Over the past decade, building industry professionals have worked to transform our industry — minimizing the negative impacts and maximizing the positive impacts associated with buildings. USGBC’s launch of LEED v4 in November 2013 marked the next step in the transformation journey the buildings industry has been engaged in since the inaugural version of LEED was released in 2000.
After several days of nonstop cold rain here in the District, it was nice to see the sun shining again on the first day of May. But it was even nicer that day to hear about all the award-winning building projects honored by the General Services Administration (GSA) as part of its Design Awards ceremony.
One of the most effective and more popular strategies to encourage green building is to incentivize the market through financial or structural incentives. Rewarding developers or homeowners who practice green building techniques spurs innovation and demand for green building technologies.
Landfills aren’t generally high on my list of must see spots to visit while on vacation, but after touching down at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport earlier this month, I made a beeline towards the country’s newest attraction. Formerly dubbed Trash Mountain, this recovering landfill sits 20 minutes outside of bustling Tel Aviv, and was once considered not only an eyesore but a toxic wasteland.
The next version of LEED is here.
It’s important for us that you feel prepared to succeed — so we’re offering a free course, which explores key concepts and strategies of LEED v4.
In this course experts will share background on the development of LEED v4, what it means for project teams, the structure of rating system, and how its flexibility lends itself to wider use.
This week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee pushed for positive change for building efficiency legislation with the passage of H.R. 4092, the Streamlining Energy Efficiency for Schools Act of 2014, and H.R. 2689, the Energy Savings Through Public-Private Partnerships Act of 2013. These bipartisan bills both cleared the committee by voice vote.
To millions of Americans, a U.S. embassy building is a little like one of our national parks or maybe the public library. Even though these places are rarely top-of-mind, nor do we use them on a regular basis, there is comfort in knowing they exist.
What’s more, to many Americans the presence of such things on the public landscape says something far greater about how they view themselves and the society in which they find themselves privileged to live.
I know. I’m one such guy.
I’m going to let you in on a little secret. I am voracious news reader; however, I will sheepishly admit that I was not always as on top of my assigned reading at university. I am a very big fan of CliffNotes, SparkNotes and other resources that enable one to digest more information in less time. Now it’s time for me to “pay it forward.” Allow me to be your “CliffNotes” version of the global green building news. Here are the top line things you should know this week.
Tech leads the way in this year’s Top 100 organizations that utilize clean renewable sources, an annual list compiled by the EPA.
Education @USGBC is full of a variety of courses, all available to help you grow your green building knowledge.
Today we’re excited to share three of our top courses.