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| Solar Essentials |
| It's time to get back to the basics! This installment of Solar Essentials includes a feature article that covers that essential component of the photovoltaics industry--the solar cell. Plus a special vendors guide presents specs on solar racks, mounts and trackers! |
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2007 Solar Essentials Guide
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| Energy Analysis |
2008 Energy Analysis Roundup
The newly formed ConnectPress Infrastructure team presents a Special Report on Energy Analysis, featuring a collection of articles, case studies and an accompanying Vendor's Directory, which lists specialized analysis tools for testing energy efficiency.
Engineers, designers and architects alike have many options when it comes to conducting energy consumption tests. Most commonly, designers create the model first and then analyze. However, a growing trend stemming from the green phenomena takes into consideration energy consumption before the design phase begins, therefore shaping the process.
Companies like Autodesk and Bentley Systems are also increasing their portfolios by acquiring energy analysis software firms in an attempt to help architecture engineering, and construction (AEC) professionals meet sustainability goals.
ConnectPress has brought together a selection of articles on recycling energy, eliminating carbon from buildings, solar energy power system usage and other processes for analyzing energy measurements, plus specific examples of successful LEED-certified projects – and much more.
Eying Solar Energy Analysis by Marilyn Pitts, ConnectPress Editor – One component of energy analysis is evaluation of potential solar energy power system usage. This feature looks at how analysis of solar energy plays a part in energy-efficient green building design.
Rethinking Buildings by Staci Matlock, ConnectPress Staff Writer – Energy efficient buildings are more critical in addressing climate change than fuel-efficient cars, says Santa Fe architect Edward Mazria, founder of Architecture 2030. Learn about the no carbon initiative proposed by Mazria in this feature.
Recycled Energy and Co-generation Could Power the Future by Staci Matlock – Find out how Thomas Casten, chairman of Recycled Energy Development (RED), has been lobbying for better energy efficiencies and decentralized power for 30 years.
Chartwell School Goes Platinum by Rita Stange, ConnectPress Senior Editor - Find out how the commitment to build the best learning environment led the Chartwell School to achieve LEED Platinum certification.
Energy Analysis Tools Boost Efficiencies by ConnectPress Staff Writers - Energy analysis software tools consider the interaction between many factors, from lighting to weather data, in determining a building's total energy use. See what tools are available for performing these energy analysis tasks.
The Importance of Measuring Building Energy Use by Brandi McManus, energy services manager, TAC, a supplier of integrated building management systems. - According to McManus, the U.S. Green Buildings Council estimates that commercial office buildings use 20 percent more energy than necessary. In this column McManus explains how by partnering with an energy specialist, the CFO can get actionable information to help reduce operating expenses.
Flomerics Software Helps Bronswerk Develop Groundbreaking Air-Cooled Coolers and Innovative Fans with Environmental Impact by Flomerics - Bronswerk Heat Transfer used EFD.Pro, an easy-to-use general purpose engineering fluid dynamics software from Flomerics, to develop new air-cooled coolers and innovative fans. The potential energy savings worldwide of this new design can be staggering as their product can save 15 percent of the electricity it uses.
Burt Hill: Sustainable Strategies on Educational Center Facilitated by IES Ltd's Software by Integrated Environmental Solutions - In this case study architectural consultants Burt Hill uses IES software and Revit Architecture to meet demanding budget and schedule constraints, in addition to achieving LEED certification, on the Springfield Literacy Center project.
Optimizing Energy Analysis Functionality by Rita Stange – This feature looks at current Autodesk energy analysis tools and how Autodesk attempts to strengthen energy analysis options with the Carmel Software acquisition and the pending acquisition of Green Building Studio. |
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2008 Energy Analysis Guide
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| Certifications & Standards |
2008 Green Building Standards and Certification Roundup
Compiled by ConnectPress Staff
Welcome to this Special Report on Green Building Standards and Certification brought to you by ConnectPress. In addition to nearly a dozen articles, this roundup includes a special Directory compiled by ConnectPress staff that provides a useful list of organizations in the standards and certification sector as well as vendors offering green building products or services that feature various certifications and meet numerous standards.
As the green building industry grows, so does its increasing need for its own unique certifications and standards that take into consideration specific sustainable design building requirements and materials. Certification programs such as LEED, Green Home Building Guidelines and Green Globes are one way industry professionals measure the “greenness” of a building, and this roundup features a number of articles addressing the advantages and challenges of these green building certification programs.
Further, the road to sustainable design typically involves various parties including local, state and federal entities; architects; builders; local green organizations; and other interested parties. The ways in which green buildings successfully meet certifications, standards and codes help serve as a role model for others in the industry. To that end, this special report includes articles, whitepapers and reports that look at how leaders in the industry are developing and fulfilling certification and standard requirements.
The following overviews give a snapshot of each of the articles included in this special roundup:
Surviving the Green Building Certification Maze By Staci Matlock ConnectPress Staff Writer
Navigating the intricacies of green building certification programs can be confusing. This review looks at three major certification programs—Green Home Building Guidelines, LEED and Green Globes--and evaluates their features, costs, differences and challenges.
Green Acronym Soup: Certification and Standards By Marilyn Pitts, ConnectPress Editor
LEED, Green Globes, ANSI, FSC, ASHRAE, NABCEP--these are just a few of the many green building standards and certification acronyms and “green” titles. This primer “translates” and explains over 25 of some of the more commonly found examples.
Knowing Your Stuff: Getting Certified in the Green and Solar Worlds By Rita Stange, ConnectPress
This feature looks at some of the certifications available for individuals in the green building and solar industries, including LEED-AP and PV Installer Certification.
LEED Certification - What's It All About? By Staci Matlock
There's a lot involved in obtaining LEED certification. Find out the pluses and challenges of LEED, and what changes have occurred in the process since its inception.
Top Green States Regulate LEED Standards By Staci Matlock
From federal agencies and school jurisdictions to states, counties and cities, an increasing number are instituting green building codes. This overview looks at who's joining the green building bandwagon.
Encouraging Green Incentives: AIA's Sustainability Report By Marilyn Pitts
AIA's “Local Leaders in Sustainability - Green Incentives” report provides insights into today's green building incentives, looking at the incentives being offered in a variety of municipalities nationwide. Find out what cities as diverse as Seattle, Chicago, Cincinnati, Santa Monica, Calif., and Arlington, Va., are offering to promote green building.
Greener Counties: AIA Report Highlights Sustainability Leaders By Marilyn Pitts
AIA's "Local Leaders in Sustainability: Green Counties" explores the spread of green building programs. Learn how counties have developed and adjusted their sustainable building policies.
The Economics of LEED-EB: A White Paper Looks at the Costs By Leonardo Academy
Leonardo Academy's white paper evaluates the costs of obtaining LEED-EB. Find out about low-cost and no-cost sustainability actions.
Going for Green Not LEED: Garthwaite Center for Science and Art By Staci Matlock
Garthwaite Center for Science and Art--an AIA COTE 2008 Top Ten Green Projects award winner--followed LEED guidelines, achieving enough points to be eligible for LEED Platinum certification, but did not apply. Find out what made this facility so green and why they opted not to go for LEED.
Tomorrow's Green Neighborhood: The Development of Porchscapes By Staci Matlock
Porchscapes is a planned Low Impact Development (LID) and one of the neighborhood projects the USGBC is tracking as part of a LEED for Neighborhood Development pilot program. This overview details the unique design features and the resulting challenges faced in creating this neighborhood of the future.
Turning Green: Santa Fe, NM Reenergizes Building Codes By Staci Matlock
Santa Fe, N.M., is currently working on drafting a set of building codes that will encompass some, if not all Architecture 2030 goals. Find out how the nation's oldest capital city is now working on making it one of the greenest. |
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2008 Certifications & Standards Guide
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| Solar Essentials |
| The latest Solar Essentials, including a Solar Batteries Vendors Chart1 |
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2007 Solar Essentials Guide
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| Solar Essentials 2 |
| A look at Balance of System components, plus a Solar Charge Controllers and Chargers Vendors Chart |
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2007 Solar Essentials 2 Guide
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| Solar Essentials 2 |
| A look at more Balance of System components including inverters and controllers. Plus an Inverters Vendors Guide! |
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2007 Solar Essentials 2 Guide
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| Sheet Metal Design |
2008 Solar Energy Design Roundup
Welcome to the Special Report on Solar Energy Design brought to you by ConnectPress. With a focus on the latest buzz in the solar energy design industry, this report runs the gamut, from hot new passive solar energy freeware to solar power services. Like all of our special reports, the SED roundup includes a Vendor's Directory, compiled by ConnectPress staff, featuring software tools and services offered by many vendors and universities. Get a feel for the free and commercial tools being used in the architecture, engineering, construction (AEC) industry, in addition to learning about the implementation of passive solar, solar energy design projects and more.
Here is an overview of each of the articles that make up this special report:
Banking on Solar: A Passive Solar Energy Basics Primer by Marilyn Pitts, ConnectPress Editor - Thereʼs nothing ʽpassiveʼ about passive solar energy designʼs potential energy cost savings. This primer takes a look at the basic elements of passive solar design and how paying attention to features like building orientation, building structure materials and lighting concerns yields big payoffs.
Tool Spots: Spotlight on Passive Solar Energy Freeware by Marilyn Pitts, ConnectPress Editor - From passive solar energy basics to the energy effect of lighting and different shading devices, thereʼs a variety of freeware tools available on the Internet via the click of a mouse. Find out what freeware is available and check it out for yourself.
Harnessing the Sun: Georgia Tech's Solar Home by Marilyn Pitts, ConnectPress Editor - Inspired by a desire to build a structure of light, the Georgia Institute of Technology created a solar home titled “Icarus” for the 2007 Solar Decathlon. The home's design utilizes light to transform and open up a living space while also exploring the uses of light for energy.
Zeroing in on Solar Tools by ConnectPress Staff Writer Staci Matlock - Creating zero-energy buildings is the latest buzz in the industry. Making the best use of passive solar elements is one of the keys to meeting the zero-energy goal. Software tools like APACHE, Energy-10, EnerCAD and SolarPro 2 make the job of integrating and analyzing passive solar elements efficient, cost effective and pleasurable.
Glowing With Green Success: Yale's Sculpture Building and Gallery by Staci Matlock - The University of Yale's Sculpture Building was named one of the American Institute of Architects' (AIA) Committee on the Environment's Top Ten Green Projects for 2008. Kieran Timberlake Associates of Philadelphia, Penn., used Autodesk Revit to anticipate coordination issues prior to construction and to visualize the project three dimensionally— in addition to a number of software tools to track solar exposure for the site before determining the best way to orient and light the building.
Quest for the Passive: A New Mexico Home Uses Passive House Design to Achieve High Energy Efficiency by Staci Matlock - A passive house is a house that uses 10 percent of the energy required by a conventional built-to-code home for heat. Taos, N.M., architect Joaquin Karcher provides insight on what it takes to design a passive house by incorporating passive solar elements.
Solar Power Services: How PPAS are Changing the PV Value Chain by Greentech Media - Get a glimpse of key findings in this introduction to a report authored by Jon Guice, PhD and John D.H. King, MS MBA, which takes a look at how the emergence of power-purchasing services are driving solar industry growth and development, particularly photovoltaics (PV) and how they are being used by commercial and institutional facilities—financed with power purchasing agreements (PPA's). |
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2008 Solar Energy Design Guide
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| Building Information Modeling |
Green Building 2008 Building Information Modeling Roundup
By ConnectPress
ConnectPress presents its first ever special report on building information modeling (BIM). Readers will find at least a half dozen articles on BIM products and customer success stories. Plus, we also offer a Vendors Directory to inform readers about the products and services of key players in the market.
There has never been a greater need for architecture, engineering, construction and owner (AECO) teams to collaborate - producing quality projects that meet a building or infrastructure owner's needs efficiently, sustainably, on time and within budget.
The rising cost of materials as U.S. companies compete with growing Asian and Chinese markets for materials, coupled with the price of oil and global economy issues present unprecedented challenges to the AEC industry. Add to all that new standards for building “green” in ways that reduce energy needs, waste and impacts.
Ultimately this is where Building Information Modeling can help in a multitude of ways, by providing tools AECO teams can use to share ideas, data, costs and timelines early on in a project before changes are costly or are proposed too late.
Learn more in the articles below:
The Wide World of BIM by ConnectPress Staff Writer Staci Matlock - Get up to date on the latest happenings on BIM in this insightful article, including input from Autodesk representatives and other industry professionals.
National Standard Key to BIM Future - The National Building Information Model Standard Project Committee works to create an open standard for sharing facility life-cycle data and benefiting anyone involved with projects at various stages.
Bentley BIM Tools Go Beyond Buildings - Engineering giant CH2M Hill and partners use MicroStation to save salmon.
Interoperability Orchestrates BIM by Vico Software CEO Mark Sawyer - Find out why interoperability is key in Building Information Modeling (BIM) and how Vico Software addresses this.
Purpose Built for BIM - Learn about the latest picks in Building Information Modeling tools that integrate with the Autodesk Revit suite of products.
BIMStorm Planned At EcoBuild Fall in D.C. - ONUMA, Inc. uses interactive BIMStorm to teach building professionals the collaborative advantages of BIM in real time.
Growing with BIM: Burt Hill's Decade-Plus Learning Curve - Burt Hill's Director of Research Mark Dietrick talks about the international A/E firm's decade-long fine-tuning of BIM to fit the company's specific needs.
BIM Adoption - Catalyzed by Industry Trends by By Erin Hoffer, AIA LEED AP CSI, Autodesk and Brad Horst, AIA, Einhorn Yaffee Prescott- Erin Hoffer and Brad Horst discuss key trends driving BIM adoption, the role of Revit Architecture and even offer a few tips on transitioning to BIM.
Making the Case for Parallel Models by Director of Customer Implementations Vico Software Viktor Bullain - Vico Software's Director of Customer Implementations identifies seven different BIM use cases and how BIM can benefit projects. |
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2008 Building Information Modeling Guide
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