The Green Building Top 4 - May 6, 2015

Dave Clemen
Consultant
May 6, 2015

Here are the Top 4 highlights and links to the past week's most compelling articles on green building and LEED.

The Equestrian Centre on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula by Seth Stein Architects & Watson Architecture + Design uses local soil for a rammed earth wall.

Credit: Lisbeth Grosmann

7 President Signs Energy Efficiency Bill That Includes Ayotte-Bennet Better Buildings Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. – May 1, 2015 – (RealEstateRama) — President Obama today signed into law a bipartisan energy efficiency bill – the Energy Efficiency Improvement Act of 2015 – that includes legislation previously introduced by U.S. Senators Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) to boost the use of energy efficient technology by tenants in commercial buildings. The bill, authored by Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), includes the Bennet-Ayotte Better Buildings Act, which encourages tenants of commercial buildings to voluntarily implement cost-effective measures that will help reduce energy consumption and ultimately utility costs for businesses. Ayotte and Bennet first introduced the bill in 2013, and Ayotte is also a cosponsor of the Portman-Shaheen bill Read Full Article

Cheap, Tough and Green: Why aren't more buildings made of rammed earth?

It’s fair to say that rammed earth, as a construction technique, has stood the test of time. It has been used to create buildings around the world whose beauty and robustness are still visible today, like the Alhambra in Spain and the Great Wall of China, both built more than 1,000 years ago.a Read Full Article

Guinness Goes Green

It’s always nice to see businesses taking steps to go green. Diageo, the company that manufactures the world famous Guinness beer, has recently opened a new brewhouse, which has been awarded the LEED Platinum certification. Brewhouse No. 4 as it is called, is located at St. James’s Gate in Ireland and it was also awarded the BREEAM Outstanding certification in 2014.Read Full Article

Green Building Makes Inroads in the Builder 100 List

BUILDER's premier lists of the top 200 builders in the country, the BUILDER 100 and the Next 100, are set to be released next week. In light of that, we are counting down each day with some facts and figures gleaned from the data, starting today. Read Full Article