Category: LEED certification

Charlotte region nudges upward on Energy Star list


A news release from Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx’s office today says the Charlotte metro region has moved from 17th to 14th for the number of Energy Star-certified buildings. Click here for a link to the list of the top 25 metro regions. The Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill metro area (Anson, Cabarrus, Gaston, Mecklenburg, Union and York counties) has 133 Energy Star-certified buildings, according to the news release. It’s tied with Minneapolis-St. Paul.
Note, the Energy Star certification is not the same as LEED certification. The registry for LEED (Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design) shows 87 LEED-certified projects in Charlotte. Click here for the list, which can be filtered according to state and city. Note, some buildings are counted as several different projects.

Here’s the news release from Foxx’s office:

CHARLOTTE RANKS 14THON EPA’S 2012 LIST OF CITIES WITH THE MOST ENERGY STAR CERTIFIED BUILDINGS
Charlotte, NC— In its annual list of U.S. metropolitan areas with the most Energy Star certified buildings released today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ranked Charlotte 14th in the nation in 2012—up from 17thin 2011.  According to the report, the Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill metro area has 133 Energy Star certified buildings that are saving more than $15.2 million annually in energy costs and cutting greenhouse gas emissions equal to emissions from the annual electricity use of nearly 11,000 homes.
“It’s an honor to be recognized by the EPA as one of the country’s top cities in energy efficiency,” said Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx.  “This recognition is a testament to the ongoing efforts of our building managers and our entire community to make the Charlotte region an international energy leader.  Together, we will continue to work to lower our energy use to save businesses and consumers money, and protect our environment.”
Charlotte has undertaken several efforts to promote energy efficiency.  The city is the first in the world to endeavor to reduce the carbon footprint of its central business district through Envision Charlotte, a unique public-private partnership between the city, corporate leaders, and Center City building managers.  The Power2Charlotte initiative brings together 17 energy and energy efficiency projects that focus on both internal city operations and community-wide projects to save energy and create jobs.   
Energy use in commercial buildings accounts for 17 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions at a cost of more than $100 billion per year. Commercial buildings that earn EPA’s Energy Star must perform in the top 25 percent of similar buildings nationwide, as verified by a Professional Engineer or a Registered Architect. Energy Star certified buildings use an average of 35 percent less energy and are responsible for 35 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than typical buildings. Fifteen types of commercial buildings can earn the Energy Star, including office buildings, K-12 schools, and retail stores.

Launched in 1992 by EPA, Energy Star is a market-based partnership to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency. Over the past 20 years, with help from Energy Star, American families and businesses have saved about $230 billion on utility bills and prevented more than 1.7 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions. Today, the Energy Star label can be found on more than 65 different kinds of products, more than 1.3 million new homes, and more than 20,000 buildings and plants.

See the full list of top cities: http://energystar.gov/topcities
Download the full list of Energy Star certified buildings: http://1.usa.gov/Y8QkQo

Take an in-depth look at the data behind Energy Star certified buildings: http://energystar.gov/datatrends

More about earning the Energy Star for commercial buildings: http://energystar.gov/labeledbuildings

 

 


A “green” NASCAR Hall of Fame?

If they hadn’t kept using the word “sustainable” …

After a lot of talk about the importance of “sustainable” designs, having to do with the NASCAR Hall of Fame, it turns out the city (the owner of the building) hasn’t pushed for a “green” building — i.e., one designed to use fewer resources, fewer polluting resources, and to use less energy in both construction and operation. And it doesn’t look as if it’s going to.

George Miller (at right) of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, the firm designing the new NASCAR Hall of Fame, gave a briefing at Wednesday’s monthly AIA (American Institute of Architects) luncheon. Among the interesting details — e.g., the “ribbon” wrapping around the building will be stainless steel and no, they haven’t yet figured out structural details — he talked about making the building “sustainable.”

Earlier, Mayor Pat McCrory, in accepting an award from the AIA chapter for his work on behalf of what architects call “the built environment,” said his overall philosophy for development is, “Do it right the first time and make it sustainable.”

I couldn’t stop myself. During the Q/A period I asked Miller whether the Hall of Fame would be LEED certified. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a rating system devised by the U.S. Green Building Council to encourage builders, developers and architects to build more environmentally benign buildings. Only two N.C. buildings are listed as certified — none in Charlotte — although ImaginOn and the Davidson College admissions office are among a number of LEED-registered buildings in this area.

Miller sort of hemmed and hawed and said, “We haven’t talked in great detail,” and that they were going to try to incorporate as many LEED techniques as possible.

Luckily for me, I was sitting smack next to City Engineer Jim Schumacher, who’s the lead staff person on the Hall project. After all, the city is Miller’s client in this. I asked Schumacher if the city had talked about LEED certification with the architects. No, he said. We told them, he said, “Do what makes sense.”

Schumacher said the mechanical systems would meet LEED standards.

That leaves out techniques such as daylighting, reducing construction debris and using recycled materials. Some of those things, such as daylighting, aren’t just feel-good issues, but have significant long-term implications for future operating costs.

I phoned Anthony Foxx, who chairs the City Council’s Environmental Committee. He confirmed there’d been no discussion on the full council about whether to require/suggest/wish for a LEED-registered or certified project. “I did raise the issue with Engineering and Property Management,” Foxx told me. “They pushed back on it, primarily concerned about the tightness of the budget.”

LEED isn’t a perfect instrument, and anyone who’s familiar with it would agree. But it pushes builders and designers to consider a building’s life-cycle costs along with short-term construction costs, and it helps educate them in new technologies and materials.

And it isn’t necessarily more expensive. A Statesville elementary school that is LEED-certified was built for no more money than a regular elementary school, school district officials have said.

So, Mayor Pat, sir, and your colleagues on the council: How about pushing for the Hall of Fame to be LEED-certified? The city is the client, and the city should demand the best long-term value for its buildings.