LEED Commentary
Students Protest Lack of LEED in Design for CT Campus Building
There’s a bit of a LEED-driven controversy that’s currently playing out at the Norwalk Community College in Connecticut. Students are alleging that the design by Upper West Side-based Mitchell-Giurgola Architects for a new $40 million, 3-story laboratory building “isn’t green enough.” Last year, architecture professor John Sneider’s Environmental Systems class critiqued the 55,000-square-foot project, with students suggesting a building smaller in scale and the installation of a geothermal system. They contacted university officials last year and say they’ve been given the runaround; the school has spent $3 million on the design to date and finalized drawings for bidding back in January. Still, students circulated a petition and met yesterday with the design team, who explained the project’s sustainable features notwithstanding its lack of LEED registration with USGBC.
Popularity: 33% [?]
30May2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 2 comments | Continued
What Will LEED v3 Mean for Green Building Legislation?
In an email that was circulated yesterday, USGBC President Rick Fedrizzi announced that his organization’s long-awaited next generation rating system, LEED Version 3.0- which will be known as LEED 2009- will debut for public comment on Monday, May 19. Generally speaking, LEED 2009 will reorganize credits from each of the existing LEED systems into a Bookshelf System, individually weigh credits based on environmental impact, and offer regional bonus credits. However, one of gbNYC’s more specific interests with respect to LEED relates to municipal and state level legislation that either provides an incentive for or mandates LEED-compliant construction.
Popularity: 20% [?]
16May2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 1 comment | Continued
Thoughts on The Lucida & Cook + Fox’ Platinum Offices: gbNYC Interviews Rick Cook
gbNYC was thrilled to have the opportunity to recently chat with Rick Cook of Cook + Fox Architects about one of his firm’s green projects- The Lucida- which is currently seeking LEED certification on the corner of East 85th Street and Lexington Avenue on the Upper East Side. The project touts itself as the first residential condominium project in the neighborhood to seek a LEED rating, which is an important first given that The Brompton and The Laurel have since joined the local green chase. Mr. Cook spoke to us about specific green features at The Lucida- from its hybrid wall window system to blast-furnace concrete transfer slab- and also offered thoughts on his firm’s office space and the LEED system generally.
Popularity: 13% [?]
19Mar2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 1 comment | Continued
USGBC’s Greenbuild Conference Underway in Chicago
As you’re probably well aware, Greenbuild got underway yesterday in Chicago with Bill Clinton’s keynote address. USGBC timed the relaunch of its website with this year’s conference, as well as the launch of a new green building educational resource called Greenbuild (365), which is also offering a Greenbuild blog and streaming video of conference speakers and presentations. We’ll […]
Popularity: 8% [?]
8Nov2007 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
LEED-AP Designation Not Just for A/E/C
It’s no surprise that this week’s edition of Crain’s reports an increasing number of real estate brokers, marketing professionals, and, yes, lawyers, who are sitting for the U.S. Green Building Council’s exam in pursuit of the LEED Accredited Professional (”LEED-AP”) designation. (The article is not yet available online). Depending on the industry, though, professionals […]
Popularity: 43% [?]
2Oct2007 | Stephen Del Percio | 4 comments | Continued
Is LEED Legislation- Whether Public or Private- Undemocratic?
In an article written earlier this week, Dan Walters, a columnist at the Sacramento Bee, articulated his concerns over a LEED-driven green public building regulatory scheme by calling such legislation “part of a broader legislative tendency to avoid tough policy decisions by shifting them to unaccountable outside organizations.” Walters was writing with respect to California’s […]
Popularity: 25% [?]
8Aug2007 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
Second Long Island County on Verge of Mandating LEED for Public Projects
It appears that Nassau County on Long Island is about to mandate LEED for public projects greater than 5,000 square feet or budgeted at $1 million or more. County Executive Thomas Suozzi announced at a press conference on Monday in Mineola that his proposal (also sponsored by legislators from Merrick and Oceanside) was approved by […]
Popularity: 19% [?]
27Jul2007 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
List of Green Building “Firsts” Emphasizes Need for LEED V3
The June 2007 issue of Urban Land included a list of ten “green building firsts”, ranging from a LEED Certified police station in San Diego to a Gold convent (designed by Perkins Eastman) in Corapolis, Pennsylvania. As Charles Lockwood noted in the introduction to his piece, the diversity of projects- both by use and geographic […]
Popularity: 17% [?]
25Jul2007 | Stephen Del Percio | 2 comments | Continued
LEED Creep: Gaia Napa Valley Hotel Receives Gold Rating from USGBC
Back in December, I wrote about LEED creep in the context of the Gaia Napa Valley Hotel, which at the time, and after opening in November, was waiting on its LEED certification from USGBC in order to obtain a $1 million rebate for hotel occupancy tax revenues from the American Canyon, California City Council. The […]
Popularity: 14% [?]
12Jul2007 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
Industrial Property Owners Push for LEED Credit Recognition
An article that appears in the Summer 2007 edition of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties’ (“NAIOP”) Development magazine helps demonstrate the necessity for USGBC to move its LEED Version 3.0 plans forward with greater urgency.
Back on March 21, KSS Architects hosted a LEED charrette in Philadelphia. Organized by NAIOP, the charrette […]
Popularity: 8% [?]
6Jul2007 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
South Carolina Legislators Override Governor’s LEED Veto
South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, who vetoed a bill mandating LEED Silver for new public construction over 10,000 square feet, major public renovation projects involving greater than fifty percent of the building, and K-12 schools, saw that veto overturned by votes in the State House and Senate earlier this week.
Sanford stated in his veto that […]
Popularity: 6% [?]
22Jun2007 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
Green Business Law: Need for Green Counsel Becoming Increasingly Salient as Green Claims are Brought Against Design Professionals
I’ve written before about the potential for design professionals to unwittingly expose themselves to unanticipated risks on green construction projects. In a presentation at last month’s 2007 AIA National Convention in San Antonio, Frank Musica, an attorney with a Maryland-based insurance company, provided an overview of twenty-one actual “green claims” brought against engineers and architects. […]
Popularity: 41% [?]
19Jun2007 | Stephen Del Percio | 2 comments | Continued
NYC Eateries Earn Certification from Green Restaurant Association
Earlier this week, B.R. Guest Restaurants completed the Green Restaurant Association’s (”GRA”) certification program for all twelve of its New York City restaurants (Atlantic Grill, Blue Fin, Blue Water Grill, Dos Caminos Park, Dos Caminos Soho, Dos Camino Third, Fiamma Osteria, Vento Trattoria, Ruby Foo’s, Ruby Foo’s Times Square and Level V). B.R. Guest now […]
Popularity: 11% [?]
15Jun2007 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued-
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