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“People love to live in old buildings,” observes Susan Powers, president of the development company Urban Ventures. ”Community members generally love to see old buildings restored.”
Here’s a green building snafu - many current building codes aren't formulated to accommodate the reuse of salvaged materials. As a matter of public policy, many progressive cities encourage the recycling of building materials, yet as a matter of administrative practice they make their use either economically impractical or illegal.
“In the case of windows, plumbing fixtures and lighting fixtures, energy- efficiency standards all but mandate the use of brand-new |
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 Being green means different things in different parts of the country. In places like St. Louis or Seattle, eco-friendly construction standards apply only to city-owned or city-funded buildings. In Boston green construction codes also apply to major commercial or residential developments. New York City has taken very bold steps, with 127 eco-friendly initiatives to green the city by 2030…to date, 14 cities and 1 state - Connecticut - require private developers to meet green building standards.
Locally, in Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa recently signed into law the Los Angeles Green Building ordinance – and it is being heralded as “the most far reaching plan of any big city in America to promote green building practices in the private sector.” The ordinance would reduce the City's carbon emissions by more than 80,000 tons by 2012, the equivalent of taking 15,000 cars off the road – this objective surpasses any other major city in the country. (Now if they’d only find a way get 15,000 cars off the road.)
“Given that greenhouse gas emissions from buildings account for more than 40% of global warming pollution, the Los Angeles Green Building ordinance is a good first step towards building an energy-efficient, climate friendly, sustainable city,” observes Global Green USA President Matt Petersen. “While certainly not an end destination, it is important that Los Angeles has become the first big city to codify a private sector green building program.”
Above and beyond, Mayor Villaraigosa has pledged to |
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SACRAMENTO, California (AP) — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a statewide drought after two years of below-average rainfall, low snow-melt runoff and a court-ordered restriction on water transfers.
“We must recognize the severity of the crisis that we face,” the Governor noted, signing an executive order directing the state’s response to unusually dry conditions that are damaging crops, harming water quality and causing extreme fire danger across California. Schwarzenegger warned that residents and water managers must immediately cut their water use or face the possibility of rationing next year if there is another dry winter. Already, many communities require
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So many possible things to talk about…we’re still not ready to touch the Dodger Stadium “green necklace” update. (Great stadium, great location, traffic nightmare. No greening could possibly not include better mass-transit options.) So, let’s not talk about that, instead, let’s take a look at some significant green updates in home building + remodeling which recently debuted at from the National Association of Home Builders’ International Builders Show. Steel Beams for Light Residential: There are certainly any number of applications in new building and remodeling where the strength of a steel beam
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Those on the path of LEED compliance have been complaining about solar panels – big expense, minimal points, and many years before you recoup your investment. The story goes that the new 8-kilowatt solar power array on David Kokka’s roof doesn’t belong to him — and he likes it that way.
Instead, David Kokka has rented his roof out, so to speak, to a Silicon Valley startup called Sun Run Generation LLC. For the next 20 years, Sun Run will own and maintain the solar panels, and Kokka will buy all the electricity his family uses that’s generated by the photovoltaic power system over that time — at a steep discount to the prices he’d otherwise be paying to utility Pacific Gas & Electric Co.
“I’m getting a system that’s not only maintenance free, but they’re guaranteeing the output of the system and components over 20 years,” he said.
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