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This study investigates the enhancement of technological and strategic enablers for carbon‐neutral businesses (CNB) through artificial intelligence (AI)‐driven business model innovation (AIDBMI). Drawing upon the insights gained from the literature review, the study employs structural equation modeling (partial least squares structural equation modeling [PLS‐SEM]) as the methodology to examine the relationships between AIDBMI, technological enablers, strategic enablers, and the attainment of carbon neutrality. The sample size consists of 326 small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in the United States of America. The findings of this study affirm the significant positive relationships between AIDBMI and both technological and strategic enablers for CNB. The utilization of AI technologies proves to be instrumental in fostering the development and implementation of innovative business models that integrate sustainability practices and address environmental challenges. By leveraging AIDBMI, SMEs can harness technological advancements to adopt energy‐efficient processes, embrace renewable energy solutions, and implement effective carbon reduction strategies. Moreover, the study highlights the critical role of strategic enablers in driving the transition towards carbon neutrality. The alignment of sustainability goals with organizational strategies, stakeholder collaboration, and employee engagement emerge as pivotal factors in enabling SMEs to effectively utilize AIDBMI and leverage technological advancements to achieve carbon neutrality. The implications of this study contribute to the existing literature by highlighting the importance of technological and strategic enablers in creating CNB. By integrating AIDBMI, organizations can drive sustainable transformations, optimize their operations, and align their resource management with sustainable practices. These insights provide valuable guidance for SMEs, policymakers, and researchers seeking to foster sustainable practices, promote carbon neutrality, and contribute to the advancement of a low‐carbon economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research investigates the design and development of a serious game to teach green building design and energy literacy in rural middle schools in the United States. The paper presents a pilot study, education mini-game development integrated with parametric BIM and energy simulations. The game scenario was built on the developed science curriculum modules in our funded research, teaching building energy technologies such as daylighting, artificial lighting, window configurations, building materials, solar panels, etc. The mini-game, Illumi's World, presents a baseline science lab and a media library of typical public schools in the United States. The players have the opportunity to improve energy literacy in several ways: manipulating the building configurations and the energy options, reviewing energy costs and emission level changes, and monitoring the performance from the game dashboards. This paper presents background theory, curriculum design, the mini-game development framework, methods and tools for energy simulation and BIM visualization, and the findings and challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several industry-led initiatives in various countries demonstrate a new interest in wellbeing and buildings. This paper adopts a scoping review method aiming to establish the most prevalent and insightful definitions and dimensions of wellbeing in buildings applied in the recent published literature. The paper adopts a two-step method for identifying and categorizing the conceptual approaches to wellbeing encountered in the current literature. First, an overview is presented of the term 'wellbeing' and its development over time. Second, the broad wellbeing categories identified are further refined and complemented via a deductive approach, drawing the final set of conceptual themes informed by the papers reviewed in this study. Nine themes were identified, two of which deductively emerged from the papers included in this study: environmental satisfaction/comfort and cognitive performance/productivity. The findings emphasize the heterogeneity of conceptual approaches to research concerning 'wellbeing in buildings', an ambiguity between wellbeing outcomes or determinants, and the need for greater clarity on the relative contributions of different wellbeing dimensions to overall individual or population wellbeing. Based on these findings, future work could be carried out to provide guidance on how to evaluate claims of evidence-based building design which foster individual or population wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Design for Deconstruction (DfD) is a design approach that enables reuse of durable building components, including structural materials, across multiple building projects. An important DfD strategy is the use of pre-fabricated modular building assemblies and reversible connections, in contrast to cast-in-place composite systems that must be demolished at building end-of-life. In this paper we evaluate a novel DfD flooring system consisting of pre-cast concrete planks and clamped connections. Life cycle energy and environmental benefits of using this DfD system are evaluated using life cycle assessment (LCA) across four impact categories of interest to the building and construction sector including fossil fuel use, greenhouse gas emissions, respiratory effects, and photochemical smog formation. Eight different DfD building designs are tested for 0–3 reuses compared with a traditional structural design, with energy and environmental benefits accruing from substitution of avoided structural materials. Designs reflect expected loads and current code requirements, while the additional time required for deconstruction of DfD buildings is accounted for in the construction schedules. Monte Carlo simulation is used to generate 95% confidence intervals for the results. In general, DfD designs result in higher initial (original building) energy use and environmental impacts, but have statistically lower impacts than traditional designs if flooring planks are used at least once. Reusing planks three times as designed decreases impacts by a mean value of of 60–70%, depending on the building configuration and impact category. Energy use and environmental impacts from eventual recycling and/or disposal of the reusable components are significant, and emphasize the relative benefits of reuse over recycling. Highlights • Direct reuse of building materials is enabled by Design for Deconstruction (DfD). • DfD clamped precast composite flooring systems can replace cast-in-place decking. • Life cycle assessment reveals energy and environmental savings for DfD with reuse. • Actual disassembly and reuse practices depend on location and market forces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification is the most prominent voluntary environmental program for built environments. It has four tiers: Platinum, Gold, Silver and Certified. As of 2015, in the United States, 14% of certified buildings are in the Certified tier, 33% in the Silver tier, 45% in the Gold tier and 8% in the Platinum tier. Why is the Gold tier the most popular although it is neither the least expensive option nor the most environmentally friendly one? To investigate this subject, we conducted interviews with owners of 144 properties across 27 US states and Washington, DC. We find that program design, specifically requirements/points for certifying to a specific tier, influences benefits-costs for certifying to different tiers. Other factors driving tier choice include the region in which the property is located, prior experience of the builder/owner with a particular LEED tier, the availability of subcontractors and the norms for leasing time frames. Finally, the nomenclature of different LEED tiers also shapes the value perception. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Those who aspire to practice “sustainable development” often bemoan the difficultly of achieving the ideal balance of the three E’s made famous in the Brundtland Report: economy, ecology, and equity. Further, developments produced in the name of “sustainability” are commonly critiqued for their lack of regional climatic and cultural sensitivity. But Avion Village, a 600-unit affordable housing project built by the US Defense Department’s Mutual Ownership Housing Pilot Program in 1941—designed for innovative efficiency by Richard Neutra, made regionally appropriate by David Williams, and sold to residents as “mutually owned” by Colonel Lawrence Westbrook— illustrated the possibilities of triple bottom line development well before the language of sustainability emerged. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Climate is one of the most important factors in sustainable architecture and urban design. Climatic conditions have become a strong factor in architectural design process and designers must consider certain principles in that field. An appropriate urban environment has to take the factor of climate into consideration in an efficient way. This will lead to the creation of a better living environment with open, naturally-lit spaces and fresh air movement. An efficient climatic design can have a specific impact on reducing the operating costs of an urban environment. This is specifically significant when considering hat the climatic design principles will help reduce electricity consumption in buildings and improve the environment and strengthen the economy by cutting down the need for fossil fuels and nuclear energy. Using principles of climatic design in urban environmental structures and residential contexts results in better living conditions for residents. The present article specially addresses this issue. It focuses on low-height residential contexts and the solutions for climate conditions in urban environments. This article's hypothesis declares that climatic architectural design guidelines and solutions in low-height residential contexts are closely interrelated in such a way that an efficient climate design could lead to a proper climatic conditions in the environment. "Temperate" climate has been emphasized in the present article because it has two important elements that affect architecture: the amount of humidity and the amount of rain. In temperate climates the traditional architecture has found methods to be adopted based on climate conditions throughout history. To reduce the humidity effects, buildings have been scattered all around and empty spaces have been accommodated around them. This is meant to help the wind spiral through - what will accordingly provide a better air movement in the environment. Also buildings have been built upper than the ground to avoid the soil humidity. To receive the sunlight, buildings have found a proper orient to the south axes, and the best proportion for the forms is considered as 1:1/6 in east-west direction. In order to choose cities in temperate climate with very similar climate conditions, 37 degrees north latitude has been chosen as a basic line. And the cities beside it all around the world with similar conditions have been selected on the basis of most important climatic factors including angle of the sunshine, temperature, humidity, wind conditions and the amount of rain. The selected cities include Washington D.C, Richmond and Virginia Beach in the USA, Antalya in Turkey, Rasht in Iran, Seoul in South Korea and Niigata in Japan. The present research is meant to find answers to the following questions: •What are the main characteristics of residential contexts in selected cities with temperate climate? •What are climate considerations for designing residential contexts in these areas? •How much are architectural designs in line with the city's climate? •What are proper climatic design patterns in low height residential contexts? This article follows a comparative analysis method. Therefore, by analyzing the samples of the contexts of residential areas, the principles on proper climatic types for low-height residential contexts have been identified. A comparative analysis of samples in the research shows that the principles necessary to achieve a suitable climate model in residential contexts include the following guidelines and solutions with specific relations to each other: Decentralized organization of buildings can be considered a necessary solution to obtain a suitable model of climatic design. This can largely lead to other solutions. Scattered buildings help provide better conditions to use natural winds to enhance the quality of the environment. The blowing of wind through empty spaces between blocks reduces the high humidity of the environment. The use of natural light in the building as a fundamental element of a climatic design can be accommodated in low density environments. In high density environments, natural light can be accommodated by organizing east- west axis linear blocks. In compressed urban neighborhood contexts, it is more difficult to organize blocks in east-west axis and that leads to a disadvantaged condition. Landscaping can be used as another design tool. Planting trees at the southern part of the building yard provides shade against sunlight and helps reduce heat in summers. Also trees can act as obstacles in front of cold winter winds. Furthermore, steep roofs beside their application for rainy weather can be a cultural element in architecture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Energy consumption in residential buildings is one of the major sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the U.S. Most of the efforts to minimize these emissions contemplate on construction of new high performance green buildings rather than retrofitting the existing residential building stock, which has the greatest emission reduction potential. In this paper, rapidly increasing GHG emissions trend associated with the U.S. residential building stock is addressed. The objective is to reduce or stabilize the increasing GHG emissions trend as a result of sprawling residential building stock across the country. System Dynamics (SD) is utilized to study the mid and long term impacts of green building related policies on the GHG emissions stock. SD model is built based on stock and flow diagram, which is derived from causal loop diagram that consists of 12 endogenous and 2 exogenous variables and causal relationships. Three important action areas are considered for policy making, namely: high performance green building construction, building retrofitting, and net zero building construction. From the three policy fields, a total of 19 policy strategies (7 single and 12 hybrid) is developed and the impacts of the policies on GHG emissions trend are experimented until 2050. Among the proposed policies, retrofitting-focused policies are found to be more effective on stabilizing the GHG emissions trend compared to the policies related to the construction of new net zero and high performance green buildings. On the other hand, hybrid implementation of policies from the three policy fields provided the greatest reduction in the GHG emissions trend. One of the most important outcomes of this study is that focusing on increasing the construction rate of net zero or high performance green buildings alone does not help with stabilizing/reducing the GHG emissions trend unless the retrofitting of existing residential building stock is seriously considered as a strict policy along with green building policies. Analysis results also revealed that the residential green building movement itself is found to be far from being the driver policy in stabilizing the rapidly increasing GHG emissions trend in the long run. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article presents three case studies focused on the importance of affordable green housing. Described are the buildings Colorado Court in Santa Monica, California, Melrose Commons II in South Bronx, New York and Positive MATCH (Rita Da Cascia) in San Francisco, California. All complexes are made of natural materials and use renewable energy.

Many colleges and universities across the United States have adopted sustainability in their curriculum and operations. Academic libraries need to support the mission of their university and therefore must also play their part in sustainability education and operations. The library and information science literature makes it appear that the hallmark of a "green library" is an environmentally friendly building. There are very few academic libraries in the United States that are LEED certified. The author argues that a green library is something more than just the architecture. By using example initiatives and providing recommendations for green library operations, it can be determined that a green library does not necessarily entail a green building, but it does involve a green mission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The environmental movement has emerged as a response to society''s concerns about the sustainability of Earth''s natural resources and the effects of human activity on the environment and on society''s well-being. Effects such as deforestation, air and water pollution, and resource depletion have shown to cause a decline in the quality of life of humans. In response, concerned citizens, non-governmental organizations, and governments have started initiatives to ensure the responsible utilization of our natural resources. Two of these initiatives in particular are relevant for U.S. hardwood products manufacturers: forest certification systems and green building standards. The former are standards created with the purpose of ensuring the sustainable utilization of the forest resource. Most forest certification systems also offer a chain-of-custody certification, to assure customers that label-carrying products indeed originate from certified forests. Green building standards were created to reduce the environmental impact caused by building construction and use. This paper presents the results from a survey of U.S. hardwood lumber manufacturers, with the objective of learning about the industry''s awareness and perceptions about forest certification and green building systems and the impact of the environmental movement on the industry. Questions asked ranged from familiarity with different systems for forest certification and green building standards to these systems'' financial and market impact on hardwood lumber industry participants. Responses show that industry participants are more familiar with forest certification systems than with green building standards. Among forest certification systems, the Sustainable Forest Initiative (SFI) is the most recognized, followed by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Almost 30 percent of respondents reported holding some type of chain of custody (COC) certification and 26 percent stated that obtaining certification was in their plans. Out of the respondents who participated in COC certification at the time of the study, only 25 percent reported having benefited financially from it. Awareness with green building standards among respondents is low in general, but the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and the National Green Building Standard were the most recognized. When asked what the industry should do to obtain the maximum benefits from the environmental movement, most respondents, 36 percent, suggested that the industry should do more to educate the public on the environmentally-friendly nature of hardwood products. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The purpose of this paper is to identify potential human health concerns that may arise from the increasing popularity of zero net energy homes (ZNEH) a form of high-performance green building in the US. Since high levels of energy consumption are not sustainable, ZNEH has the potential to reduce the environmental impact without penalty to occupants by providing a healthy home environment at low energy inputs. The premise of this article is that ZNEHs can indeed maintain high levels of health while reducing energy consumption. However, the potential for health impacts must be investigated. In this brief essay, main health questions that might arise in relationship to ZNEHs are reviewed. In addition, potential areas for additional research on zero net energy homes and their effects on human health are identified. This topic remains in its infancy and is a viable area of research that will benefit greatly from additional research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventions theory was developed in part to explain how heterogeneous actors with asymmetrical information manage to carry out economic transactions. In particular, how do these actors work together to reduce uncertainty about the quality of the commodities involved? While most applications of conventions theory have been in the agro-food industry, this paper looks at the newly developing green building industry as an example of economic production that relies on multiple constructions of quality in its production and consumption processes. Previous work has shown that conflicts over quality often arise when the parties involved are operating under different conventions, a danger with the multiple actors that must cooperate to produce (and consume) a green building. Furthermore, in the case of green buildings, uncertainty about a product's performance does not end at the point of transaction; the quality of many of the materials or processes involved can only be proven over time. I argue that the producers of green buildings and green building materials have overcome the problems of a) uncertainty over time and b) conflicts over the meaning of quality by drawing on all four conventions simultaneously. Furthermore, this simultaneous incorporation of trust, third-party standards, price, and the common good, as enacted through the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), is one of the main reasons for the phenomenal growth of the green building industry among public, private, and non-profit clients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perhaps, the single biggest issue facing the design professions in the United States, and interior design in particular, is consumption. According to Phil Harrison, President and CEO of Perkins + Will (2010), architects today can easily handle the challenges of sustainable materials, water, and site using known technologies. The major challenge to sustainability is to produce a zero energy use, carbon-neutral solutions. Harrison argues there is no excuse for architects and designers in the twenty-first century not to use the easily available innovative water strategies, nontoxic, renewable, and recyclable materials and apply common knowledge about how to best site a building to maximize natural daylighting, prevailing winds, and sun cycles for thermal heating and natural cooling. This paper addresses how the approach of the Architects' Small House Service Bureau (ASHSB) to single-family houses during the early twentieth century offers a significant model for addressing some of the challenges of net zero carbon housing solutions and sustainable houses in the United States. The ASHSB incorporated in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1919 in response to the need for affordable small houses that were also designed well. The principles upon which the ASHSB defined design excellence inform today's need for sustainable and smaller single-family house design. Members of the ASHSB dedicated themselves to the production of small house designs that maximized materials, minimized waste, and capitalized on synergies with manufacturers and builders. The members believed in social equity, economy, and ecology-the three-part approach informing twenty-first century sustainable design, including residential design efforts. Thus, the organization and its members' designs provide a template for how to approach this daunting issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses green building regulatory structures in the U.S. as of march 2012, focusing on the antitrust impact of third-party green building certification systems for state and local governments in the U.S. The health and safety considerations associated with zoning practice in America are addressed, along with an examination of third-party green building programs such as the Green Building Institute's Green Globes rating system.

The practice of green building aims to reduce negative impacts on the environment and human health and is therefore more sustainable than conventional construction methods. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is the leading green building standard in the United States and has been adopted by many federal, state and local governments, as well as private developers. This article utilizes data from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the industry non-profit that governs the LEED standards, to explore the spatial diffusion of LEED projects in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problem: Critics have problematized infrastructure for its inability to keep pace with the rising social and ecological impacts of urbanization. Researchers identify urban green infrastructure (GI), including urban forests, as an important strategy for providing public goods and increasing resiliency while reducing ecological footprints and social inequity in metropolitan areas; however, realizing these benefits through planning is still uncertain ground, as most contemporary urban GI endeavors in the United States are small, individual projects rather than integrated, community-wide efforts. This underinvestment has left planners with little experience in developing GI at a metropolitan scale. Purpose: We address this deficit in infrastructure planning by studying planning's role in advancing large-scale, urban tree-planting initiatives (TPI) in eight major U.S. cities and one metropolitan county. In this study, we explore stakeholder perspectives on successes and setbacks in TPI planting, stewardship, business, and outreach plans. From these perspectives, we identify possible best practices that can better inform future efforts to plan GI on a metropolitan scale. Methods: From a review of the literature, we identified ideal planning elements researchers and practitioners considered fundamental to well-planned, urban forestry-based GI programs. We interviewed key stakeholders (n = 86) in eight major cities and one metropolitan county (New York, Los Angeles, Houston, Baltimore, Seattle, Denver, Albuquerque, Sacramento, and Salt Lake County), using multiple-choice and open-ended questions to explore their perceptions of TPI successes, failures, and opportunities for improvement. We used this data to compare TPI planning and implementation with ideal urban forestry and GI planning elements, to identify TPI best practices, and to locate TPI program elements such as business and stewardship planning in relation to traditional infrastructure. We discuss these findings in light of opportunities to bring GI into the mainstream of metropolitan infrastructure planning. Results and conclusions: We found that cities employed a spectrum of planning strategies to advance TPI, ranging from highly institutionalized, data-driven initiatives to decentralized, grassroots efforts. Participants viewed TPI as bringing GI to the mainstream; however, uncertainties in funding and long-term stewardship belie this perspective. Lacking access to traditional infrastructure financing, several TPI used creative development and contracting strategies to maintain program funding and momentum, while others stagnated. Additionally, programs lost momentum when mayors who launched TPI were not reelected. Successful underfunded initiatives focused on community-level engagement. However, institutionalized, diverse funding structures and robust, agency-level commitment to maintaining and expanding urban forests were considered most effective in advancing urban forestry-based GI. Overall geographic distribution of TPI, and the relatively sophisticated financial and institutional approaches achieved by New York and Seattle, provide insight into possible national strategies to advance metropolitan-scale GI. Similarly, Los Angeles's and Baltimore's use of focused corporate sponsorship and community engagement to advance underfunded programs could inform international GI efforts. Takeaway for practice: Through large-scale TPI, planners are beginning to engage in planning metropolitan-scale GI as a conscious strategy to address urban ecological issues and deliver public goods. Initiatives benefit from being launched early in an administration's term. Further, detailed, data-driven planting plans, combined with diversified funding sources and the institutionalization of tree-acquisition in the capital budget, can enable TPI to establish a) long-term contracts, b) control over supply chains, and c) stability in recessionary times. Contracting with grassroots and advocacy organizations to perform education and fieldwork can provide means for underfunded programs to maintain momentum toward meeting TPI goals; however, accessing traditional infrastructure financing mechanisms and institutionalizing stewardship plans are fundamental to long-term expansion and maintenance of investments in metropolitan GI. Research support: None. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses the Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) rating system for green buildings as established by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). It is mentioned that through LEED, the USGBC has delegated its powers for formulating rules and guidelines for green buildings across the U.S., however, the standards will be in accordance of the directions of USGBC and the U.S. Congress. Information on the effects of the privatization of green building system is also presented.

One expression of the spread of auditing and bureaucratic accountability in global society is the emergence of certifications of virtue, typically after completion of a review process designed to ensure objectivity. In this article, I analyze regulatory interactions in a U.S. construction project, including the procedure for formally certifying buildings as energy efficient and 'sustainable,' to bring into focus the sometimes-paradoxical effects that highly rationalized regulations have on those obliged to comply with them. The case illustrates how virtue is reduced to a checklist of measurable properties whose integrity is maintained through rituals of verification and rigorous risk management. The issues involved lead me to reflect on anthropologists' inclination to demonize bureaucratic regulation in their ethnographic accounts even as they insist on formal accountability in their own communities and professional networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on the impact of several significant technological advancements on the sector of urban planning and development in the U.S. They include the impact of elevator and steel technologies on urban architecture and density, and the impact of automobile and public transportation on everyday life. Other innovations discussed include green building, geographic information systems (GIS), and Landsat and satellite map data.

The article highlights the shift in planning and developing green construction projects. Among the areas considered in the design and construction of sustainable homes or buildings are site and layout, roof overhangs, subsystems such as foundation, framing, electrical system and ventilation. Also included are the doors and windows as well as insulation. Guidelines for homes that are Energy Star rated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are effective insulation systems, high-performance windows, tight construction and ducts, efficient heating and cooling equipment, and use of qualified lighting and appliances. Benefits of green building include reduced utility costs and carbon emissions, less water consumption, and energy efficiency.

The diffusion literature is replete with examples of highly salient policies spreading across subnational governments. However, low-salience policies that do not benefit from a groundswell of public opinion also spread across jurisdictions in patterns that appear similar to those of other, more well-known policy ideas. This research is an investigation of the mechanisms that propagate low-salience policies. I analyze the adoption of the U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC) Leadership in Energy Efficient Design standard across 119 U.S. cities from 2000 to 2008. The investigation indicates that a knowledge broker, in this case the USGBC, occupies critical roles in linking a low-salience policy to a broader set of widely held societal values, developing a common policy vocabulary, providing a base policy that jurisdictions may freely adapt, and creating a diffusion infrastructure by acting as a communication hub for existing and interested jurisdictions to discuss innovations and progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building codes are both an index of social values and a strategy to enforce those values. On these grounds an examination is made of the emergence of green building codes in North America as a category of building codes that is particularly important for sustainable development. The classical definition of sustainability proposes that multiple, competing frames of interpretation—economic development, environmental protection and social equity—can, in theory, be balanced. It is found, however, that in practice equity is generally ignored. Through historical and theoretical investigation, it is hypothesised that codes which are successful in incorporating equity as a criterion emerge from public talk and social learning, not abstract speculation. The paper concludes by articulating a change-oriented research design for an ongoing project to test this hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problem: The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) rating system is gaining popularity and may become ingrained in municipal regulations as an approach to promote sustainability. What are the strengths and the limitations of the rating system? How might the planning and design of LEED-ND projects contribute to sustainable development and what are the implications for public policy? Purpose: This article examines the extent to which certain planning and design criteria are incorporated in LEED-ND pilot projects. Are there common trends in the planning and design of these projects? What are the policy implications for encouraging sustainable neighborhoods? The article also evaluates the effectiveness with which the rating system contributes to the sustainability of neighborhood-scale projects. Methods: I surveyed LEED-ND registered pilot projects in the United States to examine the extent to which the projects satisfy rating system criteria and used the results of the survey to evaluate the rating system. I also asked developers, designers, and LEED consultants to provide their insights, based on their experience with the certification process of pilot projects. Additionally, I compared projects that expect to achieve LEED-ND gold or higher certification with those that expect to achieve less than LEED-ND gold certification to determine their differences. Results and conclusions: The article shows how the rating system works and reveals which criteria are used most and least in pilot projects. The results also show that projects aiming to achieve LEED-ND gold or platinum certification are more likely to incorporate green construction and technology criteria that improve the efficiency of their use of energy and water, as compared to projects that are trying to be LEED-ND or LEED-ND silver certified. The article concludes with a discussion of the rating system's strengths and limitations and the policy implications of using it. Takeaway for practice: Planners should develop appropriate local approaches for encouraging and promoting sustainable neighborhood development projects, and should consider local conditions as well as the strengths and the limitations of the LEED-ND rating system before making LEED-ND certification required for neighborhood-scale developments in their jurisdictions. LEED-ND certification alone cannot guarantee sustainable neighborhood development. Research support: This research was supported by a research and travel grant from the University of California, Irvine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to identify whether the indoor environmental quality design criteria: office layout, office furnishing, thermal comfort, indoor air quality, lighting, acoustics, and cleanliness and maintenance in relation to the overall workspace for LEED®-acreditation, could significantly affect occupants' perception of their overall workspace satisfaction and their work performances. Occupants' self-assessed satisfaction and performances were measured and these were correlated with occupants' satisfaction and performances in their overall workspaces in 15 LEED-certified buildings in the US. The findings showed office furnishing quality has a significant impact on occupants' satisfaction and performances; and indoor air quality affected only the occupants' performances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green building, which was formalized only fifteen years ago to promote healthier and more efficient building practices, has exceeded virtually all predictions of its potential. Green building has entered markets in almost every major city in the United States, while developing as a sophisticated basis for investment, human health, and conservation. Stated otherwise, green building is no longer a fringe environmental policy and, as argued in this Article, is even shedding its markings as a political ideology. This Article examines two parallel but distinct consequences of the green building movement. First, by considering the major challenges to green building, this Article examines the conditions for success of the movement-how green building has become acceptable to consumers, the construction industry, and building regulators. Second, this Article explores the relationship between the goals and methods of green building laws and argues that green building compels a transformative, constructivist effect on humans 'place and position in nature. This Article ultimately argues that green building is special because of its pluralistic approach to regulation, ethics, and even to nature itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The expansion and advancement of businesses, cities, municipalities, and populations in Canada are increasingly demanding the effective usage of land and resources in building development. Companies, organizations, and individuals are seeking to construct more environmentally responsible buildings to help minimize the negative effects that structures place on the natural environment, as well as on the people that have either direct or indirect contact with them. In an effort to set a benchmark for what constitutes a green building, the Canada Green Building Council provides a certification system called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), which is a point scheme that seeks to measure sustainability. Many stakeholders in the construction industry in Canada are increasingly employing this system to validate their achievement in sustainable development. This paper reviews the usage of the LEED system in Canadian building construction and the potential challenges and barriers associated with LEED implementation that specifically pertain to Canadian circumstances. Information from 42 new construction projects across Canada that achieved LEED certification were collected and analyzed. The points most often awarded, as well as those that are granted the least frequently, were tabulated. The percentages of points obtained were compared to American projects. Credit frequency indicators (CFIs), which were used to depict the achievement of credits by each project, can provide decision makers with information on credits awarded in the past and insight into credit implementation in future projects with similar goals. The energy and atmosphere and materials and resources categories proved to have the lowest CFIs, whereas the innovation and design process and water efficiency categories yielded the highest CFIs. The study also found that there were differences in the points obtained by LEED projects in Canada and the United States as some credits are influenced by climate, such as weather and temperature, as well as regional location. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is a brief introduction to the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification process. This certification is granted by USGBC (United Stated Green Building Council), to acknowledge leadership in energetic and environmental design. When is the green certification -or LEED- is granted to a building, it means that it is built and operated by using sustainable methods and renewable materials. The importance of sustainable construction is then remarked, because it is basic, regarding the diverse requirements and purposes of LEED in every area intended to be certified. It can be concluded that a BAS (Building Automation System) is the best tool to obtain the LEED certification and this also means that a green building is an intelligent building. Not only is all this important for a sane environment, but also to have more economic costs for the construction and the maintenance of buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective use of daylighting is an essential component to achieve a sustainable building design. In a tall building, the amount of useable space with a potential for the use of daylight is the space between the exterior wall and the core. This is commonly referred to as the 'lease span'. Class A office buildings in the USA have typically utilized lease spans of around 45 ft (13.7 m), primarily due to efficiency of space usage. In Europe, however, lease spans in high-rise office buildings have typically been shortened due to concerns of natural light penetrations and views. For instance, in Germany, the amount of leasable space per floor is less than in the USA. The maximum allowable depth of space in Germany is typically about 18 ft (5-5 m), whereas; in the USA, as much as 50 ft (15 m) is no rarity. The lease span also has an impact on other items, such as the aspect ratio, floor-to-floor height, total height and total floor area. In this study, to assess and predict daylight performance, two different requirements were analysed: daylight factor (DF) and the daylight requirement of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) 2.2 green-building rating system. The recommended average DF (DFave) ranges from 2 to 5% and LEED 2.2 requires that a minimum daylight illumination of 25 footcandles be achieved in at least 75% of all regularly occupied areas. This study conducted a series of computer simulations using RADIANCE to first show the effects of each of the fenestration parameters and then to provide an optimum effective aperture to meet the two daylight requirements in four lease span types ranging from 20 to 50 ft. As a final step, regression models and simple evaluation tools were developed to correlate the DF, daylight requirement in LEED 2.2 and the various fenestration parameters, such as window area, visible transmittance and lease span in four different cities (London, Chicago, Dubai and Bangkok). This paper provides a simplified method for evaluating indoor daylight performance to meet the two daylight requirements. This can be used as a pre-design tool, not only to achieve more credits in LEED 2.2 green-building rating systems but also to evaluate based on DFave to ensure that the building meets the recommended level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Buildings are one of the largest consumers of resources and energy in this country, and according to the AIA (American Institute of Architects) are responsible for almost half of all carbon emissions in the United States. Since Americans spend nearly 90 percent of their lives indoors, buildings are clearly important to our way of life. The most common misconception about green building is that these approaches cost more to implement than traditional strategies and techniques of design and construction. Any decision made in the early stages of programming and design will have economic impacts on the overall building cost. How many floors will our building have? Will we use marble in the lobby? Can we use fancy fixtures in the bathrooms? But according to a Davis Langdon study, there was “...no significant difference in the construction costs for LEED®-seeking versus non-LEED® buildings...” In addition to this widely referenced report, other independent studies by the State of California and the GSA indicate that cost premiums are minimal. More importantly, first cost is only a small part of the total cost of building ownership. Cost-of-ownership studies agree that first cost only accounts for around 10 percent of all costs a building owner will spend over the life of the building. The other 90 percent comes in the form of operation and maintenance—two areas in which designing for LEED® certification can save enormously. Any additional costs for building green are recouped in one to two years on average, with exponential cost savings thereafter that leave traditional construction far behind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problem: Building assessment systems allow planners to examine whether buildings and developments meet sustainability goals, but no framework exists to help planners choose among them. Purpose: This study develops a framework for planners to use in considering which building assessment system would be most appropriate for their purposes and analyzes nine such systems. Methods: I conducted a content analysis of the system documentation for nine building assessment systems used in the United States and interviewed administrators of the systems. Results and conclusions: Although many building assessment systems appear at first to be quite similar, they have substantial differences, and could produce significantly different results when used to implement green building programs. Among the important differences are the scales at which they consider various issues, whether or not they emphasize communication, and how they prioritize and weight concerns. I also found that most national building assessment systems lack a mechanism for adapting them to local concerns and conditions. Takeaway for practice: While building assessment systems offer new tools to help communities meet sustainability goals, planners should consider the details of each system carefully before deciding on which to use in their communities. It would be very desirable for building assessment systems to become adaptable, so they will be more locally relevant and appropriate. Research support: None. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hotel developers and managers may be wary of the current emphasis on "green" hotel development, because such trends have come and gone in the past. This time, however, consumers will almost certainly continue to demand that hotels join other commercial real estate operators in constructing and operating their buildings in accordance with standards established by the U.S. Green Building Council. The so-called LEED standards (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) are the basis of certification for qualifying buildings. Governments are beginning to mandate reduced energy use and emissions. Whereas building a green hotel used to cost a premium, current studies show that the cost of building to LEED standards is not greater than conventional approaches, while those buildings are healthier for occupants and less expensive to operate. Although retrofitting buildings does save energy, a better approach is to construct green hotels. Current incentives for energy-saving construction and operation may diminish, and early adopters will have the best chance at those incentives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers news briefs related to hotel industry in the U.S. The trends on green standards in building hotels seem to have coalesced to the point that hoteliers should consider green principles in both operations and construction. A study of the travel preferences of visitors to the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area shows the importance of segmenting guests. In Costa Rica, consumer data on traveler's attitudes and activities is proven useful for strategic positioning of destination.

The article features the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority (NRHA) in Virginia which value environmental considerations through their sustainable green building campaign. In Norfolk with a diverse portfolio of real estate assets, NRHA's green building is taking shape with single-family and multi-family as well as the early planning stages for new headquarters building to accommodate staff and operations. It notes that NRHA uses its Builders and Designers Guild consisting of over 40 builders, architects, and qualified designers to educate and network about green development practices. It says that NRHA is very instrumental in implementing energy alternatives that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has allowed.

The article focuses on defining what makes a building green and the approach lawmakers take to incentivize or outright require the type of construction in the U.S. According to the article, the steps taken by governments in the country show that the green building movement is not anymore a fringe concept adopted by environmentalists only. However, it has been adopted by every level of government as the entities look to addres the effects of a trillion-dollar construction industry that has given little reason to deal environmental concerns. Moreover, it is stated that the statutes, regulations, and ordinances discussed in the article, confirm that every major construction or renovation project is expected to have a green component to it.

The article discusses considerations involved in making residential and commercial buildings in the U.S. more energy-efficient and less productive of greenhouse gases. The author examines strategies for both the construction and maintenance of buildings. Barriers to more energy-efficient initiatives are also discussed.

Traditional construction practices provide little opportunity for environmental remediation to occur in urban areas. As concerns for environmental improvement in urban areas become more prevalent, innovative practices which create ecosystem services and ecologically functional land cover in cities will be in higher demand. Green roofs are a prime example of one of these practices. The past decade has seen the North American green roof industry rapidly expand through international green roof conferences, demonstration sites, case studies, and scientific research. This study evaluates existing international and North American green roof policies at the federal, municipal, and community levels. Green roof policies fall into a number of general categories, including direct and indirect regulation, direct and indirect financial incentives, and funding of demonstration or research projects. Advantages and disadvantages of each category are discussed. Salient features and a list of prompting standards common to successfully implemented green roof strategies are then distilled from these existing policies. By combining these features with data collected from an experimental green roof site in Athens, Georgia, the planning and regulatory framework for widespread green roof infrastructure can be developed. The authors propose policy instruments be multi-faceted and spatially focused, and also propose the following recommendations: (1) Identification of green roof overlay zones with specifications for green roofs built in these zones. This spatial analysis is important for prioritizing areas of the jurisdiction where green roofs will most efficiently function; (2) Offer financial incentives in the form of density credits and stormwater utility fee credits to help overcome the barriers to entry of the new technology; (3) Construct demonstration projects and institutionalize a commitment greening roofs on publicly-owned buildings as an effective way of establishing an educated roofing industry and experienced installers for future green roof construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses how to make environmentally-friendly green homes more affordable and energy efficient. According to the author, in November 2007, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC’s) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) system set the standards for comprehensive U.S. guidelines for residential green design. They recommend south facing orientations in colder climates, Passive solar technologies, high-efficiency fixtures and appliances, sufficient insulation, and sustainable building materials as the most cost effective strategies. Builders in the U.S and Great Britain are striving for net-zero energy consumption homes in the next decade.