The green building movement is poised on the brink of a new, more mature stage of development. Net-zero energy, net-zero water, net-zero waste, even net-zero stormwater projects—once thought to be impossible to achieve—are popping up all over. The Living Building Challenge, deemed by many practitioners to be the most arduous certification standard to meet, is winning the hearts and minds of AEC supergreenies seeking a competitive edge for their firms. And the fourth iteration of LEED, while having missed its anticipated unveiling at Greenbuild this month, should be out sometime in mid-2013.
“Green building is not a curiosity anymore,” says Aditya Ranade, Senior Analyst with Lux Research, which predicts the sector will reach $280 billion globally by 2020.
The big buzz: disclosure and transparency, says Russell Perry, FAIA, LEED Fellow, Senior Vice President with design firm SmithGroupJJR. He points to the recent release of publicly disclosed building energy use in New York City as an example of “increased visibility” that will contribute to the knowledge base on building performance.
Building product manufacturers are responding to the call for disclosure and transparency by issuing environmental product declarations to differentiate their products from the competition’s. Perry says EPDs will play a greater role in Materials & Resources credits for LEED v4.
Most recently, the International Living Future Institute launched Declare, a database of green building products (http://www.declareproducts.com) that provides a kind of “nutrition label” of product ingredients—all in support of the Living Building Challenge’s “Red List” and “Appropriate Sourcing” imperatives.
Also in the works: the Health Product Declaration Open Standard, a new “product chemistry disclosure tool” that its developers—the Healthy Building Network and BuildingGreen—say will provide manufacturers with a consistent format for reporting product content and associated health information. The HPD, which went through a pilot phase with more than 30 building product makers earlier this year, will be launched at Greenbuild.
Finally, there’s the Honest Buildings Network (www.honestbuildings.com), an open-network database that seeks to connect stakeholders in the real estate industry to “drive demand for better buildings all over the world.” Founder Riggs Kobiak calls it “a cross between Yelp and LinkedIn for the built environment.”
In the following pages, the editors present numerous highly sustainable projects, along with trends and ideas from leading AEC green building firms. +
Related Stories
| Dec 4, 2014
£175 million 'Garden Bridge' gets the green light to cross the Thames
Westminster Council has approved a £175 million 'Garden Bridge' that will allow pedestrian traffic only. There has been some controversy about this bridge, which is expected to attract seven million visitors annually.
Sponsored | | Dec 3, 2014
Modular Space Showcase: Bringing work-life balance to energy workers in the Bakken region
To meet the demands of the booming energy business, Williston needs to provide homes, recreation centers, restaurants, hotels, and other support facilities for the tidal wave of energy workers relocating to the Bakken Shale area. SPONSORED CONTENT
| Dec 3, 2014
U.S., Canada, and Mexico finalize agreement to recognize architect credentials
The agreement represents over a decade of negotiations, bringing cross-border recognition of professional credentials from concept to reality in the spirit of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
| Dec 3, 2014
35 cities added to Rockefeller Foundation's 100 Resilient Cities Challenge
Chicago, Dallas, and Pittsburgh are among the U.S. cities to join the 100 Resilient Cities Challenge, pioneered by The Rockefeller Foundation.
| Dec 2, 2014
First existing multifamily buildings to earn Energy Star certification unveiled
River City in Chicago is one of 17 existing multifamily properties to earn Energy Star certification, which became available to this sector on Sept. 16 via a scoring system for multifamily properties that Energy Star and Fannie Mae had been developing for three years.
| Dec 2, 2014
Nashville planning retail district made from 21 shipping containers
OneC1TY, a healthcare- and technology-focused community under construction on 18.7 acres near Nashville, Tenn., will include a mini retail district made from 21 shipping containers, the first time in this market containers have been repurposed for such use.
| Dec 2, 2014
Main attractions: New list tallies up the Top 10 museums completed this year
The list includes both additions to existing structures and entirely new buildings, from Frank Gehry's Foundation Louis Vuitton in Paris to Shigeru Ban's Aspen (Colo.) Art Museum.
| Dec 2, 2014
Nonresidential construction spending rebounds in October
This month's increase in nonresidential construction spending is far more consistent with the anecdotal information floating around the industry, says ABC's Chief Economist Anirban Basu.
| Dec 2, 2014
Hoffmann Architects announces promotions
The architecture and engineering firm specializing in the rehabilitation of building exteriors announces the promotion of members of its Connecticut staff.
| Dec 2, 2014
SPARK designs urban farming housing for Singapore’s elderly population
The proposal blends affordable retirement housing with urban farming by integrating vertical aquaponic farming and rooftop soil planting into multi-unit housing for seniors.
