Some local religious institutions are going green, motivated by current Pope Benedict XVI’s positioning of climate change as a moral issue. Last month, the Vatican added environmental degradation to the Church’s list of sins and, last year, the Pope announced that 1,000 solar panels would be installed on the roof of Vatican City’s main auditorium. Melanie Griffin, a Sierra Club spokeswoman, told Newsday that Pope Benedict’s “vocal support particularly for climate solutions could really tip the balance in world action.” During his upcoming visit to the United States, the Pope will celebrate Mass at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.- the first LEED-certified baseball stadium in the country.
April 11th, 2008 | Meredith Taylor | 0 comments | ContinuedAll Posts Tagged With: "Washington"
Monday LEEDoff: Nationals Open Gates at America’s First Green Ballpark
Last week, brand-new $611 million Nationals Park, home to the National League East’s Washington Nationals baseball club, officially received a LEED Silver rating from USGBC, becoming the first baseball stadium in the country to earn the designation. Just a scant few days before Major League Baseball’s 2008 Opening Day, the ballpark earned 33 LEED points for a design by HOK Sport that, among other things, respects the park’s location in Southeast adjacent to D.C.’s Anacostia River. So far, so good for the Nats at their new home; Ryan Zimmerman cracked a walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the ninth to give the club a 3-2 win over the Atlanta Braves in the first regular season game at the ballpark on Sunday night.
March 31st, 2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 2 comments | Continued
Green Commercial Office Space in New York City Currently Ranks Third in U.S.
According to a report that was released last month by the Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate at the University of San Diego, Los Angeles is first among U.S. cities when it comes to LEED- or Energy Star-certified commercial office space. The CoStar Group provided the data upon which the report was based and ranked cities by the total amount of their square footage that has earned either the LEED or Energy Star designation; no breakdown appears to be readily available that segregates the figures according to individual rating system. Los Angeles topped the list with 100 buildings and 26.2 million square feet while Houston checked in at #2 with 46 buildings and 21.1 million square feet; New York City was third with 11 buildings and 12.3 million square feet.
February 26th, 2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued