The Kresge Foundation, which has promoted the integrated design process for green buildings since 2003, has expanded its grants program. Previously, projects involving renovation, historic preservation, LEED certification, or net-zero energy design were eligible for the grants. Now, buildings designed to meet the criteria of the Living Building Challenge (see

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Vol. 15, No. 12) have been added to the list. Eligible projects are awarded $50,000 to $100,000 each to cover planning costs, including charrette facilitation, energy analysis and modeling, site planning, and registration costs for LEED or the Living Building Challenge. More information is available at www.kresge.org.

A study released by The American Institute of Architects (AIA) in November 2007 finds that municipal green building programs are on the rise. AIA surveyed 661 communities with populations over 50,000 and found that 92 cities have green building programs in place. This represents a gain of over 400% from the 22 programs in place in 2003. An additional 36 cities indicated that they are in the advanced stages of planning green building programs, suggesting that growth will continue. The report contains a regional breakdown of green building programs: cities in Western states lead the pack, with 42 cities in six states representing 46% of all municipal green building programs. The Mountain region, Eastern states, and Central states follow, in that order. The full report is available at www.aia.org/adv_localleaders/.

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has announced that Daniel Tishman, a green building pioneer, has been selected as the chairman of the organization’s board of trustees. A fourth-generation owner of Tishman Realty and Construction, based in New York City, Tishman is the chairman and CEO of the company’s construction arm, Tishman Construction Corporation. His company has managed the construction of several notable green buildings in New York, including 4 Times Square and 7 World Trade Center. He has sat on the NRDC board of trustees for ten years, most recently as the vice chairman.

According to a study performed by the Freedonia Group, a market research firm, ground-source and air-source heat pumps are gaining market share relative to warm-air furnaces. In terms of value, heat pumps accounted for the largest share of heating equipment shipments in 2006, representing 43% of shipments; when measured by volume, however, the less expensive warm-air furnaces represented 47% of shipments, taking the largest share. Freedonia predicts that sales of heat pumps will grow 7% per year to $3 billion in 2011, while sales of warm-air furnaces will grow only 1.5% per year to $2 billion in 2011. The firm also predicts that the lower cost of warm-air furnaces will continue to drive sales growth, while improved technology and energy savings will drive sales in heat pumps.

The Carbon Trust, a government-funded private company focused on reducing carbon dioxide emissions in the U.K., has released an interim report on the potential carbon and cost savings offered by micro-combined-heat-and-power (CHP) systems for small commercial and residential buildings. The study, which has measured the performance of 87 micro-CHP systems since 2006, found that the systems can provide carbon savings of 15%–20% over traditional condensing boilers in small commercial applications, and 5%–10% in older, larger houses with high heating bills. The systems did not offer great carbon or energy cost savings in newer homes that were smaller and better insulated. The highest savings in all situations came from micro-CHP systems that had long operating times with few on-off cycles. The Carbon Trust is also measuring the performance of domestic condensing boiler installations to provide a baseline for the study and has found that the operating efficiency of these boilers is 4%–5% lower than the stated efficiency. A final report on the study is due out in 2008; more on the project is available at www.carbontrust.co.uk.

Since January 2007, government agency Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) has been offering EcoEnergy retrofit grants to owners of single-family homes, including detached, semidetached, and low-rise multifamily buildings. As of October 2007, the program had performed 37,000 energy evaluations and awarded 2,200 grants to homeowners, covering everything from energy-efficient furnaces and appliances to added insulation to ground-source heat pumps and solar-thermal hot water systems. To apply for a grant, a homeowner must have his or her home inspected by an energy auditor from NRCan and then perform some or all of the repairs and upgrades suggested by the auditor. Once improvements are made, the homeowner can apply to NRCan for reimbursements of up to CA$5,000 (US$5,000). More information is available at www.oee.nrcan.gc.ca (click on “Grants and Incentives”).

The visitor center at the Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve, part of Grand Teton National Park, has become the first building in Wyoming to earn LEED Platinum. The 7,000-ft² (600-m²) building, designed by Carney Architects in Jackson and home to an interpretive center and restrooms, features a ground-source heat pump and a photovoltaic system that is expected to provide 58% of the center’s electricity. Recycled-cotton and soy-based spray foam insulations create an energy-efficient building envelope; all of the wood used in construction was certified to Forest Stewardship Council standards; automated windows located high in the large galleries provide ventilation; and occupancy and daylight sensors control lighting. The restrooms at the facility use composting toilets, saving an estimated 76,000 gallons (290,000 liters) of water annually.

Alley24, an adaptive reuse, mixed-use project in Seattle, is approaching the 2030 Challenge benchmark of reducing fossil fuel use in buildings by 50%. The space houses the headquarters of architecture firm NBBJ, which also designed the project, as well as offices for construction firm Skanska USA and marketing firm WPP. After a year of occupancy, Energy Star Target Finder calculations show this portion of the project using 51% of the energy used in comparable base-case office buildings. Alley24 achieved a Silver rating under LEED for Core and Shell, and the offices of both NBBJ and Skanska received Gold ratings under LEED for Commercial Interiors. The rest of the project accommodates apartments and retail shops. More information is available at www.alley24.com.

International architecture firm Perkins + Will has strengthened its healthcare design practice with the acquisition of Guenther 5 Architects, a healthcare-focused firm based in New York City. The firms have not disclosed the terms of their merger. Guenther 5, headed by founder Robin Guenther, FAIA, is known for its work designing green healthcare facilities; Guenther has been instrumental in the development of both the Green Guide for Healthcare and LEED for Healthcare. This is the sixteenth acquisition in 12 years for Perkins + Will, which has become quite active in green building. More information on the firms is available at www.perkinswill.com and www.g5arch.com.

The Forest Stewardship Council–US (FSC–US) has appointed Corey Brinkema, the former executive director of the Green Institute in Minneapolis, as president of the organization. He has experience running a business unit with FSC chain-of-custody certification and was instrumental in the creation of Minnesota GreenStar, a residential green building program (see

EBN Vol. 16, No. 11). Brinkema replaces Roger Dower, who left FSC–US in early 2007 to become president of the Johnson Foundation in Racine, Wisconsin.