Green Roof Resource

A few weeks ago, I participated in a conference call for bloggers to learn more about the green building efforts of Genzyme, a biotech company focused on diagnostic testing, pharmaceuticals, and medical treatments. In addition to its headquarters building in Cambridge, Massachusetts (a LEED Platinum building), Genzyme has several additional buildings seeking LEED as well as a few green buildings internationally.

What I found most interesting were the efforts to green research laboratories. Genzyme is presently seeking Silver LEED accreditation for its research laboratory in Framingham, Massachusetts and has a proposed research building in Beijing, China. Much of the work in the Framingham laboratory focused on lighting and daylighting, radiant heating and cooling, and a highly reflective roof. One of the challenges with laboratories is the added energy expense of once-through air systems. Achieving LEED standards for laboratories can be more difficult than standard commercial buildings as laboratory buildings are more energy and water intensive (the average wet lab uses five times as much water and energy as a typical office building per square foot).

Yesterday the House Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality (part of the Committee on Energy and Commerce) held a hearing focusing on building energy efficiency as one method of tackling CO2 emissions. The subcommittee is presently developing and understanding various potential mechanisms to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60-80% by 2050 in a manner that limits costs to the economy and maximizes the efficiency of a mandatory climate change program. They have produced a white paper that analyzes cap-and-trade program options. While developing cap-and-trade programs will most likely focus on large-scale stationary sources and transportation, yesterday’s hearing demonstrated that members of Congress recognize and are exploring the significant reductions that can occur through improving the energy efficiency of our buildings. Wahoowa!

One of the facts that was mentioned multiple times during the hearing is that building stock represents 40% of total US greenhouse gas emissions. To reduce emissions by 60-80% by 2050, improvements in building efficiency must be made. The committee recognizes that sizable reductions can be made through improved building energy efficiency. Last year the committee and the House passed a new building code to states to advance energy efficiency, but the legislation was stopped by Senate action. The witnesses spoke of several different programs and efforts to formulate a national building energy efficiency policy. The challenge appears to be to create incentives to further energy efficiency without setting standards that are unachievable or of limited use depending upon the location of a building project.

Here are a few of programs and efforts that were mentioned in the hearing:
The 30% solution: The Energy Efficient Codes Coalition has launched a campaign to improve residential energy efficiency standards by 30% from the 2006 international energy code standards. In September, this will be decided at the International Code Council Annual Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The 30% solution is designed to be achievable, affordable, and enforceable. This is the most promising effort for enforceable change in building construction at the moment, but we’ll see where this stands in two months time.

“Beyond code”: This was another often used phrase yesterday. This refers to voluntary program such as EnergyStar. I’ve mentioned EnergyStar before, but another source for energy efficiency ideas is EnergySavers, which provides energy information and tips from DOE, EPA, and HUD.

With representatives talking about efficiency targets and executive agencies and departments collaborating, change is certainly coming. Who knew that “state of the shelf” technologies could be so exciting?

While San Francisco has had a green building map (developed by M. Landman Communications & Consulting) for quite some time, California has recently released their own green building directory and map. The green building directory is searchable according to location, LEED rating and status, project owner, and the inclusion of energy efficiency projects.

Andrew Turner of HighEarthOrbit and Mapufacture, Inc blogged about the state map a couple of days ago. He converted the data into a KML file, which is available from the post for those who wish to create their own map from the data. He developed a revised map based upon the data. This revised map easily sorts the buildings according to LEED certified buildings, buildings pending LEED certification, an other category, and those buildings under 10,000 square feet.