*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

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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.

The Canadian Green Building Council sets the standards for Green Building Development within Canada, and plays the equivalent role of USGBC there. Candidates seeking to become LEED certified must appear for the LEED Canada examination.

LEED Canada (NC 1.0) has five key performance categories:
- Sustainable Sites
- Water Efficiency
- Energy and Atmosphere
- Materials and Resources
- Indoor Air Quality

Bonus Category - Innovation and Design Process

Possible Project LEED Ratings are Silver, Gold and Platinum.

In keeping with the USGBC V3.0 rating systems, Candadian LEED For Homes was launched recently to guide the design and construction of high performance green homes. The LEED for New Construction and Major renovations, originally formulated isn 2004 is currently being upgraded and the new release will be available in late fall of this year.

Accordingly we may see a rush of new certification candidates to take the existing Canadian NC 1.0 examination, much like the same way NC 2.2 aspirants came in droves this summer to get LEED AP certified before the big change to Version 3.0. Apart from the resources on CaGBC site, a few US companies offer practice tests for LEED Canada, such as Leedexcel.com and GEP. Of course, with a 33M population, only 10% that of USA, the number of certifications sought will be considerably less than the 100K candidates who appeared for the NC 2.2 tests. Still, we live in a global and interconnected economy, and many multinational firms looking to do business in Canada may find it worthwhile to get accredited in the Canadian LEED system as well.

As the current USGBC LEED NC 2.2 certification exam comes to an end on June 30th, 2009, aspiring candidates are justifiably concerned about new standards and criteria for being a LEED AP. We see a chicken and egg problem in the eligibility requirements for LEED exams. On one hand, AP's will need significant professional sustainable/green building development experience to qualify for the new exam. On the flip side, companies do not like to recruit individuals in visible green positions unless they are certified as a LEED AP. Hence the key question is - how does a fresh graduate or environmental engineer or a young designer should appropriate green industry expertise?

This seemingly daunting barrier may be surmounted through the Green Associate (GA) exam, where the eligibility requirements are much less stringent. Certain courses or professional work experience may substitute for the equivalent workload to be documented. Having a GA under the belt enhances the potential of a LEED candidate to seek green employment and accumulate the required experience for LEED AP certification. Needless to say, even that would be a challenge in this tough economy. There is however one bright spot from a building development perspective. Too often, construction and architecture companies complain that the LEED AP they hire for credit applications are not knowledgeable enough about the full development lifecycle and are often an "embarrassment" to clients. The extra experience would enable LEED AP's to be far more confident and deliberate about their advice and recommendations.

Of course, current LEED AP's would need to recertify their credentials to the USGBC within a period of 2 years. The key to success of LEED would be the customer adoption rate in building development. Perhaps LEED for Homes, releasing in summer of 2009 will create a much greater driver among companies to offer LEED services at the individual level - and then the business shall skyrocket.

Gogol

At FaceBookOld.com - we want to take a bold new initiative to usher in the Green Revolution. This topic is huge and ably covered in thousands of forums on the net. Specifically we dedicate this blog from this day to mature discussions, constructive suggestions, feel-good news and inspirational global stories of Green Energy use in our society and Green Building Techniques, both of which revolve around the emerging standard of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). There are thousands of LEED Accredited Professionals worldwide and many more are on their way to becoming certified. We hope this blog will serve to educate, stimulate and activate the green community into collective positive action.

We want quality and knowledgeable authors and welcome bloggers around the world to register and join the movement. Once we have established your genuine interest in the subject, we will give you full publicaton access.

Sincerely,

Gogol
June 16, 2009