Chapter Chair's May 2013 Note

You can choose between a list view and a map view of Activities on GBIG Place and Collection pages. When viewing the Activities tab, look for the switch on the top right of the page to toggle between table and map. The map view presents an interactive map where you can zoom and turn on street or satellite imagery layers. See this example of a map view for the Data Centers collection »

New Content: DC Benchmarking
Earlier this year Washington, D.C.'s Department of the Environment (DDOE) released energy benchmarking results for more than 200 D.C. government managed buildings. Benchmarking data covers four years worth of energy use and carbon emissions data from city managed facilities including schools, fire stations and public office buildings among others. Learn more about the District’s benchmarking program and view a map of D.C. benchmarking results.

Featured Building: Bullitt Center
Often billing itself as the greenest office building in the world , Seattle’s Bullitt Center  officially opened it’s doors at a ribbon cutting ceremony last month. In addition to pursuing Living Building Challenge certification, the Bullitt Center was recently named an FSC Design & Build Award Winner, with the building using 100% FSC certified wood.

Research Spotlight: NAS report recommending government pursue LEED Silver
In the National Academies of Science study released in February 2013, an expert panel of the National Research Council evaluated the energy efficiency and sustainability standards used by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). This 230-page report contained NAS findings and recommendations that synthesized the state-of-the-art knowledge on green building rating systems such as LEED regarding: 1) costs and benefits, 2) return on investment, and 3) long-term payback of design standards related to sustainable buildings.  

The National Academy of Science’s top recommendation was to reconfirm the DoD’s use of LEED for new buildings or major renovations. To directly support their primary recommendation, the NRC states: “The preponderance of available evidence indicates that green building certification systems and their referenced building standards offer frameworks for reducing energy and water use in buildings, compared to design approaches and practices used for conventional buildings.”