Green buildings

(CHICAGO - Nov. 12, 2009) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 has announced that two of Wisconsin’s lead-based paint programs have been federally authorized. They are the Lead-based Paint Renovation, Repair and Painting program, and the Pre-Renovation Education program.

Wisconsin is the first state authorized to administer and enforce the Renovation, Repair and Painting rule which mandates training and licensing in lead-safe work practices for construction contractors, property managers and others that work in homes and child-occupied facilities built before 1978. Gov. James E. Doyle has certified that the Wisconsin programs, to be administered by the division of public health, are at least as protective as EPA’s and provide adequate enforcement.    » read more »

PHILADELPHIA (November 12, 2009) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today reaches a milestone for the Energy Star program by passing the one millionth Energy Star qualified home mark. Number 15 on the list of the top 20 markets for Energy Star built homes, the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington area has 12,455 Energy Star qualified homes.

These Energy Star homes are saving the equivalent to eliminating emissions from 667 vehicles, saving 4,034,004 pounds of coal and planting 1,102 acres of trees, and saving the environment 7,911,493 pounds of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas.    » read more »

Partnership Highlights Municipal & County Leadership In Energy-Efficiency

November 12, 2009 -- PHOENIX­­ -- The Sierra Club’s Cool Cities program and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) today announced the launch of the Green Buildings for Cool Cities collaboration. The partnership will leverage Cool Cities’ more than 200 local campaigns and USGBC’s national network of 78 chapters to encourage new and retrofitted energy-efficient buildings, a key solution to global warming and to achieving the transition to a clean energy economy.    » read more »

Senator Akaka impressed with Silo House entry in "Solar Decathlon"

October 30, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. - Three Hawaii high school graduates were part of a Cornell University team which designed, built, and operated a unique environmentally friendly home entered in the 2009 Solar Decathlon, a competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy that brings 20 college and university teams to the nation's capitol for a competition to create the most attractive and energy-efficient solar-powered house.

U.S. Senator Daniel K. Akaka visited the students and toured the home, which was transported from Ithaca, New York and placed on the National Mall for the duration of the contest.    » read more »

Oct. 14, 2009 -- Philadelphia – Pennsylvania’s commitment to energy conservation and green building practices is stimulating the economy and helping to curb emissions of greenhouse gases, Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell today told the Pennsylvania Green Growth Partnership.    » read more »

Green Building Project Begins with Green Demolition

October 2, 2009 -- BILLINGS, Mont. – The U.S. General Services Administration is commencing work on a new, energy-efficient U.S. courthouse in downtown Billings, Montana, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Demolition work on two buildings on the site of the future courthouse begins today, October 2.

The demolition work is being performed by SBH, Inc., a local service-disabled veteran-owned small business. As part of a high-performance green building construction project, the demolition work will incorporate many green practices, including recycling as much material as possible, protecting nearby trees, and salvaging concrete from the old buildings’ foundations to be reused as structural fill.    » read more »

WARREN, NJ, June 3, 2009 - Commercial property owners now have a cost-effective way to repair damaged property using "green" materials and environmentally-friendly construction techniques.

Under a new endorsement to its Customarq package policy, the Chubb Group of Insurance Companies is offering commercial property owners a "green upgrade"option to help pay to repair damaged covered property using environmentally-friendly materials, low-impact construction processes and efficient heating and cooling technology after an insured loss.    » read more »

June 01, 2009 -- EAST RUTHERFORD - Describing it as another component of New Jersey’s commitment to sustainable environmental practices, New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine today applauded the partnership agreement between the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), New York Giants and New York Jets to use green building practices at the New Meadowlands Stadium.

“I support the Giants and Jets partnership and their commitment to helping clean our environment,” Governor Corzine said. “The New Stadium Project will act as a model for stadiums across the country and I am confident that this construction will help set a precedent for green building in other states while demonstrating New Jersey’s role as a leader in environmentally friendly construction.”    » read more »

High Tech Takes Root on the High Plains

May. 29, 2009 NORTHBROOK, Ill. - Allstate Insurance Company today opens an energy-efficient and environmentally conscious data centers in Rochelle, Ill.

The 65,000-square-foot facility is a secure, world-class hosting center to support Allstate’s information technology needs – enhancing the customer experience. This new center is targeted to meet LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).    » read more »

New facility will feature "green" technologies to reduce energy use by more than 50 percent

ARMONK and SYRACUSE, N.Y. - 29 May 2009: IBM (NYSE: IBM), Syracuse University and New York State have entered into a multiyear agreement to build and operate a new computer data center on the University's campus that will incorporate advanced infrastructure and smarter computing technologies to make it one of the most energy-efficient data centers in the world. The data center is expected to use 50 percent less energy than a typical data center today, making it one of the "greenest" computer centers in operation.    » read more »

BURLINGTON, May 27 – Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) announced today that he secured $500,000 for Vermont public schools to install solar panels, the latest development in the senator’s ongoing campaign to transform Vermont’s energy system.

“We must move, as aggressively as possible, to become energy independent, to address the crisis of greenhouse gas emissions and global warming and, in the process, create millions of new jobs over a period of years in the clean-energy field,” Sanders said. “In my view, this is one of the transformational issues of our time and I very much hope that Vermont will be a national leader in this area.”    » read more »

The 2008 Corporate Sustainability Report provides an in-depth view of PPG’s status and progress on economic, environmental and safety, and social involvement initiatives.

PITTSBURGH, May 26, 2009 – PPG Industries’ (NYSE:PPG) first corporate sustainability report highlights key accomplishments in several areas of interest to environmentally progressive architects and builders.    » read more »

PITTSBURGH, May 18, 2009 – Architects say durability is the most important attribute for a “green” building product, according to a new industry survey commissioned by PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG). It was followed by ENERGY STAR compliance, life-cycle assessment, no- or low-volatile organic compound (VOC) content and the ability to source products regionally.

Durability also is the most important attribute among building products in general, ranking slightly ahead of price. Product warranties, features and technical support also were named by approximately two in five architects.    » read more »

Grants Will Focus on Disadvantaged Schools, While Creating Jobs Nationally

May 22, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today introduced legislation that will help public schools fix their deteriorating school buildings. The School Building Fairness Act of 2009 would authorize $6 billion a year for a new program that would provide grants for the repair, renovation and construction of elementary and secondary schools as well as early learning facilities. The national legislation is modeled on a program initiated by Harkin for Iowa schools.    » read more »

Favors Local Control on Building Codes

May 21, 2009, Juneau, Alaska - Alaska Governor Sarah Palin announced today that, as previously stated, she will veto the $28.6 million in federal stimulus funds tied to adoption of building codes by municipalities.

"Alaskans and our communities have a long history of independence and opposing many mandates from Washington, D.C.,” Governor Palin said. “This principle of maximum self-government for local communities is also set out in our constitution. There isn’t a lot of support for the federal government to coerce Alaska communities to adopt building codes, but lawmakers can always exercise checks and balances by overriding my veto.    » read more »