building

"There used to be a terribly vicious cycle that held true when it came to green construction: Builders didn't want to shell out extra cash to offer ecologically-friendly homes because they were afraid that competitors would just continue business-as-usual and steal away all the customers with their lower prices.

Because the Clinton Climate Initiative is taking a very practical approach to addressing climate change through building energy efficiency, it presents an opportunity for companies to learn vital lessons about implementing energy efficiency programs in their own facilities.

This beautiful and colorful building is the parking garage of the Santa Monica Civic Center. This building is on its way to becoming the first LEED certified parking garage in the United States.

LEED does not rate only the completed project, but the entire building process: whether the materials are recycled, how much waste is produced, how well the building will save energy in the future, and how much impact the building has on its surrounding environment.

The newest museum in Madrid, CaixaForum, got a vertical garden on one of the exterior walls. Designed by Swiss architects Herzog & Meuron, there are 15,000 plants from more than 250 different species

This building will be the first that will generate power in order to be assembled. The power will be acquired with the help of a solar roof which, of course, is going to be assembled first.

A real estate blog piece on that speaks about consumer sentiment about green buildings, and has some good links with downloadable reports and some local information for New York City.

"I had a customer ask to see only green buildings for the first time this week, a sign to me that consumer sentiment may be transforming right now." --comitini.com

Among the major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., the built environment (homes, buildings, roads) accounts for the majority with 51% of total -- 39% for the operation of the buildings (heating, cooling, lighting) and 12% to produce the building materials (cement, glass, drywall and steel).

Used building materials

Byreclaiming antique wood from demolition sites, Marc Poirier is the ultimate recycler. Like an archaeologist, Marc delivers the history and stories behind almost every timber in his Berwick, Maine, stock. Look closely and you'll easily see the difference between a 400 year old limb and a newly sawn board from a warehouse store.

A mix of 15 current, in-construction and planned green architectural treasures from around the world. They all have one thing in common: sustainability. If the world wants to do something about global warming then we need to change more than just how we live, we need to change what we live in.

First eco friendly hotel chain, sets sights on the big apple

An Irish company has come up with an exciting new product - Carbon Neutral Concrete. This is a good example of how engaging the drive and initative of the private sector is going to be one of the key criteria to ensure successful steps to minimise Ireland’s carbon footprint

Openecosource.org, the first open source website devoted entirely to ecological sustainability, has announced it's official launch. The site promises to accelerate the rate at which global information is exchanged so that immediate actions may be taken to mitigate the climate crisis worldwide.

Openecosource.org gives users the ability to submit any form of relevant information to a growing database of quality, usable knowledge that is easy to find and search. Users can discuss each entry as well as ask each other questions or for tips regarding ecological sustainability.

Las Vegas's food, water, and energy consumption is extremely high.  The city is visted by about 40 million people a year with more people moving in each month.  Vegas can make a big difference to our planet and resources, and one way their planning on doing this is through green building.