Environmental Leader

The Greenbuild International Conference and Expo is currently underway. More than 26,000 people packed the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center yesterday for the first day. Here are some snippets from the event.

LEED 2009 has passed USGBC member ballot and the newest version of the green building certification program will be introduced in 2009. The new version re-weights the credits to reflect climate change and energy efficiency as more urgent priorities and will also incorporate regional credits.

The U.S. Green Building Council says it’s planning to push four major green agendas in Washington based on initiatives president-elect Barack Obama has expressed support for during his campaign. These are: green building, carbon neutrality, investment in clean tech and reinvestment in transportation and infrastructure, according to BusinessWeek.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick announced new goals for “green” development, setting a target of requiring energy efficiency and partial solar power in all new malls and “big-box” stores by 2010 and offering cities and towns the option of instituting “super-efficient” local building codes, Providence Business Journal reports.

Building Design+Construction magazine released a white paper offering 22 ways building designers and contractors can fight climate change. But good client and project management will be needed according to a green building survey conducted by AEC Software. The survey of building, architecture, and construction industry managers found that 70 percent of respondents said their  customers for green construction projects had the same level of patience, or even less patience, when compared to traditional construction projects.

United Technology Corp. presented new technologies (energy-efficient combined heat and power building systems, “green” fire suppression systems, environmentally sound refrigerants, and elevators with regenerative drives) at the event and said it it is helping the Hartford neighborhood agency SAND Corp. build “Net Zero Energy” homes.

For K-12 schools looking to go green, Trane launched the High Performance Systems Portfolio at the conference. The portfolio is a web-based tool that helps schools identify the right HVAC system to earn LEED points.

At the expo, Osram Sylvania and Greenwala launched an online competition to find the greenest people in the U.S.. They are inviting people to submit videos or photos with descriptions that detail their actions to green.  Osram also introduced the latest addition to its CFLs; the Living Spaces Compact Florescent Lamp residential downlight system, which uses pin-based lamps and ballast systems.

Johnson Controls launched Greenprint Tool, an interactive tool that helps assess personal sustainability practices and helps identify areas for consumer change. The Greenprint tool is not to be confused with Greenprint Denver, which is a panel of environmental experts assembled by Denver’s mayor, or GreenPrint Technologies, which offers paper and ink saving software.

Steelcase Inc. unveiled a line of antimony-free polyester textiles, which is part of the Cogent Group fabrics and has received Cradle to Cradle Gold certification.

American Honda Motor Co. announced that the company has received LEED-certification for five buildings in the U.S. this year, with a data center being touted as the first silver-certified in the country.