Federal agencies are gearing up to deepen their commitment to the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system heading into 2011, despite some criticism of its effectiveness. During the Ecobuild America conference, held Dec. 6-10 in Washington, D.C., representatives from several agencies touted their green agendas. The U.S. General Services Administration, the largest federal landlord, continues to stay out front as a champion of LEED ratings. In October, GSA announced that LEED Gold certification would be the minimum requirement for new federal building construction and renovation projects starting in fiscal 2011. Projects in design
Interested parties have until Jan. 14 to take advantage of the first of two public comment periods on the draft update of the popular Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green-building rating system. The U.S. Green Building Council hopes to release the revised system in November 2012, after an August 2012 ballot. The proposed system builds on LEED 2009, which includes the alignment and weighting of credits for certification, says USGBC. The upcoming version also develops the LEED 2009 framework that allows credits to be applied to specific building types. The draft increases emphasis on integrated process and building
The nation’s biggest landlord, the U.S. General Services Administration, is requiring LEED Gold certification as a minimum in all new federal building construction and substantial renovation projects. GSA is updating its facilities standards by the end of the year to enable the projects to meet the LEED Gold requirement—the second-to-the-highest of four certification levels of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design green-building rating system. For projects currently under design that were funded before fiscal 2010, GSA is requiring LEED Gold where possible, after evaluating budget and schedule constraints. For leased properties, GSA is keeping its current requirement for LEED
Photo: Courtesy of Oregon Sustainability Center Oregon Sustainability Center’s planned height is at least 70 ft. Related Links: International Living Building Institute Construction is scheduled to begin in about a year and be finished 18 months later on a planned 70 to 100-ft-tall net-zero-energy use building in Portland that would, if completed, rank as the tallest net-zero-energy-use building in the U.S. The team for the $40-million Oregon Sustainability Center, which includes SERA Architects, GBD Architects and general contractor Skanska USA, is beginning a 12-week feasibility phase. Design should start in February. The seven-to-nine-story structure would be the tallest ever proposed
Like a runaway recycling truck, green building’s momentum hasn’t been stopped by the economic recession and will keep speeding through the recovery, according to a report released just prior to the construction industry’s annual green-building conference. At the same time, experts say building owners are looking to go green more for economic reasons than environmental ones. “Green building is the silver lining creating opportunity in the down economy,” says Harvey M. Bernstein, vice president of McGraw-Hill Construction (ENR is a unit of McGraw-Hill Construction). “And with this growth comes increasing attention on the value and performance of these buildings.” Green
The California Dept. of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the California Prison Health Care Services broke ground on Nov. 5 on a $906-million, 1,722-bed inmate medical facility in Stockton. The 1.2-million-sq-ft facility will include a kitchen area, a diagnostic and treatment center, warehouse and support areas. Security will include a 13-ft-high lethal electrified perimeter fence and 11 45-ft-tall guard towers. Renering: Courtesy CRCR First bid package of $906-million program includes sitework, grading and an electrified fence, with facility work to follow. Sacramento-based URS-Bovis Lend Lease was awarded the construction management consultant contract as part of its ongoing work with CPHCS. Sacramento-based
Whether the still unopened Harmon Hotel inside the CityCenter resort in Las Vegas is demolished or remains an expensive billboard is now part of yet one more legal battle stemming from the struggling megaresort’s many financial woes. Photo: Bill Hughes Rumors say unopened hotel could be imploded. + Image On Nov. 13, according to news reports, owner MGM Resorts International announced plans to raze the 27-story high-rise designed by U.K. “starchitect” Sir Norman Foster. MGM later backpedaled from that statement and claims no final decision has been made, says a spokesman. The company took a $279-million write-down in the third
The still unopened Harmon Hotel, a 27-story centerpiece of the now financially hemorrhaging CityCenter development in Las Vegas, is being targeted for demolition. MGM Resorts International, owner of the troubled 67-acre complex that includes the hotel designed by U.K. “starchitect” Sir Norman Foster, recently unveiled plans to raze it. MGM took a $279-million write-down in the third quarter on the building, which sits dormant with a sign wrapped around its gleaming glass façade for the resort’s “Viva Elvis” show. Harmon may be the world’s most expensive billboard. Photo: Tony Illia Las Vegas hotel-condo was designed by famed U.K. architect Sir
After a heated dispute lasting more than a half-year, building owner Carpenters Tower LLC and its contractor, McCarthy Building Cos. Inc., have resolved all the legal issues related to the distressed, reinforced concrete frame of the 25-story McGuire Apartments in Seattle. The resolution clears the way for the demolition of the vacated residential tower, completed in 2001, though the owner has not yet set a timetable for the razing. The brouhaha reached a peak last spring after the owner claimed the cost to repair the building’s corroding post-tensioned slab system and other problems would exceed the structure’s worth. McCarthy then
Workers are building the $810-million Olympic Stadium with 80,000 seats and a partial roof. But in 2012, soon after officials of London Games hang the final medals around the necks of the winning athletes, crews will move back in to shrink the venue down to its "legacy mode," with only 25,000 seats and no roof. Consequently, from the start of design, a "here today, two-thirds gone tomorrow" attitude dominated the team's thinking. The project marks “a new era of Olympic stadium design...demonstrating how a successful event can be blended with the long term needs of a community,” claims Rod Sheard,
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