Las Vegas is well known for its bright lights and big city atmosphere. It’s commonly associated with extravagance and glitz—not energy efficiency or sustainable design. However, in recent years, the city has made some real strides in this direction, namely its focus on green design demonstrated by a growth in the number of LEED-certified buildings.

Why is a city known for its unique, lavish, and luxurious buildings incorporating sustainability into its design practices? This has largely been influenced by the creation of state and local tax incentives for new buildings and building conversions that make use of LEED certified standards. Eleven municipal governments have implemented policies that encourage better building practices by rewarding leadership in the field of energy-efficient design. In 2008, the city of Las Vegas created the Green Building Fund, dedicating 25% of any utility fee increase to support efforts to ensure all public buildings were built to LEED Silver standards. The Nevada state legislature passed a bill in 2005 that established the state’s first green building incentive program. Following this new legislation, the number of LEED projects in Nevada jumped from 14 in 2005 to 97 in 2007.

Additionally, Las Vegas has been struggling for years to meet the energy and water demands of its over 500,000 residents and the almost 40 million tourists who visit the city every year. The state of Nevada relies heavily on the already overtaxed Colorado River for its water supply. The river is now in serious condition and the elimination of this river system would be detrimental for the citizens, businesses, and all those who visit the city of Las Vegas.

Two of the major LEED projects in Las Vegas are the CityCenter and the Palazzo casinos. At approximately 18 million square feet, the 8.3 million dollar CityCenter has been named the largest LEED Certified project in history. Through the use of low-flow shower heads, faucets, and toilets, water efficiency efforts save an estimated 50 million gallons of water a year. This is the equivalent to the amount of water used by 380 Las Vegas homes annually. The Palazzo also contributes to water conservation with a computerized central irrigation system, water reclamation system, moisture sensors, and use of drip irrigation. Other features of the Palazzo hotel include lighting occupancy sensors, a solar pool heating system, and automatic air conditioning controls to reset temperature when guests are not present.

As a mega-center for tourist attractions, Las Vegas will likely always produce a heavy burden on its energy and water systems. This is just more of a reason why major businesses such as large office buildings, casinos, and hotels should get involved in a collective action to reduce their overall effect on the area’s most vital resources.

For more information about earning LEED accreditation, please visit the LEED Certification section on our website or call us at (800) 460-2575.

Upon arriving in San Jose, Costa Rica, I met Everblue’s newest LEED instructor, Elias Robles, who is both connected to the green building scene in Costa Rica and is a strong proponent for teaching LEED en Español. The course, which took place at the Universidad Autónoma de Centro América, featured 19 eager students looking to learn more about the subject matter. In addition to teaching the LEED Green Associate course, one of the most significant elements of the experience involved the inclusion of the RESET standard (Requisitos para Edificios Sostenibles en El Trópico), which focuses on sustainable, low-impact building standards for the tropics. This local green-building standard is still in development but, upon completion, will serve to complement the LEED standard, as RESET will feature area-specific green building standards not covered in LEED.

Overall, the first class was a great success with many notable students in attendance. Elias is a confident, informed instructor who is very passionate about the subject matter, which greatly helped students in the class to become passionate in tandem!

Outside of the classroom, I had the opportunity to take a walking tour of the downtown area, where Elias pointed out various important buildings. I got to learn more about RESET, which is being endorsed by the Colegio Federado de Ingenieros y de Arquitectos de Costa Rica, Costa Rica’s college of engineering and architecture. I was also able to take a really fascinating trip with Elias’ family to the volcano, Irazú (pictured below)! With low cloud cover and visibility, the views were blocked, but I had a great time exploring the local landscape and experiencing what Costa Rica has to offer!

I am very excited about the opportunities for green building education in Costa Rica, and I anticipate strong student success with both LEED and RESET. My time in Costa Rica was a pleasure, and I greatly anticipate the chance to attend more classes in the area in the future!

For more information about Everblue’s LEED courses en Español, please call us at (800) 460-2575!

The USGBC’s recently approved LEED v4 green rating system was voted through with significant support from its membership. The new system is not incredibly different from its predecessor, which has been in use since 2009. One of the main differences is that v4 has expanded LEED to rate different building types, industry centers, and renovation situations that had not been addressed previously. These new structures include data centers, large warehouses, and factories.

LEED is by no means a mandatory code for new buildings. However, there are certainly a growing number of new construction projects applying for certification. In fact, all new United States federal buildings must now be LEED certified. This mandate demonstrates the federal government’s commitment to combat climate change, which President Obama recently reiterated through his Climate Change Plan that he announced just a few weeks ago.

Although LEED certification is beneficial to the environment, the savings on energy costs also provide a strong economic incentive for architects and building planners to follow the guidelines. Many businesses have also found that the “LEED Certified” plaque in their lobby and on their website can be very helpful in marketing initiatives and PR campaigns. LEED reinforces a company’s reliability and quality perception due to the cutting edge design of the buildings while also placing comfort in customers’ minds that they are purchasing goods and services from a socially responsible business.

The changes in consumer preference combined with the financial incentives of energy savings have made potentially the biggest difference between LEED v4 and its predecessor. LEED’s expansion to new structures only enhances chances for continued success promoting sustainable development.

Interested in learning more about LEED v4? Enroll today in our LEED training to learn the most up-to-date information.

Everblue has teamed up with Humanscale to host LEED classes in 10 North American markets: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, New York, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco and Toronto. The partnership was designed to provide career development for Humanscale A&D representatives while at the same time offer the LEED Green Associate training to facilities managers, architects and designers.

During the two-day training, Humanscale representatives have demonstrated their product line with regard to the LEED Pilot Credit Comprehensive Ergonomic Strategy, giving the attendees a hands-on approach to an Innovation in Design that was championed by Humanscale for the USGBC’s LEED rating systems. It has not been unusual for attendees to leave the training with a goal of buying their very own Humanscale ergonomic chair. The Humanscale showrooms have offered the perfect setting of design, comfort and hospitality.

Jon Strassner, Director of A&D, Humanscale explained how the partnership came about:

“Humanscale was looking to get our sales people more involved in understanding LEED, so we decided to pursue LEED GA accreditation for a number of our people. We had a hard time finding a program to follow, and as a result, our pass ratio was quite low, and certainly not doing much to build our sales people’s confidence. After meeting with Joan Mahon, we decided to partner with Everblue to train our people and our clients. We couldn’t be happier with that decision, as Joan and her team are reliable, responsive and very professional. We’ve had a number of training sessions in our showrooms and we are ecstatic over the quality of client coming in to attend the training. High-end decision makers from major firms are sitting next to our people learning material for LEED GA! Not only are we receiving quality training, but we are meeting some very influential decision makers as well! We couldn’t be happier with our partnership with Everblue, and look forward to many more of their training sessions.”

From an attendee in Toronto, Everblue’s Greg Hamra received the following rave review:

Hello Greg,

I just wanted to express how much I enjoyed my two-day training session with you and such a great group of industry diverse classmates. Over my 20+ years of being in the Facilities Management Biz and taking a fair number of training courses/seminars during that time, I can honestly say that your method of training was outstanding. You kept everyone engaged, informed, and most important “awake”… I also want to thank our host at Humanscale, Tim, for allowing us to use your wonderful venue, not to mention the tasty breakfast treats and of course lunch. I just love your products especially your seating. I’m having withdrawal symptoms now that I’m back using my existing chair. It was a pleasure meeting you all and I hope we will bump into one another somewhere soon.

Below: A picture from the Toronto training with Humanscale, with host Tim Au-Yeung front row left and Everblue’s LEED Sr. Instructor Greg Hamra, center. Attendees tour the showroom to learn about the LEED Pilot Credit: Comprehensive Ergonomic Strategy and see the LEED Gold features of Humanscale Toronto.

Above: Attendees of the NYC training with Humanscale’s Sheril Kern, 2nd from left and Julia Barnes, center. Humanscale’s NYC showroom overlooks Madison Square Park and features gorgeous art of the World Wildlife Fund, WWF. Humanscale founder and CEO Robert King has served on the National Council of WWF since 1999 and remains one of the causes most staunch supporters.

Interested in hosting a corporate class for LEED or sustainability training with Everblue? Call (800) 460-2575 or email us at [email protected]

About the Author

Joan Mahon was recognized as a Finalist for the 2012-2013 Educator of the Year Award for Partnership/Community Service by Career Education Corporation. She was one of 12 faculty members recognized out of 6000+ educators worldwide.

The increasing development of worldwide green building projects, especially those related to the Leadership in Engineering and Environmental Design (LEED) standard, provide the contextual basis for the implementation of water conservation strategies. As access to clean water continues to be a source of concern in many areas of the world (including the U.S.), water efficiency strategies in green building practices are becoming paramount to new and existing construction efforts. Given the scope of terms associated with water efficiency in green building, there are numerous terms that describe key elements in the design and implementation of water conservation strategies.

One of the most important elements of understanding water efficiency is the diversification of water terms in green building practices. In particular, the LEED standard identifies four key types: Potable Water, Graywater, Blackwater, and Process Water; all of which provide different utilities in green building water efficiency processes.

Below are several definitions related to each type of water in the LEED standard in order to provide greater understanding of utility in the green building process.

Potable Water: Using the Environmental Protection Agency’s definition as a framework, the LEED standard expresses potable water as meeting quality standards for human consumption by local and/or state authorities. In order to protect a clean, reliable source of water, the LEED standard, in particular, discourages the use of potable water in non-potable applications such as landscaping or indoor plumbing needs.

Graywater: To protect the unnecessary use of potable water, green building practices under LEED emphasize the use of graywater for a variety of non-potable applications such as landscaping and indoor plumbing. Defined as untreated wastewater that has not come into contact with water closet waste, graywater emanates from bathtubs, showers, and bathroom wash basins. The high applicability of graywater on a LEED project in meeting landscaping requirements or limiting potable water use for water closets and urinals is the main element of its importance to green building practices.

Blackwater: On the other hand, blackwater is the antithesis to both potable and graywater, as it is not suitable for any human contact (either direct or indirect) given the contents that constitute its definition: wastewater from water closets and urinals. However, it is important to note that in some state and local codes, wastewater from showers, kitchen sinks, and bathtubs are considered blackwater as well, thereby expanding its definition and illuminating the need to identify its presence on a green building project. Given the nature of blackwater, the LEED standard discourages any use of blackwater to replace potable water use and is generally considered limited in utility until treated, which according to LEED should be completed on site to tertiary standards.

Process Water: The use of process water, especially in the LEED rating systems, is not regulated for water efficiency processes, given its utility in cooling towers, chillers, and boilers. The most important element of process water, however, is the limited use of potable water to be used as process water, as the LEED standard ultimately discourages the use of potable water in non-potable applications.

The differences in water definitions in green building practices are an important element for determining water efficiency capabilities. As one of the main tenants of the green building practices, especially in LEED, understanding the components of water forms is important in implementing water efficiency practices. However, while the aforementioned list of water types is an important starting point to understand water efficiency in LEED projects, there are a variety of applicable water-related terms not discussed here that also play a major role in the development of green building water practices.

If you would like to learn more about the role of water efficiency in green building practices, especially LEED, Everblue offers a LEED Green Associate course that can prepare you to gain a greater understanding of green building elements. For more information, please visit Everblue’s LEED Green Associate course, call us at (800) 460-2575, or email us at [email protected].

Green building efforts have substantially increased within the past decade as building owners and community planners desire to reduce energy costs and offset the environmental impacts of construction practices. One of the most significant components of the green building process involves the installation of green roofs.

In general, roofs play a vital role in a building’s energy use, especially as it relates to slope. Whereas highly-sloped roofs are able to reflect solar heat more efficiently, lower-sloped roofs, or flat roofs, present a significant challenge for increasing solar reflectance to optimize energy performance. According to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standard, one of the strategies to optimize energy for roofs, specifically those that are flat, involves the addition of greenery.

Although green roofs are a relatively new facet in the modern green building process, its prominence as a building technique has long been documented. In fact, for most of the 20th century, green roofs were considered a vernacular building practice, unfit for modern construction projects. However, as urban sprawl increased in conjunction with declining urban green spaces, green roofs began gaining popularity, initially in Switzerland and Germany. However, it was not until recently that they took an increased role in worldwide green building practices, and especially in the case of the U.S., they gained popularity largely in part of the LEED standard.

What are Green Roofs and why are they beneficial?

When we talk about green roofs, it’s more than just a difference in color from the traditional black or white roofs; it is a fully-fledged commitment to providing natural or adaptive vegetation to a building’s roofing structure. In large urban areas, where vegetation is scarce (think New York City), green roofs provide the essential elements for buildings to alleviate some of the environmental impacts of urbanization.

• Reduced Cooling Loads
• Decreased Stormwater Runoff
• Improved Environmental Air Quality
• Biodiversity
• Extended Roof Lifespan

Reduced Cooling Loads

Especially in urban areas, where the gradient differences between undeveloped and developed land are more pronounced (given the lack of undeveloped land), temperature increases via the heat island effect, create significant energy demands for building owners. Given the demand for cooling loads to ensure occupant comfort during warmer months of the year, the use of green roofs can reduce the amount of sunlight that is absorbed by the roofing material. Instead, the vegetation acts as a natural cooling mechanism for the building to reduce the building’s energy demand.

Decreased Stormwater Runoff

With the lack of undeveloped land in highly-urbanized areas, there is the significant issue that many buildings face in terms of curbing the amount of stormwater runoff from their site. Stormwater runoff can have a significant impact on natural environments as well as sewage conveyance, given the presence of pollutants and suspended solids in the water. The native or adaptive vegetation on a building’s roof can significantly improve rainwater quantity and quality, while also decreasing landscaping demands and building cooling loads.

Improved Environmental Air Quality

Green roofs also provide extensive environmental air quality benefits through the ability to absorb not only greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, but also pollutants and dust.

Biodiversity

Native and adaptive vegetation on building rooftops can provide habitat for otherwise displaced plants from the urbanization process and can provide habitat for animals and insects that can maintain the life of green roofs.

Extended Roof Lifespan

Finally, a green roof can provide extra protection for the building’s roofing structure, from mechanical damage to ultraviolet radiation. These kinds of roofs are much more preferable than conventional roofing structures as they are less likely to be replaced frequently.

What Types of Green Roofs are Available?

In general, there are two different types of green roofs widely used today: Extensive and Intensive. The differences between these two types largely relates to factors such as thickness, weight, cost, and maintenance.

Extensive

With an extensive green roofing structure, less than six inches of soil is used, allowing for a lightweight and flexible roofing structure. As a result, an extensive roof requires less cost and maintenance, but results in lower vegetation density as it requires plants that are suitable for thin soil.

Intensive

On the other hand, intensive green roofing structures consist of more than six inches of soil and have greater weight and maintenance requirements than extensive green roofs. In addition, the roofing surface must also be able to withstand a wider variety of plant materials, which can add considerable weight to the structure.

While the use of either an extensive or intensive green roof is dependent upon structural capacities and cost/maintenance requirements, green roofs are important components of the green building process for several building owners and community planners.

The Future of Green Roofs

Green building practices continue to expand worldwide as more environmentally-conscious construction techniques increase in popularity. In the United States alone, the number of LEED projects continues to increase, and with it, green roofs. However, it should be noted that the use of green roofs is not applicable to all regions, as its implementation is entirely contingent upon local codes, climate, and affordability. Nevertheless, the inclusion of green roofs on urban building rooftops serves as a symbol of green building practices to restore greenery and reduce energy costs.

With new and existing buildings following green building standards, such as the ones found under LEED, the prevalence of green roofs will continue to rise as its upfront costs and installation are offset by the numerous advantages of maintaining one.

For more information on LEED and how to become a green building professional, please visit Everblue’s LEED training page, email us at [email protected], or call us at (800) 460-2575.

Achieving LEED certification for a building is the ideal beginning to sustainability efforts. But, to stop at certification would be akin to an athlete training to peak condition, qualifying for the Olympics, and showing up to compete in a stadium without any spectators. The LEED Certification process “trains” a building to perform at optimal levels. Owners and occupants must put the building to the test and verify levels of performance.

How do owners and occupants account for what is happening within the building to ensure that performance standards are met? How will they extend sustainability principles into the ongoing operations of the building?

LEED Certification – Now What? Listed below are five steps to follow after LEED certification to extend sustainability and performance beyond the plaque on the wall:

• Develop a plan to ensure that the building continues to minimize environmental impact. A long-term sustainability plan must take into account what is happening within the building. Putting a green team in place is a good start to set goals, establish and manage processes, evaluate impacts, and identify opportunities for improvement.
• Be accountable to the plan by integrating it into core strategies. Adopt a reporting process to document and communicate goals and results both internally and externally.
• Measure all aspects of building operations on an on-going basis to monitor performance and plan corrective action. Go beyond water and energy management to address waste management, recycling, life cycle assessment, and green purchasing policies.

Building commissioning is a process that seeks to improve the performance of building systems and equipment through planning, documenting, testing, adjusting, and verifying. Major building systems that are typically commissioned include lighting, HVAC, hot water, renewable energy, and building envelope. Although building commissioning is a prerequisite for LEED, this quality assurance-based process can be applied continuously throughout the life of a building.

The USGBC expects to strengthen the guidelines for commissioning in the updated LEED standards that are targeted for release some time in 2013.

At this year’s Greenbuild Conference & Expo, there was a strong focus on making LEED more performance-based. The goal is to close the gap between LEED’s projected energy consumption for a building and its actual performance. Industry leaders were asking, “How can we make it easier to validate performance?” Scott Horst, senior vice president of LEED at the USGBC, introduced a new concept that would give building operators and occupants access to real-time data to indicate how a building is performing at any moment in time. Horst is among those who are supporting the development of a program to install LEED dynamic plaques in LEED-certified buildings. A LEED dynamic plaque would replace the typical LEED plaque in a building with one that displays real-time energy usage of the building. This plaque is currently in development and will validate performance in five categories. It will also serve to alert building operators of any potential problems. Stay tuned for more on this exciting performance monitoring innovation and other changes from the USGBC to promote performance.

• Continuous education and reminders for building operators and occupants are a critical part of any building’s sustainability strategy. As technology advances and systems improve, it is important that users are trained to operate systems to their full potential and address any problems. In addition, occupants must be mindful of their own consumption within the building.
• Maintain the building properly according to system requirements, warranties, regular visual inspections, and test results.

LEED certification sets the foundation for energy efficiency and sustainability but does not guarantee performance. While the USGBC continues to take steps to integrate performance into the LEED process, it is up to building owners and occupants to extend their commitment beyond certification to monitor, maintain, and manage building operations. Establishing a process for continuous performance evaluation and corrective action is key to getting the most from LEED certification. 

Water and energy are intertwined, which leads many to refer to them as the water-energy nexus. Energy production requires water, and supplying water to the general population requires energy. The conservation and proper management of these resources are imperative to maintaining a balance between energy demand and limited resources.

When tasked with finding a solution, one thing comes to mind: energy conservation. The key is to start changing the perception of “green” and “sustainability” by encouraging consumers to view these as strategies aimed at energy efficiency and cost savings.

How does one go about changing people’s perceptions when they have been taught for generations to think about energy the same way? Easy. Begin with setting guidelines. Establish regulations to dictate how every new project can approach sustainability, and educate the general population about the benefits they can reap from energy efficiency and sustainability.

1. Integrate green building strategies into minimum zoning requirements.

Green building techniques benefit the environment, the health of the building occupants, and the investment of the building’s owner. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system offers a comprehensive standard to guide building design and construction. One of the most important credit categories within LEED to help minimize the energy-water nexus problem is the Materials and Resources section. Specifically, the Building Reuse, Material Reuse, and Recycled Content categories would help balance water and energy use. Both Building and Material Reuse require the reuse of construction materials, thus keeping unnecessary trash out of the landfills and decreasing the demand for the purchase of new materials. This represents a cost savings for the project and a decrease in the amount of resources used for the production of new materials.

Teaching the general public about green building options is only part of the battle. We need people to begin implementing these strategies in their own lives. One way to inspire change is to offer financial incentives, such as tax breaks to LEED Certified buildings. These incentives, coupled with potentially lower operating costs, make up for the extra costs associated with sustainable design. Save money and help the environment; it’s a win-win situation. A “no-brainer.”

2. Conduct energy efficiency audits on existing buildings to determine ideal retrofitting recommendations.

The easiest way to help minimize the energy-water nexus problem is to optimize the performance of residential and commercial buildings.

An energy auditor evaluates the building as a whole, takes into account how all systems interact, and provides a room-by-room assessment of a building’s energy use in order to make recommendations for improvement. Retrofitting a building for energy efficiency can provide a 5% to 30% savings on energy bills and reduce its overall energy use.

3. Implement sustainable practices in business models.

The novel idea of corporate sustainability stems from a business need to establish cost efficient practices that complement social responsibility. Recently, a U.S.-based organization launched the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) to push businesses to strive for sustainable practices and hold them accountable.

SASB will provide sustainability reports from publicly traded companies to investors. In the near future, this will help investors make smart business decisions by highlighting the companies that are committed to optimizing processes and reducing environmental impact. Corporate sustainability is a key component to changing the general population’s perception of energy use.

Implementing these three concepts into everyday practice will significantly help the water-energy nexus problem and highlight the need to plan for the future now. The earth’s precious resources are quickly decreasing, and it is imperative to start drafting regulations that encourage sustainable practices and promote environmentally friendly agendas.

This post is participating in the Engage: The Water-Energy Nexus Blogging Contest hosted by Masdar in honor of the Abu Dhabi Sustainability week.