16 Ways Civil Engineers Can Add Value To The LEED Process

16 Ways Civil Engineers Can Add Value To The LEED Process

Many architects feel that the civil engineer is the hardest one to get onboard with green buildings or that they contribute the least among the design team toward a LEED project. It shouldn’t be that way, civil engineers should be an enthusiastic and integrated contributor to the LEED process and the project is likely missing a lot of opportunities for true collaboration and integrated design. The credits that can benefit from the civil engineer’s input are: construction activity pollution prevention, site selection, development density and community connectivity,brownfield redevelopment,alternative transportation,site development,stormwater design,heat island fffect,light pollution reduction,water efficient landscaping,innovative wastewater technologies,optimize energy performance ,construction waste management, recycled content, regional materials,innovation in design,and regional priority.

How Sustainable is “Green Building”?

How Sustainable is “Green Building”?

While the terms green and sustainable are often used interchangeably, not all green building techniques are sustainable. Green building encourages the reduction of harmful impacts that buildings have on the environment and their occupants while focusing on environmental sustainability, but does not necessitate truly sustainable practices. While sustainable strategies stipulate the conservation, or preservation, of resources and require the reconciliation of all economic, social, and environmental demands.
There is a need for the establishment of a framework that encourages economic, social, and environmental sustainability for green buildings.

Al Gore Addresses Green Building Community at Greenbuild

Al Gore delivered the keynote address to green building professionals at the Greenbuild conference. He praised the leadership of the USGBC for bringing real change to the marketplace. He also urged the crowd to take responsibility for expanding green building globally and to call out greenwashing.

Green Building to Spur as Many as 8 Million U.S. Jobs Over Next Few Years

The U.S. Green Building Council predicts that green building will support 7.9 million U.S. jobs and pump $554 billion into the American economy. They found that the green building sector generates $2.6 trillion in annual revenue, employ approximately 14 million people, come from 29 industry sectors and include 46 Fortune 100 companies

Top Green Design Firms, Building Team LEED APs and Green Contractors Ranked by Building Design & Construction Magazine

Each spring, Building Design & Construction (BD+C) editors survey the country’s largest AEC firms in the nonresidential building industry. Companies are ranked across six categories—Architects (50), Architect/Engineers (50), Engineers (50), Engineer/Architects (50), Contractors (80), and Construction Managers (20)—based on the volume of commercial, institutional, industrial, and multifamily residential building work completed in 2008. This year, in addition to publishing a list of the top 200 building team LEED APs, they have also published a ranking of the nation’s 150 largest green design firms and a list of 75 of the largest green contractors. The design firms are ranked on billings for work performed in-house. Contractors and construction managers are ranked on the value of construction put in place. For multi-year jobs, only work from the survey year applies.

Take The Going with the Grain Challenge

The Going with the Grain Challenge is to design an original and compelling object that can be made from a single sheet of FSC-certified plywood measuring 4-feet x 8-feet x 1-inch. All are welcome to enter, including furniture designers and manufacturers, architects and industrial designers. FSC stands for the Forest Stewardship Council. FSC certification means that the wood was produced using sustainable forestry practices recognized by the FSC. This Challenge is meant to raise awareness of the importance of FSC certification. It is a companion initiative to DESIGN 21’s FSC Awareness Competition Wood, Paper, Checkmark. Entries should be functional designs that reveal the beauty of the wood. The challenge is presented by The Nature Conservancy and Forest Stewardship Council-US (FSC-US) (FSC-US) and is operated by Design 21: Social Design Network It is sponsored by EcoSystems.

Rebuilding the Economy with Green Collar Jobs

Rebuilding the Economy with Green Collar Jobs