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.

Mass Timber

5 lessons in water mitigation for mass timber projects

Sustainability leaders from Skanska, RDH, and Polygon share five tips for successful water mitigation in mass timber construction.

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.

Jul 2, 2013

LEED v4 gets green light, will launch this fall

The U.S. Green Building Council membership has voted to adopt LEED v4, the next update to the world’s premier green building rating system.

Jun 19, 2013

Florida is latest battleground over LEED standards centered on certified wood

A nationwide battle over forest certification standards continues to be played out nationally and in Florida with legislation passed this month.

Jun 18, 2013

Report: HVAC occupancy sensors could slash building energy demand by 18%

Researchers at the DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory conclude that significant energy savings can be achieved by varying ventilation levels based on the number of people in a given space.

Jun 17, 2013

DOE launches database on energy performance of 60,000 buildings

The Energy Department today launched a new Buildings Performance Database, the largest free, publicly available database of residential and commercial building energy performance information.

Jun 5, 2013

USGBC: Free LEED certification for projects in new markets

In an effort to accelerate sustainable development around the world, the U.S. Green Building Council is offering free LEED certification to the first projects to certify in the 112 countries where LEED has yet to take root.

May 31, 2013

Nation's first retrofitted zero-energy building opens in California

The new training facility for IBEW/NECA is the first commercial building retrofit designed to meet the U.S. Department of Energy’s requirements for a net-zero energy building.

May 28, 2013

LED lighting's risks and rewards

LED lighting technology provides unique advantages, but it’s also important to understand its limitations for optimized application.

May 17, 2013

LEED v4 has provision to reduce water use in cooling towers

The next version of the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED rating system will expand water-savings targets to appliances, cooling towers, commercial kitchen equipment, and other areas.

May 9, 2013

Post-tornado Greensburg, Kan., leads world in LEED-certified buildings per capita

Six years after a tornado virtually wiped out the town, Greensburg, Kan., is the world's leading community in LEED-certified buildings per capita.

May 3, 2013

'LEED for all GSA buildings,' says GSA Green Building Advisory Committee

The Green Building Advisory Committee established by the General Services Administration, officially recommended to GSA that the LEED green building certification system be used for all GSA buildings as the best measure of building efficiency.