A new free online tool, developed by the Center for Neighborhood Technology for the US Green Building Council, adds the effect of transportation and indirect emissions to the sustainable building equation.
Julie Wernau talks to a number of professionals working in green building who've come to realize that missing the impact of commuting in your calculations is a big mistake:
"Experts say the ability to quantify the energy spent getting to and from a building could force businesses to reconsider what it means to be "green." Transportation emissions account for 29 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the newly quantifiable data could spur development in urban areas served by public transportation over so-called greenfields."
The Transportation Energy Index online tool will be available in early 2011.
Thanks to Emily Robinson
FULL STORY: New building tools detect varied shades of green
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This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
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