Category: Deep Green

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IWBI, the International Well Building Institute, launched WELL Building Standard version 2 pilot (WELL v2) on May 31st, 2018. Under the leadership of Rick Fedrizzi (previously CEO and founding chair of the USGBC from 2001 to 2016), IWBI is working to reduce barriers to entry while maintaining features that distinguish WELL Building Standard version 1 (WELL v1) from other certifications in the market. They are keen to entice and push the existing building market towards WELL. The hope is that with the WELL v2 pilot they can close the gap and target this huge market, increasing the equity of the buildings pursuing WELL.  more

It’s officially summer vacation season. Finally.

Time to take trips to the lake or the beach, and go swimming, hiking, biking, fishing, and exploring. Enjoying all these activities usually means planning out several different trips, but Gulf State Park offers all of the above within walking distance of a new hotel built with sustainability in mind.  more

The United States Air Force is moving away from LEED certification and is moving to Guiding Principles certification.

Since 2001, new federal facilities have been required to comply with federal sustainable building requirements called the Guiding Principles for Sustainable Federal Buildings (also known simply as Guiding Principles).  more

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The pursuit of the Living Building Challenge pushes projects to be not just ‘less harmful’ to the environment, but to be at a minimum neutral and at its utmost, a ‘restorative’ impact to the environment.

The Living Building Challenge currently has over 200 projects registered in 14 countries, including the United States, Canada, China, India, Mexico, Haiti, Lebanon, France, Romania, Australia, and New Zealand, in various stages of design, construction, and occupancy.

Similar to LEED, it is a holistic approach to the building design but pushes the boundaries by achieving net positive energy, net positive water, and paying careful consideration to the materials used. Site, equity, beauty, health, and process are also critical components incorporated into the design.  more

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and its Committee on the Environment (COTE) have selected New Orleans Bio Innovation Center (NOBIC) as one of the year’s top Ten examples of sustainable architecture and ecological design projects that protect and enhance the environment. The project will be honored at the AIA 2015 National Convention and Design Exposition in Atlanta. more

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At Newcomb & Boyd, we believe in highly functional, high performance buildings. Through integrated design and commissioning, we seek to provide the best value to our clients through conceptualization and implementation of the principles of sustainable design and operations. Our portfolio of more than 60 LEED certified projects represent a wide array of building types – laboratories, higher education, military, commercial, residential, government – and bear testimony to Newcomb & Boyd’s commitment and drive to be a leader in sustainable design. more

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LEED Certification is a great first step; however, to make our environments truly sustainable, we must develop operable and maintainable solutions that build lasting value and inspire occupants to go beyond normal conventions. more

Specialty systems include many of the low-voltage systems that comprise the tools necessary for information professionals to produce work. Many applications such as e-mail, messaging, telephony, security systems and building environmental controls depend on the LAN and WAN and require a robust combination of physical hardware and logical configuration to operate correctly. As we learned by watching the heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) industry, benefits can be realized by more closely involving the design team, the contractor and the owner during the implementation phase to ensure that systems operate as intended and can prove themselves fully during a performance evaluation. more

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Vivariums present many unique challenges to design and construction professionals. Due to the stringent environmental and construction requirements, designers and builders have their hands full ensuring the facility meets the numerous standards regulating these spaces.  more

The design-build delivery method was used for the U.A. Whitaker Biomedical Engineering Building at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and the schedule was aggressive: 18 months from beginning of design until substantial completion of construction. Although Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System certification was not a project requirement, the building still has many green elements. This article describes how the design-build team incorporated green concepts into this non-LEED project, and highlights sustainable features of the architectural, electrical and HVAC systems.  more