"Rutter's Goes Green"
"New Hyatt Regency in Toronto Goes for LEED"
"Solar Energy Provider for Property Owners Closes $200M Fund"
"HSBC Tower Wins Green Award"
"Pa. Building Materials Maker Adds Green Roof to Global Headquarters"
"Albany Social Justice Center Building to Get 800-Sq Foot 'Green Roof'"
"Green Is Growing"
"Eco-Friendly Building Proposed for Downtown City Lot"
"Using Development Fund, Bronx Business Goes Off Grid With Solar Panels"
"Tishman Speyer Installs 363 Solar Panels Atop 45 Rockefeller Plaza in NYC"
"Clinton's Library Gets a 'Green' Roof"
"Orange County Leaders Compile Wish List for Florida Legislature"
"Solar Power Ready to Shine"
"L.A. Panel Approves Ambitious Green Building Plan"
"Columbia Rooftops Going Green"
"Research Shows Concrete Meets LEED Criteria for Heat Island Reduction"

Rutter's Farm Stores continues to take measures to make its chain of convenience stores more environmentally friendly. To date, the retailer has employed such measures as installing white roof systems on all new locations and using more efficient light bulbs in its stores' fixtures. Next, the chain plans to sponsor the Win Green Design Contest in which entrants are invited to design the chain's new bottle-and-can recycling bins. The winner will receive a $500 Rutter's gift card.
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The new 500-room Hyatt Regency Toronto Airport will be designed to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver standards. The lodging's eco-friendly features will include green roof systems, occupancy sensors for lights and TVs in all guest rooms, and recycled building materials. A 2010 grand opening is planned.
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Morgan Stanley has pledged $200 million in financing for solar power projects hosted by Recurrent Energy, a leading provider of solar energy to institutional real estate owners. The solar project fund will provide $100 million in financing for such projects in 2008 and another $100 million the following year. Recurrent Chief Executive Arno Harris states: "Morgan Stanley is a leader in the industry and their commitment to financing renewable energy has been clear from the start. We look forward to putting this new fund to work quickly to help our clients transform empty rooftops into value-generating, sustainable assets." Recurrent is one of a number of new groups offering solar power via purchase power agreements, which enable customers to tap solar energy without having to make a hefty investment. Harris has zeroed in on owners of large property portfolios, such as REITs and institutional investors, where Recurrent's Solar as a Service model could operate with maximum efficiency. The California-based company estimates that these building owners possess approximately 8.5 billion square feet of rooftop space nationwide, more than 50 percent of which is suitable for photovoltaic installations.
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Earlier in December, HSBC was awarded Latin America's first-ever Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certificate for its headquarters facility in Mexico. The Mexico Green Building Council bestowed the accreditation because of the Torte building's success in boosting energy efficiency and its superior waste management practices. Among the building's key features are Latin America's biggest green roof system, intelligent lighting systems and specially designed windows that keep the building's exterior cool during warmer periods.
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Rohm and Haas has added a sustainable roof system to its nine-story headquarters in Philadelphia. The addition is part of the specialty materials company's ongoing floor-by-floor renovations. The new polymer elastomeric roof coating will cover the 40,000-square-foot, black rubber roof currently in place. This special roof coating not only reflects a broad spectrum of ultraviolet, visible and infrared light, it also emits approximately 90 percent of any absorbed heat. In addition, it protects against expansion and contraction cracks that can result in leaks and other signs of deterioration. Colin Gouveia, Rohm and Haas' marketing director for industrial and construction, states: "Elastomeric roof coatings are one of the main thrusts in our environmentally-advanced portfolio. By helping to reduce the urban heat island effect by providing a cool, reflective surface, we are doing our part not only in providing these products to our customers but also by applying them to our own buildings."
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As part of a New York state project aimed at addressing environmental and public health concerns, the Albany-based Social Justice Center will soon be outfitted with an 800-square-foot green roof system. The $25,000 grant from the Environmental Justice Community Impact Research Grant program is part of a larger initiative to assist those communities overburdened by such problems as a high density of contaminated sites and a lack of green space. The Social Justice Center is situated in one of the most heavily trafficked areas of Albany's downtown corridor. The green roof system will include a rooftop garden filled with plants and grasses that absorb ozone and diesel fuel particles.
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In Pensacola, Fla., the Navy Federal Credit Union has emerged as one of the leading proponents of green construction. Locally, Navy Federal's office support center was the first commercial building in the state to receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold certification for constructing an environmentally friendly structure. The 56,000-square foot building includes a white roof system that reflects more than 80 percent of the sun's rays to minimize heat. Other features range from carpet tiles made from recyclable materials to automated window shades that maintain optimal lighting conditions. The innovations have even resulted in happier employees. Ebb Ebbesen, Navy Federal's senior vice president for construction and process improvement, notes: "Turnover has dropped from more than 60 percent to less than 20 percent. We obviously created a workplace environment that promotes employee comfort and job satisfaction."
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Milwaukee-based businessman Russell Davis' $10.6 million Edison Green mixed-use development is set to be built on a city-owned lot at 1027 N. Edison St. The eight-story project will feature a ground-floor restaurant, a banquet hall on the second floor, offices on the third floor and residential condominiums on the other five levels. In addition, the building will contain a number of sustainable building features—most notably a green roof system to reduce the heat emitted by the development and a rain garden to reduce stormwater runoff. Davis, who has been wanting to erect such a sustainable project for years, believes there is a strong market locally for a green-themed condo building.
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New York Beverage hopes to take its Bronx warehouse off the power grid. It has received approximately $100,000 in grants from the Bronx Initiative on Energy and the Environment (BIEE) to use toward a rooftop solar array. BIEE is a green development fund spearheaded by Borough President Adolfo Carrion to highlight sustainable development. The company also received about $50,000 in tax credits. The 15-kilowatt array of 72 panels might become operational by early 2008, says New York Beverage owner Lewis Gold. Installation of the system is slated to start soon. According to the company installing the system, New York Beverage will save nearly more than $3,100 the first year and about $168,000 over 25 years. Moreover, carbon dioxide emissions will be reduced by roughly 30,000 pounds annually, the maker estimates.
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Tishman Speyer has installed 363 solar panels on the roof of 45 Rockefeller Plaza, making it the biggest privately owned solar energy generation station in Manhattan. According to a new release from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's office, the solar roof system will keep more than 67,300 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere annually and more than 2 million pounds over its three-decade lifespan. The panels will create a 70-kilowatt DC generation station linked to Rockefeller Center's grid. The solar-powered energy will help reduce peak electrical demand, especially during the hot months. Separately, Tishman Speyer officials have announced plans for a green roof system atop Manhattan's Radio City Music Hall. The desert plantings will be installed on the 18,000-square-foot roof, saving about 566,000 gallons of water from New York's wastewater/storm water system. The plants will also work to reduce greenhouse gases.
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The William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum in Little Rock, Ark., will feature a green roof system as part of its overall eco-friendly design plan. Foundation workers pointed out some of the benefits of replacing a low-slope roof with a garden planted in soil 3 to 9 inches thick. Debbie Shock, the Clinton Foundation's facilities and operations director, states: "All of a sudden, instead of having a roof that water continually runs off of, now you've got a rain mat underneath here that will actually irrigate these plants. It actually becomes a control for your stormwater runoff. It's not only for enjoyment, but it's got a lot to do with the environment and how we control our stormwater runoff." Clinton has used his nonprofit foundation to promote sustainable development and environmentally friendly building practices. The former commander in chief is now pushing for more green roof systems to used nationwide. To this end, he recently unveiled a program through his foundation aimed at helping commercial building owners and homeowners modernize their structures to reduce energy use.
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In Florida, Orange County leaders recently outlined a 2008 wish list that included petitioning state legislators for help funding a solar roof system for the county's convention center. In the regular 2008 session, county leaders will be pushing for state green building standards to promote energy efficiency. This initiative will include $2.5 million in state funds to help install the new solar roof system atop the convention center. The next regular state legislative session is set to begin March 4.
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Rising concern over climate change and oil prices are helping bolster solar power's profile among U.S. businesses. Evidence of the increasing popularity of solar power are the number of U.S. companies to recently announce energy-saving initiatives with solar power as the centerpiece. Microsoft, Wal-Mart, Estee Lauder and Google are all retrofitting their rooftops with solar panels to power their businesses. In June, Spanish conglomerate Acciona opened a sprawling solar thermal plant in Boulder City, Nev., called Solar One that produces 64 Mw of electricity while Pacific Gas & Electric signed a renewable energy agreement with Solel Solar Systems to buy solar power from the Mojave Solar Park plant set for construction in the Mojave Desert.
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In November, the Los Angeles Planning Commission signed off on one of the most ambitious green building programs of any major city in the U.S., requiring large new construction projects to be 15 percent more energy-efficient. The goal of the new rules is to slash L.A.'s emissions of greenhouse gases. Because cities have no authority over vehicle emissions and power plants are generally regulated by state officials, building projects are the easiest way for mayors to limit the effects of global warming. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa comments: "In the city with the dirtiest air in America, reducing our carbon footprint is not a luxury but an absolute necessity. Green building may be the most significant thing we can do." Under the new rules, new buildings with more than 50 units or 50,000 square feet of floor space would be required to meet the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards established by the U.S. Green Building Council. The measure is on track to go before L.A.'s City Council in next year's first quarter. Nationwide, more than 25 cities already require LEED certification for such publicly funded buildings as schools, fire stations and libraries. In Los Angeles, which embraced green building for municipal projects five years ago, 48 buildings have been designed to LEED standards.
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A couple of Columbia University-owned buildings now feature green roof systems that are helping to fulfill Columbia's earlier pledge to lower its carbon emissions. The rooftop vegetation was installed in early November atop 635 W. 115th St. and 423 W. 118 St. in Manhattan, where Columbia's Office of Environmental Stewardship is located. Studies have proved green roof systems are effective in reducing the heat island effect created by heat-absorbing concrete and asphalt, which, in turn, reduces energy consumption. The Earth Institute's Center for Climate Systems Research will be charged with monitoring the health and growth of the vegetation and documenting the green roof system's effect on building temperature and stormwater runoff.
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New research from the Portland Cement Association (PCA) on concrete's solar reflectance and its limitation of the heat island effect that was reported Nov. 8 at the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in Chicago will help projects satisfy LEED certification requirements without expensive testing. The research involved the analysis of concrete's reflective properties using the LEED-NC SS Credit 7.1 Heat Island Effect: Non-Roof criteria. A heat island constitutes a local area of elevated temperature in a region of lower temperatures. Heat islands crop up where a prevalence of a dark exterior building materials and pavements exists and where vegetation is scant. All 45 sets of tested samples satisfied the required criteria irrespective of mix, and the mixes were generated using a number of disparate elements such as fly ash and slag cement. The cement's solar reflectance was demonstrated to have a greater effect on the concrete's reflective properties than any other component. PCA's David Shepherd said: "This study shows that concrete, regardless of its ingredients, can help to limit the heat island effect."
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