Industry News - EDC Magazine

GE Energy, GAF Materials Corporation Form Alliance to Bring Solar Energy to Homes and Businesses GE Energy and GAF now offer customers one-stop shopping for new roofs and solar electric systems. Customers interested in purchasing a new roof can have a solar system installed at the same time, providing customers with a more convenient solution for their homes and businesses.

Solar Power Conference and Expo Becomes Solar Power International The Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), the two nonprofits that have presented the Solar Power Conference and Expo since 2004, announced that effective immediately, the event will be renamed Solar Power International.

Accsys Named in World’s Top 20 Sustainable Stocks Listing The SB20, now in its seventh year, showcases the most innovative, model companies that, through their products or initiatives, are contributing substantially to the advance of a sustainable economy and have the potential to greatly impact our ultimate goal of reaching a sustainable society.

Company Responds to Industry Call for Green Building Training The National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) has partnered with the Sustainable Facilities and Infrastructure Research Team of the Myers-Lawson School of Construction at Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg, Va., to create green training for the construction industry.

Historic Providence Landmark Goes Green

Located in the heart of the financial district, this notable building, the original home of the Old Colony Bank and most recently St. Francis Chapel, will feature cutting-edge, energy efficient technology to yield greater customer satisfaction and lower operating expenses after it opens in December 2008. These green renovations will significantly reduce the amount of energy used to provide heating, air conditioning and electricity throughout the hotel.

Green Community The National Building Museum’s new exhibition emphasizes the big picture of the green movement. Green Community is October 23, 2008 – October 25, 2009.

Companies Partner on Greywater System The partnership will leverage Sloan's proven market leadership, best practices and distribution channels, and the advantages of WaterSaver's water-saving products. Together, Sloan and WaterSaver Technologies will provide the industry with water re-usability to help maximize water-efficiency solutions.

2008 Beyond Green High-Performance Building Awards

The Sustainable Buildings Industry Council (SBIC) is now accepting applications from both the public and private sector for the 2008 Beyond Green High-Performance Building Awards. The Awards recognize the initiatives that shape, inform and catalyze the market for high-performance buildings, as well as the real-world application of high-performance design and construction practices.

	Going Up and Going Greener When AT&T found the perfect site to build a new facility in Mt. Laurel, N.J., there was one thing standing in its way – wetlands. In order to provide the amount of parking their new facility would need surface parking lots would have to encroach onto the wetlands. However, the solution was quite simple: go up instead of out.

First Scholarship to Urban Assembly School of Design and Construction Awarded Gar Yan Yeung, a top-ranking senior from the first graduating class of the Urban Assembly School of Design and Construction (UASDC) has received a $5,000 Thornton Tomasetti Foundation scholarship at a recent ceremony at UASDC in New York City.

CRA/LA, Largest Redevelopment As part of the City of Los Angeles’ green building effort, the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles (CRA/LA) is moving forward with Healthy Neighborhoods Policy.

Anchorage Joins LED City Initiative

Cree, Inc. and the Municipality of Anchorage announced Anchorage’s participation in the LED City program, an international program that promotes the deployment of energy-efficient LED lighting. Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich announced his city’s participation in conjunction with an energy-related initiative calling for the retrofit of all 16,000 municipal roadway lights with high-efficiency LED fixtures.

First Model for Green School Building

Global Green USA has contributed $300,000 plus technical expertise to fund the transformation of the Andrew H. Wilson Elementary School into the first official Model Green School. Partnering with the Recovery School District, Global Green USA will rebuild and apply LEED Silver status green renovations to the school building that sustained severe damage due to levee failures after Hurricane Katrina.

DOE Launches the EnergySmart Hospitals Initiative

David E. Rodgers, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency for the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, launched a new DOE program — called EnergySmart Hospitals — at the American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE) of the American Hospital Association (AHA) Annual Conference and Technical Exhibition in National Harbor.

Hospital Eyes Sustainable Firsts

The soon-to-be-built Embassy Medical Center in Colombo, Sri Lanka, which is being designed by the Minneapolis office of Perkins+Will, is looking to achieve a number of sustainable firsts with the first Medical Bio-Anaerobic incinerator, the first community energy resource, the first modern use of open air terraces off patient rooms and the first incorporation of eight stories of open air water cooling waterfall.

	Reinventing the Patient Experience Scheduled for completion in 2011, the new Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi (CCAD) Hospital, United Arab Emirates, is a 360-bed hospital and clinic located on Al Sowa Island, adjacent to the new Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange.

Developer of Green Globes and Go Green Interactive Software Tools Acquired

Jones Lang LaSalle Inc., an integrated financial and professional services firm specializing in real estate, announced the acquisition of the environmental consulting firm, ECD Energy, best known as the developer of technology underlying environmental rating systems for buildings, including Green Globes for the Green Building Initiative (GBI) and Go Green for BOMA Canada.

Solar Certification Program for Commercial Buildings solarX, a company that provides clean solar energy to commercial real estate owners, announced its XFactor Solar Certification program for commercial buildings.

Autodesk and Bentley to Advance AEC Software Interoperability At a joint press conference, Autodesk, Inc. and Bentley Systems, Inc., two leading providers of design and infrastructure software, announced an agreement to expand interoperability between their portfolios of architectural, engineering, and construction (AEC) software.

	GREENGUARD Introduces New Certification Category In response to increased focus on improved indoor air quality, GREENGUARD Environmental Institute (GEI) has added the Formaldehyde Emission Reduction Technology category to its certification programs.

Hotel Chain Chooses Wind Power Accor North America announced a new agreement between its Sofitel Hotels and wind energy supplier Community Energy, Inc. to purchase clean, renewable, wind energy for all nine Sofitel locations in the U.S.

	Transforming Children’s Health Through the Physical Environment Hospital buildings can heal according to a report by the National Association of Children’s Hospitals and Related Institutions (NACHRI) produced in partnership with the Center for Health Design.

	Counties with Green Building Programs have Increased Almost 500 Percent According to the American Institute of Architects (AIA), since 2003 the number of counties with green building programs has risen from eight to thirty-nine for an increase of 487.5 percent.

	California Adopts Nation’s First Statewide Green Building Code The code is designed to lead to improved energy efficiency and reduced water consumption in all new construction throughout the state, while also reducing the carbon footprint of every new structure in California.