Great Britain is the latest to join the growing portfolio of countries with their own green building councils. The U.K. Green Building Council (UKGBC), headed by Paul King, will be the official British affiliate of the World Green Building Council and will promote and represent green building throughout the country. UKGBC has officially adopted the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) as its rating system and is working on financial agreements with both the BREEAM and the EcoHomes program. More on the council is available at www.ukgbc.org.

The energy firm BP (formerly British Petroleum) has announced the creation of the Energy Biosciences Institute and has selected the University of California–Berkeley, the University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to lead the effort. In addition to contributing $500 million over ten years, BP will also help to run the institute, which has a stated goal of research into alternative fuels, especially biofuels. If approved by the legislature, the State of California will contribute $40 million to the institute.

A McGraw-Hill Construction study, the

Education Green Building SmartMarket Report, suggests that green schools represent a growing sector of the construction market. The $53 billion education sector currently represents over 27% of the construction market by value, and the study suggests that the green portion of this market will be larger than 5%–10% of the total education market by 2010. Based on 31 interviews with facility managers and building owners, the study’s authors also found that among the top reasons given for building a green school were lowered operating costs, improved student performance, and improved health and well-being of building occupants. In building green schools, developers found that third-party certification of green products was important, and many product choices were driven by health concerns.

The American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) has announced the creation of its first certification programs for ASHRAE members and other professionals. The four programs, to be launched between 2007 and 2008, will focus on healthcare facility mechanical systems, sustainability, commissioning and integrated design, and building operations and management. Although each program will be structured differently, all will consist of a series of courses and an exam. The first exam for the first program, which offers Healthcare Facility Design Professional certification, will take place at ASHRAE’s annual meeting in June in Long Beach, California. Each of the four programs will have separate eligibility and application requirements; more information is available at www.ashrae.org/education/ (click on “certification programs”).

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced the recipients of its first WaterSense labels for landscape irrigation certification programs. The Irrigation Association’s programs to certify irrigation designers and contractors have been recognized by EPA for their ability to teach principles of water-saving irrigation design. Contractors and designers who are certified through these programs may use the WaterSense label in their communications with consumers. Started in June 2006, the WaterSense program creates specifications for water-efficient fixtures and programs (see

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Vol. 15, No. 7). More information is at www.epa.gov/watersense/.

The Center for Heath and Healing at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, Oregon, is the first medical center to achieve a Platinum rating in the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Rating System. The 16-story, 400,000-ft² (37,000-m²) building features a chilled beam and displacement ventilation system, a membrane bioreactor for treating sewage, rainwater harvesting, and a 6,000-ft² (560-m²), glass-skinned Trombe wall for storing thermal energy. Designed to be 60% more energy efficient than Oregon code requires, the building also uses 60% less potable water than a comparable, conventional building, thanks to wastewater and graywater harvesting and water-efficiency measures.

New USGBC Headquarters Goes Platinum—The U.S. Green Building Council’s new headquarters in Washington, D.C., has earned a Platinum rating in the LEED^® for Existing Buildings rating system. Perkins+Will designed the space, which features materials donated by Haworth, Inc., 3Form, Inc., Columbia Forest Products, and many others.

Joining several other major building industry organizations, including The American Institute of Architects and the U.S. Green Building Council, the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) has announced its support of the 2030 Challenge. Issued by the organization Architecture 2030, the 2030 Challenge calls for an immediate 50% reduction in fossil fuel use in new buildings, compared with regional averages, and carbon-neutral buildings by 2030 (see

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Vol. 15, No. 12). CSI is a national association that creates standards and formats that guide construction documents and projects. While not offering specific ways in which it will support the challenge, CSI said that it will disseminate information and facilitate integration of the challenge into building projects through better measurement and analysis.

In a strengthening of a previous commitment, DuPont has announced its intention to stop making or using the likely carcinogen perfluooctanoic acid, or PFOA, by 2015. Known as the “Teflon^® chemical,” PFOA is used to manufacture a variety of fluoropolymer products, including components used in roofing, solar panels, and wiring (see

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Vol. 15, No. 8). DuPont and several other fluoropolymer manufacturers had committed in March 2006, through a voluntary stewardship program with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to “work toward” eliminating PFOA by 2015. Dan Turner, public affairs officer for DuPont, said that advances in DuPont’s manufacturing processes allowed it to strengthen its commitment, which was applauded by EPA as well as advocates like the Washington, D.C.-based Environmental Working Group.

The U.S. Green Building Council’s 2007 Greenbuild International Conference and Expo has moved from Los Angeles to Chicago. The dates for the conference, November 7–9, 2007, are unchanged. The eleventh-hour shift came after USGBC changed the date of the conference in January. Originally scheduled for October, the convention was rescheduled to November at the request of the L.A. Convention and Visitors Bureau, which wanted to accommodate another, larger, convention. When the bureau later asked for a second date change, USGBC opted to keep the dates but move to Chicago. “Chicago is welcoming us with open arms,” said USGBC’s Peter Templeton. “Chicago is not only one of the greenest cities in the country, Mayor Richard Daley has set a high bar for sustainable leadership and green building is a significant part of his commitment.” This will be among the first conferences in McCormick Place West, which is LEED-registered.