flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

Higher standards, efficiency programs keys to 40% energy usage reduction in commercial buildings since 1980

Higher standards, efficiency programs keys to 40% energy usage reduction in commercial buildings since 1980


By BD+C Staff | February 20, 2013

Commercial buildings have seen a drop in their energy intensity of more than 40% since 1980, according to a recent report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance and the Business Council for Sustainable Energy. Increased utility energy efficiency programs and higher efficiencystandardsare the main reasons. However, while primary energy is significantly lowered, overall electricity use is relatively flat. New gadgets like iPads, smartphones, and laptops are taking up the efficiency gains made in other areas.

(http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/energy-intensity-of-buildings-down-more-than-40-percent)

Related Stories

| Nov 16, 2010

Green building market grows 50% in two years; Green Outlook 2011 report

The U.S. green building market is up 50% from 2008 to 2010—from $42 billion to $55 billion-$71 billion, according to McGraw-Hill Construction's Green Outlook 2011: Green Trends Driving Growth report. Today, a third of all new nonresidential construction is green; in five years, nonresidential green building activity is expected to triple, representing $120 billion to $145 billion in new construction.

| Nov 16, 2010

Calculating office building performance? Yep, there’s an app for that

123 Zero build is a free tool for calculating the performance of a market-ready carbon-neutral office building design. The app estimates the discounted payback for constructing a zero emissions office building in any U.S. location, including the investment needed for photovoltaics to offset annual carbon emissions, payback calculations, estimated first costs for a highly energy efficient building, photovoltaic costs, discount rates, and user-specified fuel escalation rates.

| Nov 16, 2010

CityCenter’s new Harmon Hotel targeted for demolition

MGM Resorts officials want to demolish the unopened 27-story Harmon Hotel—one of the main components of its brand new $8.5 billion CityCenter development in Las Vegas. In 2008, inspectors found structural work on the Harmon didn’t match building plans submitted to the county, with construction issues focused on improperly placed steel reinforcing bar. In January 2009, MGM scrapped the building’s 200 condo units on the upper floors and stopped the tower at 27 stories, focusing on the Harmon having just 400 hotel rooms. With the Lord Norman Foster-designed building mired in litigation, construction has since been halted on the interior, and the blue-glass tower is essentially a 27-story empty shell.

| Nov 16, 2010

Where can your firm beat the recession? Try any of these 10 places

Wondering where condos and rental apartments will be needed? Where companies are looking to rent office space? Where people will need hotel rooms, retail stores, and restaurants? Newsweek compiled a list of the 10 American cities best situated for economic recovery. The cities fall into three basic groups: Texas, the New Silicon Valleys, and the Heartland Honeys. Welcome to the recovery.

| Nov 16, 2010

Landscape architecture challenges Andrés Duany’s Congress for New Urbanism

Andrés Duany, founder of the Congress for the New Urbanism, adopted the ideas, vision,  and values of the early 20th Century landscape architects/planners John Nolen and Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., to launch a movement that led to more than 300 new towns, regional plans, and community revitalization project commissions for his firm. However, now that there’s a societal buyer’s remorse about New Urbanism, Duany is coming up against a movement that sees landscape architecture—not architecture—as the design medium more capable of organizing the city and enhancing the urban experience.

| Nov 16, 2010

NFRC approves technical procedures for attachment product ratings

The NFRC Board of Directors has approved technical procedures for the development of U-factor, solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC), and visible transmittance (VT) ratings for co-planar interior and exterior attachment products. The new procedures, approved by unanimous voice vote last week at NFRC’s Fall Membership Meeting in San Francisco, will add co-planar attachments such as blinds and shades to the group’s existing portfolio of windows, doors, skylights, curtain walls, and window film.

| Nov 15, 2010

Gilbane to acquire W.G. Mills, Inc.

Rhode Island-based Gilbane Building Company announced plans to acquire W.G. Mills, Inc., a construction management firm with operations based in Florida. The acquisition will dramatically strengthen Gilbane’s position in Florida’s growing market and complement its already established presence in the southeast.

| Nov 11, 2010

Saint-Gobain to make $80 million investment in SAGE Electrochromics

Saint-Gobain, one of the world’s largest glass and construction material manufacturers, is making a strategic equity investment in SAGE Electrochromics to make electronically tintable “dynamic glass” an affordable, mass-market product, ushering in a new era of energy-saving buildings.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category

Urban Planning

Bridging the gap: How early architect involvement can revolutionize a city’s capital improvement plans

Capital Improvement Plans (CIPs) typically span three to five years and outline future city projects and their costs. While they set the stage, the design and construction of these projects often extend beyond the CIP window, leading to a disconnect between the initial budget and evolving project scope. This can result in financial shortfalls, forcing cities to cut back on critical project features.




halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021