Green Building Laws Green Building and Green Retrofitting

The department of Federal Environmental Executive defines green building like this: Elevating the competence by which the built structures consume energy, equipment and water along with decreasing the adverse effects on health of human beings including the surroundings by improved structure, maintenance, procedure, operation, choice of a better site and elimination of waste. The subsequent section explains the current guiding principles for retrofitting and green building (Columbia University, 2005).

Established Green Building Guidelines

The aim of United States Green Building Council (USGBC) is to improve the infrastructure and quality of work while constructing buildings which are environment friendly, lucrative, hale and hearty to work and live in (Columbia University, 2005). LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) given by USGBC is usually thought to be the finest power in green building (Brown et al., 2002).

LEED was established by USGBC in 1999 and it focuses on various important ecological and power regions affected by buildings. Important features dealt with by LEED are:

Water competence

Maintainable siting

Indoor environmental quality (IEQ)

Novelty in processing

Energy & environment

Materials & funds

Maintenance and Upgrades

Guidelines given by LEED and the ranking method are accepted nationwide and are valid for structures of green building. Lately USGBC has printed a bunch of guiding principles exclusively for buildings already in existence which is called LEED-EB and it will be talked about in a segment discussed later (Columbia University, 2005).

Battery Park City Authority Residential Environmental Guidelines

Although LEED did not discuss the guiding principles of multi-story living areas but to implement green building principles for freshly constructed living areas and business buildings in Battery Park City, the authorities of BPC made new inventive guidelines to deal with this problem. Guidelines for residential and environmental sketch out the fundamental ecological and competence intentioned regions of multi-story green buildings for living purposes as well as (New York State Energy Research and Development, 2004):

Energy effectiveness

Water preservation

Upholding and Operations

Indoor ecological/environmental quality (IEQ)

Protection of objects and reserves

These guiding principles were emerged in the making of Solaire, which is a high-raise of housing type started in the month of June, 2003 and since then it has triumphed the international praise because of its lifting infrastructure and exhibit (New York State Energy Research and Development, 2004).

High Performance Building Guidelines

Guidelines for High Performance structures were designed by an Office of Sustainable Design working at Department of Construction and Design (DDC) of New York City. It was done so to bring in such designs which can be carried on by DDC teams (Columbia University, 2005)."

Detailed guidelines of DDC covered various regions:

Design course

Water supervision

Operations and preservation

Designs of site and its arrangement

Energy use of a building

Indoor atmosphere

Material and merchandise choice

City procedure

Building administration

Commissioning

This particular document has been accepted internationally as a prototype for the buildings of high-performance. It focuses on the peculiar challenges and chances for construction in atmosphere of cities (New York State Energy Research and Development, 2004).

Definition of Green Retrofitting

This term "Green retrofitting" accounts for the progression of updating or refurbishing already present buildings to better their effectiveness, lessen the utilization of supplies and generating a hale and hearty indoor atmosphere. Green retrofitting seems to be a blossoming turf. The peculiar guidelines for already existing buildings (LEED-EB) verified by USGBC in October 2004, is a proof of it. Preferably, green retrofitting covers enhancement and improvement in every ecological area; nonetheless, green retrofitting can result in augmented green development with respect to expenditure, repercussion and practicability of betterment (Columbia University, 2005).

Although New York is low with respect to creating room for new constructions but Battery Park City does have some vacant space on hand. To avail the chances of green retrofitting is suitable for BPCA and State as well as City of New York as founders and promoters of the concept. By applying these changes in the city of Battery Park the management can have solid role model and various surrounding cities, in fact the whole nation and the state can learn something from them (Environmental Building News, 2003).

Two main challenges for green retrofitting include 1) to apply the current modifications in this regard to all the buildings already present and 2) to start venturing in green building reconstruction. This particular research discusses the objectives of green retrofitting plus it suggests plans for BPCA to endorse a gesture of green retrofitting in its power (Environmental Building News, 2003).

Laws enacted by the State of New York

George E. Pataki, Governor of New York gave an Administrative order No. 111 which stated (Green and Clean State Buildings and Vehicles) and ordered the organizations of state to be conservative in using energy and become...

This order was particularly for the organizations and divisions on which Governor has supreme authority and for all the organizations made for the interest of common people and public management whose leaders are selected by Governor himself (Industrial Economics, 2005).
At this moment there are 200 units under the Executive order given by the Governor with respect to new buildings being built in the state and enormous reconstructions. The Order given by the Governor stated the units under its command to pursue as much as possible, the guidelines of LEED and the guiding principles developed in the private division of Green Building Tax Credit with respect to its structure, built quality and handling and upholding actions. Moreover, the Order also stated that from now on the new buildings being built for units under the command should at least improve 20% in energy competence as compared to the Conservation of energy and Construction Code given by the state. Furthermore, all the entities under command should make sure that out of their electricity needs annually in 2010, 20% is achieved by renovation of the assets of energy (Industrial Economics, 2005).

The Governor in accordance with New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) ordered them to ensure the application of the Executive Order. Amongst the first few steps taken by NYSERDA was the development of guidance principles to help the entities under consideration to make their own comprehensive achievement plans. As a component of that guideline NYSERDA also developed Working groups, which were six in number, for the areas aforementioned (amongst them, one was made to concentrate on green building) (Campas, 2005).

Even though NYSERDA actually is the main organization to modify green building purpose in general public of New York but it is concentrates on the main task of encouraging the use of equipment related to production of energy and its usage. In order to achieve its aim of decreasing the total amount of energy which is used by the buildings of public sector in New York, the technological help is given, encouragement and motivation is provided and obedience report of Executive Order is demanded annually. Peculiar plans and strategies in regard to green building are being made at the level of single organizations and when the assistance is requested, it is provided by NYSERDA (Campas, 2005).

Vision and leadership

NYSERDA, even before the year 2000, was effectively working and had already been established for six years mainly focusing in competency and analysis of energy and materials respectively of all the buildings nationwide. NYSERDA's facilities for green building were also the education and guidance of making the guidelines. All these attempts were aided at first by a fund to evade pollution by EPA and then later on by the program of New York Flexible Technical Assistance ("FlexTech") which actually gives energy effectiveness and various other facilities at 50/50 cost split prejudice with venture members. Nowadays, the reduction of utilization of electricity and allocating certain funds, by use of motivation, and by the funds developed from a nationwide campaign of collecting money on service bills by System Benefit Charge (SBC), has served to be the main resource of the generated funds (Dawson, 2005).

NYSERDA also facilitates the LEED, Tax Credit of Green Building sector and the Executive Order 111 with the funding of SBC. Various other facilitations given by NYSERDA are designing structures and the guidelines for, for example, Battery Park City Authority, the University in Buffalo, World Trade Center, and Department of Construction and Design of New York City; hiring and teaching and loans of decreased interests (Dawson, 2005).

Interest of Governor Pataki and his dedication to ecological problems was evident by Executive order111. It was further augmented (more or less because the Executive order enveloped and concentrated on green buildings) by the acceptance of Tax Credit for Green Building in the year 2000 (Dawson, 2005).

Modus operandi and completion plans for the fulfillment of Execution Order are now being formed at one organization. As per the needs of green building the strategy varies from LEED guarantee as a prototype aim or inclination towards non-hostile plans that concentrate merely on great labor to reach the compliance (Kneeland, 2005).

There is no autonomous office for the growth and realization of the program of green building. The employees of NYSERDA who work for and maintain services regarding green building are kept in the same building as the group of Energy Efficiency Services. Employees of NYSERDA are of the view that it…