energy efficiency :: GBIG Insight

Building Efficiency is the Key Driver to Reduce U.S. Energy Consumption

By Serene Almomen on 24 May 2016 • 3 minute read

As the standard of living increases, more and more energy is consumed in the U.S. This puts an intensifying strain on the country’s aging grid and forces inefficient and pollution-producing power plants to help meet demand. Something has to give. Luckily, increasing b …

The Push for Energy Efficiency in America’s Historic Buildings

By Serene Almomen on 11 May 2016 • 3 minute read

Historical buildings are everywhere. In a country with such a (relatively) short history, we Americans care deeply about protecting our historic and archeological resources. Every week, 20-30 properties are classified as historic buildings worthy of preservation by the …

LEED and GBEL: Hand in Hand in Promoting Green Building in China

By Alessandro Bisagni on 13 Aug 2015 • 5 minute read

For the past four decades great things have been happening in China, spurred by rapid urbanization. One after another brave new buildings are being erected, dramatically changing the skyline, redefining space. Entire cities are decided on and then built accordingly, ris …

Gucci Chengdu Daci – LEED CI Retail Platinum – 83 points (top 3% of projects in its rating system).

2030 Glossary: The Challenge, Commitment, Palette, Districts, and Products

By Aurora Sharrard, PhD on 15 Apr 2015 • 6 minute read

Architects Pollute. That’s how Ed Mazria got the attention of Metropolis Magazine in 2003 – and it’s a message they plastered on their October cover. Since then, Mr. Mazria has taken the message that buildings are major contributors to climate change (using nearly …

Pittsburgh is one of 9 existing districts committed to 2030 reduction goals.

Building Award-Winning Energy Intelligence at the Australian Technology Park

By Peter Dickinson on 09 Mar 2015 • 3 minute read

The Australian Technology Park (ATP), located in the suburbs of Sydney, is a business and technology center that serves as an incubator for high-tech startups and brings together research and commercial interests in a symbiotic environment. Five distinct buildings make …

The LEED Plaque Unpacked

By Lane Burt on 05 Sep 2014 • 2 minute read

Last week, the U.S. Green Building Council and Ember Strategies released the results of a deep dive study into the design energy efficiency of a decade of LEED buildings at the ACEEE's 2014 Summer Study on Buildings - the biennial gathering of building efficiency nerds …

Energy Efficiency Performance of LEED-EB Projects

By Maija Krizmane on 04 Aug 2014 • 2 minute read

In a recently published post, I analyzed the energy efficiency achievements of a sample dataset of LEED for New Construction 2009 projects in the United States. LEED for New Construction (LEED-NC) and LEED for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB) rating system achievements are …

Building Automation Systems: Addressing Vulnerabilities through Best Practices for Green Builders

By Josh Gellers, PhD on 10 Jul 2014 • 6 minute read

In the 2012 James Bond film Skyfall, a cunning cyber-terrorist accesses information obtained from a stolen hard drive to hack into a computer at the headquarters of MI6, the British Secret Intelligence Service. With the virtual gateway to the structure compromised, the …

IPCC report: Building Sector Emissions Growing; Green Buildings Can Be Solution

By Chris Pyke, PhD on 14 Apr 2014 • 2 minute read

Chris Pyke, vice president of research at the U.S. Green Building Council, is a lead author for Chapter 9: Residential and Commercial Buildings in the third installment of a new report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The United Nati …

GBIG Zero Net Energy Buildings Collection

By Maija Krizmane on 20 Feb 2014 • 2 minute read

Earlier this year the New Buildings Institute released their ZNE 2014 Status Update detailing the achievements of 32 ‘verified’ zero net energy buildings across the U.S., and pointing towards an additional 180 “ZNE Emerging” and “Ultra-low Energy” buildings …

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