New York state of mind to increase building energy efficiency by 20percent

Build NY

In one of the most ambitious green initiatives in the United States, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has issued an Executive Order directing state agencies to increase energy efficiency in state buildings by 20 percent in seven years. He also announced Build Smart NY, a plan to  strategically implement the Executive Order by accelerating priority improvements in energy performance. The largest and most inefficient buildings will be addressed first and undergo comprehensive whole-building improvements, including new lighting fixtures and controls, heating, ventilating and air-conditioning systems and automated energy management systems. More →

Better Buildings challenge for sustainable innovation

BPP

A competition to find green solutions that help to improve the performance of commercial buildings has been launched by the Institute for Sustainability, in partnership with the Climate Knowledge and Innovation Community (Climate-KIC) and the Better Buildings Partnership (BBP) – a collaboration of leading London commercial property owners and investors. Because energy efficiency improvement works have focused primarily on mechanical and electrical control upgrades and plant replacement, the competition focuses on innovations which could help improve the environmental performance of the building envelope. More →

Guide argues positive green message for sustainable gains

sustainia-world

Fear, despair and resignation do not motivate people to change their practices; they should instead be inspired by the positive messages of sustainable living. In Guide to Sustainia international sustainability initiative Sustainia argues innovation has made such impressive leaps over the last decade it’s now possible to break with the perception of a sustainable society as one of limitations. With cities and developers already assembling the nuts, bolts and designs of a more sustainable future, the guide presents a compilation of real initiatives and technologies from around the world, in a blueprint for a sustainable future. More →

Global 100 green companies announced during Davos

Global 100The top-ranked company in the Global 100 list of the world’s most sustainable corporations is Umicore, a Belgium-based materials technology and recycling company. The rest of the top five announced recently at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, were Natura Cosmeticos, Statoil, Neste Oil and Novo Nordisk. Hailed recently as the world’s most credible corporate sustainability ranking, the Global 100 is compiled by Toronto-based media and investment research company Corporate Knights, and consists of the 100 top-performing stocks worldwide on a range of sector-specific ‘sustainability’ metrics.

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Sodexo Workplace Trends report covers familiar ground

sodexo workplace trends editThe latest annual Workplace Trends Report from workplace services provider Sodexo claims to reveal the crucial role the built environment has in organisational performance. The report emphasises the growing strategic role of facilities management and the importance of sustainability as an element of corporate culture as well as a trend toward designing offices to attract and retain top talent by emphasising productivity and quality of life. The report also identifies the importance of social media in attracting prospective employees instead of traditional e-mail campaigns and other media.

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Economic boost for UK builders with Green Deal launch

energy efficiency
The Green Deal launches today to help improve the energy efficiency of the UK’s built environment by enabling householders and businesses to secure the up-front capital to make energy efficiency improvements to their buildings. Refurbishing existing buildings to new standards and turning them into good green assets has recently been identified as one of the best bets for the property sector in the year ahead and today UK-Green Building Council’s Paul King said the launch of the energy efficiency scheme could help create jobs and stimulate economic activity.

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Deadline to nominate Northern Ireland building design prowess

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Today (25 January) is the deadline to nominate Northern Ireland’s most remarkable developments in land, property and construction. The RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) Northern Ireland Awards will present accolades for Community Benefit, Building Conservation, Regeneration, and Design and Innovation at an awards ceremony in Riddel Hall, Queen’s University Belfast on 10 May. The scheme is open to anyone working within the property profession, and will celebrate the talents of surveyors, developers, engineers, planners, architects and others.

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Global Gen Y survey highlights national differences

Gen Y NotNever has a generation of humans been so much talked about as Generation Y. As this millennial army marches into the world’s workplaces and takes the reins of power (or at least control) for the first time, there has been a lot of agonising about how to manage a whole generation of people who are the first to have been nurtured in a digital world. Now a new report from Deloitte into the attitudes of millennials from around the world has confirmed that this is a complex generation of individuals with many universal ideals but with regional characteristics too.  More →

Green retro fitting a ‘best bet’ for 2013

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Refurbishing existing buildings to new standards and turning them into good green assets has been identified as one of the best bets for the property sector in the year ahead, according to new research from the Urban Land Institute and PwC. The survey of industry leaders across Europe found the move to ‘reactivate assets’ – refurbish good properties with green credentials – is taking hold. Sustainable properties are increasingly commanding higher rents and values, as governments move to force companies to increase building’s energy efficiency and reduce their environmental footprint.

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Consensus in property industry for green agenda

UKBC

The UK Green Building Council, backed by a wide range of trade and professional organisations across the construction and property sector, has sent an open letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne demanding a suite of policy changes to make the most of the green growth opportunity. The level of collaboration and consensus from within the industry is unprecedented, and includes, among others, support from the British Property Federation, Construction Products Association, British Council for Offices and Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors.

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Greenest commercial building in the world opens for business

The Bullitt Center, proclaimed as the greenest, most energy efficient commercial building in the world, is opening in Seattle. The goal of the Bullitt Center is to change the way buildings are designed, built and operated to improve long-term environmental performance and promote broader implementation of energy efficiency, renewable energy and other green building technologies. Tenant are now moving into the six-storey, 50,000 square-foot building located at the intersection of Capitol Hill and the Central District in Seattle, Washington. More →

JLL’s CEO new Chairman of the UK Green Building Council

Jones Lang LaSalle’s Andrew Gould has succeeded Dan Labbad, Group CEO of Lend Lease, as Chairman of the UK Green Building Council. He takes up the position at a time when business leaders are increasingly focused on the need to show leadership on climate change and recognise the opportunities for green growth in the UK. The UK Green Building Council is an industry-led campaign group, part of a global network of Councils that are active in over 90 countries worldwide. More →