From the Houston Business Journal:

The office building at 717 Texas in downtown Houston has become the first Texas skyscraper to achieve LEED Platinum certification for existing buildings from the U.S. Green Building Council.The 33-story tower owned by Hines was the first downtown office building to receive LEED certification from the council when it was awarded a Silver certification in early 2009.Houston-based Hines made additional sustainable upgrades to the 696,000-square-foot building and sought recertification as LEED Platinum. Hines was successful in earning the designation with the help of Houston architecture firm Kirksey.Improvements from the building’s previous Silver certification included an Energy Star rating boost; increased waste diversion rates; further reductions in potable water use inside the building; zero potable water use for exterior landscaping; and improvements in green cleaning products and practices.

Read More Here at the Houston Business Journal.

Hines 717 Texas Earns LEED Platinum is a post from: Green Efficient LEED Blog

From today’s Houston Chronicle:

Principal Real Estate Investors has acquired the Westway III office building from DNA. The 182,000-square-foot building was completed in 2008 and has earned Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold certification status. CB Richard Ellis will handle management and leasing of the property on behalf of Principal Real Estate Investors.

Based on our research, Westway III has been vacant since it was built. It was previously managed & leased by Transwestern.

Empty Westway III Project Sold is a post from: Green Efficient LEED Blog

With the start of the Houston Rockets 2010-2011 season upon us, I felt it was important to help them remind the public of their commitment to LEED. Back in July of 2010, the marketing blitz told us all about how Toyota Center was now a LEED certified building. Good for them.Tad Brown, Rockets CEO stated:“This certification serves as validation that our aggressive approach to energy management, recycling and waste reduction programs have made a difference here at Toyota Center and in our community. Toyota Center has a unique opportunity to serve as an industry leader in the future of sustainability. We are operating in a more environmentally conscious manner and educating the millions of patrons that attend Toyota Center events each year regarding ways they can help.”

Fresh Houston Rockets Season – Fresher Indoor Air? is a post from: Green Efficient LEED Blog

Congratulations to Anadarko, Crimson and the other team members who played a part in getting Anadarko’s Timberloch building in The Woodlands, Texas to LEED(r) Silver Certification. The US Green Building Council made the award recently and Anadarko sent out the following press release:”As an energy producer, we are keenly aware of the importance of energy conservation, and achieving back-to-back LEED certifications for both of our corporate office buildings in The Woodlands is a testament to that understanding and our commitment,” Anadarko Real Estate and Facilities Manager John Frere said. “I am very proud of the work by our facilities teams to improve conservation, achieve greater energy efficiency and enhance the overall environmental performance of the Timberloch building and our entire corporate office complex.”The Timberloch building, which is located at 1200 Timberloch Place, was completed in 1998. Under Anadarko’s ownership, the Timberloch building was upgraded to achieve LEED Silver certification for energy use, lighting, water and material use, as well as incorporating a variety of other sustainable strategies. The LEED Silver certification of the Timberloch building follows last year’s LEED certification of the adjacent 30-story Anadarko Tower, which was the first office building in The Woodlands to achieve LEED certification. Both buildings also are recognized for their savings on energy consumption with the Energy Star Award given by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.The company has worked collaboratively with various vendors to upgrade and maximize features of both buildings such as the air filtration, the building automation system, and lighting infrastructure and controls. In addition, the team improved recycling programs and implemented green-cleaning and water-usage control programs.The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System(TM) is an internationally recognized green building certification system that provides independent, third-party verification that a building meets the highest green building and performance measures.Source: Anadarko Petroleum Corporation

Anadarko Building Awarded LEED is a post from: Green Efficient LEED Blog

Take a look at the following magazine about hip stuff, cool gadgets and life management. with beans

Great New Online Magazine is a post from: Green Efficient LEED Blog

Congrats to the new largest educational recipient of the LEED Platinum designation. The St. Olaf Regents Hall of Natural and Mathematical Sciences has been granted the highest level available from the respected Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System. The nearly 200,000 sq ft facility cost nearly $63 Million.For more info, you can read St. Olaf’s press release here.

LEED Platnium is a post from: Green Efficient LEED Blog

site of the Summit Series

Summit Series – November 2009 is a post from: Green Efficient LEED Blog

As I roam around and speak to different LEED architects across the country, I am seeing an interesting occurrence.  I am seeing really small, almost micro-LEED, projects pop up. I spoke with someone in Washington state earlier this week who is working on a 3,000 sq ft brewery. That’s amazing that a company would care so much about their carbon footprint that they would pay the application fee for such a small project.This could have a profound impact on mid-sized commercial facilities, specifically 20,000 to 40,000 facilities. How will the valuation of these micro-LEED projects change when the cost for compliance greatly escalated the constructed price per square foot?

Smaller LEED Projects is a post from: Green Efficient LEED Blog

Here’s another reason to build green: a one-year tax break from the city.

To offset some of the costs associated with applying for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, the city is giving a 1 to 10 percent tax abatement depending on how green a commercial building operates.

And the builder or owner must have spent at least $100,000 on making the building more environmentally sound.

Ordinances governing tax abatements must be renewed every two years, and the city recently updated its policies to include the green incentive.

The city made another change relating to accountability.

Companies that receive tax breaks — which typically last 10 years — do so based on their promises to make certain investments and create jobs.

Now those companies must provide an annual report to the city demon-strating that they’re holding up their end of the bargain.

“If they don’t, we ask for it back,” said Tim Douglass, deputy director of finance for economic development for the city of Houston.

Harris County also offers a green building tax abatement.

This is a repost from chron.com

Houston Tax Abatements for LEED is a post from: Green Efficient LEED Blog

It may not look green.  It may not feel green.  It may not even sound green, but everything about the USGBC’s headquarters is green.  The U.S. Green Building Council’s new corporate headquarters in Washington D.C. is a sparkling example of sustainability and goes to prove that sustainability does not preclude crisp, new age style.The first two items you might notice could well be the spiffy terrazzo floors and the glass over glass over glass airy look.  The walls are crisp and white and feature 500 year old salvaged wood timber.Design has been created by environmentally sensitive Envision Design and complies with the USGBC’s “ideas-and-ideals into action” program.  Envision Design is one of the foremost Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) design in the country.Washington-based Envision Design was co-founded by Kendall Wilson and partner Diana Horvat.  Their first project was the Greenspeace headquarters in 1999.  At that time, green design was more conceptual than practical.  The growth of Envision Design parallels the growth of the sustainable movement and the expansion of the USGBC’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) rating system.The sustainable movement took public endorsements from environmental spokespersons Al Gore and Ed Mazria and turned downwind.  LEED® and the USGBC had been the major players in establishing benchmark sustainability standards ever since.In 2005, the USGBC celebrated the registration of one thousand projects.  In 2008, more than 9,000 projects were LEED® registered.  Actually, the first green standards program was the UK’s Building Research Establishment Assessment Method.  The USGBC’s LEED® original program caused architectural angst and was far from perfect, like the sustainable movement itself.  However, the council willingness to engage, observe and adjust has established the LEED®’s leadership role.“LEED® really upped the ante for green building.  Everyone complains about LEED®, but there’s no debate that it has been transforming in terms of demand,” said Wilson.  The new USGBC headquarters is worth a visit and well worth a tour.  Where else will you see lighting that consumes less than half a watt per square foot?

The USGBC – Leading by Example is a post from: Green Efficient LEED Blog