Dear Readers:

In recent months, as the viewership of Facebook Of LEED Drivers site has dramatically increased, spammers are unfortunately inserting spurious and unrelated comments and linkbacks to promote services. Please note that all such irrelevant comments are regularly deleted. The forum is intended for serious and positive discussion and actions around the green building industry and LEED eco-system. If you really would like to promote your company in some way, feel free to write an useful piece and send it to support AT facebookold DOT com for consideration. We may allow up to one link back to your enterprise per writeup if the content is useful

The Editor
FBO

The following article was contributed by Dan Grifen of Everything Left. All views and ideas expressed are only that of the author.

The world is in a constant state of flux and the environment is no different. Lately, it seems as though flash flooding, earthquakes, and hurricanes are occurring all too often. The severity of them is seemingly unprecedented. Additionally, cities like Washington, D.C. - normally accustomed to mild winters - are experiencing record snow fall while those that expect heavy precipitation, like Syracuse, NY, are setting records for not having any of it. While this may or may not have anything to do with global warming, it certainly is a reminder that the environment is capable of a lot of unexpected changes and we should be doing what we can to balance our use of natural resources and minimize our carbon footprint. Otherwise, the odd, eyebrow-raising nature of weather patterns we’re currently experiencing may end up being catastrophic events down the road.

Yet, what can be done that isn’t currently being done? Cutting down on carbon emissions and recycling have been at the forefronts of the go green movement. However, some initiatives that target a completely new, green infrastructure have gone unnoticed but are essential to competitiveness, long term sustainability, job growth, energy independence and national security.

According to the Department of Energy, heating and cooling account for 50 to 70% of the energy used in the average American home. A large proportion of energy is lost through cracks in walls and ceilings. In terms of energy conservation, individuals can make immediate improvements to their energy profile simply by adding insulation to their home. Arguably, the best insulation for any green home is Cellulose which, according to the U.S. Green Building Council, requires less energy to make and is made of 75% recycled material. This is great for air quality in the home and also for the environment. There’s also renewable Cotton, abundant Fiberglass, and even Soy based foam insulation, which has the highest percentage of renewable resource ingredients in the industry with 60%. By doing this, any homeowner can add value to their home while conserving energy and reducing their utility bill. Long term savings outweigh upfront costs. The implementation of Smart Meters can help them find other areas of their home where energy can be used more efficiently. In some locations, local governments are providing residents with them for free. This seems to be the best strategy for getting residents the tools necessary to cut energy costs. The theory suggests that consumers will make necessary changes to their energy consumption if they can actually see exactly where it is being used inefficiently.

Aside from individual efforts, there are a lot of groups and organizations that people can get involved with that tackle larger projects. The University-National Park Energy Partnership Program (UNPEPP) is a great example. UNPEPP is a public private partnership (PPP) that puts federal grant money in the hands of young, impressionable university students eager to change the United States landscape one national park at a time. Universities all across America use the federal grant money to create internship opportunities for students to travel to a national park in their area and work with energy and environmental professors, experts and park personnel to perform energy audits, recommend energy conservation measures and implement renewable energy technology (RET) that ultimately save the parks thousands in energy costs and significantly reduce their carbon footprint. The UNPEPP 10 year Report is posted on the website. This type of partnership is a rewarding experience for everyone involved and similar PPPs should be on the forefront of the green energy movement.

A third component of building the green energy infrastructure involves business owners. While individual efforts generally result in relatively smaller improvements and PPPs sometimes get delayed by energy policies hung up by the legislative process, private businesses march to the beat of their own drum. They are in a position to tackle large scale projects that can create a large impact without delay. A lot of businesses see the potential for going green. Many of them have come on board. There is actually a scoring system that was devised in 1998, called LEED Certification to help gauge just how far a company has gone to incorporate green initiatives into their designs. Specifically, the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System provides a benchmark for the environmentally sustainable creation and use of buildings and neighborhoods. According to USGBC, 72% of electricity consumption and 39% of energy use come from buildings in the United States alone. LEED certified buildings use efficient resources to improve performance with energy conservation, CO2 emissions reduction, and water efficiency all while enchaining the ecosystems they are a part of - rather than diminishing them.

One major company, Globetrotters Engineering Corporation (GEC), an architectural company founded by engineer and CEO, Niranjan Shah, is an example of a company that adheres to LEED certification. GEC is responsible for the management of many facets of modernization and expansion of O’Hare International Airport in Chicago (the first privately managed terminal in the United States). Niranjan Shah proved that implementation of green design can be successful, helpful to society and profitable all at the same time. An example of another company that earned LEED Certification is the Washington D.C. based mortgage company, Fannie Mae, which was responsible for the first-ever LEED data center. There are countless other companies that are earning LEED certification. Government incentives given to companies that earn LEED certification is a way to boost the number of participants and achieve the environmental sustainability results that environmentally friendly federal energy policies target but can’t necessarily get passed through legislation.

On a much larger scale, organizations like the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), founded by Bill Clinton and counselor Doug Band, are doing their part to bring the strongest political leaders together to tackle world problems. However, small projects at home, public private partnerships and LEED certification are methods that combine to allow everyone a chance to get involved to curtail inefficient energy use. The necessity to highlight them cannot be understated. The planet is home to all of us and the best way to ensure sustainability is to live and work as environmentally friendly as possible.

The following article was contributed by Houston Neale of Software Advice. All content and views expressed are that of the author.

We are nearing a renaissance of electrical contracting. Software Advice, a website that reviews electrical software, thinks the electrician will soon transition into an "energy contractor" to meet demand of the growing green construction market. This growth is being fueled by increased adoption of green and renewable energy technologies among homeowners and corporations.

Who will be there to retrofit these buildings? Electrical contractors will play a major role in these upgrades. However, they'll need to "green" their skill set in order to take advantage of opportunities.

To start, electricians should get versed on electric- and energy-related LEED credits. LEED projects are growing just as fast as the rest of the green construction market, so this is one of the areas electricians will be able to "cash in." Additionally, they should even consider becoming a LEED AP. LEED projects get an extra point for having an AP on the job, which could be a selling-point when bidding on jobs.

LEED Green Building Database Coming Soon. Register Free to stay informed.

To read more, visit: The Coming Renaissance of Electrical Contracting

*This article was contributed by Chris Thorman of Software Advice. All opinion, ideas, recommendations or information provided are solely from the author*

As the world's attention turns to Copenhagen, Denmark, for the United
Nation's summit on climate change, Software Advicewanted to highlight an advanced system for recording, forecast and
eventually reducing the carbon footprint of a building. It's called EMMA (Environmental Management Solution) and it's creator is sustainability consultancy Knowledge Global.

The EMMA system gathers environmental data from a variety of electronic monitors inside and outside of a building. This data is aggregated by a variety of software applications and displayed in a digital user interface. The information provides an ongoing snapshot of the “health” of the building.

Metrics the EMMA system measures and how they are tracked include:

- Gas, water, electricity use, waste and weather information through the
monitoring of meters
- Human traffic through security systems and thermal imaging technology
similar to what shopping centers use
- Occupant demographics through tenant profiling and human resources
- Building space through floor plans and tenant agreements
- Well-being of occupants through online surveys

This information is displayed on a television monitor in the lobby of building's, constantly reminding visitors if they're actions are adding to the carbon output of the building or reducing it.

Wireless "eggs" are also strategically placed throughout the building, glowing red or green based on the building's energy use.

To read about this innovative carbon tracking solution, visit: This is the
Future of Green Building Management.

This article was contributed by Houston Neale of Software Advice

As any LEED AP knows, tracking LEED credits is a document-intensive process. Submittal documentation includes drawings, receipts, product spec sheets, photos, commission plans and more. Adding to the clutter, numerous project members will access and edit these documents.

Project management software, especially web-based systems, makes document management easy. Because of this, we're seeing a lot more contractors and APs use software to manage LEED building projects. Some software vendors have added LEED tracking capabilities to their existing systems; others have customers who have developed their own work-arounds.

Aside from tracking documents, project management software can be used to schedule and coordinate important project dates (e.g. commissioning sessions), it can give you a competitive edge to win more LEED projects and it provides the document tracking required to get AP accreditation.

We expect to see a lot more software development as the number of annual LEED projects continues to grow. In the meantime, we’ve researched what’s available, how it works and how you can benefit from it. To learn more, visit: Track LEED v3 Credits in Project Management Software

******************

Editor's Note:

In LEED Online v3, USGBC is itself providing a significant amount of LEED requirements and documentation tracking capability, and hence firms may be inclined to use that instead of separate software. It'll be interesting to see which of the companies discussed above achieve easy integration with LEED Online in the near future.