Greener Buildings

Projects to green and repurpose the 84-year-old Florsheim Shoe Company Building, create a striking infill in the heart of a historic district and add eco-friendly elements to two other stately structures have received the Chicago Landmark Award for Preservation Excellence.

The four buildings are among 22 that were honored yesterday at an awards ceremony conducted by the city Department of Planning and Development and its Commission on Chicago Landmarks to recognize outstanding preservation, renovation or rehabilitation of the city's architectural treasures and historic districts.

Energy efficiency and other green issues have moved to last place among the concerns of U.K. firms seeking rental office space in Central London amid challenging economic times, according to a study commissioned by property consultancy heavy-hitter Knight Frank.

The top three concerns are rental costs, retention of key staff and lease flexibility, according to findings of the Knight Frank survey of 100 directors who are responsible for real estate at some of the larger companies in London's City, Docklands and West End markets.

Real estate management software developer TRIRIGA is going to market with a system that enables firms to measure, manage and reduce the carbon footprint of buildings in their portfolio, the company said.

The Las Vegas company today is announcing the availability of the TRIRIGA Real Estate Environmental Sustainability system. The software system, which the company calls TREES and describes as the first of its kind, was developed with input from key clients, many of them Fortune 100 firms.

Greener World Media, the publishers of GreenBiz.com®, GreenerBuildings.com and other websites focused on news and resources about the greening of mainstream business, announced today that Rob Watson has joined its editorial staff as executive editor of GreenerBuildings.com

Joined by civic leaders, PECO is set to unveil its plans today for a 45,000-square-foot living roof atop a section of the headquarters for the Philadelphia-based electric and natural gas utility.

The planting of the green roof is an element of the utility's five-year, $15.3 million initiative to become more environmentally friendly. When it is complete, the living roof will be the largest on an existing building in urban Pennsylvania. It will be the first green roof on a company property, a spokesman said, but not the first to involve the utility.

Almost 1,000 school buildings have met or are seeking LEED certification, bringing more than 8 million square feet of campus space under LEED certification and another 90 million square feet into the LEED pipeline as projects registered with the U.S. Green Building Council, the council said.

According to the figures released by the council yesterday, there is at least one application for certification under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design green building standards from schools every day.

Cemtrex Inc. has produced a carbon dioxide-based demand controlled (DCV) ventilation system that is designed to provide energy efficiency in commercial buildings by monitoring changes in occupancy levels and controlling HVAC systems accordingly.

The firm, known for its array of emissions monitoring and air quality management instruments, launched its Green-DCV (Demand Controlled Ventilation) system this month.

The company said the Green-DCV can save as much as 40 percent in HVAC costs in commercial buildings annually.

Boston Architectural College has added new classes and expanded course offerings in its Online Sustainable Design Certificate Program in response to increasing demands for green building education.

Industry and market demands for environmentally friendly, energy efficient structures — and for professionals capable of planning and providing them — are fueling growth in education programs around the country.

Travelodge has opened a 120-room hotel that was built with modified shipping containers in the first hotel construction project of its kind in Europe.

The hotel in Uxbridge, London, which opened on August 15, was crafted from 86 steel containers in a modular construction project developed by Verbus Systems.

The California Academy of Sciences is poised to publicly unveil its award-winning new facility next month — a move that its leaders hope will literally and figuratively open the doors to new green quarters.

Occupying all but an acre of the academy's former footprint in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, the $488 million project to reconstruct and reinvent the facility has produced a showcase of green architecture and exhibits that strive to reflect a "sustainability message"  in every facet, the academy's leadership team says.