2009 Green Building Survey: National Real Estate Investor and the U.S. Green Building Council Release Results
	Fewer Americans See Hard Evidence of Global Warming
	Cold Storage Facility Generates 73% of Its Energy Needs
	Seattle Mixed-Use Project Awarded LEED Gold

The past two years have been brutal for U.S. businesses and their employees. That reality has trickled down to commercial real estate owners and landlords who have been grappling with how to pay debt service on properties with rising vacancies and falling rents. Against such a bleak economic backdrop, green building has not retreated, but in fact sunk its roots even deeper into the commercial real estate industry’s psyche and practices.

“We see an increase in awareness and activity, particularly on existing buildings and retrofitting of existing buildings,” says Marc Heisterkamp, director of commercial real estate for the U.S. Green Building Council based in Washington, D.C. “It is in a tough economy that top companies rise to the occasion and find ways to save money and position their real estate for the future.”

American’s belief in global warming and its human causes has begun is waning. That’s the conclusion of the latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, which revealed that just 57% of respondents today say there is solid evidence of rising global temperatures compared with 71% who held that same belief in April 2008.

Over the same period, there has been a comparable decline in the proportion of Americans who say global temperatures are rising as a result of human activity, such as burning fossil fuels. Just 36% say that currently, down from 47% last year.

Hamann Construction, an El Cajon, Calif.-based general contractor, recently achieved LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council on a 134,946 sq. ft. build-to-suit cold storage facility occupied by Innovative Cold Storage Enterprises Inc. (ICE).

The property, called ICE II, is situated on 6.78 acres in the Otay Mesa submarket of San Diego, Calif.

Used as a refrigerated warehousing and storage facility for pre-packaged food items, which are stored at 10 degrees Fahrenheit, the facility has a height of 60 feet, can hold 29,000 pallets and has a storage capacity of 7.5 million cubic feet.

2201 Westlake and Enso condominiums represent first mixed-use project and high-rise residential building in Seattle to earn LEED Gold certification, according to the project’s developer, Seattle-based Vulcan Real Estate.

As a LEED Gold-certified project, 2201 Westlake exemplifies sustainable innovations that promote energy and water efficiency, indoor environmental quality, eco-friendly materials selection and alternative transit options as part of a healthier workplace and living environment.