Jetson Green

Ten Business Benefits of Green Buildings

Leave it to Jerry Yudelson to write what is probably the clearest articulation of the business case for green buildings you could ever read.  Jerry Yudelson is the author of several books that we've given away in the past, including Green Building A to Z, The Green Building Revolution, Choosing Green, and Green Building Trends: Europe, as well as about six others worth reading, too.  He was a board member of the USGBC and chaired Greenbuild for about five years; he now heads Yudelson Associates, a consulting firm that is dedicated to "growing the business of green building."  Most recently, Yudelson authored The Business Case for Green Buildings, and this is his conclusion:

Vancouver Convention Centre Features Canada's Largest Green Roof

This week, the west expansion of the Vancouver Convention Centre celebrates its grand opening, and we thought you should know a little about this incredible facility.  Designed by Seattle's LMN Architects, as well as MCM and DA, the green convention center's most visual feature is the massive, six-acre green roof.  It's Canada's largest and the biggest non-industrial living roof in North America!  Set directly on the waterfront of Burrard Inlet, the west expansion is 1.2 million square feet and seriously enlarges the city's ability to provide greener conference space.  Here are some of its green features:

Wrigley Takes LEED Gold in Chicago

These days, we're seeing all sorts of companies take a leadership position with regard to sustainability.  One of the ways they're distinguishing themselves is in obtained LEED or some other green building certification for corporate facilities and real estate.  Wrigley, for instance, just received LEED Gold certification for their Global Innovation Center (GIC) in Chicago, Illinois.  The building opened in May 2005 and is used to create consumer-driven products, packaging, and processes.  GIC features some of the following green elements and strategies:

Understanding The Gort Cloud

We're always happy to receive green books in the mail, but what surprised us the most about The Gort Cloud was the fact that we're in it.  Jetson Green is, apparently, a "trendspotter" in The Gort Cloud.  And after looking at it more closely, I'm guessing several of our readers and their companies have been named in it, too.  What is it?  The Gort Cloud is "the invisible force powering today's most visible green brands" where "millions of people [connect] to green information through a vast, interconnected community." 

Google Trends Offers Insight into the Direction of Green Building

Google Trends has been on the radar of software techies, research junkies, Google aficionados, and the otherwise internet-obsessed since the summer of 2006.  It’s a tool for tracking the search popularity of high traffic terms.  For anyone wanting to keep their finger on the pulse of green building, this is a quick, although certainly not definitive source of information on where the curious live, who still needs to be clued in, when the tipping point occurred for various green ideas and products, and what – in general – is the direction of interest in green building.

World's Most Sustainable Airport Hangar

This is Hangar 25, a LEED Platinum certified airport hangar located at the Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, California.  It's the world's first aviation hangar to achieve such a high level of certification from the USGBC.  The 60,000 square foot structure was built by Shangri-La Construction without a significant cost increase over building a non-green airport hangar -- a fact that furthers the financial case for green building development.  Check out this green list of accomplishments:

REI Round Rock Second Gen Green Store To Use 48% Less Energy

Mounting on the green building success of their previous stores, including the green Boulder REI we wrote about previously, REI today opens the doors to its second generation of green prototype store in Round Rock, Texas.  The Texas store is projected to consume 48% less energy than a typical store and generate a portion of its power from a solar panel installation, building integrated photovoltaics, and a solar hot water system.  After that, Round Rock will rely on Solatubes to displace a portion of articifial lighting and the purchase of green power generated from biomass digesters. 

The Second Annual Plenty Twenty

I always find these lists interesting, but here's the idea: "There are game-changers and then there are world-changers.  From Internet giants working to make renewable energy cheaper than coal, to a sea captain monitoring the ocean’s plastic waste, to the growth of intentional communities (they’re not just for hippies anymore)—welcome to Plenty’s second annual list honoring (in no particular order) 20 dynamic individuals and 20 pioneering companies that are bettering the planet, plus 10 innovative ideas that will revolutionize how we live."

                                                -- the Second Annual Plenty 20

Palo Alto Law Firm Installs Large 87 kW Solar System

The Silicon Valley-based law firm of Cooley Godward Kronish has just brought online the largest on-site solar system of any Bay Area law firm.  The 465 panel, 87 kW system was installed on the roof of their Palo Alto-Hanover building of 130,000 sf.  Installing a solar system of this size has almost lost its newsworthiness, especially with tons of companies placing monster solar arrays in service by the end of this year to take advantage of the tax benefits.  But what's really interesting, I think, is one of the reasons the firm decided to generate some on-site green power: their clients are in this business and inspired them to go green. 

Frieze Harley-Davidson Gets LEED Gold

We're seeing all sorts of companies going for LEED Certification, and the most macho of motorcycle manufacturers is no different.  Just recently, the USGBC announced that the Frieze Harley-Davidson Dealership in O'Fallon, Illinois has been LEED Certified at the Gold level.  It's the first, LEED Harley-Davidson dealership in the Nation.  The 33,000 sf dealership was sustainably designed and built with ICFs with an R-value of forty.  Plus, with over forty Solatubes and all the various green elements that led to a credible Gold certification, it's also partially powered by a wind turbine.