ASHRAE Vice President Testifies at DOE Hearing on Sustainable Design Standards

The US Department of Energy held a hearing Wednesday (July 27, 2010), regarding sustainable design standards for new federal buildings and major renovations of federal buildings.

Testifying at the hearing, ASHRAE Vice President Ross Montgomery encouraged the DOE’s Federal Energy Management Program to reference ANSI/ASHRAE/USGBC/IES Standard 189.1, Standard for the Design of High Performance, Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, compliance option of the International Green Construction Code (IGCC) as a means of meeting the requirements in the rulemaking.

"Standard 189.1 represents a revolutionary new step for building standards, as it provides a long-needed green building foundation for those who strive to design, build and operate green buildings,” Montgomery said. “From site location to energy use and recycling, this standard will set the foundation for green buildings through its adoption into local codes. ASHRAE strongly believes that Standard 189.1 can help meet many of the Federal government’s building needs.”

This potentially a great step in jump starting industry wide sustainable building standards.  For more information on the International Green Construction Code (IGCC) the full copy can be found here.

Talk Radio (regarding Village of Blume an Eco-Sustainable Community)

As the Blume project advances I thought it would be interesting to revisit some older discussions that are very relevant to the Village of Blume.  Blume is an Eco-Sustainable Community that incorporates sustainable design and preservation of Agriculture. Below are two podcasts broadcast live on WFAE's show Charlotte Talks, featuring two of Blume's project team members.

Thursday July 9, 2009 - Aaron Newton discusses the local food movement.

Thursday August 27, 2009 - Michael Hinshaw joins the discussion on Agriburbia.

Website For the Village of Blume the Eco-Sustainable Community is Now Live

PE Squared has been involved with the Blume project from the start and is proud to be bringing this innovative community to light. A model of sustainable site design the Village of Blume is poised to become the region's first Eco-Sustainable Community, establishing a footprint for others to follow.

Also check out the facebook fan page. Below is the promotional video produced by project team member Cultivatus.

HEC-RAS Version 4.1 Released

Exciting news for those of us doing floodplain studies. A new version of HEC-RAS has been released to the public. I am particularly exited about the new GIS tool RAS Mapper with Floodplain Delineation Capabilities. Just learned how to do this with Civil 3d now I have a new tool to play with.

1. Features

2. New RAS Mapper Floodplain Delineation Capabilities
3. Hydrologic Routing Reaches Within an Unsteady Flow Model Run
4. New Flow Data And Boundary Conditions Editor for Unsteady Flow
5. Contraction/Expansion losses for Unsteady Flow
6. Minor Losses for Unsteady Flow
7. New Junction Hydraulics Option for Unsteady Flow
8. Groundwater Leakage for Storage Areas
9. Water Quality Modeling Enhancements
10. Sediment Transport Modeling Enhancements
11. User's Manuals and Help System

Charlotte Storm Water Quality

Concerned with the quality of your storm water and ground water the City of Charlotte wants you to know we can all help.  Meeting at Hickory Grove Library at 6:30 pm, April 8, 2010.