Advocates of green building, and specifically of the US Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED program, have maintained that green building does not have to mean extra cost. An exceptional case for this argument is found in a recently completed multi-purpose university building. The less-than-poetically named Education Building III (SG III) at the University of Maryland’s Shady Grove campus was built with the intent of attaining LEED Silver certification and ended up being certified as LEED Gold, but without an increase in the budget.
The Universities at Shady Grove (USG) is a collaborative effort by eight institutions in the University System of Maryland, begun in 2000. Due to its popularity and convenience, the demand for classes and services at the Shady Grove location grew quickly and necessitated the construction of a new, multi-purpose building with classrooms and services.
"Greenfear" is a term I first recently came across in an article on The Daily Green: ‘
Right now, a uniquely modified pickup truck is making its way across the country. Starting from Detroit and heading to San Francisco, the vehicles developers are seeking to draw attention to an overlooked fuel alternative. The truck uses a special fuel, something widely available throughout the country, but until now, not widely considered as a fuel for transportation: the truck is carrying three tanks of ammonia in its bed. In addition to being an economical alternative to petroleum fuels, the ammonia fueled vehicle has much cleaner emissions and almost no greenhouse gasses.
