Air conditioning season is just around the corner, and with it, the pain of piling up big cooling bills. In fact, chances are your home or business is probably working against your pocketbook when it comes to energy efficiency.
Houston, however, is working to help people save some green by going green. The energy capital of the world wants to also be the energy conservation capital.
The city's year-old Green Building Resource Center unveiled its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold certification. It's part of Houston's ongoing effort to cut energy consumption and help the community do the same.
"All cities want to be a destination, where people want to live, and I believe people want to live in green buildings, green neighborhoods and a green city," said Green Building Resource Center Director Steve Stelzer.
The green building resource center is where that goal starts. Almost everything is energy efficient, recycled, reused or energy star rated. Its job is to show the general public to do the same thing in their homes and offices.
"Of the three sectors; building sector, transportation and industry, buildings consume the most energy in the country, so buildings need to be better," said Stelzer.
Everything in the building is designed to show people how to save energy and water. There is a high efficiency toilet demonstration where people can actually watch a standard toilet versus the high efficiency model. The efficient toilet saves about two gallons per flush.
People can also see how much heat standard glass lets in opposed the energy tinted glass; or how much electricity energy star light bulbs save. The center also has displays of different building materials that save energy and environmental waste.
"You spend about 2 to 3 percent in construction cost, more, having a LEED certified building, but your operational and maintenance cost over the life of the building is reduced by almost 20 percent," said Issa Dadouch, Houston's general services department director.
Right now, Houston has about 74 green LEED certified projects. The city itself has 32 LEED projects and they're paying off.
"The city of Houston has grown but our energy consumption has dropped," said Dadouch about the energy consumption of city facilities.
It's all a step in the right direction for the world's energy capital. The Green Building Resource Center is found in the City Codes Building.
Houston, however, is working to help people save some green by going green. The energy capital of the world wants to also be the energy conservation capital.
The city's year-old Green Building Resource Center unveiled its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold certification. It's part of Houston's ongoing effort to cut energy consumption and help the community do the same.
"All cities want to be a destination, where people want to live, and I believe people want to live in green buildings, green neighborhoods and a green city," said Green Building Resource Center Director Steve Stelzer.
The green building resource center is where that goal starts. Almost everything is energy efficient, recycled, reused or energy star rated. Its job is to show the general public to do the same thing in their homes and offices.
"Of the three sectors; building sector, transportation and industry, buildings consume the most energy in the country, so buildings need to be better," said Stelzer.
Everything in the building is designed to show people how to save energy and water. There is a high efficiency toilet demonstration where people can actually watch a standard toilet versus the high efficiency model. The efficient toilet saves about two gallons per flush.
People can also see how much heat standard glass lets in opposed the energy tinted glass; or how much electricity energy star light bulbs save. The center also has displays of different building materials that save energy and environmental waste.
"You spend about 2 to 3 percent in construction cost, more, having a LEED certified building, but your operational and maintenance cost over the life of the building is reduced by almost 20 percent," said Issa Dadouch, Houston's general services department director.
Right now, Houston has about 74 green LEED certified projects. The city itself has 32 LEED projects and they're paying off.
"The city of Houston has grown but our energy consumption has dropped," said Dadouch about the energy consumption of city facilities.
It's all a step in the right direction for the world's energy capital. The Green Building Resource Center is found in the City Codes Building.
