Northglenn, a Denver suburb, opens a net zero, all-electric city hall with a mass timber structure

Northglenn, Colo., a Denver suburb, has opened the new Northglenn City Hall—a net zero, fully electric building with a mass timber structure. The 32,600-sf, $33.7 million building houses 60 city staffers. Designed by Anderson Mason Dale Architects, Northglenn City Hall is set to become the first municipal building in Colorado, and one of the first in the country, to achieve the Core certification: a green building rating system overseen by the International Living Future Institute.

Government Buildings

GSA posts new RFI for enabling energy efficiency, decarbonization in commercial buildings

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy, recently released a new Request For Information (RFI) focused on enabling energy efficiency and decarbonization in commercial buildings. GSA wants to test innovative technologies through GSA’s Center for Emerging Building Technologies.

Adaptive Reuse

KPF unveils design for repositioning of Norman Foster’s 8 Canada Square tower in London

8 Canada Square, a Norman Foster-designed office building that’s currently the global headquarters of HSBC Holdings, will have large sections of its façade removed to create landscaped terraces. The project, designed by KPF, will be the world’s largest transformation of an office tower into a sustainable mixed-use building.

Sustainability

World’s first TRUE Zero Waste for Construction-certified public project delivered in Calif.

The Contra Costa County Administration Building in Martinez, Calif., is the world’s first public project to achieve the zero-waste-focused TRUE Gold certification for construction. The TRUE Certification for Construction program, administered by Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI), recognizes projects that achieve exceptional levels of waste reduction, reuse, and recycling.

Photo: M.O. Stevens via Wikimedia Commons

Nov 2, 2014

Top 10 LEED lessons learned from a green building veteran

M+W Group's David Gibney offers his top lessons learned from coordinating dozens of large LEED projects during the past 13 years.

CannonDesign | Oct 30, 2014

CannonDesign releases guide for specifying flooring in healthcare settings

The new report, "Flooring Applications in Healthcare Settings," compares and contrasts different flooring types in the context of parameters such as health and safety impact, design and operational issues, environmental considerations, economics, and product options.

One Bryant Park, New York. Photo: Ryan Browne, Cook+Fox Architects via Wikipedia

Oct 29, 2014

Better guidance for appraising green buildings is steadily emerging

The Appraisal Foundation is striving to improve appraisers’ understanding of green valuation.

A white wavy faade would distinguish a renovated Miami Convention Center. The c

Oct 28, 2014

Miami accepts more modest plan to renovate its convention center

The city of Miami has awarded an $11 million contract for its on-again, off-again convention center renovation to Denver-based Fentress Architects, which will serve as the design criteria professional on this project.

Starbucks stores are profiled in the report, as the company has opened 500-LEED

Oct 27, 2014

Report estimates 1.2 million people experience LEED-certified retail centers daily

The "LEED In Motion: Retail" report includes USGBC’s conceptualization of the future of retail, emphasizing the economic and social benefit of green building for retailers of all sizes and types.

Oct 27, 2014

Top 10 green building products for 2015

Among the breakthrough products to make BuildingGreen's annual Top-10 Green Building Products list are halogen-free polyiso insulation and a high-flow-rate biofiltration system.

Oct 26, 2014

New York initiates design competition for upgrading LaGuardia, Kennedy airports

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that the state would open design competitions to fix and upgrade New York City’s aging airports. But financing construction is still unsettled.

The 44,640-sf Iowa Utilities Board/Office of the Consumer Advocate Building in D

Oct 21, 2014

Inside LEED v4: The view from the MEP engineering seats

Much of the spirited discussion around LEED v4 has been centered on the Materials & Resources Credit. At least one voice in the wilderness is shouting for greater attention to another huge change in LEED: the shift to ASHRAE 90.1-2010 as the new reference standard for Energy & Atmosphere prerequisites and credits.

Oct 16, 2014

48 building professionals in 2014 class of LEED fellows

To be selected, LEED Fellows are nominated by their peers, undergo an extensive portfolio review, must have at least 10 years of experience in the green building industry and hold a LEED AP with specialty credential, among other requirements.

Photo courtesy Harvard Center for Green Buildings and Cities

Oct 15, 2014

Harvard launches ‘design-centric’ center for green buildings and cities

The impetus behind Harvard's Center for Green Buildings and Cities is what the design school’s dean, Mohsen Mostafavi, describes as a “rapidly urbanizing global economy,” in which cities are building new structures “on a massive scale.”