Number of green buildings certified by the US Green Building Council (usgbc.org) as of October 11, 2005:
331
(USGBC)
Number of these buildings that are in California:
46
(USGBC)
Number of LEED Platinum buildings in California:
5
(USGBC)
Location of largest LEED Platinum building in the world:
ITC Limited Headquarters in Gurgaon, India
(Engineering News Record)
Number of building industry professionals who have earned Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) professional accreditation as of June 28, 2005:
over 20,000
(USGBC)
Number of correct answers needed to pass the 73-question LEED exam:
39
(USGBC)
Percentage of US energy use by buildings:
40
Percentage of US electric energy use by buildings:
70
(2002 Buildings Energy Datebook)
Percentage of global population represented by the US: 5; Percentage of global energy use by the US:
25
(2002 Buildings Energy Datebook)
Largest energy end use in residential buildings:
space heating at 33%
Largest energy end use in commercial buildings:
lighting at 24%
(2002 Buildings Energy Datebook)
Rank of California in the world as a consumer of gasoline:
number 2 (the U.S. as a whole is number 1)
(California Energy Commission)
Per capita daily water use in California’s central valley:
300 gallons per person
Per capita daily water use by some of California central coast residents:
50 gallons per person
(Association of California Water Agencies)
Average amount of water used to manufacture a new car:
39,090 gallons
Amount of water needed to produce one ton of steel:
62,600 gallons
(US Environmental Protection Agency)
Average weight of waste resulting from the construction of a single-family home:
4 pounds per square foot of constructed floor area
(2002 Buildings Energy Datebook)
Terms that most architects didn’t need in social settings prior to LEED:
cellulose insulation with borates, embodied energy, fly ash, geothermal heat exchange, hydrochlorofluorocarbon, pervious paving, stack-effect, thermal bridge, volatile organic compounds, and xeriscape
(McGraw-Hill Construction)
Some web sites with green in the URL:
greenerbuildings.com, greenclips.com, greenhomebuilding.com, greenhomeguide.com, greenfuseenergy.com, greendesign.net, globalgreen.org, buildinggreen.com, igreenbuild.com
(AIACC)
Overheard during a LEED panel discussion in Los Angeles:
“Don’t try to push sustainability with a developer who drives a Hummer.”
Originally published 4th quarter 2005 in arcCA 05.4, “Sustain Ability.”
