Green Ump

2013 TOP TEN EARTH DAY AWARD WINNERS & GAME CHANGERS

This year Green Building Pages is pleased to recognize the change agents of the green building industry as part of the 2013 TOP TEN EARTH DAY AWARDS.  These recipients have led the charge, moved the industry as a whole and continue to set the bar in their respective arenas.

Beginning at the individual building product level and moving to one of the largest, high-impact green building drivers, government agencies, this year’s TOP TEN EARTH DAY AWARDS recognize four independent (third-party) green product certifications,  two independent (third-party) green building certifications, three non-profit organizations whose work has transformed the building industry, and finally one government organization whose green building programs have all made significant contributions toward creating a sustainable world and building industry.

Please join Green Building Pages in recognizing the 2013 TOP TEN EARTH DAY AWARD recipients and applauding their continued efforts to make our world a better place!

 

GREEN BUILDING PAGES 2013 TOP TEN EARTH DAY AWARDS

 

                               

 

USGBC Members Ballot on LEED v.4 April 1-30th

REGISTER TO BALLOT LEED v4

USGBC members can register to ballot on the latest draft version of LEED v.4 April 1-30. One of many changes are those regarding building materials for LEED credits, including product disclosures and optimization (Environmental Product Declarations), supply chain/source materials, and material ingredients disclosures.

Substantially reworked, the Materials & Resources section of LEED v4 is different from LEED 2009 in that it applies lifecycle thinking at the whole-building and product level. Proposed credits reward projects for reusing as much material as possible and optimizing design to use less material overall. LEED 2009 credits were based on single attributes of materials, such as recycled content. This approach only tells part of the story; a product could have higher than average performance on that one attribute but far lower than average performance on others. The LEED v4 approach paints a more complete picture of materials and products, enabling project teams to make more informed decisions that will have greater overall benefit for the environmental, human health, and communities.

 

More Information on LEED Building Certification : http://www.usgbc.org/leed

Las Vegas Fashion Turns Green! The newest fine art exhibit at the Las Vegas Springs Preserve, Sustainable Style: Fashion & Photography, showcases Eco-Fashion created and made with consideration to the environmental and social impacts.

This new generation of designers have not only designed with the three R's, reduce, reuse, recycle, but have created fashion clothing and accessories that are biodegradable.

Local Las Vegas eco-fashion designers, Elizabeth Calderon, and Amy Bonds, have been invited to show their collections in Miami and New York.

Green Building Pages has embarked on a four month GREEN USA TOUR visiting and documenting green building product manufacturing and green building case studies across the country. We look forward to bringing you many insightful and personal green stories as we make our way to the East Coast and back again to California.

 

LAS VEGAS - TURNING GREEN?

 

First stop on the Green USA Tour is Las Vegas, what most consider the least sustainable city in the U.S. and possibly beyond. However, there are some glimmers of change on the horizon.  For starters, there is the Desert Living Center, a LEED Platinum building which one should plan to spend at least a day touring the buildings, exhibits, and fabulous gardens. 

The sun screens are beautifully integrated to protect the building from the intense heat gain from the sun, thus saving energy on keeping the interiors cool in 100+ degrees.  Just about every sustainable building material was used somewhere in this complex.  Some walls are strawbale, others are rammed earth or concrete - all suited for this climate of extremes, particularly on the hot end.

Strawbale walls

Rammed Earth Walls

The important mission for this center was to educate the public about the increasingly critical water issues in the Las Vegas region, famous for its luxurious expanses of golf courses and extravagant landscaping, which like other regions of the west, is now running short on water.   The buildings in this complex collect the rainwater with butterfly type roofs and underground cisterns.

Butterfly Roofs Collect Rainwater

These roofs are beautiful from the inside as well as spectacular from the outside.

Interior Butterfly Roof

Many of the buildings have natural ventilation cooling towers integrated into the design to keep the interior spaces cool, minimizing the use of electricity to cool the spaces.

Cooling Tower / Rain Catchment & Cistern

Education is infused everywhere, but particuclarly in the Sustainable Living Resource Center.

Even the walk-off mats as you enter the Sustainable Living Center sport art and science, integrating a stream of water meandering through the mats which help keep the interiors clean.

Walk-Off Mats & Integrated Concrete 'Stream'

Yes, this facility is changing the culture of Las Vegas, showing visitors how to save water, make electricity, and live sustainably and artfully in the Mojave Desert

Solar Shaded Parking

Collaboration Soup, Day One in D.C. - Co-Author Paula Vignault with Senators McCain and Carper.

http://www.collaborationsoup.com/gift-our-leaders-quest-to-dc-day-one-by-paul-menconi-dc-correspondent/

2013 Earth Day Awards

GREEN BUILDING PAGES INVITES BUILDING PRODUCT MANUFACTURERS AND, FOR THE FIRST TIME PRODUCT CERTIFICATIONS AS WELL, TO PARTICIPATE IN THE 2013 EARTH DAY AWARDS.

REGISTER ONLINE

Green Matchmaking 101: Products + Certifications

 

 

WE HEARD YOU AT GREENBUILD!  AS A FREE PUBLIC SERVICE, GREEN BUILDING PAGES is pleased to annouce that detailed product certification information will be displayed as an overlay to all certified green product profile listings in a comprehensive format consistent with ASTM's E2129-05 Standard for Sustainable Product Information, the Global Reporting Initiative and other industry standards.

TO VIEW THIS NEW FEATURE, CLICK HERE.   Then click the "+" in the Product Certifications section to highlight specific certified information in red in each of the four profile view options (see example below):   Highlights | Overview | Summary | Details

NOTE:  [+/-] expands/contracts to show more or less detailed information in each category and sub-cactegory as desired.

CERTIFICATION COMPARISONS:  Now YOU can decide which certification is the best match for your needs by comparing them side by side on Green Building Pages. 

 

New Furniture From Corian Scraps

Architect Rabih Hage used Corian scraps to create beautiful furniture for the 2012 Milan Furniture Show.

New Life For Coastal Beetle Pines

Kirei's new Pacific Coastal Collection of wood panels is recycled from coastal beetle-killed pine trees, continuing their commitment to provide beautiful, environmental interior designs.

Collaboration Soup Being Served To Congress

Authors Delia Horwitz and Paula Vigneault are on their way to Washington, D.C., to offer their expertise to Congress, hoping to help bridge the chasms that continue to bring our divide our country and bring our democratic processes to a halt.

Their new book, "Collaborative Soup", provides a great recipe for solving complex problems, and they are not stymied by the enormity of the problems in the nation's capitol. Serving up an impressive six-step co-creative process that is amazingly easy to digest, and applicable across a wide spectrum-- for family, community, corporate or governmental conversations about difficult, divisive issues, this book is a fun read. The food analogies and metaphors are just yummy!

www.collaborationsoup.com