http://verdantconcepts.com Blog related to green roofs and environmental issues related to the urban environment. Mon, 02 Mar 2009 14:39:24 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Yesterday I was in Chincoteague, VA and visited the National Wildlife Refuge. While I did see some of the famous ponies in the distance, one of the highlights of the trip was the visitor's center, Herbert H. Bateman Educaton and Administrative Center. Not only did the center have a camera ... http://verdantconcepts.com/2009/03/02/a-green-eastern-shore/ November's Building Operating Management has a good introduction to green roofs by Greg Zimmerman. The five part article covers the industry, the energy and stormwater benefits of green roofs, and the new professional certification program. Plus the article cites some of my work while at Michigan estimating air quality benefits ... http://verdantconcepts.com/2008/11/30/introduction-to-green-roofs/ To update from a previous post, not only did US Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit rule that the clean air mercury rule violated the Clean Air Act in February, but in July the District of Columbia Circuit also vacated the clean air interstate rule (CAIR). While the court ... http://verdantconcepts.com/2008/10/06/why-should-anyone-cair/ With the opening of the Olympic Games a few days away, air quality in the city is increasingly a concern. It is now possible to view air quality around the city thanks to a joint effort by Mapufacture, Inc. and Fortius One. The map shows values from air quality sampling ... http://verdantconcepts.com/2008/08/07/mapping-olympic-air-quality/ 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 ... http://verdantconcepts.com/2008/07/21/biotech-going-green-tech/ 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% ... http://verdantconcepts.com/2008/07/18/state-of-the-shelf-progress-in-energy-efficiency/ Here's an update on NYC green roof policy incentives as discussed previously. According to an article in Greener Buildings, bill A 11226 passed the state assembly on June 23rd. The senate had previously passed the bill on June 11th. For buildings that green at least half of the roof ... http://verdantconcepts.com/2008/07/03/tax-credit-for-green-roofs-in-the-big-apple/ With Wall Street officially in a bear market, I was curious to see what effects if any the subprime mortgage mess and other woes have had on the environmental field. Simply hired, an online job search service and aggregator, provides data on the number of postings over time with specific ... http://verdantconcepts.com/2008/07/03/mixed-news-for-job-growth-in-environmental-field/ The WEF Sustainability Conference was held this week in Washington, DC. During the conference, a multitude of available resources were recommended to learn more about green infrastructure and sustainable water management. Below is a brief list of the resources in no particular order that I found interesting. I’ve included links ... http://verdantconcepts.com/2008/06/24/wef-sustainability-conference/ 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 ... http://verdantconcepts.com/2008/06/09/mapping-green-buildings-in-california/