LEED® Certification Great Benefits to the Environment

LEED® Certification was initiated by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) just so that there will be a innovative means of marking existing or forthcoming edifices to get famous and win first choice.

It wasn't developed so that engineers, interior designers, architects, construction managers and other professionals will have a extended checklist to ensure and go by to gain well-regarded esteem and classifying, neither was it started as a means for these professionals to gain more developments to work out, nor was it set up to influence people to spend more on changing their on hand existent constructions or spend on modern materials that are now being endorsed to the market.

A Good LEED
Although if you look at it at some direction it could look that way, but all those are actually just a reply to a movement that was started to uphold environmental appreciation and to find ways to guarantee environmental sustainability for forthcoming generations.




LEED® Certification was started by the USGBC as a evaluating approach to grade the ecological performance of a building or estate and to encourage and rush wide-reaching change of developing green or change on hand existent constructions to meet superior environmental standards that will play a role in ecological sustainability and lessen global impact on the atmosphere.

Here are some of the general benefits of getting your homes or office structures LEED certified:

1. Responsible consumption of Materials and Supplies – building green demands that your building must have a system of putting together and saving of recyclables, encourages re-use of building walls, floors and roof, recycle or re-use of at least 50 percent of construction waste, use of at least 10 percent provincial materials or supplies that are sourced and manufactured within the local area, use of recycled materials in at least 10 percent of the building (e.g. insulation, steel framing and carpet tiles with high recycled content) and use of rapidly renewable materials and certified wood. These go with a certain point, some depending on the percentage used or applied that would contribute to which type of LEED certification your building or structure will gain.
2. Water Efficiency – getting your office or home LEED® Certified will also take a look at how water is being consumed in your building. There should be a water-efficient placement of bathroom and other water-using areas, use of low-flow toilets or automatic faucet controls, ingenious waste-water use techniques that would contribute to at least 20 percent cutback in water use.
   
   This could earn an achievement and will also contribute points to obtaining your LEED certification.
3. Energy Conservation – to earn points to get your building LEED certified also requires the least energy performance and optimization of energy used. There are a lot of ways as to how this can be accomplished: by using standard HVAC products, building or designing a system that will reduce the amount of energy needed for indoor lighting, placing heating and cooling systems advantageously, providing sensors, making use of air-distribution systems, designing good roof insulation and many others.
4. Indoor Environmental Quality and Ecological Sustainability – green building also looks at your indoor air quality performance and environmental tobacco smoke control. This will require improved airing, indoor and outdoor air quality observing and management, acquire a system to decrease entry of impurities, provide methods to manipulate thermal comfort, visual comfort and site improvement, stormwater design, etc.
5. Allows for Modernization and Creativity – earning a certification for LEED will also get you points for Originality and Design process. Here is where resourcefulness can benefit you in terms of contributing to the protection and maximization of the use of energy and material resources. There are lots of already LEED® certified buildings that have creative and inspiring techniques of manipulating a certain energy or resource and redirecting its waste into other uses to help maximize its worth and save up on energy usage.

LEED® Certification

Energy Saving Tips that Help Save Money

According to Consumer Reports' survey, more than 80 percent of homeowners in the US have now switched to using energy efficient light bulbs. But this is not the only way one can save energy around the house. Here are some energy saving tips that will help you cut your energy costs to up to percent:

1. Some home devices use up power even when they’re not in use. So whenever possible, unplug these devices such as coffeemakers, cell phones after they’re fully charged, etc. This will help cut off about 5 to 10 percent of your electricity consumption at home.

2. Adjust your thermostat temperatures by 5 to 10 degrees at night or during cloudy or rainy days, and when you’re not at home. This will help you save as much as 20 percent on your heating and cooling bills.

3. Change the viewing mode on your Television sets. The brightness settings on your television sets are usually turned up high in stores but when at home, there is a more energy efficient mode called “ home use” that you can switch it to.

4. You can also try adding insulation, energy efficient heating and cooling equipment, sealing air leaks and installing more reflective roofing. This will help trim your energy costs by 20 percent or more.

5. There are also Federal Energy Tax Credits which can give you 30 percent tax credit of up to $1,500 on energy efficient improvements if you qualify for it.  They also have available tax credits until 2017 for renewable energy systems such as small wind turbines and geothermal heat pumps.

If you need more guidance or consulting in making your home more energy efficient, you can visit http://www.leedtraining.net/

Aloft Charlotte Ballantyne Joins the Growing List of Leed Certified Buildings

With the growing list of energy efficient, eco-conscious, LEED certified buildings globally, Aloft Charlotte Ballantyne has joined the bandwagon and has earned its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) on September 29, 2010, making it the tenth Leed Certified property for parent Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.

Aloft Charlotte Ballantyne is a modern and convenient five star hotel situated along the grassy fields of The Golf Club located in Charlotte, an upscale lifestyle community in North Carolina.  Aloft Charlotte Ballantyne earned its Leed Certification for sustainable site development by partnering with local firms and implementing significant enhancements in energy efficiency, water conservation and green cleaning, and has proven dedication to responsible sustainable practices in operations, maintenance, and upgrades to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, conserve energy, and contribute to a healthier environment for the community.

LEED which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental was created by The United States Green Building Council (USGBC) as a point based system for rating green building. The rating system refers to a certain type of project being worked on while green building refers to the design, construction, and operation of buildings in an environmentally friendly manner by using less energy and sustainable products, and in the process reducing greenhouse gas emissions while paying attention to five key areas of human and environmental health: energy efficiency, water savings, materials selection, indoor environmental quality and sustainable site development.

Leed Certification