Green Clips
May 17, 2012, Landscape Architects Help Design the Way Forward
ASLA.org
A new report looks at the most cost-effective options for managing polluted runoff and protecting clean water, and finds that green infrastructure solutions save taxpayer money and provide community benefits by managing stormwater where it falls.
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May 16, 2012, After Walkability and Transit Quality, Walk Score Now Ranks Cities by Bikeability
By Michael Graham Richard, treehugger.com
Walk Score is expanding the services that it offers so much that at some point they’ll have to change their name. We recently wrote about their new transit ranking, and now they’ve announced that they created a new ranking of the top most bikeable cities in the U.S. and Canada.
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May 15, 2012, Green Building: What’s Next?
lvrj.com
The latest report on the residential market shows greater emphasis on green features by both consumers and construction pros alike.
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May 14, 2012, Green Building Sails On, Despite Rough Economy
By Susan DeFreitas, earthtechling.com
From green schools to green hospitals and even green labs, sustainable construction practices are becoming increasingly mainstream, as evidenced by the fact that the U.S. Green Building Council recently announced that it had certified over 12,000 green build projects. There are studies showing that green homes command higher prices on the real estate market, higher rents with commercial tenants, and possibly even greater revenues for banks that house themselves within buildings with a green build certification.
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May 11, 2012, Greening the Workplace
By M.J. McAteer, VirginiaBusiness.com
In a largely dormant commercial construction market, green has become a growth industry. Although sustainable buildings have been around for decades, their proliferation had long been limited by the perception that construction was complicated and costly. Not anymore. According to McGraw-Hill Construction, 35 percent of architectural, engineering and contracting positions are now green. It defines “green” jobs as those in which at least 50 percent of the work involves projects that focus on sustainability. By 2015, McGraw-Hill expects that figure to reach 45 percent, with the commonwealth among the forward ranks of the movement.
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May 10, 2012, Proposed Revisions to Energy Standard for Existing Buildings Open for Public Comment
By Jodi Scott, ASHRAE.org
Public input is being sought into revision of an ASHRAE/IES standard that addresses retrofit of existing residential and commercial buildings to achieve greater energy efficiency.
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May 9, 2012, Green Roofs Sprouting Around Community
By Courtney Beale, CharlottesvilleTomorrow.com
The many benefits of green roofing systems were the topic of the presentation at the James River Green Building Council’s luncheon on Tuesday. Scott Titanish, the LiveRoof area manager at Riverbend Nursery, a green roofing company, detailed how green roofs can counteract some of the negative impacts of urbanization like the urban heat island effect and stormwater management problems.
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May 8, 2012, U.S. Green Building Council Perspective: LEED 2012: Light At The End of the Tunnel
By Doug Gatlin, facilitiesnet.com
After years of preparation, more than 20,000 public comments and the involvement of countless green building project teams, LEED 2012, the latest update to the LEED green building program, is almost here. The new iteration of LEED represents a critical push forward for the green building industry.
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May 7, 2012, Green Spaces Forum on Mayo Island
By Philip Riggan, Richmond.com
The James River Green Building Council hosted a community forum this past Thursday that focused on design concepts for privately-owned Mayo Island, and while there were many creative features introduced during the competition, none of the entries likely matched anything that Richmonders would fall in love with. There were seven entries, with only one from a Richmond group. The three suggested pillars of a successful plan would be one that is sustainable, social and economically viable. The theme “Breaking Away: Changing the place of Mayo Island with the 2015 UCI Road World Championships” was at the heart of the competition and Richmond is expecting a huge economic boost and an international spotlight from that event. “If you don’t prepare it could be disastrous,” said one of the JRGBC spokesman. “If you do, it could be remarkable.”
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May 4, 2012, Mayo Island pushed as stage for cycling championships,
By Michael Martz, Richmond Times Dispatch
Mayo Island has been floated before as a potential stage for the UCI Road World Championships in 2015, even though Richmond officials and the event’s sponsors say it’s not part of the plan. But a group of environmentally minded architectural and interior designers wants to put the James River island and 14th Street Bridge back on the map for the globally watched bicycling event, and the race’s new chief executive officer isn’t saying no to the idea.
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May 3, 2012, Green Homes Seen as a Good Deal
By EcoHome Staff, EcoHomeMagazine.com
A new report reveals key factors driving the growth of the residential green building market, most notably that they are perceived to be higher quality and better value than traditionally built homes. “New and Remodeled Green Homes: Transforming the Residential Market” estimates that the green homes share of the construction market was 17% in 2011, and predicts that it will rise to 38% by 2016, based on the five-year forecast for overall residential construction.
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May 2, 2012, Builders: Energy efficiency greens most new homes
By Wendy Koch, USA Today
More than 80% of builders say energy-efficient features are now pervasive in new homes and are making their construction greener than just two years ago, a new report finds. Two-thirds of builders and remodelers say customers request green homes to lower their utility bills — more than twice as often as any other factor, according to the SmartMarket report by McGraw-Hill Consruction, part of The McGraw-Hill Companies.
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May 1, 2012, Full compliance with energy standards now required in Va.
By Times Dispatch Staff, Richmond Times Dispatch
A recently updated Virginia building code is turning up the dial on energy-efficiency measures. The new standards mean more upfront costs for homebuyers, but buyers can save in the long run with lower energy costs — and they can live in less drafty, healthier homes.
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