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.

K-12 Schools

The importance of selecting healthy materials for K-12 projects

Clark Nexsen interior designers Anna Claire Beethoven and Brittney Just, CID, IIDA, LEED Green Associate, share why it is imperative to specify healthy building materials in K-12 schools.

Office Buildings

Fact sheet outlines benefits, challenges of thermal energy storage for commercial buildings

A U.S. Dept. of Energy document discusses the benefits and challenges of thermal energy storage for commercial buildings. The document explains how the various types of thermal energy storage technologies work, where their installation is most beneficial, and some practical considerations around installations.

Industrial Facilities

UK-based tire company plans to build the first carbon-neutral tire factory in the U.S.

ENSO, a U.K.-based company that makes tires for electric vehicles, has announced plans to build the first carbon-neutral tire factory in the U.S. The $500 million ENSO technology campus will be powered entirely by renewable energy. The first-of-its-kind tire factory aims to be carbon neutral without purchased offsets, using carbon-neutral raw materials and building materials.

Green | Apr 22, 2015

GSA's Federal Center South Building honored with AIA Top Ten Plus Award for 'verified' sustainable performance

The annual award recognizes green building projects that have quantifiable metrics demonstrating the performance and positive impact of the sustainable design.

USGBC opens public comment period on LEED rating system for existing multifamily buildings

Green | Apr 20, 2015

USGBC opens public comment period for LEED for existing multifamily buildings

The new LEED Operations and Maintenance: Multifamily program will offer solutions for existing multifamily projects with at least 20 units.

Cultural Facilities | Apr 16, 2015

Milwaukee’s Lakeshore State Park visitor center will be ‘off the grid’

The plans also include a built-in wastewater treatment system and rainwater collection.

Green | Apr 16, 2015

Passive House Institute introduces new categories for building certification

The new evaluation procedure considers the building in an environment where only renewable energy is used. Sun and wind provide the primary electricity.

Green | Apr 16, 2015

New version of Building Energy Data Exchange Specification launched

BEDES is a dictionary that facilitates consistent exchange of building characteristics and energy use data between tools and databases in the building energy efficiency sector.

Green | Apr 14, 2015

USGBC will recognize energy and water standards for the Living Building Challenge

This move means that projects achieving the energy and water requirements in Living Building Challenge will be considered as technically equivalent to LEED.

New survey shows top companies prioritize global green building rating system LEED

Green | Apr 7, 2015

USGBC survey shows Fortune 200 companies prioritize green building

The world’s top-performing companies are prioritizing sustainability as part of their corporate social responsibility efforts, and a majority of them are using LEED to achieve their goals, according to the new survey.

Codes and Standards | Apr 6, 2015

DOE releases Better Buildings Workforce Guidelines

The guidelines are aimed at strengthening and streamlining commercial building workforce training and certification programs for workers in energy auditing, building commissioning, building operations, and energy management.

Green | Apr 3, 2015

Georgia may ban use of LEED on state buildings

Georgia's state legislature is considering a measure to require all state buildings to only use green building standards that permit the use of Georgia's lumber.