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.

Enermodal staff at the firms annual employee conference (opposite) and Enermoda

Mar 21, 2013

Best Firms to Work For: Enermodal Engineering is green to the core

At Enermodal Engineering, there’s only one kind of building—a sustainable one.

Mar 19, 2013

New LEED for Neighborhood Development and Historic Preservation guide released

A new guidance manual, LEED for Neighborhood Development and Historic Preservation, outlines strategies geared towards helping building teams incorporate historic resources into their developments.

Mar 14, 2013

25 cities with the most Energy Star certified buildings

Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Chicago top EPA's list of the U.S. cities with the greatest number of Energy Star certified buildings in 2012.

Mar 10, 2013

Walgreens to build first net-zero energy retail store

Walgreens announced plans last week to build one of the nation's first net-zero retail stores. The Evanston, Ill., location will utilize solar panels, wind turbines, geothermal technology, LED lighting and ultra-high-efficiency refrigeration to produce energy equal to or greater than the building consumes.

Feb 28, 2013

Lend Lease builds world's tallest timber apartment building

Construction giant Lend Lease recently put the finishing touches on Forté, a 10-story apartment complex in Melbourne, Australia's Victoria Harbour that was built entirely with cross laminated timber (CTL) technology.

Feb 25, 2013

HOK sustainability expert Mary Ann Lazarus tapped by AIA for strategy consulting position

Mary Ann Lazarus, FAIA, LEED® AP BD+C, has accepted a two-year consulting position with the American Institute of Architects in Washington, DC. Her new position, which begins March 1, will focus on increasing the AIA's impact on sustainability across the profession. The St. Louis-based architect will continue consulting at HOK.

A view of Loring Park, Minneapolis. Credit: Dan Wick

Feb 25, 2013

10 U.S. cities with the best urban forests

Charlotte, Denver, and Milwaukee are among 10 U.S. cities ranked recently by the conservation organization American Forests for having quality urban forest programs.

This hospital at Virginia's Fort Belvoir recently achieved LEED Gold.

Feb 22, 2013

Defense department report: Green design saves taxpayers money

An independent report on energy efficiency and sustainability standards used by the Pentagon for military construction affirms the value of LEED-certified high performing buildings to America’s military and U.S. taxpayers.

Feb 21, 2013

BD+C's 2011 White Paper: Zero and Net-Zero Energy Buildings + Homes

We submit our eighth White Paper on Sustainability in the hope that it will inspire architects, engineers, contractors, building owners, developers, building product manufacturers, environmentalists, policymakers, government officials, corporate executives, officeholders, and the public to foster the development of net-zero energy buildings and homes.