Industry Watch - Sustainable Facility

EPA Report Profiles ENERGY STAR Partners for Significantly Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Washington, D.C. — ENERGY STAR award winners, Lowe's Cos. Inc., PepsiCo, Food Lion, LLC, Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America Inc., Marriott International Inc., and 3M, are among those showcased in a report released on April 1, 2008, by EPA for reducing greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency.

Publication Provides Energy Efficiency Guidance for K-12 Schools Atlanta — A new publication written specifically for K-12 school buildings will aid design teams in constructing energy-smart schools using off-the-shelf technology that can cut energy use 30 percent or more annually.

	Day-Brite Capri Omega Opens LEED-Certified Lighting Institute Tupelo, Miss. — Day-Brite Capri Omega (DCO) has opened a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Certified Lighting Institute (LEED-CI) designed to educate visitors about the importance of good lighting and highlight the importance of energy conservation.

SSRCx Awarded Continuous Commissioning Platform Approval from Texas A&M Nashville — SSRCx, the commissioning subsidiary of engineering design and facility consulting firm Smith Seckman Reid, has become the fourth commissioning firm in the country to be approved to utilize the Continuous Commissioning platform developed by Texas A&M University.

	Chartwell School Campus Awarded LEED Platinum Seaside, Calif. — Chartwell School has become the first complete educational campus to be awarded LEED Platinum, the highest sustainability rating by the U.S. Green Building Council.

AAL Eliminates Carbon Footprint

La Mirada, Calif. — Architectural Area Lighting (AAL), announced it has neutralized its carbon footprint. AAL’s carbon neutral announcement, made at the U. S. Green Building Council (USGBC)’s 2007 Greenbuild International Conference & Expo, was the result of an extensive 14-month process in which an AAL sustainability team evaluated the company’s carbon footprint based on the protocol established by The World Resources Institute through The Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol Initiative, as sanctioned by The World Business Council for Sustainable Development, in direct response to the 1997 Kyoto Japan Treaty on Global Warming.

	New Jersey Recognizes GBI’s Green Globes System Portland, Ore. — New Jersey became the twelfth state in the United States to formally recognize the Green Building Initiative’s (GBI) Green Globes environmental assessment and rating system in legislation.

BOMI International Releases Updated Course Book; Provides Green Technology Advancements with iGreenBuild.com

Annapolis, Md. — BOMI International has released an updated Technologies for Facilities Management course book for 2008. In this course, students learn the impact of technology on both workers and workplace, and gain knowledge to evaluate current technological services and systems and determine the appropriate technologies for their company portfolio requirements.

All Bentley Prince Street Products Now Climate Neutral; Company is Founding Reporter for Climate Group

City of Industry, Calif. — Bentley Prince Street announced that its Cool Carpet program now comes standard on all of its broadloom and carpet tile products. Through the expanded program, every company product will now be third-party certified as carbon neutral, with zero net greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted during the entire life cycle.

EcoLogo Releases Lists of Certified Jansan Products Reading, Pa. — EcoLogo and TerraChoice Environmental Marketing, a North American environmental certifying, labeling and marketing program, has released a listing of jansan-related products that have recently been EcoLogo-certified.

Power Efficiency Corporation Signs Contract for Energy Efficiency Aggregation with Major California Utility Las Vegas — Power Efficiency Corporation, a green energy company focused on efficiency technologies for electric motors, announced that a major California utility has awarded the company a contract to aggregate up to 3.2 million kWh of electricity in the utility’s service territory.

USGBC Commits Additional $1 Million to Fund Green Building Research, Launches Green Schools Website

Washington, D.C. — The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has doubled its funding commitment for green building research grants to be awarded in 2008 to a grand total of $2 million. Of the additional $1 million in grants, $500,000 has been allocated for K-12 school facility research related to occupant impacts. The Green Building Research Fund was created to spur research that will advance sustainable building practices and encourage market transformation.

	ASHRAE 2008: Reaching New Heights New York — Major announcements at ASHRAE’s 2008 Winter Meeting included free electronic distribution of the Advanced Energy Design Guide series; publication of the 2007 energy conservation standard from ASHRAE and IESNA; and signing of memorandums of understanding with the Brazil Green Building Council and the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA).

Sustainable Website Assists in Landfill Diversion and Connects Buyers and Sellers of Reused and Reclaimed Construction Materials Kansas City, Mo. — PlanetReuse.com is a global website that connects buyers and sellers of reused and reclaimed construction materials and equipment, and allows them to purchase products with integrated shipping online.

	BOMA International’s 7-Point Challenge Gains Momentum Washington, D.C. — The Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International’s 7-Point Challenge, an energy reduction plan to achieve market transformation in the commercial real estate industry, is gaining momentum as companies and BOMA local associations around the country sign on to endorse the challenge.

HOK Employees Worldwide to ‘Go Barefoot’ on Earth Day

Atlanta — This Earth Day, more than 2,500 HOK employees on four continents are being challenged to “Go Barefoot” by taking a tangible step toward reducing their carbon footprint. The architectural design firm is asking its people to alter their transportation, travel and work habits on April 22, 2008, to contribute to reducing the firm’s collective environmental impact.

Sofitel Hotels Chain Chooses Wind Power, Becomes EPA Green Power Partner Dallas — 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.

Armstrong Commercial Flooring Relaunches Website to Include Easier Navigation, New Web Tools

Lancaster, Pa. — Armstrong Commercial Flooring has relaunched its website — www.armstrong.com/flooring — which features improved navigation and a simplified structure built around the needs of architects, designers, specifiers, contractors, distributors, facilities managers and other key customers in the contract market, the company reports.

Virginia and South Dakota Recognize GBI’s Green Globes System Portland, Ore. — Virginia and South Dakota have become the thirteenth and fourteenth states in the United States to formally recognize the Green Building Initiative’s (GBI) Green Globes environmental assessment and rating system in legislation.

Study Finds That CFOs See Financial Benefits in Adopting Environmental Sustainability Practices and Metrics

New York — In an in-depth study conducted by CFO Research in collaboration with global commercial real estate and money management firm Jones Lang LaSalle, CFOs and other senior finance executives overwhelmingly report that environmental sustainability is an increasingly important issue for their companies, and that a range of significant financial benefits are achievable for companies that can implement strategies that truly reduce their impact on the environment.