What is Digg?39 Comments
- yehaww, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10Why do people always get all bent out of shape over stuff like this? Regardless of your view on global warming, or Kyoto, or GW..... green buildings are a great idea. Are they gonna save the world? Of course not, but I don't know how anyone could dismiss them as hype when you look at how efficient they can be. Why wouldn't you go green? When green becomes profitable, and it's getting there, you'll see more and more people doing it. I mean, like someone said, Wal Mart is doing it for christ sakes. And they're doing it because it saves them money and makes them look good in the process.
To say, "going green is stupid because other countries won't do it so we should just continue on our current path" is ridiculous. Show other people that going green can make economic sense and they WILL change. - jjk5, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12I was surprised the Genzyme Center wasn't on the list. It has a giant mirrored chandelier that reflects natural light throughout the building, among other things that got it a platinum rating. Here's a pretty cool virtual tour:
http://www.genzyme.com/genzctr/tour/genzyme.html
EDIT: Looks like the building has been on digg before.
http://digg.com/design/Automated_Green_The_Genzyme_Center - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7i hate forbes' damned automatic slideshows. i'll press the next button when i'm good and ready.
- neatflux, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Well, you could just read the article.
"Adobe Systems, for example, says it has spent $650,000 since 2001 to upgrade two San Jose buildings, and saved $728,000. The California Environmental Protection Agency spent $500,000 to make its building environmentally friendly, and is saving $610,000 a year. The upgrades also increased the building's value by $12 million, according to the USGBC." - adrocknaphobia, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4"Adobe is the only major corporation to receive the platinum certification; three of its buildings reached the highest rating last year."
I must say that Adobe's waterless urinals are magical. - thewaz, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6youre a ***** idiot, never post again.
some of us have changed the way we live, btw. - jgrgg, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6the building in the picture is white...
and ppl call ME stupid - ninepound, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I hate to say it, but one of the greenest buildings in our area is a Wal-Mart... But the problem is, they only care about making a profit off of what people think they're doing for the environment.
- joshua5, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5like hellooo? what did these buildings do to go "green"? the article praises everything they did but doesn't freaking say what it was
- ImOscar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I was about to read this article, then I realized it's a Forbes Slideshow. Awful, awful web design.
- Lou3000, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@joshua5
LEED accreditation is awarded for meeting a certain number of qualifications such as green roofing, water reclamation, sustainable materials, energy offsetting, etc. For each qualification a certain number of points are awarded, I don't remember the numbers but there are different levels of LEED accreditation (silver, gold, platinum). - rootryan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I've decided that every time I see an article on the frontpage that has the word green in it I'm going to kill a tree. And I'm now active in replacing the "eating animal" stickers on all the stop signs with "eating babies" stickers.
- trghpy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@joshua5
Thats because there is a huge list of "green" building materials.
Some examples are:
composit woods like corn stalks pressed into boards glued together with epoxy.
Low - E- Windows which let in a lot of light but keep the heat out.
20+ R value on the insulation.
Solar panels to help generate power
LED lights instead of hallogen/incandesant
I think This Old house has a list of materials if you want to research further. - Ajajadude, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I had an argument similar to this with someone in one of my blogs.
My college was planning to build a new "common ground" building and was debating whether or not they should spend the money to make it a "green" building, certified and all. I argued they should, even if that meant they had to scale back a bit on the size of the building, especially given the constant rising cost of water and electricity (this school is in Tampa, Florida so they spend a lot on electricity for the A/C) and other utilities. Many felt it wasn't worth the cost, even if the project put the school that much more ahead in forward progress than other state universities.
Some people just don't fully grasp the whole idea behind "green" buildings - nathanlandis, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5Yes. We need more of companies like this. Because it's not good enough to say "We need more companies like this."
- adrocknaphobia, on 10/12/2007, -6/+8xelcius: while I completely agree that the left's conspiracy that global warming is nothing short of fear politics, using less energy is still cool. Not because it 'saves the trees' but because it makes us less dependant on foreign countries.
Hehehe, and you thought _you_ were gonna get Dugg down! - megaloid, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Any sufficiently advanced urinal is indistinguishable from magic. Or so I've heard.
- thewaz, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3@ xelcius
So you refuse to believe that we are responsible for the deteriorating planet, but you still believe in the "H fuel cell will save us all" lie.
by the way, you may not see any more "pansies" 50 years from now. - Ajajadude, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Those buildings being discussed in your article aren't quite on par with the buildings being referred to in the topic at hand. They point out the bare minimum things that can be done that don't actually cause less resources to be used.
When building owners are saving hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in utility costs, chances are, they're using less resources (i.e. water and electricity). - Works4Jah, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1i too am shocked the Genzyme building isnt on this list. my office is about a block away from it and we got to take a tour of it one day. the building is simply amazing.
- crweaks23, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@jwles
I think that's because the BOA tower isn't finished... and therefore isn't certified yet. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Im also surprised that Bank of America Tower in NYC didn't make the list:
"The first skyscraper ever to attain a Platinum LEED Certification, 1 Bryant Park is being called "The World's Most Sustainable Skyscraper.""
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_America_Tower,_New_York_City - lindajeff, on 10/12/2007, -4/+4The problem is many companies care more about profit than the environment
- Poco, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3Well, humans do have "some" impact on global temperatures, but there is evidence to suggest that the impact started 2000 years ago, not just the last 100. To reverse it we would not only have to stop driving, but also stop farming and return to a nomad lifestyle.
Oh, and xelcius, hydrogen fuel cells are not an answer to anything except being a better battery. I could go on and on about why hydrogen is not well suited to mobile applications like cars (power/volume, efficiency of production, etc.). - VeganG, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Yeah, I have to wonder how much it cost to implement this stuff.
- Ajajadude, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1You know, digging down doesn't sound like a bad idea. Too bad you and I aren't on the same level of what's going to get dugg down.
As you can see written in the article, turning your building "green" pays for itself.
Besides, a biodome isn't quite the same as a LEED certified building. - AROERS, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I work for an engineering firm that built the first LEED-EB (existing building) Gold Certified in Minnesota. Its actually a joy to come to work. Some reason the waterless urinals are approved for all states except MN
- jhshukla, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2I don't know why everyone is digging him down. If you think he is stupid, tell him why is 115% correct.
- superal1394, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3i know, thats why photoshop STILL costs over 600 somethin dollars
- sullivans, on 10/12/2007, -6/+5yeah, this is great however not everyone can construct a friggin' biodome just for the purpose of building widgets, digg down.
- themonkielives, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3"Adobe has seen a 115% savings on its water and utility bills"
WTH? Is that based on the amount spent to upgrade the buildings? Or are they suggesting that they are making money by generating 15% more electricity and water than they use? - kaze1sd, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1urinals that smell good?
And I thought my job sucked! - double0jimb0, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0"'Green' Buildings Are Trendy, But Do They Save Energy?" http://www.realestatejournal.com/propertyreport/architecture/20051021-frangos.html
This article calls into question the legitimacy and intent of the U.S. Green Building Council, which is actually a private, non-profit. Its not all that meets the eye. - Xelcius, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1adrocknophobia: i completely agree with your point - but i think that much of what companies is doing today is for their public image and the real changes will come with technological advances such as hydrogen fuel cells
- MercuryOne, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1Phillip Merrill Environmental Center
Owner: Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Location: Annapolis, Md.
That's the illest building in the world, I live right down the street from it. It's the Michael Jordan of environmentally friendly buildings. - uidzer0, on 10/12/2007, -8/+3Go go gadget grammar!
* America's Greenest Buildings - we need more companies like this. - Xelcius, on 10/12/2007, -16/+6We need less pansies who realize that global warming is an inevitable occurrence in which mankind is not to blame and realize that nothing we can do will prevent it from taking place.....not more green buildings.
Digg Me Down.. - limbo1334, on 10/12/2007, -21/+3"we need more companies like this"
Why? The environment's already screwed. No one's going to change the way they live; especially not the new BRIC (Brazil,Russia,India,China) middle-classes.
Bush is right to just work on new technologies.
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