flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

USGBC, American Chemistry Council join forces to advance LEED

USGBC, American Chemistry Council join forces to advance LEED

The groups will apply technical and science-based approaches to the LEED green building program.


By USGBC | August 28, 2014
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and the American Chemistry Council (ACC) announced a new initiative designed to ensure the use of sustainable and environmentally protective products in buildings by applying technical and science-based approaches to the LEED green building program. This new initiative acknowledges USGBC’s success in leading the transformation of the built environment and sets up a pathway to take advantage of the materials science expertise of ACC and its members.
 
“USGBC and ACC share the goal of advancing sustainability in the built environment, and we will work together to take advantage of our collective strength and experience,” said Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO and founding chair, USGBC. “The looming impacts of climate change and the possibilities of improving human health and wellbeing favor collaboration and engagement as key strategies. The goal is forward progress.”
 
ACC President and CEO Cal Dooley noted, “Modern energy efficiency gains, building safety advances and carbon footprint reductions would not be possible without the products of chemistry. From windows to insulation, adhesives to flooring, chemistry provides solutions that enable the energy efficient and sustainable buildings that consumers expect in today’s world.
 
By combining USGBC, a leader of the green building movement, with the scientific know-how of ACC, we can develop a path to stronger, science-based standards that achieve measurable progress in sustainability.”
 
LEED is regularly updated through a rigorous development process that includes public comments, technical review and balloting. USGBC and ACC will work within that framework to incorporate state-of-the-art safety, sustainability and life-cycle based approaches to LEED. LEED has facilitated advances in building technologies, integrated design and operating practices, as well as the tremendous growth of the green building sector, which supports or creates 7.9 million jobs across all 50 states and contributes $554 billion to the U.S. economy annually. 
 
The American business of chemistry employs nearly 800,000 Americans and supports nearly 25 percent of the U.S. GDP. Chemistry-based plastic building and construction materials saved 467.2 trillion BTUs of energy over alternative construction materials – enough energy saved over the course of a year to meet the average annual energy needs of 4.6 million U.S. households. Energy savings made possible by innovations in chemistry in homes in the U.S. prevented nearly 283 million tons of CO2 emissions in 2010—equivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions of 50 million passenger vehicles.   

Tags

Related Stories

| Mar 2, 2011

How skyscrapers can save the city

Besides making cities more affordable and architecturally interesting, tall buildings are greener than sprawl, and they foster social capital and creativity. Yet some urban planners and preservationists seem to have a misplaced fear of heights that yields damaging restrictions on how tall a building can be. From New York to Paris to Mumbai, there’s a powerful case for building up, not out.

| Mar 1, 2011

Smart cities: getting greener and making money doing it

The Global Green Cities of the 21st Century conference in San Francisco is filled with mayors, architects, academics, consultants, and financial types all struggling to understand the process of building smarter, greener cities on a scale that's practically unimaginable—and make money doing it.

| Mar 1, 2011

How to make rentals more attractive as the American dream evolves, adapts

Roger K. Lewis, architect and professor emeritus of architecture at the University of Maryland, writes in the Washington Post about the rising market demand for rental housing and how Building Teams can make these properties a desirable choice for consumer, not just an economically prudent and necessary one.

| Mar 1, 2011

New survey shows shifts in hospital construction projects

America’s hospitals and health systems are focusing more on renovation or expansion than new construction, according to a new survey conducted by Health Facilities Management magazine and the American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE). In fact, renovation or expansion accounted for 73% of construction projects at hospitals responding to the survey.

| Mar 1, 2011

AIA selects 6 communities for long-term sustainability program

The American Institute of Architects today announced it has selected 6 communities throughout the country to receive technical assistance under the Sustainable Design Assessment Team (SDAT) program in 2011. The communities selected are Shelburne, Vt., Apple Valley, Mn., Pikes Peak Region, Co., Southwest DeKalb County, Ga., Bastrop, Tx., and Santa Rosa, Ca. The SDAT program represents a significant institutional investment by the AIA in public service work to assist communities in developing policy frameworks and long term sustainability plans.

| Feb 24, 2011

Perkins+Will designs 100 LEED Certified buildings

Perkins+Will  announced the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification of its 100th sustainable building, marking a key milestone for the firm and for the sustainable design industry. The Vancouver-based Dockside Green Phase Two Balance project marks the firm’s 100th LEED certified building and is tied for the highest scoring LEED building worldwide with its sister project, Dockside Green Phase One.

| Feb 24, 2011

New reports chart path to net-zero-energy commercial buildings

Two new reports from the Zero Energy Commercial Buildings Consortium (CBC) on achieving net-zero-energy use in commercial buildings say that high levels of energy efficiency are the first, largest, and most important step on the way to net-zero.

| Feb 24, 2011

Lending revives stalled projects

An influx of fresh capital into U.S. commercial real estate is bringing some long-stalled development projects back to life and launching new construction of apartments, office buildings and shopping centers, according to a Wall Street Journal article.

| Feb 23, 2011

London 2012: What Olympic Park looks like today

London 2012 released a series of aerial images that show progress at Olympic Park, including a completed roof on the stadium (where seats are already installed), tile work at the aquatic centre, and structural work complete on more than a quarter of residential projects at Olympic Village.

| Feb 23, 2011

Call for Entries: 2011 Building Team Awards, Deadline: March 25, 2011

The 14th Annual Building Team Awards recognizes newly built projects that exhibit architectural and construction excellence—and best exemplify the collaboration of the Building Team, including the owner, architect, engineer, and contractor.

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.



Libraries

Reasons to reinvent the Midcentury academic library

DLR Group's Interior Design Leader Gretchen Holy, Assoc. IIDA, shares the idea that a designer's responsibility to embrace a library’s history, respect its past, and create an environment that will serve student populations for the next 100 years.

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