 million people, and contributing more than $2.5 trillion annually to the U.S. economy. These sectors also represent nearly 15 percent of total domestic energy consumption, more than a quarter of U.S. air pollutant emissions, and more than 75 percent of the hazardous waste generated in this country.

EPA works with business and industry sectors to find effective ways to improve environmental performance and resource management. The 2008 report can be used by government agencies, business associations, individual companies, communities, and other entities to fully understand sector impacts and then set priorities for action.

To view the report and learn more about EPA's work with business and manufacturing sectors, go to: http://www.epa.gov/sectors/

RESNET and BPI Developing Joint Standard

For the past two years, representatives of RESNET and the Building Performance Institute (BPI) have been working together to draft a certification standard for the Comprehensive Energy Home Auditor.

The board of directors of RESNET and BPI have authorized a draft standard to go through the public review and comment process required for adopting the standard. Individuals who are certified through the new joint standard will be able to conduct home energy ratings and building analysis for BPI accredited contractors.

Originally the joint certification was to be called the Home Performance Analyst but the certification was changed to fit within the context of the RESNET National Home Energy Audit Standard.
To view the proposed joint standard click on RESNET/BPI Joint Comprehensive Home Energy Audit Standard.

RESNET and BPI are seeking comments on the proposed enhancements to the standard. Public comments on the proposed amendments will be accepted until November 24, 2008.

U.S. Green Building Council's 2009 - 2013 Strategic Plan Released

Dear USGBC Constituents: It is with great pride and excitement that we would like to share with you U.S. Green Building Council's 2009 - 2013 Strategic Plan.

The Plan was adopted by the USGBC board of directors at its July board meeting following a year long process that engaged our many stakeholders, constituency and leadership. The process was one of the most robust, comprehensive and inclusive that USGBC has ever undertaken in its 15-year history.

The resulting Plan sets a path for USGBC's future that is both visionary in its goals and relevant to our leadership role in transforming the built environment. The Plan also includes a new guiding principle for USGBC, Foster Social Equity. The work of USGBC's Social Equity Task Force was integrated into the Plan's objectives under every goal area.

The Plan's strategic goals provide a set of priorities that will frame USGBC's direction in the coming years. Each goal intentionally addresses the priority issues that the USGBC must respond to and the role that USGBC should play in its response. The goals are:

• Sustainable Cities and Communities: Catalyze and lead the building sector's active participation in the movement to achieve sustainable cities and communities.Climate
• Change and Natural Resources: Lead the dramatic reduction and eventual elimination of building construction and operations' contribution to climate change and natural resource depletion.
• Green Building Marketplace: Accelerate green building demand, delivery, and accessibility.
• Public Policy: Advocate for effective and comprehensive green building policy and codes at all levels of government.
• International: Advance green building around the world by developing certification capacity, sharing knowledge, and collaboratively advancing regionally appropriate and effective green building practices and policies.
• Organizational Excellence: Leverage USGBC's organizational structure and capacity to support and catalyze the market transformation required to achieve its mission.
  

This Plan sets the stage for a new era in USGBC's role in creating a sustainable world for all. We would like to thank the Strategic Planning Committee that provided guidance and direct support to the process along with our excellent consultant team, Meridian Institute, and to all of you who participated in the process. You will find the entire Plan on our Web site.

A webcast describing the Plan will be available in early October. Please take time to review the plan and work with us to achieve its objectives in the coming years.

Thank you for your commitment to USGBC and its mission, and our future.

Sincerely, Rebecca L. Flora S. Richard Fedrizzi
Co-Chair, Strategic Planning Committee CEO, President and Founding Chair,Chair, USGBC

Board of Directors USGBC

LEED 2009

USGBC’s New Strategic Plan is Possible Because of Member Involvement

The USGBC community has direct access to the many conversations, communities and commitments that are part of how we’re moving green building forward.

At the top of that list is LEED, where your involvement has led to LEED buildings being designed, built and operated in every state and in 69 countries.

You have moved USGBC’s programs forward at every opportunity, from a sole focus on new construction in LEED v.2.0 to the development of LEED 2009, a rating system that applies throughout the lifecycle of buildings and across multiple market sectors, and focuses all rating systems on the building impacts that matter most – energy efficiency and climate change.

Member participation, whether on committees, working groups, or during the public comment periods, will ensure that the LEED version that goes to member ballot in October sets a new bar.

Status of LEED 2009.Without question, it is the passionate involvement of our members that drives our success. The expertise our members lend to LEED’s development carries over into the larger arena of green building education at all levels. The knowledge and leadership that members share through LEED Workshops and the diverse Education Provider Program encourage market uptake, drive policy development, and educate the many stakeholders in green building as to why it matters, and how to design, build, operate and finance their projects.

More member involvement opportunities.But while “being green” is an idea that has clearly entered the mainstream, seeing real results on a large scale is still an ambitious goal. Only 3% of new commercial buildings in 2007 are estimated to have met minimum certification levels, and only 0.2% of new residential construction is built green.

It’s clear that the USGBC community must step up our work to increase sustainable practices in new construction, existing building conversions, neighborhood developments, our children’s schools, our public buildings, and every aspect of the built environment. To that end, USGBC has completed our next strategic plan, which will carry us through 2013.

It has been developed with an emphasis on extending the benefits of green building beyond the building footprint and into our cities and communities, and on the reduction and eventual elimination of the building industry’s contributions to climate change and natural resource depletion.At the center of the strategic plan is our strategic imperative of accelerating green building demand, delivery, and accessibility.

It is built on our guiding principles and introduces one more: the need to elevate social equity as a value and outcome integral to sustainable built environments. The plan lays out a set of clearly defined strategic initiatives defining how we will focus our talent and resources.

It will function as our roadmap for delivering immediate and measureable results across the wide scope of work that is necessary for true market transformation.
Read the Strategic Plan (PDF)» Find out more about how you can take part in shaping the future of USGBC and the green building movement as a whole.

From the US Green Building Council