13/03/2007
USGBC PVC Task Force Say PVC is Not A Healthy Building Material
On February 26, 2007, The Technical and Scientific Advisory Committee (TSAC) of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) issued its final report to USGBC's LEED Steering Committee (LSC) on the technical and scientific basis for a PVC-related credit within the LEED® Green Building Rating System™.
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17/10/2006
How Green Will The UK Green Building Council Really Be?
Progress is being made on the fledgling UK Green Building Council. Various donors have pledged £30k each to the project. But there are fears that big businesses are buying their way in to the Council to gain influence. As BRE are initially running the UKGBC, it follows that they would use the same working model that BRE have used in the past.
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29/06/2006
UKGBC Scoping Study Reveals Problems Ahead
A scoping study put together by Cranfield University, has probed the future of the UK Green Building Council, revealing some possible problems. Because the UK has a broad range of organisations already monitoring and regulating green building standards and practices, the UKGBC faces an uphill struggle to find its place among the other organisations. One of the largest problems is which environmental assessment tool to use. more ...
20/06/2006
English Partnerships and Housing Corporation Increase Ecohomes Requirements
English Partnerships and the Housing Corporation have both announced they intend to increase the EcoHomes standard from ‘good’ to ‘very good’, in a review of all properties built on their land. EcoHomes is the scheme overseen by the Sustainability Board to standardise the environmental assessment of new and older houses and apartments.
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05/06/2006
USGBC's audit of education provision
The last story covered the educational role of the USGBC and how it seemed to offer exclusively LEED accreditation courses, which are a revenue raiser for the Council. In an attempt to answer this criticism, the USGBC has made efforts to get green design on university agenda’s. The Green Building Council’s role is slowly moving towards placing environmental courses higher up the agenda.
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15/05/2006
An educational role for the UK Green Building Council?
There are a couple of stories in the forthcoming summer edition of Building for a Future magazine that call into question the green building industries' ability to deliver timely and user-friendly information. Perhaps the UK Green Building Council will put this top of their agenda when it is launched? more ...
05/05/2006
UKGBC - Is it necessary?
Discussion on the Green Building Forum has been debating whether a UK Green Building Council was really necessary. Many believe there are enough similar organisations already that would be doing the same thing. I asked seven UK organisations and businesses what they thought. Firstly would they join a UKGBC? ... more ...
15/04/2006
Goals, Purpose and Politics; GBC as a Global Forum.
An interview with David Gottfried:
David Gottfried is the founder of World Green Building Council, US Green Building Council, and board member of World Green Building Council. I asked him a few questions to find out how he sees the role and the future of an expanding Green Building Council movement. ... more ...
27/03/2006
USGBC - Not the only player in town!
The proposed UKGBC will be modeled on the highly successful USGBC. So how does America deliver sustainable building technologies through these councils? The US Green Building Council, is divided into 52 ‘Chapters’ spread around the US, not all by state. There are also independent organisations who work along side green initiatives such as ‘Build Green’; a program which sets out to encourage growth of green building technologies. There are competing Councils, such as the Sustainable Buildings Industry Council, (SBIC) based in California. There is also a government ... more ...
24/03/2006
Property Mogul Turned Green Activist
David Gottfried is the founder of the World Green Building Council (WGBC). He comes from a wealthy background, and is a multi-millionaire property tycoon, running some of the biggest development contracts in the world. He is the owner of World Build Technologies Inc, a real estate contractor and developer. In 1991 he had an epiphany which led to his forming the World Green Building Council and the US Green Building Council. He is the driving force behind the Green Building Council movement. more ...
01/03/2006
The Green Building Council Movement?
There are now seven Green Building Councils around the world, with the founding meeting started in 1999, the World Green Building Council (WGBC) provides encouragement and guidelines for the establishment of other Councils around the world. The seven members, with the UKGBC to be added in the next couple of years, include the US, Australia, Spain, Canada, Japan, India, Taiwan and Mexico; all working together to form the World Green Building Council. Most of these organisations are well funded through membership schemes, and well attended by the industry itself. WGBC Guidelines state that membership should reflect a significant geographical area, and that members should be formed from a diverse and wide ranging group of more ...
26/02/2006
Discuss the merits of a UK Green Building Council
Join in on a discussion as to whether there is a need for a UK Green Building Council: Green Building Forum ...
21/02/2006
BREEAM and LEED. How do they compare?
Given the new thinking around green building, and the key role the building industry plays in global climate change, the Green Building Council movement is coming to the UK. Accreditation of new buildings is an essential part of the movement, to give new and renovated buildings a rating determined by how green they are. This system originated in the early nineties from the EU accreditation system BREEAM. But what is BREEAM, and what relation does it have to the US version LEED? more ...
20/02/2006
Support grows for UK Green building Council
The BRE is one of the major stakeholders who actively supports the initiative to establish a UK Green Building Council (UK-GBC). The BRE believes a UK-GBC would provide focus and leadership for sustainable construction, helping to reduce the environmental impact of buildings by improving the way they are designed, built and managed.
The Sustainable Building Task Group, set up by the ODPM to devise the Code For Sustainable Homes, has identified the need for existing sustainable construction activities in the UK to be consolidated. The Group believes this would provide a clearer direction for the building industry more ...
13/02/2006
Launch of UK Green Building Council website
A website has now been launched for the UK Green Building Council where interested parties can download a prospectus. www.ukgbc.org
30/01/2006
UK Green Building Council In The Pipeline
A draft proposal is under consideration to establish a UK Green Building Council, similar to the very successful U.S. Green Building Council. The industry led proposal aims to create a united green building movement in the UK. The stakeholders hope to provide a coalition of interested groups, instead of the tangle of different organisations working towards reducing carbon emissions and the environmental impact of buildings.In theory, this would resolve one of the major problems identified by the Sustainable Buildings Task Group. more ...
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