Professional Engineering Continuing Education

P.E.C.E. [ www.pece.biz ]

Performance Rating of New Buildings, The Process - Part 1

Lecturer:  Ali Badakhshan, P.E.

• GLOBAL WARMING: Global warming is already under way.

• It refers to the rise in the Earth's temperature resulting from an increase in heat-trapping gases (greenhouse gases) in the atmosphere, following table.

• It is caused primarily by CO2 and other heat-trapping emissions from burning of fossil fuels and clearing of forests

• The US GREEN BUILDING COUNCIL (USGBC) started meeting in 1995. At that time, it had 10 members. In November 2006, at the end of Green-Build (International Conference & Expo ), there were 6300 member organizations.

• Four thousand organizations added themselves to that group from 2002 to 2006.

• USGBC's 75 regional chapters are providing green building resources, education, and leadership opportunities in their communities.

• LEED^TM (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) was set up for office buildings and it’s been voluntarily applied to different building types—schools, hospitals, factories, retails.  

• The LEED^TM Rating System is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings.

• LEED^TM gives building owners and operators the tools they need to have an immediate and measurable impact on their buildings’ performance. 

• LEED^TM is recognizing performance in 5 key areas of human and environmental health:

• 1. Sustainable Site Development, 2. Water Savings, 3. Energy Efficiency and Environment, 4. Materials and Sources, and 5. Indoor Environmental Quality.

• The LEED^TM standard has been adopted nationwide by federal agencies, state and local governments, and interested private companies as the guideline for sustainable building.

Four (4) Continuing Education Hours