“Reclaimed wood siding, recycled sunflower seed countertops and bamboo flooring are materials you might expect to find in homes that did green construction in Seattle or San Francisco.

Green Roofs in the Twin Cities

Green roofs are hot. Or cool, actually. The main green-roof go-to guy in the Twin Cities is landscape architect L. Peter MacDonagh. For he’s of Kestrel Design Group. So Kestrel’s roof design for the Green Institute in south Minneapolis won a 2006 award. That’s from the international Green Roofs for Healthy Cities organization.

In fact, Carleton and Macalester competed and collaborated on installing green roofs. All as part of an initiative to green the rooftops of the entire campuses/cities. The UofM – Twin Cities has done huge work on efficiency and green building. All the while their professors, like Dave Tilman, have been focusing on solving the ethanol conundrum. I mean and fuel cell miniaturization.

The Minnesota Green Roofs Council promotes green rooftop technology as a sustainable building and green construction strategy in Minnesota. They work to educate developers and architects. Also landscape architects and engineers on green construction. Finally roofers, building owners and policy makers. Moreover let’s not forget the others who care about green rooftops as a cost-effective strategy. Especially to improve building performance, reduce environmental impacts and improve urban livability.

Their steering committee meets monthly and hosts workshops, social events, tours of local green rooftops. They develop resources like our RoofBloom guide and our Minnesota Green Roofs Directory.

This came from RHIANNON HOYLE, REAL ESTATE EDITOR on March 06, 2007 01:15am.

THE city centre of Adelaide is abuzz with new residents.

Especially as more companies continue to move their operations into the recently completed $143 million City Central Tower 1. That’s located on Waymouth St.

Tenants, which include ANZ, the State Government, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Lincoln Scott and the Australian Bureau of Statistics, began moving in last month.

Caversham investment, sales and leasing manager Ben Yates said all lessees would be in the 21-story building. That’s the biggest 5-Star Green Star certified project in Australia. All by the end of this month.

Work on the retail areas of the complex are also expected by the end of the month.

“A range of businesses will be moving in, including Cafe Illy, Daily Bread and Sushi Train,” he said.

Incentive Parking Green Cars

The in the Houston Chronicle they wrote:

Free employee parking isn’t that unusual a perk for white-collar workers. Yet green construction says yes to BP’s Alternative Energy employees commuting to downtown Houston. So that’s a benefit which comes with a catch.

The company pays for parking based on how much greenhouse gas an employee’s vehicle emits. Thereby paying the full cost for drivers of vehicles like the Honda Civic Hybrid.

BP calculated these fees using its estimates of the number of tons of greenhouse gas cars put out annually. That’s based on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data on fuel efficiency. This came from Bob Lukefahr. For he’s the president of BP Alternative Energy North America.

Lower-mileage cars prone to emit more carbon dioxide, like a Ford Fusion or a Mazda MX5, earn only a $25 credit for drivers.

Drivers of Chevrolet Impalas that run on Flexfuel E85 or Mercedes Benz E320 Diesels, which BP estimate emit between 6 and 7 tons of greenhouse gases a year, are also reimbursed up to $25.

Drivers of cars such as the Volkswagen Golf Diesel, Pontiac Vibe or Ford Escape Hybrid FWD, which emit 6 tons or less of greenhouse gases a year, get $50 in parking credits.

The Toyota Camry Hybrid, with an estimated 5 tons of emissions, can earn a driver a $75 credit.

TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, March 5, 2007

At the end of a gravel driveway off Union Avenue in Ross, inside his office in a converted three-story farmhouse, the man many in Western Pennsylvania consider a trailblazer in green design sat talking enthusiastically about his latest creation.

Developer Ernie Sota says the custom townhouses he is building on the South Side Slopes under construction will contain energy recovery ventilator air systems that will reduce annual heating costs from $1,800 to $700.

As the article adds:

“Energy efficiency is not a hard sell,” said Sota, who as a teenager pumped gas and repaired cars at his father’s service station in Homestead. “Does anybody really think energy prices are going down?”