Sources: U.S. Green Building Council, Washington, D.C.; American Chemistry Council, New York; CP staff
A new U.S. Green Building Council and American Chemistry Council initiative aims to ensure the use of sustainable and environmentally protective products in buildings by applying technical and science-based approaches to USGBC’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) green building program.
Read MoreSource: U.S. Green Building Council, Washington, D.C.
The International Code Council, ASHRAE, American Institute of Architects, Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES) and U.S. Green Building Council will collaborate on development of Standard 189.1, International Green Construction Code and the LEED green building program.
Read MoreErnest Maier has added the CarbonCure technology to its Maryland concrete masonry operation, and is poised to be the first Washington, D.C., market operator to issue Environmental Product Declarations and Health Product Declarations for block. An EPD covering CMU processed with a carbon dioxide-based curing system will time with the ongoing implementation of the District of Columbia’s Green Building Act, the first local law requiring new, private buildings to meet LEED rating system standards. EPD will especially factor into projects for which certification under the new LEED v4 is targeted.
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The Construction Calculators Version 4.2 app enables architects and contractors to gauge carbon dioxide emissions reduction when using supplementary cementitious materials to offset portland cement in concrete mix designs. The just-released update builds on one of the industry’s first mobile device-geared software products, launched in 2011, for estimating a project’s ready mixed and aggregate requirements.
Read MoreSource: National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Silver Spring, Md.
The first of two phases in development of a standard Environmental Product Declaration (EPD)—aimed at assisting ready mixed producers on projects where customers target certification under the new LEED v4 green building rating system—has produced a survey report and list of participating companies and plants, posted (below opening tables) here.
Read MoreSources: Graniterock, Watsonville, Calif.; CP staff
Graniterock’s Construction Calculators Version 4.2 app enables architects and contractors to gauge carbon dioxide emissions reduction when using supplementary cementitious materials to offset portland cement in concrete mix designs. The just-released update builds on one of the industry’s first mobile device-geared software products, launched in 2011, for estimating a project’s ready mixed and aggregate requirements.
Read MoreA frequent critic of methods behind the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED rating system, the American High-Performance Buildings Coalition (AHPBC) affirms support of the International Codes Council transparent process for developing the 2015 International Green Construction Code (IgCC).
Read MoreSource: CP staff
Responding to the Green Building Initiative’s (GBI) Green Globes as an alternative to the LEED green building rating system, environmental activists have chartered Greenwash Action, and released a report dubbing the former certification “a ‘green’ building rating system backed by the chemical, plastics and timber industries.”
Read MoreSources: American High-Performance Buildings Coalition (AHPBC), New York; CP staff
A group of associations representing a wide range of building and construction industry stakeholders—and frequent critic of methods behind the development of the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED rating system—AHPBC issued a statement in support of the International Codes Council (ICC) transparent process for developing the 2015 International green Construction Code (IgCC) as it convened for its expert committee hearings in Memphis.
Read MoreThe U.S. Green Building Council released its Top 10 States for LEED, the world’s most widely used and recognized green building rating system, highlighting the regions around the country that are at the forefront of sustainable building design and transformation.
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