Mayor Bloomberg Pushes Energy-Efficient Legislation for New
York
After 18 months of gutting and retrofitting the
infrastructure of New York’s 1909 landmark Argonaut building in
Manhattan, the $20 million green renovation will be complete this
summer. The overhaul of the former General Motors building at West 57th
Street and Broadway is likely to pass muster with Mayor Michael
Bloomberg.
On April 22, the mayor proposed sweeping legislation that seeks to
reduce carbon emissions from the city’s commercial buildings. If
passed, New York City’s largest building owners would be required to
conduct energy audits and make energy-efficient
retrofits.
EPA Launches Multifamily Portfolio
Manager
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has launched a
multifamily version of its Energy Star Portfolio Manager. The online
energy performance-tracking tool allows building owners and operators to
measure and manage their buildings’ energy consumption.
A comparable tool has existed for the office sector for more than a
decade. The tool will allow apartment owners to assess their
portfolios’ energy performance, identify under-performing buildings,
set investment priorities to make targeted energy efficiency
improvements and earn recognition for achievements, according to the
Washington, D.C.-based National Multifamily Housing
Council.
Energy Modeling Improves Building
Performance
By
Kristopher Baker and Rob Bolin of Syska Hennessy Group
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A building is very similar to the human body; it is a
network of separate, but interrelated and interconnected systems
transferring fluids, electricity and data. The circulatory system, the
respiratory system, the nervous system, even the digestive system
clearly correlate to the various building systems that distribute
energy, provide ventilation, manage the building and remove waste.
A building energy simulation characterizes these relationships between
the systems to help fully understand a project’s needs. Simply put,
building energy simulation is a tool used by designers to illustrate the
implications of their design decisions before a building is
constructed.
Green Tidbits
Liberty Property Trust’s Comcast Center in Philadelphia
has received LEED Core & Shell Gold certification…. Ashford
Pacific’s Orrick Building in San Francisco has received the Earth
Award from the Building Owner and Managers Association of San
Francisco… Hines has extended its internal green office program,
HinesGO, to 4,300 office tenants occupying 120 million sq. ft. of the
firm’s managed portfolio…
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