Burning Bio News

The roof of the Pacific Plaza, in Tacoma, WA, is in the process of becoming a Platinum, LEED certifed green building. The Platinum status is the most strict level of certification. The 35,000 square foot turf roof (4/5 of an acre) cost $200,000.

Compost is playing an increasing role in functional landscaping and green building certification (LEED). ERTH (Environmental Resource and Technology for Humanity) Products stormwater remediation composting technologies are outlined.

The National Biodiesel Board has officially cut the ribbon on its new building at 605 Clark Avenue in Jefferson City, MO.

In addition to requiring biopreferred products be purchased by the federal government, new federal buildings are being required to meet green standards. At least 12 federal agencies specifically require new construction of federal buildings and other federal-funded construction to meet LEED certification. The Department of Energy now requires, at the design stage, new federal commercial and multifamily buildings achieve at least 30 percent greater energy efficiency over prevailing building codes, if not unduly costly.

Studies show that constructing energy-efficient structures and retrofitting old ones is thought to be a much more expensive process than it actually is. But advocates still disagree about the true costs. Some studies suggest green building is a negligible expense when features are included during initial design, while others say it adds 10 percent or more to a project’s overall budget.

Destiny, a proposed Osceola County, FL, community that intends to become an eco city, this week announced its plans to grow crops such as sweet sorghum, jatropha and algae to produce biofuels from nonfood materials and showcase sustainable farming practices.

Dockside Green is a 15-acre residential neighborhood under construction in Victoria, British Columbia. This green community will have its own on-site wastewater treatment plant and biomass power plant.

Geos Neighborhood, the country’s largest net-zero energy, master-planned community, announced plans for 250 residences located between Denver and Boulder, CO. Set to begin infrastructure construction this fall, Geos Neighborhood will generate enough renewable energy to offset 100 percent of the annual energy needs of the entire community.

A new concept in retail, hotel and entertainment, Density USA, has begun construction. The novel aspect of this project is that it will combine renewable energy, green building conservation and public transportation to take energy utilization to a new level.

A new research facility at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, CO, broke ground. Using Solar and biomass energy technologies this facility is expected to have no carbon footprint.