News
Green Building & Eco Friendly News
We are excited to share green building industry developments, news about our Member Companies, and of course current Rate It Green information. Please feel welcome to submit interesting news you have found. Note that Rate It Green does include news announcements as a part of some sponsorship offerings.
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USGBC Introduces 4 Safety Pilot Credits
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and in line with rising healthy building awareness generally, the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) has announced 4 new LEED Safety Pilot Credits:
Cleaning and Disinfecting Your Space
Re-Entering Your Workspace
Building Water System Recommissioning
Managing Indoor Air Quality During COVID-19
The credits are part of a set of actions the USGBC plans after presented a reinvisioned Healthy Economy Strategy this spring. According to the organization, "U… Show more
Greenbuild Goes Virtual for November, 2020 with 3 Pre-Conference Summits, and the Main Conference/Expo November 10-12
USGBC's Greenbuild Expo and Conference made a decision to go virtual for 2020, with three pre-conference online summits planned for September and October and the Conference & Expo taking place November 10-12. This year's summit topics are: Green Business, Global Health & Wellness and Resilience. While there are clearly great benefits to connecting in person, this seems like a wise, conservartive decision given the current global health crisis and uncertainty. The Greenbuild team can work to both expand and focus… Show more
IWBI Lowers 2020 WELL AP Exam Registration Fees and Plans to Donate 20% of all 2020 WELL AP Registration Fees
The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) announced today that through 2020, it is lowering the cost of registration to pursue its WELL AP credential by over 50 percent, to $299US. Students as well as individuals who are out of work or who have lost their jobs due to the current health crisis, will be charged only $99US, with IWBI covering the difference.
According to Rick Fedrizzi, chairman and CEO, IWBI, “These weeks when so many of us are responding to the stay-at-home edicts that are part of the virus defense present a … Show more
Stephanie Horowitz of ZeroEnergy Design, Interviewed by Architectural Digest on Architecture and Climate Change
ZeroEnergy Design's net-positive farmhouse in Lincoln, Massachusetts.
Stephanie Horowitz, Managing Director at ZeroEnergy Design, a Rate It Green Member, was recently interviewed for an article by Elizabeth Stamp of Architectural Digest: “How the Architecture Industry Is Reacting to Climate Change.” The article discusses the energy use and CO2 emissions that building construction contributes, and the opportunity and responsibility the field has to make an impact.
… Show more
IWBI Announces Three Impressive Initiatives to Support the Green & Healthy Building and Wider Communities in this Time of Crisis
The International Well Building Institute (IWBI) has announced a number of initiatives designed to help and support the green and healthy building and wider communities in the time of crisis surrounding the coronavirus.
First, IWBI will be setting up a Task Force to help bring together experts and further inform WELL Building Standard improvements, but also general prevention and preparedness, and recovery efforts.
Existing task force members:
Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D., MBA, former president and CEO of t… Show more
Green Builders, Let's Gather! IFLI Hosts a Happy Hour, Fridays at 3 - 5 pm EST
The International Living Future Institute has issued an offer and a call to gather!
"Talk Living Buildings, sustainability, and regenerative design with other advanced practitioners - without leaving your couch!"
The International Living Future Institute (ILFI) is hosting a global "It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere" Happy Hour* every Friday, from 3 PM - 5 PM EST, until everyone can gather again in person. Join IFLI for 30 minutes, or the full two hours. It's casual and up to you… Show more
3-Part Webinar Series: Quarantine and Responses to COVID-19: What We Know, What You Can Do (Recorded 3/19, Available free, no registration required)
Healthy Indoors, The Building Performance Workshop, and the Maine Indoor Air Quality Council offered a series of three webinars on Friday, March 19. The webinars are now available as recordings, with no registration required.
These are comfortable, fairly approachable conversations, definitely by experts. When they get too technical, someone on the panel usually brings the conversation back to what everyone might need to know for living in our homes in a way we didn't initially plan for them, and what to… Show more
Global GreenTag Launches the World’s First Modern Slavery Transparency Declaration
“The time has come for Modern Slavery to be removed from history,”
-Mary-Lou Kelly, Global GreenTag, Managing Director
Global Green Tag has launched the start of a world first Modern Slavery Transparency Declaration, the Global GreenTag MSD, at the New York Build Expo where delegates were invited to become part of a global stakeholder consultation process to ready the Declaration for industry by the end of April 2020.
According to Mary-Lou Kelly, Global GreenTag Managing Director ,“The … Show more
Microsoft Pledges to Go Carbon Negative by 2030
Microsoft took an impressive climate leadership position this week when the company announced a promise to remove all of the carbon the company has ever put in the atmosphere directly or by consumption - back to the company’s founding in a garage in 1975. The company plans to be “carbon negative” by 2030.
According to a company statement by President Brad Smith, "While the world will need to reach net zero, those of us who can afford to move faster and go further should do so."
To r… Show more
Google's Nevada Data Center to be Powered by a $1 Billion Solar Farm
Google’s new data center in Henderson, Nevada will be powered largely by a $1 billion solar farm. The project is one of the largest corporate solar deals signed in the US, and maybe the the world’s larges such deal once battery-backed storage is included. Expected to be completed in 2023, the farm will produce up to 690MW of electricity. 380MW of lithium-ion batter storage will also be on site.
The planned site consists of 7,100 acres of public land and is located about 33 miles northeast of Las Vegas … Show more
The Living Future Institute's Framework for Affordable Housing - 2019 Update Released
The Living Future Institute has released an update of the organization’s Framework for Affordable Housing, first published in 2014. The Framework offers guidance and resources for providing multi-family sustainable affordable housing that is safe and healthy. The Living Future Institute also works with 27 leading housing developers to build multi-family housing projects that have no energy bills and are free from toxic materials.
To download the Toolkit, and to learn more and view related, additional resour… Show more
South Carolina’s Energy Freedom Act - Passed with Bipartisan Support (Unanimous in the Legislature)
The number of solar installations in South Carolina may more than double in the next five years with the recent passing of the Solar Energy Freedom Act, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). The new law is exciting for a number of reasons, but perhaps most notable is that the South Carolina Senate and House votes were unanimous. This bipartisan support is exciting and a great sign at a time when reducing energy use and promoting sustainable and renewable energy are critical to meet climate goals requ… Show more
LEED® and USGBC Recognize Global GreenTag Product Health Declaration™ (the GreenTag PhD™)
Congratulations to Rate It Green Member, Global GreenTag LLC, Americas! The certifier’s Global GreenTag PhD, Materials Transparency Certification Program (reviewed and assessed by the LEED Committee and MR Technical Advisory Group (TAG) has been formally recognized within the LEED framework of Rating Systems. The program is among the most stringent product disclosures in the world, and now noted by LEED and USGBC (US Green Building Council) as a Program that is formally recognized for not only LEED v4.1 but also v4.0, appearing in th… Show more
New York Passes Landmark Climate & Community Protection Act - 100% Carbon-Free Electricity by 2040, Net-Zero Carbon Emissions by 2050
With Andrew Cuomo's signature, New York joins California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Washington, in committing to generate 100% of the states electricity from carbon-free sources including solar, wind, hydropower, (and nuclear power for some, but that's a discussion for another day) by 2050 at the latest. Hawaii, Washington, DC and Puerto Rico have also targeted 100% clean power.
The state's goal to reach 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2040 and economy-wide, net-zero carbon emissions by 20… Show more
Hunter Douglas Continues Working with Habitat for Humanity, Partnering with Local Dealers
Rate It Green Member Hunter Douglas has been a longtime supporter of Habitat for Humanity, and the company is continuing this work this summer while partnering with local dealers around the country.
A first project this summer involved North County Blind Co. and supported San Diego Habitat for Humanity. Since 1988, SDHFH has built over 200 homes throughout San Diego County, serving 900 men, women and children, with the support of nearly 200,000 volunteers and generous corporate and government partners.
… Show more
Wolfworks Inc. Wins the Connecticut Zero Energy Challenge
Rate It Green Member Wolfworks has won the Connecticut Zero Energy Challenge sponsored by energizeCT - for the 4th time!
The CT Zero Energy Challenge spotlights Connecticut homes that produce as much energy as they use. The 2018 Grand Prize award winning home was designed and built by Wolfworks on a hilltop site in Higganum.
With a compact 1000SF footprint, the home includes a 250SF loft space for a professional artist. The structure has a thick shell for insulation and is oriented for the large … Show more
Whole Forest, awarded Best in Show for Flooring by the IFDA at ICFF 2019
Congratulations to Whole Forest, awarded Best in Show for Flooring by the IFDA (International Furnishing and Design Association) at ICFF (International Contemporary Furniture Fair) 2019!
Whole Forest, a hardwoods manufacturer specializing in sustainable forestry, offers a range of carbon-negative wood products from cutting boards to tables to countertops and flooring. “We saw a big opportunity to reduce carbon emissions in two industries that together release almost half of all climate emissions,” says preside… Show more
Kari Klaus of RealtySage, Selected to Represent US at Global Entrepreneurship Summit
Kari Klaus, founder of RealtySage.com was selected by the State Department to represent the US at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit at the Hague in June.
Realty Sage (formerly Viva Green Homes) uses big data and AI to implement, verify, and analyze critical energy efficient, renewable and smart technology data in a software as a service (SAAS) residential real estate platform. RS automates this data into listings and to provide an instant Sage Score to identify homes with beneficial features.
The… Show more
Kirei Turns 107 Million Plastic Bottles (and Counting!) into Acoustic Panels
Rate It Green Member Kirei reported this June that the company has helped save 107 million bottles from the landfill, with plans to keep that number growing. The company's PET EchoPanels are 100% environmentally sustainable, while Coco Panels and Kirei Boards (pictured bellow) are made from all natural, environmentally friendly, reclaimed products.
According to the company, "It is the responsibility of companies like Kirei to ensure that our production is ethically and environmentally respectful throughout every sta… Show more
Chicago Commits to 100% Renewable Energy By 2040
Chicago has become the largest US City to date to commit to 100% Renewable Energy by 2035, and additionally the City Council voted to electrify the city's bus fleet by 2040.
Sierra Club documents similar 100% commitments by additional cities, counties and states: https://www.sierraclub.org/ready-for-100/commitments.
According to the Sierra Club site as of June 2019, "Across the U.S. over 90 cities, more than ten counties and two states, have already adopted ambitious 100% clean energy goals. Six cities in t… Show more
Green Building Melting Pot - A Quick Look at Our 100 Most Recent Company Members
Who’s joining the Rate It Green community, and how are we evolving? We were curious at to what we'd learn if we took a snapshot of the most recent 100 companies to become Rate It Green Members.
I was pleased to see the diversity we’re seeing as we grow. 12 of our most recent organization members are Building/Contracting organizations, which makes sense, but we saw higher percentages of other service organizations, including cleaning/remediation services (9), plumbing (9), and real … Show more
Spotlight on GreenCE Inc., our Newest Premium Listed Company
We’re pleased to introduce GreenCE, Inc. as a sponsor for the Rate It Green platform. GreenCE is an AIA Education Provider and USGBC Education Partner based in the Portland, Oregon area. GreenCE provides free AIA continuing education for design professionals seeking their mandatory CE hours. In addition, the organization offers no-cost LEED specific hours and the only free LEED Exam Prep program in North America.
“We are very excited to be working with Rate It Green. Collaboration and innovation are the core principle… Show more
Rate It Green's Open Green Building Calendar
We're excited to announce the launch of Rate It Green's open Green Building Calendar. More than the tool itself and the events we can now host and promote, this calendar represents the idea of expanding collaboration. As a platform, Rate It Green of course facilitates online connecting and discussion. But we all know that when we can get together in person, we can also learn and collaborate in tremendous ways.
What's so exciting about a Calendar? Lots! For one thing, the calendar will accept events in ANY&… Show more
Post Election '16 - What Can You Do?
Rate It Green is not a political organization to be sure, but this community resource supports the natural environment by working with others to lessen the impact of the built environment. We promote healthy and sustainable building practices, and it's our goal to help as many people and companies connect and share informatoin to help green building become mainstream. As such, our goals pretty much make it clear that we support safe air and water, healthy and green materials and buildings, resouce and energy efficiency , reuse a… Show more
See you in New Orleans!
Allison Friedman will be attending the Healthy Building Materials Summit and Greenbuild October 21 - 25, in New Orleans. Email afriedman@rateitgreen.com if you are also attending and want to meet in person. Here's to a great week! Show more
Build YOUR Ideal Rate It Green!
With Rate It Green's Community features now live, it's now time to build YOUR ideal Green Building Community! Ideas for participation include:
Create a Profile, and show off your talents and expertise
Register Your Company and List your Products and Services
Rate Products and Services you have worked with
Start or join a Discussion, and ask or answer questions
Create or Join a group of folks with similar interests
Submit a "Comments" for a Directory listing
Reach out to other M… Show more