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The World’s First Bio-Façade Ready to Grow. Green Building Councils from around the globe celebrate World Green Building Week | 2012-09-20 | Floor Covering. The green building community is celebrating World Green Building Week with events around the globe that shine a spotlight on the key role of buildings in conserving resources, saving money and creating jobs while providing healthier places to live, learn, work and play.

Organized by the World Green Building Council, the week has united 90 nations representing more than 20,000 organizations as they hold conferences, tours, educational events and gatherings that celebrate this year's theme, "Green Buildings for Great Communities. " World Green Building Week highlights the role of green buildings in creating greener and healthier neighborhoods, communities and cities, and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is leading efforts nationally through events promoting green, resilient buildings and highlighting those who benefit most, our children. USGBC's World Green Building Week activities include: For more information on World Green Building Week, visit worldgbc.org.

Waste Vegetable Oil Conversion - Transform Used Cooking Oil Into Electricity For Your Restaurant WVO Energy Savings Vegawatt. Gigantic Energy-Generating Waterfall Skyscraper Could Power the 2016 Rio Olympics. This renewable energy generating tower located on the coast of Rio is one of the first buildings we’ve seen designed for the 2016 Rio Olympics, and boy, is it crazy! (In case you didn't notice, it's also a waterfall.) The Solar City Tower is designed by Zurich-based RAFAA Architecture & Design, and features a large solar system to generate power during the day and a pumped water storage system to generate power at night. RAFAA's goal is that a symbolic tower such as this can serve as a starting point for a global green movement and help make the 2016 Olympic Games more sustainable. The self-sustaining tower for the 2016 Olympic Games is designed to create renewable energy for use in the Olympic Village as well as the city of Rio.

A large solar power plant generates energy during the day. Any excess power not used during the day is utilized to pump seawater into a storage tank within the tower. . + RAFAA Architecture & Designs Via Ecofriend. Greywater Instead of Holy Water. EDC May 2012. Material Focus: Straw Bales - Ideas. Has interest in LEED really fallen off or has it been ‘transformed’? First, the good news: Nearly two-thirds of executives at real estate companies and corporations (64%) said it is “extremely likely” or “very likely” that their companies would undertake new construction in the next 12 months, compared to just 46% two years ago, according to a survey by Turner Construction Co. Similarly, the Turner survey showed a significant uptick in anticipated renovation projects by this client group: 71% said they would were “extremely” or “very” likely to engage in renovation, vs. 58% in 2010.

Reconstruction has been the salvation of the commercial design and construction industry in the last few years, but more renovation work is always welcome—especially since saving an existing building is often the “greenest” thing you can do. Now to the green building findings, and here we’re seeing less change from 2010 to today. The most intriguing finding, however, had to do with what seems to be a falloff of interest in LEED certification. LEED 2012 v4. Question: Dave asks: What are some of the main changes that we will see in LEED 2012? Answer: LEED 2012 (which is now renamed LEED v4, since it won't be out before 2013) has loads of changes. Since the changes apply to all different LEED rating systems, I am only going to mention the major changes and other changes that apply to all rating systems.

So, for starters, LEED BD+C now has new compliance paths for Data Centers, Warehouses and Distribution Centers, and Hospitality projects. In addition, LEED ID+C now has new compliance paths for Hospitality projects. A new credit category for "Location and Transportation" has been added, mainly taking the "Alternative Transportation" credits from "Sustainable Sites" as well as adding a few extra credits. The Sustainable sites category also has a new "Environmental Site Assessment" credit, Heat-Island effect credits and merged into one, along with some minor changes and updated references. Related Advice: Tile July/August 2012. New Eco-City Forges the Future in China. Saanich News - Victoria rail station roof salvaged for future project. Nicaragua sets pace in green energy race. MANAGUA—Nicaragua hasn’t won too many development races over the years, but this Central American dark horse is quickly making its way to the head of the pack in the global green-energy marathon, according to renowned energy expert Daniel Kammen.

With the country’s unique combination of abundant natural resources, favorable investment incentives, and an aggressive government strategy to switch to low-carbon energy sources over the next five years, Nicaragua has suddenly found itself at the tip of the spear of the renewable energy revolution. “Nicaragua, in a really unusual way, has it all,” says Dr. Kammen, a senior fellow at the U.S. -based Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas and a 2007 Nobel Peace Prize winner for his role as coordinating lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. “Nicaragua is in a situation where it could set a goal, in a cost effective way, to produce 100% renewable energy,” Kammen told The Nicaragua Dispatch in an interview last week.