Is Californias Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Ready for Growing Demand?
On one unspecified day in February, the 200,000th electric car was sold in the state of California, which is home to about half of all electric cars in the United States. Governor Jerry Brown signed an executive order in March, 2012 establishing a path to 1.5 million zero emissions vehicles (ZEV) in California by the year […]
State of the Drought: Perception vs. Reality
Even with an El Nino and the wettest March on record, the prognosis of California’s drought is mixed. In Southern California, El Nino has been a disappointment, but parts of the state have been thoroughly drenched. The Sierra Nevada snowpack, which provides almost 30% of water used in California, is at about 87% of it’s long-term […]
San Francisco Mandates Solar Power for New Construction
San Francisco just became the first major US city to mandate solar panel installation on new construction. Since 2014, California’s Title 24 energy standards have required that fifteen percent of all commercial and residential rooftops in buildings ten floors or fewer be solar ready. While “solar ready” can mean different things, in the context of […]
Palo Alto Goes Beyond CA Energy Policy: Getting to Net Zero In Palo Alto
The City of Palo Alto recently approved the city’s first Zero Net Energy ready policy. The “Energy Reach Code” outlines local amendments to the 2016 California Energy Code, Title 24, Chapter 6. The Development Services Department and the city’s Green Building Advisory Group teamed up to craft the requirements. Although the state of California has […]
Making Concrete Green
Concrete is probably not the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of green building materials, but given that concrete is the most common building material in the world, making the concrete manufacturing process greener is extremely important. Manufacturing the portland cement that binds concrete together is a serious CO2 emitter and energy consumption […]
LEED Pilots Legal Wood
LEED has recently introduced a pilot credit to that aims to help eliminate illegally sourced wood from the supply chain. LEED has always rewarded leadership in sourcing materials and this new pilot credit does not replace LEED’s existing certified wood credit. The vast majority of new LEED buildings have not pursued this credit, however. This new […]
Five Years of Green Building: ID360 Turns Five!
Summer of 2016 is a big deal here at Integrated Design 360 — it’s our five-year anniversary! The green building industry has, as a whole, grown tremendously over the past five years, and so have we. Looking back at the past five years in the green building industry, technology has advanced in support of green […]
Green Roofs: Utilizing Wasted Space
Most roofs in a city are covered in asphalt or black tar, reflecting heat and adding little to increase the city’s inhabitants’ quality of life. Green roofs, also known as living roofs take all that otherwise underutilized space and turn it into something useful. A green roof is the roof of a building that is […]
BREEAM Crosses the Pond: British Green Building Certification Comes to the US
In the United States, LEED reigns supreme when it comes to green building certification, but BREEAM, a twenty-five-year old British certification system, is migrating to the US. The consulting firm BuildingWise is leading the effort to bring BREEAM to the American market.Trainings in the principles of the program began in August. The BLOC, a city-block […]
Palo Alto’s Road to NZE at Greenbuild
360 Principal Melanie Jacobson will be moderating “The Road to ZNE: City of Palo Alto Case Study” at the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo. This panel discussion will look at the background and implementation of the City of Palo Alto’s Green Building Vision and Net Zero Energy Roadmap. (For more on the Palo Alto’s road to […]
US Navy Partners with CA Energy Commission for Renewable Energy
On October 12th, the US Navy and the CA Energy Commission signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) formalizing a partnership that supports Navy and Marine Corps development of alternative energy sources and sustainable energy projects. The MOU ensures “continued collaboration and information sharing” on energy projects, with a focus on renewable energy and alternative energy sources. […]
The Green Rental Market: Green Apartments Increase Market Share and Fetch Higher Rents
“Green building” is most often associated with commercial buildings, public buildings, and privately owned homes, but according to a recent study, the American rental market is getting greener. According to a study by RENTCafe and YardiMatrix, the number of LEED-certified apartment units has grown significantly since 2008, with the number of new, LEED apartments rising by […]