“LEED 2009” focuses on energy and carbon performance of buildings, transparent “weightings” and regional LEED credits (PRWeb May 19, 2008)

Read the full story at http://ww1.prweb.com/releases/Green_building/sustainable_construction/prweb956214.htm

Interested in finding out how your building, or building design, rates in terms of energy usage and carbon emissions? Integrated Environmental Solutions is making it a lot easier to do so.

In line with its commitment to the sustainable building design movement and responding to Architecture 2030 Challenge, IES on May 14 announced the release of VE-Ware, freely downloadable software that enables building owners, facilities managers and architects to analyze, better understand and take steps to increase the energy efficiency and reduce the carbon emissions associated with existing and planned buildings.

The free version of the tool provides limited, but potentially valuable, access to IES’s Virtual Environment (VE) Apache thermal analysis software. Users input specs on their buildings’ geometry and use it in tandem with international data on climatic conditions and typical characteristics of different building, room design and systems types to assess energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.

Simulated assessment outputs include a comparison of buildings’ energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions with the US benchmark for the Architecture 2030 Challenge, which shoots for realizing 50% reductions in energy usage for all new buildings and major renovations.

Model inputs currently have to be exported from Autodesk’s Building Information Modeling Revit platform but IES intends to expand the range of input options over coming months, according to a company press release.

“I expect VE-Ware to make a considerable difference in helping reduce the energy consumption of buildings throughout the world. As a direct response to the Architecture 2030 challenge and other international green building regulations, standards and codes, VE-Ware gives everyone the capability to get involved in mitigating climate change,” Dr. Don McLean, IES founder and managing director stated.

I grew up in Southern California. Though I love it there and I love to visit every now and then, the air quality is legendary -- and not in a good way.

The smog is as much a part of Los Angeles as Hollywood. Government environmental regulation, out of necessity, is thick. There are restrictions on just about every facet of life -- home, business and recreation.

And it's not just in L.A. Ask the residents of any major metropolis along the East Coast or in the industrial areas of the North.

In the early 1980s, after the closure of some of the steel mills in Pittsburgh, Pa., a major project of local leaders was to clean the city's buildings that had turned black with soot. Car owners in Atlanta and many other large cities have to pass annual emission inspections to drive anywhere in the metropolitan region. In Europe, efforts are under way to protect irreplaceable monuments and statues from the destructive effects of air pollution. The list goes on.

Here in Kansas, we have yet to face the serious issues of deteriorating air quality. But the time to act is now.

I was very troubled when I read the article regarding House Speaker Melvin Neufeld, R-Ingalls, and his view on this year's legislative session ("Speaker: Economic bills were session's highlight," May 14 Eagle). In particular, I was disappointed with the speaker's continued disregard for the truth when he said that Hyperion developers, who have considered building a refinery in northeast Kansas, "were told they'd never get a permit."

No member of this administration has ever communicated this message to Hyperion. On the contrary, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment's communications with the company, both verbally and in writing, were positive and reassuring.

In a letter to Hyperion dated Feb. 11, 2008, I very clearly reassured company executives that there was no regulatory uncertainty in Kansas. Though I could not fulfill the company's request for an unconditional guarantee to issue a permit prior to reviewing its application, I did reiterate KDHE's commitment for a fair, timely review of any potential application. And I said that if the company's permit application mirrored the permit application it had filed in South Dakota and adhered to the company's public commitment to the environment, a permit would most likely be issued.

This is not the first time Neufeld has tried to mislead Kansans in regard to this issue.

To be clear: There is no "regulatory uncertainty" in Kansas. KDHE has continued to issue timely air-quality permits. Since the denial of the Sunflower Electric Power Corp. permit for a proposed coal-fired plant near Holcomb, KDHE has issued more than 300 air-quality construction and operating permits. Since January 2003, the agency has issued more than 3,000 air-quality permits. Under this administration, the only air-quality permit denied has been the Sunflower permit.

It has been almost 20 years since the EPA confirmed the dangers of indoor VOCs (volatile organic chemicals), yet so little has been done to make the air inside our homes and offices and less toxic. Poor ventilation systems, sealed buildings and our use of synthetic products in the home are the main causes of our inner-pollution and, for most of us, these problems can’t be reversed overnight. But with the help of plant therapy, we can combat household VOCs and breathe easier. That is why we are super excited about this excellent Plants for Your Health chart from Good Magazine.

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Teknor Apex Co.
Pawtucket, RI 02861
May 12, 2008Supplied on custom basis, low-VOC versions of Apex® vinyl compounds are designed for use in profiles and molded items, extrusion coated fabrics, as well as extruded and calendered sheet used in residential and institutional furniture and furnishings. Formulations help manufacturers achieve certification under voluntary air-quality standards developed by industry groups, which are used as reference by green building guideline organizations such as USGBC and LEED.