The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 6,100 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 10 years to get that many views.
You can run but you can't hide -- it's time for all those top ten (top twelve, top five) lists that pervade the Internets in the last few weeks of the year. I'll be crafting a few for you dear readers, and will be shooting to bring you something a little bit different from the norm.
So here's my first, where I parse out what I think have been the top 10 best, and the top 10 worst, things that have landed on the cleantech scene in 2012.
Vitalizing the “Green Remodeling” Market Necessary by Korea Economic Daily 2012-10-19
The American Chamber of Commerce in Korea hosted the Green Building Forum on the 18th at the Renaissance Hotel in Yeoksam. Thomas Hubbard, former Ambassador to Korea (front left) asks a question to the speaker.
“Even though people recognize the importance of eco-friendliness when constructing new buildings, people often overlook energy efficiency when remodeling old buildings. More government-led ‘green re-modeling policies’ are needed.”
The third annual Green Building Forum was held on Thursday, October 18, at Renaissance Seoul Hotel, aimed at examining the current foreign and domestic construction market and seeking a direction of sustainable development. The forum was hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea (AMCHAM Korea) and supported by the Korea Economic Daily. Around 120 people attended the event, including AMCHAM President Amy Jackson; Seung-eon Lee, Vice President of Korea Institute of Construction Technology (KICT); Chungha Cha, CEO of Susterra Partners; and other experts and CEOs in their respective fields.
Kunho Lee, Research Fellow at Korea Institute of Construction Technology (KICT), said in his presentation, “if it becomes obligatory to use eco-friendly energy and building materials in remodeling old buildings, we can reduce energy use by more than 20%, more than 20% of energy use can be reduced. Having a first mover advantage in these related technologies will pave new opportunities to enter domestic and foreign market including the U.S. and Japan.”
He also mentioned that “if we set to improve the houses of more than 15 years old, surveyed in 2009 totaling 6.8 million, adopting ‘Green Remodeling’, related domestic market size reaches KRW 68.8 trillion.” Also, he suggested “the government should provide incentives for those who adopt ‘Green Remodeling’ and raise private fund in order to invigorate the market.”
During the forum, market prospects regarding eco-friendly housing technologies including Passive House (energy-saving house) was presented. Jungman Choi, CEO of Passive House Institute Korea, said “domestic passive construction market is growing rapidly, the growth rate doubling Germany and those of other advanced countries’. However, incentives provided by the government are heavily focused on equipment sector including machinery and electricity. Therefore, this needs to be improved and incentives should also be provided for construction sector.” Jongil Kim, CEO of MA Architects Engineers presented on the successful cases of domestic “Green Homes.” And, Mr. Chungha Cha, CEO of Susterra Partners presented 2 Zero Net Energy Homes that they were building at affordable costs.
June 13, 2012
Green homes continue to grow across the U.S. The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) today announced that more than 20,000 homes across the U.S. have earned certification through the LEED for Homes program. The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) today announced that more than 20,000 homes across the U.S. have earned certification through the LEED for Homes program. LEED for Homes is a national voluntary certification system that provides guidance and verification that homes are designed and built to be energy- and resource-efficient and healthy for occupants. “There are green homes, and then there are LEED homes. This milestone is evidence that the residential market is increasingly recognizing this fact,” said Nate Kredich, vice president of residential market development, USGBC. “LEED for Homes is moving the residential market further and faster towards high-performing, healthy homes that save residents money.” The collection of LEED-certified homes is as varied as the whole of the residential market, from multi- to single-family, from market rate to affordable housing. Since the launch of LEED for Homes in 2008, more than 20,000 residential units have certified with nearly 79,000 additional units in the pipeline. Over half of all LEED-certified homes are in the affordable housing category. Recently-certified projects include: •Eight LEED Platinum certified affordable homes in the Coconut Cove development in Cape Coral, Fla., developed by Southwest Florida Affordable Housing Choice Foundation, Inc. and built by Owen-Ames-Kimball Company •AMLI at Escena, the first two LEED Gold low-rise multifamily buildings in Texas, built by AMLI Residential •KAPSARC Villa B-19 in Riyadh, one of the first LEED for Homes International Pilot projects to certify — located in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the LEED Silver home is one of 191 single family production homes built by SK Engineering and Construction as part of Phase I for KAPSARC Green homes are expected to grow to between 29 percent to 38 percent of the residential construction market by 2016, equating to $87-$114 billion, according to a 2012 McGraw Hill Construction study previously reported in ProudGreenHome. Read more about home certification and accreditation.
Read more about home certification and accreditation.
