Standards & Compliance Briefing: BREEAM, LEED, FSC, GreenChill, IEEE Smart Grid

The U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED green building program will now recognize credits from BREEAM, the U.K.’s green rating program. The recognition will begin with LEED for New Construction and the most recent International version of BREEAM. Many international green building projects pursue dual certification with both LEED and BREEAM, but it also adds to project costs, USGBC said.

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has made its critique of the third draft of LEED 2012, whose public commenting period closes today. The FSC says that the current draft, which proposes five points for use of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)-based disclosure tools to validate the Raw Materials Extraction Credit, is not stringent enough.

Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market has earned the Platinum-Level store certification award from the EPA’s GreenChill Partnership, for use of green refrigeration technology at its new store in Folsom, Calif. The facility installed Hill PHOENIX Second Nature medium temperature fixtures and walk-ins running on glycol, and low temperature fixtures and walk-ins running on C02. It is the second store in the state and one of just four grocery stores in the nation to earn the distinction, Fresh & Easy said.

IEEE SA has approved five new standards and a modified standards-development project intended to aid the rollout of the smart grid worldwide:
IEEE C37.118.1-2011, Standard for Synchrophasor Measurements for Power Systems;
IEEE C37.118.2-2011, Standard for Synchrophasor Data Transfer for Power Systems;
IEEE C37.238-2011, Standard Profile for Use of IEEE Std. 1588 Precision Time Protocol in Power System Applications;
IEEE C37.232-2011, Standard for Common Format for Naming Time Sequence Data Files (COMNAME); and
IEEE 1020(TM)-2011, Guide for Control of Small (100 kVA to 5 MVA) Hydroelectric Power Plants;

Additionally, the association said that it has modified the scope and purpose of an existing smart grid standards development program, IEEE P1409, Draft Guide for the Application of Power Electronics for Power Quality Improvement on Distribution Systems Rated 1 kV Through 38 kV.

The ISO Technical Advisory Group (TAG) 8, Building, is exploring potential need to further develop international building code standards. With that in mind, ANSI invites interested parties to respond to a three-question survey by March 23.

ANSI will be holding a public meeting on April 2, at 2 p.m. at its headquarters in Washington, DC, for interested U.S. stakeholders to provide feedback to the China Certification and Accreditation Association (CCAA) and China National Accreditation Service (CNAS). These groups are researching a Chinese national standard and certification program for social responsibility (SR).  A teleconference option will be available, ANSI said.

TSMC Solar, headquartered in Taichung, Taiwan, has received both UL and IEC certification for a wide range of its TS CIGS series PV modules. The company also has received its ISO 9001 certification, TSMC Solar said.

The Knight Management Center at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, a 360,000-square-foot, eight-building complex, has achieved LEED Platinum. Green features of the building include the use of daylight in 90 percent of interior work spaces, a PV rooftop installation that powers 12.5 percent of annual energy demand, air-handling units that recapture and redistribute waste heat, and an 80 percent reduction of water usage for sewer conveyance with the use of grey water and rainwater, Stanford GSB said.

Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, Ill., has earned LEED Gold status, to become the first casino in the world to achieve this level of LEED certification. Features of the facility include the use of LED light fixtures, a 70 percent green power offset for electrical energy over two years, low-flow plumbing fixtures to reduce water usage by 40 percent, low VOC paints and adhesive materials, a single-stream recycling plan, and complimentary EV charging stations, writes Travel Daily News.

The 900,000-square-foot Atlanta Financial Center has received LEED Silver certification for existing buildings. Green features and programs include alternative transportation options for commuters; an electronic recycling program; energy-efficient lighting with reduced mercury content; and use of environmental cleaning products and practices, writes CityBiz Real Estate.