Wednesday, June 4th, 2008
The world famous ferris wheel at the Santa Monica Pier got an upgrade last week. The new wheel, which cost $1.5 million, contains 160,000 energy efficient LED lights and will draw energy from solar panels installed on the pier from the previous wheel. The new ferris wheel joins the Santa Monica Civic Center parking garage as the latest local iconic structure to have an environmentally friendly design.
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Posted in Energy, Green Design, Of Interest | No Comments »
Thursday, May 8th, 2008
NPR had an interesting radio piece on a massive new development in Las Vegas called City Center that is aiming to achieve a LEED Silver rating. The piece looked at some of the purposes behind the LEED rating system (basically to standardize the environmental credentials of developments), as well as some criticisms (e.g., that since LEED ratings are based on a point system, a development that installs bike racks could receive the same credit as a development that installs a costly but efficient heating system). The radio piece runs for about five minutes and is pretty interesting, especially for anyone who has read our previous posts about LEED.
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Tuesday, February 19th, 2008
Two Los Angeles City Council committees adopted proposed regulations directing all new commercial and residential developments of over 50,000 square feet to meet LEED silver standards. It is anticipated that the full City Council will formally adopt these regulations within the month.
Key requirements for LEED silver, which must be followed 6 months after the law goes into effect, include:
- Use of recycled materials
- Efficient use of rain runoff
- Low emission paints
- Solar panels
- Efficient use of natural light
- Low flow toilets
According to the LA Times article, buildings in America “account for 71% of electricity consumption, 12% of potable water used and 40% of the greenhouse gas emissions” and that the average green building saves “36% in energy, 40% in water, and cuts greenhouse gas emissions by 40% and solid waste by 70%.”
(more…)
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Posted in Energy, General, Green Design, Los Angeles | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, February 12th, 2008
The first conventionally constructed LEED Platinum Rated home in California was recently completed. Some highlights of the house located in Los Angeles’ eccentric Venice neighborhood include:
- no air pollution emitted
- solar panels intended to fully power the home
- recycled building materials used such as reused insulation, concrete, counter tops and lumber
- rain water is captured in order to irrigate the landscaping (a point of recent interest to us)
(more…)
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Posted in Energy, General, Lifestyle, Los Angeles | No Comments »
