This Month
>JRGBC Monthly Meetings
>LEED-NC Workshop
>Standard 189
>Green Legislation Update
>Save-the-Date:  Second Annual JRGBC Green Building Leadership Awards
>LEED 2.2 and Paperless Submissions Workshop
>American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy Workshop
>CoreNet International Conference
>Greening the Heartland
>SunTrust Bank, Mid-Atlantic Headquarters Green Roof Press Release
>"Architecture 2030" Launches Web Site
>New Energy Policy Act
>First Annual JRGBC Awards Luncheon
>JRGBC 2005 Green Building Leadership Awards
>JRGBC 2005 GoGreen Awards
>2006 JRGBC Board

JRGBC Monthly Meetings
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Speaker ~ Sandra Leibowitz Earley
Sustainable Design Consulting
University of Richmond ~ Jepson Hall (click HERE for campus map)
6-6:30pm ~ Social
6:30-7:30pm ~ Program
7:30-8pm ~ Networking

Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Tour of CarMax Headquarters
Meeting Place and Time TBA


LEED-NC Technical Review Workshop
Friday, April 21, 2006
SPACE IS LIMITED ~ REGISTER SOON!
Trane Learning Center
10408 Lakeridge Parkway
Suite 100
Ashland, Virginia 23005
$325 National Member ~ $425 Non-Member
After April 14, 2006: $355 National Member ~ $475 Non-Member

For more information and to register, go to:
http://www.usgbc.org/b2c/b2c/init.do and click "Workshops"

Proposed Standard 189
The USGBC; the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE); and the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) have agreed to co-sponsor the development of a new ASHRAE/USGBC/IESNA minimum standard for high performance green building - Proposed Standard 189, Standard for the Design of High-Performance Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings. 

Click HERE for the press release (pdf) and HERE for Frequently Asked Questions (pdf).

Green Legislation Update
HB857 continued to 2007 Session in General Laws Committee
SB275 continued to 2007 Session in General Laws and Technology Committee
Department of General Services; Green Buildings Act. Requires all major facility projects of state agencies and other entities for which the project is funded with state money to be designed, constructed, and certified to meet the LEED silver standard as established by the United States Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environment Design. The bill defines "major facility project" as a building construction project with more than 5,000 gross square feet of occupied or conditioned space, or a building renovation project when the cost is greater than 50% of the assessed value and the project with more than 5,000 gross square feet of occupied or conditioned space. Under the bill, a major facility project may not be required to meet the standard if (i) there is no appropriate LEED silver standard for that type of building or renovation project, (ii) there is no practical way to apply the LEED silver standard to a particular building or renovation project, or (iii) the building or renovation project is an electricity transmitter building, a water pumping station, or a hospital.

SB261S1 passed the Senate, communicated to House, referred to House Committee on Rules
Manufacturing Development Commission. Establishes the Manufacturing Development Commission as a legislative study commission. The Commission will be responsible for assessing manufacturing needs and formulating legislative and regulatory remedies to ensure the future of the manufacturing sector in Virginia. Its membership will consist of five members of the Senate, three members of the House of Delegates, one ex officio member, and four nonlegislative citizen members appointed by the Governor, who are to include the president of the Virginia Manufacturers Association; a representative of higher education; a representative from economic development; and a representative of a Virginia manufacturer. The Secretary of Commerce and Trade will serve as an ex officio member. The Commission will expire July 1, 2009. This bill incorporates SJR 80.

SB262S2 passed the Senate, communicated to House
Virginia Energy Plan. Establishes an energy policy of the Commonwealth and directs the Division of Energy of the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy, in consultation with the State Corporation Commission, Department of Environmental Quality, and Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research, to prepare a comprehensive Virginia Energy Plan to implement the policy. The measure directs the Virginia Liaison Office to work with members of the State Congressional Delegation and executive agencies to obtain an exemption to the existing federal moratorium on offshore natural gas exploration and development activity, and to enable Virginia to exercise exclusive jurisdiction over offshore wind energy resources. Royalties, lease payments, and other moneys paid by the federal government to the Commonwealth that are attributable to the development of offshore energy resources are to be deposited in the State Offshore Energy Revenue Fund and allocated among the Virginia Water Quality Improvement Fund, the Transportation Trust Fund, clean coal technology research, funding a methane hydrates research center and other alternative energy initiatives, and grants for producing and using clean and efficient energy. The Virginia Liaison Office is also directed to work with members of the State Congressional Delegation and executive agencies to enact legislation that increases the corporate average fuel efficiency standards for motor vehicles. The Center for Coal and Energy Research is directed to encourage qualified state institutions of higher education to apply for federal grants to finance a center of excellence for advancing new clean coal technologies and will administer a clean coal technology research fund. Designs for state buildings are required to incorporate reasonable cost-effective energy conservation measures and alternative energy systems. The measure requires all localities and transportation districts that provide mass transit or public transportation through the use of diesel-fueled vehicles to use biodiesel fuel in amounts not less than 1 percent of total diesel fuel consumption by volume, effective when the annual capacity in the Commonwealth for the production of biodiesel fuel exceeds one million gallons, but in no event before July 1, 2007, as a condition for receiving state funding. A methane hydrates research center is established at Old Dominion University. The measure invalidates any restrictive covenant or similar specification that restricts or prohibits solar energy collection devices. The measure also directs the State Corporation Commission to develop a system for scoring parcels in the Commonwealth for their suitability as wind energy facilities, liquefied natural gas terminals, and nuclear energy facilities, upon recommendation by the Department of General Services for state-owned land, local governing bodies with the consent of the parcel's owner, or the owner of a parcel. Parcels that are scored as being optimal sites for such low-emission energy facilities would be eligible to use a one-stop permitting process, as may be adopted by the General Assembly. If approvals for such a facility are granted through the one-stop permitting process, the use of the parcel for the low-emission energy facility would be deemed to satisfy local zoning requirements. The existing Surry and North Anna nuclear plant sites and other sites determined through the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing process to be suitable for development of new nuclear generating units shall be deemed optimal sites without further proceedings. The bill also provides grant awards for producing and using clean and efficient energy including (i) grant awards in the amount of 0.85 cents for each kilowatt hour of electricity produced by a corporation from certain renewable energy resources and (ii) grants to individuals and corporations equal to 15 percent of the cost incurred in installing photovoltaic property, solar water heating property, or wind-powered electrical generators. The grants are limited to $2,000 for each system of photovoltaic property, $1,000 for each system of solar water heating property, and $1,000 for each system of wind-powered electrical generators. The measure provides individual income tax deductions for 20 percent of the cost of certain appliances meeting energy star efficiency requirements developed by the federal government and for fuel cells, heat pumps, air conditioners, boilers, furnaces and water heaters meeting specified performance measures, and for the sales and use tax paid on motor vehicles using clean special fuel sources as a source of propulsion. Finally, the measure exempts certified pollution control equipment and facilities used in collecting, processing, and distributing landfill gas or natural gas recovered from waste from taxation.

HJ77 left in Rules Committee
Study; property tax relief; energy efficient and sustainable buildings; report. Directs the Virginia Coal and Energy Commission to (i) review the certification procedures for meeting LEED requirements for sustainable building design and construction, (ii) identify the appropriate amount and type of tax relief that would best provide an incentive for and reward individuals and other entities that chose to meet LEED certification requirements, and (iii) identify the taxable entities that would qualify for preferential tax treatment for obtaining LEED certification in new and existing buildings.

HJ128 left in Rules Committee
Study; feasibility of providing property tax incentives to encourage constructing more efficient buildings; report. Directs the Virginia Coal and Energy Commission to study the feasibility of enabling legislation to authorize localities to provide real property tax incentives to encourage buildings to be constructed using "green building" or "sustainable" designs consistent with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards.

Second Annual JRGBC Green Leadership Awards Luncheon
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
University of Richmond ~ Jepson Alumni Center
10am-Noon ~ Trade Show Exhibits
Noon-2pm ~ Lunch, Program & Awards
2-3pm ~ Trade Show Exhibits
More Information to Follow ~ Mark Your Calendar

LEED 2.2 and Paperless Submission
Presented by the USGBC National Capital Region
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
NRECA
4301 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, Virginia 22203
8am ~ Registration
Program ~ 8:45-10:30am
Speaker ~ Max Zahniser, LEED-NC Certification Manager
Click HERE for details


American Council for an
Energy-Efficient Economy Workshop:
Enabling Better Energy Solutions - Making Renewable Energy "Mainstream"
Monday, March 6 , 2006
Virginia Biotechnology Research Park
Richmond, Virginia
Rep. Eric Cantor ~ Keynote Speaker
$75 per company (unlimited attendees)
For further infromation and registration details, please contact Brad Penney at (703) 299-9269 or bpenney13@comcast.net.
(click HERE for workshop description;  click HERE for agenda)

CoreNet International Conference
April 23-26, 2006
Phildaelphia, Pennsylvania
CoreNet Global is the world's premier association for corporate real estate and related professionals.  As a global learning organization, it is the industry thought and opinion leader.  CoreNet Global is the only group that convenes the entire industry.  Programs and services are designed to meet the business needs of members' companies and the career needs of individual members. The Phildelphia Summit features an exciting program format specially created to maximize your professional development and provide solutions to your complex array of challenges.

For more information and to register, click HERE.

Greening the Heartland
May 17-19, 2006
The Hyatt Crown Center
Kansas City, Missouri

Wednesday, May 17th: Regional Chapter meetings, Emerging Green
Builders, Exhibitor set-up, Registration and an opening reception in the Exhibit Hall with the opening plenary speaker.

Thursday, May 18th: The full-day Conference begins with a continental breakfast in the Exhibit Hall, and continues with general and breakout sessions and lunch in the Exhibit Hall. The conference breakout sessions will be organized into tracks by building type. The tracks include: Commercial, Government, Residential, Schools and Institutional. Friday, May 19th: features full and half-day LEED training workshops. The Call for Presentations will be released in mid-December with a deadline for presentation abstracts of January 15, 2006. If you'd like to participate in the planning of the conference, or need more information, please contact the Conference Co-Chairs: Dave Roesler, Hallmark Cards - 816-274-4079 and Amy Migliazzo, Amy Migliazzo Design - 913-649-2629.

For more information, go to: http://www.usgbc.org/chapters/kansascity

Call for presenters (closes January 15, 2006).
Please click HERE for more information (Word Doc ).

SunTrust Bank Green Roof Press Release
Please click HERE to view the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay press release announcing the completion of the green roof atop SunTrust Bank, Mid-Atlantic Richmond Headquarters.  For a brochure, please click HERE.

"Architecture 2030" Launches Web Site
"Architecture 2030" is part of an ongoing effort, initiated by architect Edward Mazria AIA, to provide information and innovative solutions in the fields of architecture and planning, in an effort to address and reverse the destructive trend toward global climate change.  Please visit their web site at www.architecture2030.org .

New Energy Policy Act
The Tax Incentives Assistance Project (TIAP) has launched a web site to give consumers and businesses additional information about tax incentives for energy efficiency products and technologies. TIAP is sponsored by a coalition of public interest nonprofit groups, government agencies, and other organizations in the energy efficiency field. The web site provides information on energy efficiency and renewable energy tax incentives under the new Energy Policy Act.  Some of these provisions apply to home builders and commercial buildings as well as consumers/homeowners.  The site also links to other resources that may be useful for building design professionals.  For those who work on public sector projects or are with public agencies, the new EPACT tax breaks are transferable to the private sector project developer or ESCO.