Energy Efficiency - November 10, 2011

A Thousand Flowers Are Blooming

Los Angeles to tackle commercial buildings: Under a program using money from the stimulus program and the Clinton Climate Initiative, 400 buildings in L.A. will get energy upgrades, the L.A. Daily News said. “After undergoing a free energy assessment, eligible landlords can apply for up to $250,000 retrofit their buildings with energy-efficient technology. Officials estimate as many as 400 buildings could be eligible, ranging in size from 10,000 to 1 million square feet and including factories, offices, hotels and stores.”

“Ultra-green” building now being built: “You want green? There’s never been anything greener,” The Seattle Times said about a new office building on the city’s Capitol Hill. It’s designed to “produce as much energy as it consumes,” the newspaper said, “and move green building forward a quantum leap. Maybe two.”

Vornado Realty Trust has nearly 24 million square-feet of New York real estate property under management. A Building Services Management article outlines a number of things the company is doing, including VFDs, a CHP plant on the twelfth floor of a building, and, “Vornado also engages tenants in sustainability efforts. Through the development of a web-based Energy Information Portal (EIP), tenants can easily and quickly monitor their energy usage and make blind comparisons to similar tenants in comparable spaces. These comparisons help tenants identify and adopt energy efficiencies that are right for them – such as turning off equipment when not in use or installing more efficient lighting.”

What’s wrong with PlaNYC? An Architectural Record article on the PlaNYC green plan, which is now four years old, includes a criticism from Tom Angotti, professor of planning at Hunter College: “…the plan was written by McKinsey and Company, a consulting firm that advises banks, pharmaceutical, and telecom companies, among others. ‘It’s an accountants’ approach to the city, Angotti says, ‘not a planners’ approach’.”