Energy Ace Welcomes Elaine Durr
Elaine Durr, LEED AP, has joined Energy Ace as Sustainability Consultant.
Elaine has a
Masters of Earth and Environmental Resources Management from the University of
South Carolina and a bachelors degree in Environmental Science and Biology from Monmouth
College in Monmouth, Illinois. She assisted with LEED project
administration for projects at USC while attending graduate school.
She conducted
her thesis on the topic of green building to identify the appropriate LEED
water efficiency credits to seek in the southeast and the most effective
strategies to achieve them. She utilized USC's West Quad, a LEED
certified silver residence hall and living learning center, as a case study to
determine how much water (and money) implementing such water efficiency
strategies does save.
Elaine served as a graduate assistant for the
Sustainable Universities Initiative (SUI) where she conducted environmental
assessments, developed a sustainability report, and delivered "Sustainable
Living" presentations.
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Ethanol Hangover
Energy Ace
has commented several times on the ethical and economic issues of food versus fuel. Now the mainstream press is picking up on this idea.
In January the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the boom in demand for ethanol, mostly from corn in this country, could produce a hangover for consumers who eat (that's all of us, right?) from higher prices. Food companies warn of price hikes for food products from corn (Corn Flakes, for starters) and also for animal products (milk, cheese, beef, chicken) where corn is a feed. There is an ethical question, too, as poor countries will be less able to buy US corn.
Last month the Associated Press reported that farmers will plant more corn this year than any year since 1944 but predict that corn prices will rise anyhow.
In the paper on the same day was a story that the US is talking to Brazil about ethanol but not talking about eliminating our country's 53 cent a gallon tax on Brazilian ethanol. Brazil is the world's largest ethanol-producer and exporter, and produces it from sugar cane. |
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My Campus is Greener than Yours
Last month Energy Ace reported that 126 college presidents have signed the Presidents Climate Commitment. That number is now 160. The Presidents Climate Commitment is a pledge to begin immediately reducing greenhouse gas emissions, perform a survey of present campus sources of CO2, and a promise to either (choose two) pursue LEED Silver for new buildings, buy Energy Star appliances, purchase green-e certificates to offset university travel, buy 15% renewable energy, provide access to public transportation or use the university endowment to invest in green companies. Visit www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org for more info and contact contact Energy Ace to learn how we can help your campus set and meet its targets for greenhouse gas emissions and energy conservation.  This photo is of the West Quad student housing complex at the University of South Carolina. It is one of the largest green residence calls in the
country and will be the site of and a subject of a SCUP Workshop on Sustainability in May, described in "Upcoming Presentations" below. Contact Elaine Durr for more information. |
School Energy News
"LEED
for Schools," which began life two years ago as a mere Application Guide,
has matured into a full-grown LEED Rating System on the level of LEEDNC, CS, CI, EB etc. The
"ballot draft" was voted on by the membership early in April and presumably passed.
Entirely
new credits have been added, leading to more total points possible (79, not 69
as in NC). Some of the interesting new credits and prerequisites are:
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Environmental Site Assessment (prereq)
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Site Master Plan (SS9) credit that requires the project to earn 4 of 7
other SS credits and also create a Master Plan to protect the other SS credits
from future demolition
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Joint Use of Facilities (SS10) requires that the school collaborate with
its community to share facilities like ballfields, auditorium, parking lot etc.
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Water Efficiency (WE) credits are expanded to include a new one for
process water conservation (aimed at school cafeterias and laundries)
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The EA credit for Energy Performance is modified to require achievement
of 2 points as a minimum
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A new IEQ prerequisite mandates minimum acoustical performance and a
credit is offered for enhanced acoustical performance
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A new IEQ credit has been created for mold prevention
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Finally, a new innovation credit is established for the School as a
Teaching Tool  There are a number of other, lesser differences between LEED
for Schools and NC but this highlights the big ones that you should be aware
of.
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Supreme Court Goes Green
In one of the most important environmental rulings in years, the Supreme Court decided last week that the EPA indeed has the authority to regulate greenhouse gases from automobile emissions. The "Agency Can't Avoid Its Authority" to regulate greenhouse gases, said Linda Greenhouse (no kidding) in the New York Times.
Tailpipe emissions, she said, account for one-fourth of greenhouse gas emissions in the US. (Another 48% comes from buildings and those of us pursuing LEED buildings are helping to control that.)
On the same day The Supreme Court ruled, 9-0, against Duke Energy concerning the Clean Air Act (CAA) and whether adding capacity or making renovations to existing power plants or factories required compliance with the New Source Review standards of the CAA that mandate pollution prevention upgrades.
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Car Talk
"An Environmentalist's Guide to Gasoline" was recently published by the Sierra Club (www.sierraclub.org) to rank the major oil companies according to green standards. The top of the barrel (i.e., best) was BP and Sunoco. The worst were ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips. In the middle were Shell, Chevron, Citgo (owned by our friends in Venezuela) and Valero.
Gasoline Prices Creeping Back Up: You probably don't need Energy Ace to tell you this, but gasoline prices are rising again after a welcome period of decline. According to the Fuel Gauge Report, a AAA service, regular unleaded was $2.79 this week, ten percent higher than a month ago.
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Climate Change on Wall Street
Green can mean green, according to Goldman Sachs, and CitiCorp, JP Morgan and Merrill Lynch are starting to agree. Not only is its new $2 billion tower in New York a green building and the executives drive hybrid cars, but Goldman Sachs is advising its clients to go green, too.
Newsweek reported last month that when two of its clients wanted to buy TXU, "a Texas utility that has become a poster child for global warming," it advised them to make green changes to sweeten the deal. The buyers nixed 9 of 11 coal fueled power plants TXU had planned and invested $400 million in energy programs like wind power.
Lehman Brothers and others are advising clients on climate consequences of their business decisions and telling them to "get green, go green," said Newsweek. Or, as Gordon Gekko might have said, "Green is Good."
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Upcoming Presentations by Energy Ace Personnel
"Getting
the Most from Performance Contracting" will be presented to TNAPPA, the
Tennessee Chapter of the Association of Physical Plant Administrators on May 16th
at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee.
Please contact donohueb@outreach.utk.edu
for information.
Wayne Robertson will present "What you Need to Know about
Commissioning" to the Chattanooga Chapter of the US Green Building Council on
May 30th. Contact anj.mcclain@tricycleinc.com for
information.
Monica Mastrianni, President of BMW Architects in Savannah and Elaine Durr of Energy Ace will present an "Introduction to
LEED" to the Sustainability Symposium at University of South Carolina, Beaufort campus, on April 27th. Contact suzanne.shelledy@bmwarch.com for
additional information.
Elaine Durr will speak at the SCUP Mini Conference at University of South Carolina May 17th and will lead a tour of the West Quad green dorm. The Conference is 8am to 3:30pm. Contact Elaine Durr for more info or go to the SCUP website.
A LEED
panel of developers, architects and contractors will be moderated by Wayne Robertson
for the Georgia Economic Development Authority on April 23rd in Young
Harris, Georgia.
Contact thatcheryoung@gmail.com
for details.
Contact Energy Ace about making a presentation to your group.
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