This week, CEQ Chair Nancy Sutley joined Mayor Jeri Muoio in West Palm Beach to tour Northboro Elementary School – a recently modernized LEED Gold certified school that’s gaining attention as a model for smart investment in sustainability. Northboro is a great example of how investing in (more…)

Many people, including me, have noted that the National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA”), signed into law by President Obama on December 31, 2011, prohibits the Department of Defense (“DoD”) from using any appropriated funds to achieve the two highest levels of green building certification offered by the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and (more…)

It was a rough year for Congress. The Republican and Democrats, the House and Senate — no one could seem to agree.

Unless we are talking about green buildings.

In June, I reported on the Department of Defense Reauthorization bill that passed the House of Representatives. In the legislation, the Department of (more…)

Located in Stanford, California is the very well known Stanford University. Because the university resides in what is known as one of the largest “cleantech states” in the United States, being California, Stanford University does what it can in an effort to bolster California’s stance as the number one sustainable (more…)

The worldwide movement toward sustainability has made significant progress over the past half-dozen years as companies and cities have pursued strategies that balance future and current societal needs. Now, sustainable development is entering a new phase, characterized by greater alignment within and between the public and private sectors. (more…)

When you think about a “green” building, you probably don’t picture a centuries-old National Historic Landmark that’s lined with columns and made of thousands of tons of granite.

Well, maybe that’s about to change. I'm pleased to announce that the Treasury Building – which dates (more…)

For much of 2011, my focus has been the Destiny USA project. This should not come as a surprise to readers who waded through my thirteen posts on the topic. I had planned to not write about the Destiny USA project again. But then I came across a press release while I was at Greenbuild: (more…)

Contrary to common belief that nothing is really happening in green building at the Congressional level these days, I provide the following two counterexamples.

 An amendment to the Senate Appropriations Bill for Energy and Water introduced by Senators Wicker (more…)

The more I delve into energy and climate issues, the more this seems completely evident: we should prefer energy efficiency and sobriety over renewables.

Making efficiency a priority – whereas renewables are the priority nowadays – will without a doubt benefit the consumer, the society as a whole and our (more…)

As I mentioned in a previous post, I led a study this summer analyzing the legal policy and process factors impacting commercial building energy efficiency in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.  The study was commissioned by the Department of Energy-led Greater Philadelphia Innovation Cluster (more…)