The Green Building Top 5 - November 25, 2015

Does LEED v4 Give Better Terms for Steel Construction Due to Transparent Supply?

Steel, you say? Doesn’t it burn a lot of fossil fuels just to get the iron ore out of the ground? Isn’t the process to turn it into structural beams and bars energy-intensive and dirty, as well? Perhaps, if you’re looking at mined and milled steel only, but if you look at less-obvious concepts like reusability, material reduction through smart design, recyclability, decreased maintenance cost and empowerment of adaptive reuse, steel and, even some other metals, are ahead of the game when it comes to construction specification. Read Full Article

139 Countries Could Get All of their Power from Renewable Sources

Mark Jacobson and Mark Delucchi have done it again. This time they’ve spelled out how 139 countries can each generate all the energy needed for homes, businesses, industry, transportation, agriculture—everything—from wind, solar and water power technologies, by 2050. Their national blueprints, released Nov. 18, follow similar plans they have published in the past few years to run each of the 50 U.S. states on renewables, as well as the entire world. Read Full Article

Carbon and Values: Change Begins on Campus

In a few weeks, world leaders will gather in Paris seeking agreement on measures to reduce emissions that are warming the Earth. In past years as head of the World Resources Institute, I would have been caught up in a frenzy of preparation: Analysis of each country's position; strategy meetings; exchanges of political gossip about the latest machinations of industries and countries; press briefings. To be honest, I am glad I will not be there. I can get more done in our college community here in Western Massachusetts, working with students, staff, and faculty to change our practices and reduce emissions. Read Full Article

PACE Doesn't Put Lenders at Risk Study Finds

Property-assessed clean energy programs got a huge boost this summer when the White House and the Federal Housing Administration removed a substantial barrier for residential PACE financing. PACE programs allow investments in water- and energy-efficiency retrofits and distributed renewable generation to be paid back through property taxes, which lowers the risk for both lenders and owners and can potentially open up a far larger swath of the energy-efficiency market. Read Full Article

Rooftop Solar Brings Higher Home Appraisals

Homes with rooftop solar are appraised at a higher value, according to new research from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

For the past few years, Berkeley Lab has been collecting data on the value of homes with solar photovoltaics compared to those without PV.

Early studies relied on modeling and found that buyers were willing to pay an average of $15,000 more for a home with a solar PV array. Another study from January, based on survey data, found that homebuyers were also willing to pay a premium for leased systems.
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