"Whole Foods Moves Ahead Hilldale Plan Finally Gets OK"
"Sounds Mull Benefit of Going 'Green' With Stadium Rooftop"
"Immigration Bridge Goes [Solar]"
"UVM's Davis Center: Big, Bold and 'Green'"
"How Green Is My Company?"
"Roofing Institute Studying Reflectance"
"On the Roof, Nature Takes Root"
"Green Towers: Energy-Saving Buildings Rise as Costs Drop"
"A Green View on Energy"
"D.C. Moves to Become Pioneer in Forcing 'Green' Construction"
"Big Green"
"Ground Broken for Cane Ridge High"
"Lessons in Roof Maintenance"

A green roof will be among the features of a new state-of-the-art supermarket that Whole Foods Market plans to build in Madison, Wis. The supermarket is part of a new plan to redevelop the Hilldale Shopping Center, which was recently approved by the Madison Plan Commission. The 65,000-square-foot Whole Foods Market would open in early 2009. Two previous plans for the second phase of the redevelopment of the shopping center had been rejected by the commission because of concerns that the layout did not adhere enough to the "New Urbanist" design concept.
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The Nashville Sounds minor-league baseball team is considering an environmentally friendly green roof for its new downtown ballpark that is set to open in April 2008. The team is currently mulling a design plan in which the roof of the facility's suites would be planted with sedum, a plant that thrives in shallow soil.
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A solar roof will be the main design feature of the Immigration Bridge Australia, a 400-meter span slated to be built at the end of next year across Canberra's Lake Burley Griffin. The solar roof will use laminated glass, which will allow light to pass through while simultaneously protecting pedestrians from the extremities. In addition, the solar roof will generate enough electricity to operate the pedestrian bridge and 100 nearby residences. The solar roof will also prevent the emission of 800 tons of carbon dioxide that would otherwise enter the atmosphere, according to Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment and Heritage Greg Hunt.
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Scheduled to open in the fall of 2007, the $61 million Dudley H. Davis Student Center at the University of Vermont will have several environmentally friendly features. One of them is a green roof located above the building's shipping/receiving area. The addition of such a roof is intended to decrease rainwater runoff and enhance insulation for the student center. The building is expected to receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Its overall size is roughly 200,000 square feet.
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The Conference Board recently held its second annual Corporate Real Estate Conference in Manhattan, and participants noted green buildings are fast becoming the norm in commercial real estate. Among those who believe in the future of sustainable real estate practices are Stephen D. Lane, executive vice president of Citigroup Realty Services; Kenneth W. Hubbart, executive vice president at developer Hines; and Charles Zimmerman, Wal-Mart's vice president of prototype and new format development. Hubbart commented: "Sustainable real estate practices haven't reached a tipping point yet, but it won't be long. The business case for sustainability can be made and is being made." He further predicted the brokerage community will play an active and leading role in the coming months in demanding sustainability. Zimmerman, meanwhile, detailed Wal-Mart's attempts at making its considerable property assets greener. Those in attendance also noted that sustainability is more than just green-building design. William Reinert, Toyota Motor Sales USA's national manager of advanced technology, stressed the importance of "building teams in your organization to address how sustainability is going to be applied throughout your portfolio."
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The Reflective Roof Coatings Institute has announced it will conduct the first substantive study to measure the relative significance of such factors as climate, various roof substrates, film thickness of coating applied to the substrate and different coating chemistries on the loss of solar reflectance over time. The study, which will begin early next year and run for three years with analysis occurring at specified intervals, will also aim to show the increased energy efficiency, positive environmental impact and increased roof longevity reflective roof systems provide. The study will focus on three reflective coating chemistries—acrylic, polyurethane and silicone—that have been applied over six of the most common roof substrates at three film thicknesses. The test roofs will be located in three climates: the dry Southwest, the humid Southeast and the cold upper Midwest.
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The 6,000-square-foot roof of The Westview, a Nashville condominium building, is one of the city's first green roofs. The roof is composed of trees, bushes and plants that are contained in a lightweight aggregate component. The roof is one of many being erected by city planners, officials and developers in new projects as a way to upgrade air quality, reduce temperatures, handle stormwater runoff and create an improved environment. Green roofs were pioneered in Europe more than three decades ago, according to Penn State University's Center for Green Roof Research associate professor of horticulture Rob Berghage. Although Portland, Ore., was the first U.S. city to espouse green roofs, Berghage noted the invention really took off in Chicago. Nashville's Metro Planning Department is working to construct more green roofs with its new urban planning guidelines to require such roofs or other sustainable materials on any new buildings. Meanwhile, the Metro Nashville organization is instituting green roofs on a variety of its projects, and developers of a planned downtown Westin hotel have vowed to give it a green roof.
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The green building movement is growing as construction costs for such structures decline. Additionally, more commercial landlords and their tenants are recognizing the long-term savings of owning and occupying space in facilities with environmentally friendly features. Companies not only are building green to save on utility costs, but their new buildings also bolster their image as corporate citizens. Wal-Mart, for instance, currently is aiming to reduce energy use between 25 percent and 30 percent over the next seven years. Chief Executive Officer Lee Scott reports that "being a good steward of the environment and ... an efficient and profitable business are not mutually exclusive—they are one and the same." New technology also is enabling more architects to incorporate energy-saving devices into the design of new structures. Midtown Equities, for instance, recently announced plans to have an array of solar panels installed on the roof of a 1.2-million-square-foot retail complex it is erecting in Bridgeport, Conn. Finally, investors are taking more of a lead role in urging companies to marry financial results with responsible environmental policies. According to Institutional Shareholder Services, shareholder resolutions for reducing greenhouse gases and boosting energy efficiency rose from a half dozen five years ago to 20 the following year.
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The San Diego Unified School District has become a leader in energy conservation, thanks to J. William Naish, the district's head of utility and energy management. Under Naish's leadership, the district has won a number of awards for its environmentally friendly practices and projects. One of those projects was a public-private partnership that Naish and his staff put together to bring solar power to the school district. Private partners provided solar roof panels and installed them on two dozen schools in a project that was one of the largest—if not the largest—of its kind for a public school system in the country. The solar roof panels are capable of generating 3.57 megawatts of electricity, which is enough to power more than 2,300 average-size homes. The panels, which will be maintained by private partners for the duration of the contract, are expected to save the school district more than $21 million during the next 20 years.
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Washington, D.C., is close to becoming the nation's first major city to require private developers to build environmentally friendly projects that include energy-saving measures. If city council members give final approval to a new bill this month, most large commercial and city-funded residential buildings in the nation's capital would have to meet the new standards by 2012. Such smaller markets as Pasadena, Calif., have already adopted similar laws. However, no city the size of the District of Columbia has even come close to such measures. Opponents contend that incorporating "green" features into future construction will tack as much as 11 percent on to total construction costs. Supporters counter the extra costs are more in the range of 2 percent to 4 percent and add that the long-term benefits are well worth the initial extra expenditures. D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams supports the initiative, noting that the city's new $611 million ballpark is being built to green standards. He states, "With this legislation, I hope to see the district move into a position of national leadership in terms of demonstrating our commitment to the environment."
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PNC Financial Services will be the first to benefit from a new "portfolio" certification scheme rolled out by the U.S. Green Building Council that allows major companies such as chain stores, restaurants and big-box retailers that build the same or similar buildings to bypass the stringent evaluation process on each project after the first. "We're establishing a certain amount of trust" with the companies, says Tom Hicks, a vice president at the Green Building Council. "But trust and verify to make sure they are delivering the same on project 10 or 100 as they established in project one." Traditionally, each building would have to be certified independently, requiring substantial paperwork and auditing. Now, chain builders will need to seek certification on their first building and acquiesce to spot checks for all ensuing projects. Eighteen of PNC's new bank branches, built from recycled and recyclable materials, are set to become the first buildings to gain green accreditation under the change.
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A new school under construction in Davidson County, Tenn., is being built following energy-efficient guidelines and will have a white roof. According to Joe Edgens, executive director of facilities for Metro Nashville Public Schools, the white roof will offer advantages for managing heat and energy at Cane Ridge High School. Geothermal technology will also be used in the 309,000-square-foot complex, which will accommodate about 2,000 students. "We're doing this more and more not just because it is cost-efficient but because it is the right thing to do," says Edgens.
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A roof is one of the key elements of a building, providing protection for both inhabitants and materials. Consequently, it is vital for building owners and managers to establish a maintenance strategy to keep the roof clean and functional. Such a program usually involves making four assessments of the roof annually, but this could change according to location and climate. A roof assessment should include such things as a description of the roof, including photos and a computer aided drawing; necessary repairs; debris removal; and clearing of gutters. Facility managers can use the assessment to make decisions about upcoming work. Some roof warranties also require regular maintenance schedules as stipulated in documents. In places where winters are harsh, it is advisable to inspect the roof prior to winter and again in spring to check if the roof can withstand severe weather or needs any refurbishments. Facility managers should also be aware of the age of the roof; the older it is, the more frequently a roof needs to be inspected. Finally, it may be beneficial to consult commercial roofing firms when forming an upkeep approach for particular types of roofs.
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