UWW310Spring2012Sustainability

The Mass Green Communities initiative is a program with simple and clear criteria which a town can meet in order to gain Green Community designation. It is a program that residents can be part of and aside from the environmental benefits of meeting the criteria it makes the town eligible for various state and federal grants. One of my coworkers is involved in the initiative for the town of Northfield and it is something he feels proud as a resident to be a part of.

Hi All, and Happy St. Patrick's Day! As this is my first post, I thought it would be fitting to give a shout to my employer, Greenstreet Inc. We are a green construction firm in New York City. "GREENSTREET is a high-end construction firm that specializes in energy-efficient, healthy and green building."

US Green Building Council is the governing body that founded, and maintains the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). Thousands of residential and commercial buildings across the nation are being built to these specifications. Ratings such as Silver, Gold, and Platinum are awarded for buildings that meet the stringent energy saving design characteristics. The U.S. Green Building Council is committed to a prosperous and sustainable future through cost-efficient and energy-saving green buildings. Our community of leaders is working to make green buildings available to everyone within a generation.

Some LEED Platinum Skyscrapers: Taipei 101: http://inhabitat.com/taiwains-taipei-101-skyscraper-crowned-the-worlds-tallest-leed-platinum-building/ Bank of America Building NYC: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_America_Tower_(New_York_City) Shenzen's Horizontal Skyscraper: http://www.evolo.us/architecture/steven-holls-leed-platinum-horizontal-skyscraper/

Thanks to new solar arrays atop ten city buildings, including three police stations, two schools, a fire station, and sanitation department garages, New York City has tripled its solar power production. Mayor Bloomberg made the announcement yesterday during a press conference at the offices of a new tech start-up, Efficiency 2.0.

"Some of the world's biggest ships are about to get even bigger and more efficient, thanks to a blast of air and a monster engineering project." BBC Interesting article about the former size constraints of ocean going vessels, and how it's about to change. 

The International Code Council is a member-focused association dedicated to helping the building safety community and construction industry provide safe, sustainable and affordable construction through the development of codes and standards used in the design, build and compliance process. Most U.S. communities and many global markets choose the International Codes

US DOE Website- BECP develops and maintains free software and tools to support energy codes and standards, REScheck software for low-rise residential building energy code compliance, and the COMcheck software for commercial building energy code compliance, and conducts outreach and deployment activities related to energy codes and high-performance sustainably designed buildings

Find information on future free energy efficiency training, typically through webinars. . Also view past webinars includeing Morningside Energy Code Training presentations which I have the pleasure(responsibility) to present the first Thursday of the month..

I work daily with this group as we work to advance energy efficiency in Utah. The UBEES Team is composed of the following Utah organizations: Division of Facilities and Construction Management (DFCM), Governor's Office of Economic Development Office of the Governor's Energy Advisor, Utah Clean Energy, Utah State Energy Program,.The UBEES program was created to advance strategies for energy efficient new buildings and existing building retrofits in a way that benefits Utah businesses, builders, residents, and workers.

The U.S. Green Building Council is committed to a prosperous and sustainable future through cost-efficient and energy-saving green buildings. Our community of leaders is working to make green buildings available to everyone within a generation.

This is a page with instructions on how to build your own bamboo bike trailer. At the bottom there are additional links to other designs for utility trailers for bikes. I have borrowed the trailers that the Pedal People use in Northampton and they are great. You can haul up to 300 lbs and they don't compromise your stability much. The catch is that their trailers cost upwards of $450. There is a a significant community of enthusiasts that simply want to promote human power as an alternative to fossil fuel, and consequently you can find all of these trailer plans offered for free - some with Creative Commons licenses and others just there for the taking/sharing. It's great!

Our single greatest challenge in energy code enforcement is verification of the thermal performance of windows and doors. The NFRC provides a solution to the challenge. The NFRC is a non-profit organization that administers the only uniform, independent rating and labeling system for the energy performance of windows, doors, skylights, and attachment products. Their goal is to provide fair, accurate, and reliable energy performance ratings for architects, builders, code officials, homeowners and manufacturers.

This website has been developed to provide users with information about energy codes and beyond code technologies. You can SEARCH by keyword, or BROWSE the available topics.Resources are available in a variety of different media types, including Articles, Graphics, Online Tools, Presentations, and Videos. The BECP Resource Center gathers content not only from their archives, but also provides links to energy code resources from around the web.

ENERGY STAR for homes is a program recognizing homes built to a strict set of guidelines that are at least 15% more efficient than a home built to the minimum requirements of the current energy code. This is THE resource for information on this EPA program.

The State of Utah recently purchased an E-60bx thermal camera for my use in energy efficiency training and studies. Using a thermal camera for building diagnostics identifies many areas where energy efficiency can be improved. "The cheapest, cleanest, most sustainable energy is energy conserved"

Energy Codes, studies and energy efficiency experts all agree that a critical requirement to obtaining maximum performance and efficiency from heat and cooling systems is to correctly size the equipment and distribution systems. This is the design software I used in my previous career as an HVAC contractor. In my current career as a building code official, I require a design based on this or another approved software for all new mechanical systems.

ASHRAE- American Society of Heating, Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Engineers is THE HVAC technical expert/organization in the world. All codes and design practices are based on ASHRAE Standards. There are a number of free resources available on their website- this one is for consumers. It is a great resource for anybody looking for energy efficiency in buildings.

The word "geothermal" is recognized to represent a sustainable, efficient energy source. This website is an great resource, the voice of the geothermal heat pump industry.

Rigid foam on the exterior of a home or commercial building is a very effective method to increase the insulation level of a home and to eliminate most of the thermal bridging through framing. Here's a cool website witha video on how to properly install exterior building insulation foam.

The renewable energy industry supports 110,000 jobs in the UK and could support 400,000 by 2020, a report says.