Related Links: Engineering News-Record Uptime Institute Well over half of the respondents to a recent survey of 1,100 data center owners and operators around the globe said that saving energy is a major priority for their organizations. Eighty-two percent said saving energy translates to cost-savings. Yet most companies do not have financial incentives optimized to affect real change.These are some of the findings of the Uptime Institute's second annual data center industry survey, conducted in March and April.Information technology organizations that take a systematic approach to saving energy will get the most benefit, says the survey. They need to consolidate
Related Links: Standard 201P, Facility Smart Grid Information Model A proposed standard that would provide a common basis for consumers to describe, manage and communicate electrical energy consumption and forecasting is open for an advisory public review until Sept. 3, according to ASHRAE. The group is developing Standard 201P, Facility Smart Grid Information Model, with the National Electrical Manufacturers Association. “Historically, electricity consumption has been viewed as a collection of dumb loads at the end of a distribution system," with almost no interaction between the loads and those responsible for electricity generation and distribution, says Steve Bushby, chairman of the
Photo by istockphoto.com Pilot program lets buildings qualify for LEED based on lower requirements. Related Links: U.S. Green Building Council EPA's Energy Star program Members of the buildings sector are applauding the U.S. Green Building Council's decision to delay the release of the next version of its popular green-building rating system, called LEED. In the meantime, debate rages on over the content of the draft revision. Consequently, USGBC is holding an unprecedented fifth public comment period on the latest draft, from Oct. 2 to Dec. 10.The delay follows a torrent of comments, some 22,000 so far, that greeted the fourth
Related Links: Rooftops Slowly, but Steadily, Start to Sprout Green Roofs for Healthy Cities Green roofs are gaining acceptance in dozens of countries, joining other forms of green infrastructure that are being used to mitigate environmental problems of urban centers.For example, vegetated roofs “are very good at managing stormwater. Most extensively planted green roofs will hold the first inch of rainfall and slow any additional rainfall, thus reducing peak flows and lowering the stress on combined sewer overflows,” says Steven Peck, founder and president of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (CRHC).The group is a professional association with both corporate and
Courtesy CII-Godrej GBC The CII-Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre in Hyderabad was one of the first commercial buildings in India to have a green roof. Courtesy CII-Godrej GBC A green roof atop British Gas House, an Indian Green Building Council platinum-rated project in Mumbai. Related Links: The 10 Largest Green Roofs India's Green Business Center Call them what you like—green roofs, sky gardens, green terraces—these vegetated patches atop buildings are gaining ground in India. Technology and climate is playing an important role in their environmental payback.Adopted primarily for their ability to mitigate the heat island effect in an urban environment,
Related Links: The EIA Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey The U.S. Energy Information Administration's Office of Energy Consumption and Efficiency Statistics is working on the latest version of a national survey of commercial buildings' energy consumption and expects to begin releasing its first sets of data in April 2014, says the office's director, Tom Leckey.The Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) is a national sample survey that collects baseline information on U.S. commercial-building stock, their energy-related building characteristics, and their energy consumption and expenditures. The survey data underpin much of the work that has been done in the energy benchmarking
Related Links: GSA Federal Center South Green Design-Build Model Crafted for Buildings To Achieve Net-Zero Energy Use In an unprecedented departure from the norm, the performance-based design-build team for a fast-tracked office building nearing completion in Seattle is at risk for 0.5% of its original $66-million contract award. The team will not receive the $330,000 held back by the owner unless the three-story building meets energy-use targets promised by the team long before a shovel hit the ground.The fee holdback, combined with a 12-month, post-occupancy measurement and verification period to fine-tune building operations, is the brainchild of the U.S. General
Courtesy of AISC AISC's Steel Construction Manual, which weighs 4 lb in its 2,400-page print form, is now available for use on tablets. Users can cut and paste and create bookmarks, among other things. Courtesy of AISC Users can put each copy purchased on six digital devices. Members of the building-materials supply chain can expect a lot more paperwork to satisfy more green-building codes and standards, code watchers say.In a couple of years, every segment of the building-materials supply chain will need to meet the requirements of three green model codes and energy standards, not simply one, said John P.
Coming soon for all members of the building materials supply chain: Lots more paperwork to satisfy more "green-building" codes and standards.In a couple of years, every segment of the building materials supply chain will have to have information to meet the requirements of three green model codes and energy standards, not simply one, said John P. Cross, a vice president of the Chicago-based American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) at the 2012 North American Steel Construction Conference, held April 18-20 in Grapevine, Texas. The conference, with a record attendance of more than 3,500, incorporated the World Steel Bridge Symposium and