GreenBuild Blog

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Green Buildings Critical to Cutting Global Energy Demand Growth, New Report Says

According to the July 2007 McKinsey Quarterly, residential and commercial buildings worldwide represent 35 percent of end-use energy demand. Using available technology, cost-effective measures found in all green buildings could reduce demand by 21 percent in the residential sector and 20 percent in the commercial sector. Because 75 percent of the projected growth in demand will come from the developing world (nearly half from China alone), tranferring green building and energy-efficient building methods to this sector is critical to controlling carbon dioxide emissions from energy production and use. In the residential sector, simple measures such as building insulation and energy-efficient large appliances can help stem the tide of ever-rising energy use. But market forces alone will not produce this result: some form of government incentives and financial aid will be required.

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Thursday, August 02, 2007

Green Developers Cash In Big-Time!

Gerding Edlen sold 350,000 sq.ft. of green office space, 210,000 sq.ft. of apartments (The Louisa, in which I lived during 2005 and part of 2006) and 100,000 sq.ft. of retail space for $292 million, getting the highest prices ever for Portland Class A office space. An early green building pioneer, Gerding Edlen has more than 30 LEED-registered projects and many certified, including the world’s largest LEED Platinum-certified building, also in Portland. By creating a strong mixed-use project in a former industrial district, Gerding Edlen not only built green, but also made a major contribution to the development of Portland’s “Pearl District” neighborhood, one of the country’s outstanding example of urban redevelopment.

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Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Cities Lead the Way to a Green Building Future, New Study Says

Out of 134 cities responding to the US Conference of Mayors’ survey, nearly 90 percent expect to require all new city buildings to be green by 2008; already 60 percent have such a policy. Cities in 36 states responded to the survey, ranging in size from less than a thousand, to Los Angeles and Chicago, populations in the millions. 56 percent also require city buildings undergoing major rehabilitation to be green. 41 percent of cities have already changed ordinances to require new private sector buildings to be more energy efficient, healthy and environmentally sustainable (aka “green”). This survey shows that the green building movement is gaining traction and getting strong support from cities large and small, all around the country.

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Sunday, July 15, 2007

77% of Real Estate Executives Committed to Green Buildings

Prepared by Professor Gary Pivo of the University of Arizona, a late 2006 survey of nearly 1,500 chief executives of pension funds, real estate investment trusts, real estate operating companies, fund managers and development companies, showed that 36% have invested in green buildings and 31% more plan to do so in the near future, for a total of 77%. The full survey is available from the Urban Land Institute.