An urban heat island (UHI) is an urban or metropolitan area that is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural areas due to human activities. The temperature difference is usually larger at night than during the day, and is most apparent when winds are weak. UHI is most noticeable during the summer and winter. The main cause of the UHI effect is from the modification of land surfaces. Waste heat generated by energy usage is a secondary contributor. As a population center grows, it tends to expand its area and increase its average temperature. The term heat island is also used; the term can be used to refer to any area that is relatively hotter than the surrounding, but generally refers to human-disturbed areas.
Green building refers to both a structure and the application of processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle: from planning to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and demolition. This requires close cooperation of the contractor, the architects, the engineers, and the client at all project stages. The Green Building practice expands and complements the classical building design concerns of economy, utility, durability, and comfort. In doing so, the three dimensions of sustainability, i.e., planet, people and profit across the entire supply chain need to be considered.
Reflective surfaces can deliver high solar reflectance and high thermal emittance. Reflective surfaces are a form of geoengineering.
The Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) is a non-profit organization, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, which is committed to sustainable development and livable urban communities.
Chicago Community Loan Fund (CCLF) is a certified community development financial institution (CDFI) that provides loans and grants to community development organizations engaged in affordable housing, social service and economic development initiatives in Chicago.
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of green buildings, homes, and neighborhoods, which aims to help building owners and operators be environmentally responsible and use resources efficiently. By 2015, there were over 80,000 LEED-certified buildings and over 100,000 LEED-accredited professionals. Most LEED-certified buildings are located in major U.S. metropolises. LEED Canada has developed a separate rating system adapted to the Canadian climate and regulations.
A Zero Energy Building (ZEB), also known as a Net Zero Energy (NZE) building, or a Zero Net Energy (ZNE) building, is a building with net zero energy consumption, meaning the total amount of energy used by the building on an annual basis is equal to the amount of renewable energy created on the site or in other definitions by renewable energy sources offsite, using technology such as heat pumps, high efficiency windows and insulation, and solar panels. The goal is that these buildings contribute less overall greenhouse gas to the atmosphere during operations than similar non-ZNE buildings. They do at times consume non-renewable energy and produce greenhouse gases, but at other times reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas production elsewhere by the same amount. Zero-energy buildings are not only driven by a want to have less of an impact on the environment, but they are also driven by money. Tax breaks as well as savings on energy costs make Zero-energy buildings financially viable. A similar concept approved and implemented by the European Union and other agreeing countries is nearly Zero Energy Building (nZEB), with the goal of having all new buildings in the region under nZEB standards by 2020.
The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is an office within the United States Department of Energy. Formed from other energy agencies after the 1973 energy crisis, EERE is led by the Assistant Secretary of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, who is appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Kelly Speakes-Backman was appointed Acting Assistant Secretary in January 2021.
The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) is the state's lead agency responsible for homeownership, affordable rental housing, community and energy assistance programs, and colonia activities serving primarily low income Texans. The Manufactured Housing Division of TDHCA regulates the manufactured housing industry in Texas. The Department annually administers more than $400 million through for-profit, nonprofit, and local government partnerships to deliver local housing and community-based opportunities and assistance to Texans in need. The department is headquartered at 221 East 11th Street in Austin.
Solar 1 is New York City's only self-sustaining solar powered building. It houses educational facilities for Solar One, a non-profit organisation concerned with green energy, arts, and education. The Solar 1 building is located at the north end of Stuyvesant Cove Park, the city’s only all-native plant park, which Solar 1 actively maintains. Situated on a brownfield site, Stuyvesant Cove Park offers opportunities for the local community to become involved in the park and learn about its special features. The Park has been designated a Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation for providing a quality habitat by virtue of its standards of conscientious planning, landscaping and sustainable gardening. More than 250 volunteers and 80 student interns have spent more than 5,000 hours working in the park, planting, watering and weeding the thousands of new plants that have been added over the years.
Breaking Ground, formerly Common Ground, is a nonprofit social services organization in New York City whose goal is to create high-quality permanent and transitional housing for the homeless. Its philosophy holds that supportive housing costs substantially less than homeless shelters — and many times less than jail cells or hospital rooms, and that people with psychiatric and other problems can better manage them once they are permanently housed and provided with services. Since its founding in 1990 by Rosanne Haggerty, the organization has created more than 5,000 units of housing for the homeless. "This is about creating a small town, rather than just a building," according to Haggerty. "It's about a real mixed society, working with many different people." Haggerty left the organization in 2011 to found Community Solutions, Inc. Brenda Rosen was promoted from Director, Housing Operations and Programs to Executive Director, and has led the organization since.
This article provides examples of green building programs in the United States. These programs span the public, private, and non-profit sectors, and all have the goal of increasing energy efficiency and the sustainability of the built environment.
Solar power in California includes utility-scale solar power plants as well as local distributed generation, mostly from rooftop photovoltaics. It has been growing rapidly because of high insolation, community support, declining solar costs, and a Renewable Portfolio Standard which requires that 33% of California's electricity come from renewable resources by 2020, and 60% by 2030. Much of this is expected to come from solar power via photovoltaic facilities or concentrated solar power facilities.
The Urban Homesteading Assistance Board, or UHAB, is a non-profit organization in New York City that helps create and support self-help housing. UHAB works with residents to acquire, rehabilitate and manage their apartments. In the process the organization creates and helps sustain high-quality limited-equity housing cooperatives that are to remain affordable, in perpetuity, to people of low and middle-income.
Green building on college campuses is the purposeful construction of buildings on college campuses that decreases resource usage in both the building process and also the future use of the building. The goal is to reduce CO2 emissions, energy use, and water use, while creating an atmosphere where students can be healthy and learn. Universities across the country are building to green standards set forth by the USGBC, United States Green Building Council. The USGBC is a non-profit organization that promotes sustainability in how buildings are designed and built. This organization created the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, which is a certification process that provides verification that a building is environmentally sustainable. In the United States, commercial and residential buildings account for 70 percent of the electricity use and over 38 percent of CO2 emissions. Because of these huge statistics regarding resource usage and emissions, the room for more efficient building practices is dramatic. Since college campuses are where the world's future leaders are being taught, colleges are choosing to construct new buildings to green standards in order to promote environmental stewardship to their students. Colleges across the United States have taken leading roles in the construction of green building in order to reduce resource consumption, save money in the long run, and instill the importance on environmental sustainability on their students. It is a better way to motivate new generation to live a sustainable life.
The Gies College of Business Instructional Facility (BIF) is a $60 million, 160,000 sq ft (15,000 m2) state-of-the-art business facility designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects located on the Champaign campus at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (UIUC). The facility is home to numerous classrooms, career development and academic counseling centers, student program offices, a recruitment suite, a 300-seat auditorium, and a spacious study area for students. Rafael Pelli, a partner of Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects who was the project principal for the Business Instructional Facility, explained in an interview on October 17, 2008 that the purpose of this building is to serve as "a sense of place, a community, a center to the College of Business". The 'U'-shaped building consists of a large commons area, furnished mainly with wood, with a prominent glass curtain wall on the south side of BIF facing the courtyard formed by the 'U' shape. The building is the first business facility at a public university in the world to achieve a platinum certification through Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), a U.S. Green Building Council rating system used to measure the sustainability in construction, and is the first building on the UIUC campus to achieve a LEED certification. The noteworthy 'green' elements of the Business Instructional Facility include solar panels, a green roof, and an energy-efficient cooling and heating system. The combined 'green' initiatives are expected to produce savings of $300,000 per year in comparison with traditional classroom buildings on the UIUC campus.
The North Carolina Solar Center is a resource center for sustainable energy programs located at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina. When it was created in 1988, the center's focus was solar energy. The N.C. Solar Center now serves as a resource for innovative, clean energy technologies through demonstration, technical assistance, outreach and training. It also administers the Database of Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency (DSIRE), a resource providing financial incentives and policies in the energy industry.
Green affordable housing is reasonably priced housing that incorporates sustainable features. The phenomenon has become increasingly common in the United States with the adoption of state and local policies that favor or require green building practices for publicly owned or funded buildings. Potential benefits of green affordable housing include lower energy cost burden and improved health. One challenge to green affordable housing is the tendency to overlook long-term benefits in the face of higher upfront cost. The challenge for green housing advocates is to see to the life cycle cost of the building. Many affordable housing projects already find it a challenge to raise capital to finance basic affordable housing. Green affordable housing has taken form in traditionally wooden homes and most recently with 'upcycling' shipping containers
Energy Trust of Oregon is an independent nonprofit organization based in Portland, Oregon, that helps utility customers in Oregon benefit from efficient energy use and generating renewable energy. Energy Trust offers services, cash incentives, and other energy solutions to customers of Portland General Electric, Pacific Power, NW Natural, Cascade Natural Gas, and Avista in Oregon and customers of NW Natural in Washington.
GRID Alternatives (GRID) is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Oakland, California. Founded by Erica Mackie and Tim Sears in 2004, it installs solar power systems and provides job training for underserved communities and operates in the United States, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Nepal.
