World Cup Stadium to Feature Green Design

 There’s hasn’t been an abundance of sustainability coverage for the upcoming FIFA World Cup South Africa. Perhaps the excitement around the first-ever hosting of the World Cup on African soil has monopolized the media coverage; or perhaps there just isn’t a lot of sustainability initiatives to report on.
Regardless of the reason, we did find it worthy to highlight a few programs, most notably the design of the newly-built Durban stadium.
Construction of the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban was completed in 2009 and is set to host  70,000 spectators for one of the semi-final matches and numerous group matches.
The design called for a “state-of-the-art landmark sports facility with excellent amenities and a sustainable recreational and multi-disciplinary sporting venue.”
The stadium is stunning in design. Its most notable feature is a large 150-meter arch rising high above the stadium center. A SkyCar funicular system transports visitors to a Skydeck, allowing a birds’ eye view of the stadium, city and nearby coast.
Though large scale event-driven construction is always heavy on resource use, the builders of the Durban stadium minimized construction and demolition impact by utilizing recycled materials from the old stadium. More than 30,000 cubic meters of concrete demolition material from the old stadium was used for construction of the new stadium.

The PTFE-coated roof membrane allows 50 percent of sunlight to filter through while protecting the stadium from glare and rain. The stadium also features a rainwater collection system, water-saving installations, energy-efficient heating and cooling systems and natural ventilation design.
When the World Cup comes to a close mid-July and South Africans find themselves in a sort of post World Cup hangover, the ten beautiful stadiums spanning the country, five new and five updated, will still be standing. The Durban stadium, among others, was built to Olympic standards in the hopes of hosting a future Olympic Games in South Africa.

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Duke Energy Center gets highest 'green' designation

Wells Fargo & Co. said yesterday that the Duke Energy Center  has been certified at the highest level of environmental certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.
The 48-story building, which opened in January, is the first and tallest office tower to receive the certification.
The building initially was meant to be the new headquarters for Wachovia Corp. But after Wells Fargo bought the collapsing Wachovia in late 2008, Duke Energy Corp. took over the naming rights to the tower.
Among the center's green attributes are recycling rainwater, and a roof that reduces heating and cooling costs.  The Duke Energy Center is located in Charlotte, North Carolina.







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Latest News in Green Building

The Philippines has received its first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold certification for semiconductor maker Texas Instruments Inc.’s new assembly and test facility in Pampanga.
The 780,000-square-foot Green facility is located on the former United States of America Clark Air Base. The facility is the company’s first site to install a section of vegetative roofing, covering 11,000 square feet with living plants to reduce heat gain and slow water runoff.
The facility also uses natural day lighting where possible and efficient lights equipped with sensors and controls to balance the building’s lighting needs.
Texas Instruments operates a desiccant wheel air handling unit at the facility to provide dehumidified fresh air for more efficient cooling. The desiccant wheel absorbs the remaining moisture brought by traditional chilled water cooling, and is then dried and regenerated through waste heat.
The company also sourced 20 percent of the building materials used from recycled content, and recycled and reused 96 percent of its construction waste. This included donating a truckload of waste crating material to the Philippines National Apiary project, which turned the wood into working beehives for honey production.
In addition, the Clark facility features low-emitting materials such as paints, adhesives, sealants and carpeting to reduce off-gassing while providing better indoor air quality.




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Wells Fargo Celebrates Green Store Opening with Free Document Shredding

 Wells Fargo will help San Fernando Valley residents go green and fight fraud by offering free shredding services on Saturday, June 5. Community members are invited to bring up to 50 pounds of paper documents to be securely shredded on site and recycled.
The free event, organized by Wells Fargo's Coldwater Canyon banking store team, will be held in the parking lot of the newest green Coldwater Canyon banking store. Way To Go Wells Fargo..
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Declutter- Get Ready For Summer

It's time to move forward, to blast your way out of the past, clear out whats clogging the hallways, hearts and memories of your life.  Get ready for Summer, declutter.

Throw out 20 things from your home and your mind.

1. Magazines more than 3 months old, they are fire hazards
2. Old receipts clogging the kitchen drawer, you know which drawer I mean !
3. Keys that seem to have no locks that match, They haven't had for years, maybe decades!
4. The belief that you are alone
5. Trying to please everyone
6. Stale spices & ingredients
7. Medicines for conditions you no longer have or that are expired
8. A single sock, glove or earring, it's mate is not going to be coming back !
9. Thinking that if you let go of the memorabilia, you'll lose the memories
10. The times you messed up
11. Thinking you have to have all the answers
12. T-shirts from the company outing you grudgingly attended two weeks before you were laid off
13. Thinking you are always right
14. The belief that your best days are behind you
15. Clothes that no longer fit
16. The need for everyone to like you
17. Make-up in shades you no longer wear or can't be found in nature !
18. Twisty ties, random paper clips and safety pins
19. Wire clothes hangers
20. Books that you will get to someday

Take control of your life, declutter. Tossing things we don't need can free up more than closet space.
The stress in your face and body will ease and your confidence will return. Things start to fall into place in every area of your life when you declutter ...

Have fun while you declutter, you will be glad you did !


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