Lamboo Features in Springfield Business Journal

 “Sustainability” has become a buzzword of the 21st Century. Organizations are reducing their footprint with recycling policies and encouraging employees to carpool or use public transportation. Today it is de rigueur to receive an email with part of the signature line including a demand to “think before you print!” Legislation and regulations are brimming with encouragement, in some cases, and mandates, in others, to build as cleanly as possible with energy efficient materials. A number of projects in and around Springfield have bragged about the achievement of LEEDs Certification for their new buildings in recent years. (Before you hit Google, LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.)

A company in Springfield is at the leading edge of introducing a sustainable raw material – bamboo – to the market with diverse applications and enormous growth potential. Lamboo, Inc. started with the intent of developing a product that satisfies the need for sustainability in the 21st Century while also providing a material that spans a range of applications and exceeds expectations of more traditional materials.

By way of introduction, bamboo holds the promise of being the sustainability wunderkind of the 21st Century when compared with traditional materials such as wood, steel and aluminum for the following reasons. Bamboo produces approximately 14 tons of fiber per acre every six to eight years or six times that of timber, which takes 25-30 years to mature. Bamboo can be harvested without replanting and the silica content makes the plant resistant to insect infestation. Bamboo sequesters about 35 percent more carbon than timber, has natural anti-microbial properties and a root structure that helps to eliminate soil erosion.

Lamboo, Inc. has developed and brought to market a new bamboo product – Laminated Veneer Bamboo (LBV).“We are truly leading an industrial materials revolution,” said Luke D. Schuette, President & Founder, Lamboo, Inc. As an architecture student at Southern Illinois University, Schuette became interested in and began testing various materials for strength, flexibility and sustainability.

“I ended up paying for my own testing at a St. Louis lab in order to determine if the product was going to be sufficient,” Schuette said, explaining the start-up process for Lamboo, Inc.

Laminated bamboo veneer was an idea so ahead of the curve that an American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) category or standards did not exist prior to 2007. Schuette and his team presented LBV to ASTM in 2007 and were awarded a new category and standards to compare LBV to other construction and design materials. Since Lamboo, Inc. has achieved the certification, the company has grown to a worldwide presence receiving a 2013 Governor’s Export Award for increasing their export market 63 percent from 2011 to 2012.

Lamboo, Inc. has four broad market categories that it intends to exploit – Architectural/Structural/High Performance Buildings, Aviation/Maritime/Automotive, Design and Industrial. “Lamboo, Inc. makes a laminated veneer product that is lighter and stronger than many traditional products,” Schuette noted. “Lamboo, Inc. is not designing office desks or guitars or commercial beams. We are partnering with companies around the world who desire a sustainable material.”

Products that Lamboo has been involved with include laminated structural beams, architectural elements such as louvers and awnings and window and door systems. Important for designers, architects and builders, no other raw material receives as many LEED points as LBV. Given LBV’s strength and light weight properties it is also a good fit for veneer applications for plane, yacht and car finishes. A tour around the Laboo office also identified some partnerships in the form of a prototype electric guitar, rifle stock and chandelier parts.

Schuette located Lamboo, Inc. in Springfield purposefully. The high quality of life and low cost of living played a large role in looking at Springfield. “Although we have partners around the world and we travel quite a bit, much of our business is conducted via email and Skype,” Schuette said. In fact, the company has brought partners to the Capitol City to experience what Springfield has to offer in hopes of generating further synergy for Lamboo’s products and business plan.

Sustainability in our daily lives is here for the long haul. Buildings and products will continue to seek new and innovative materials that retain and enhance the role traditional materials but with an edge on energy efficiency and environmental stewardship. Lamboo, Inc. is leading a revolution in sustainable materials from its perch overlooking the Old State Capitol. Luke Schuette and Lamboo, Inc. have made great strides and have plans for continued growth in Springfield, Central Illinois and the world.

(Read More)

(Excerpt of article by David A. Kelm. NOT AFFILIATED WITH LAMBOO)

LEED: Changing the built world for the better

The sustainable (green) building movement is a major trend in design and construction of commercial and public buildings. The United States Green Building Council has coordinated the establishment and evolution of a national consensus effort to provide the industry with the tools necessary to design, build and operate buildings that deliver high performance inside and outside the building footprint.

They have developed the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standard, which is a rating system based on optimum site selection and sustainability, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere optimization, materials and resources (renewable and recyclable base), and indoor environmental quality. The LEED process is a systematic approach where building design and construction needs to meet various requirements in the five segments to reach a certain rating level, and LEED certification is voluntary. Whether it be a school, library, government building or your office, you probably have been in a LEED building. All people in the building industry are looking for ways to adapt to this changing environment in the private and public sectors. We know that buildings consume annually more than 30 percent of the nation’s total energy, and more than 60 percent of the electricity. Research has demonstrated that green design measures in new buildings reduce operating costs, enhance building marketability, increase worker productivity and reduce potential liability resulting from indoor air quality problems. 

(READ FULL STORY)

“Green” Building Construction Rises in U.S.

Taking the “LEED”

in Green Buildings In 2000, the Albanese Organization was chosen to develop the first “green” high-rise residential tower in the United States. Called The Solaire, it was the first high-rise residential project to receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. LEED certifications is a widely recognized third-party verification that a building is environmentally friendly. Subsequently, Albanese developed three more LEED Certified buildings in Manhattan, The Visionaire, The Verdesian, and The Vanguard Chelsea.

Now comes The Living Building Challenge (LBC). The Living Building Challenge is a green building certification program that defines the most advanced measure of sustainability in the built environment possible today. Projects that achieve this level of performance can claim to be the ‘greenest’ anywhere. The LBC requirements go beyond those of a LEED certification. The LBC uses a vetting process to avoid some of the pitfalls suffered by various LEED certified buildings, where “efficient” structures have proven to be less than advertised after completion and energy audits.

One building that is attempting to qualify for the LBC is the newly constructed Bullit Center in Seattle, WA. Qualifying is no small feat: The Living Building Challenge has 143 registered projects in 10 countries, but only three buildings in the United States have been fully certified so far; the largest of those is an eighth the size of the Bullitt Center.

The Living Building Challenge requires a project to meet 20 specific imperatives within seven performance areas (or “Petals”). For the Bullitt Center, meeting the imperatives will include the following:

The location will support a pedestrian-, bicycle-, and transit-friendly lifestyle. Rainwater will be collected on the roof, stored in an underground cistern and used throughout the building. A solar array will generate as much electricity as the building uses. The building will not contain any “Red List” hazardous materials, including PVC, cadmium, lead, mercury and hormone-mimicking substances, all commonly found in building components. The lifespan of The Bullit Center is projected to be 250 years. The building officially opens on April 22; Earth Day.

Dennis Hays, the president of The Bullitt Foundation, said “The Bullitt Center will be the first office building in the United States to capture rain water, store it and purify it, and then use it for potable drinking water. We will use rain water in our coffee, our dishwaters, our showers, and for everything else. We will filter the resulting gray water and infiltrate it into rain gardens full of vegetation in front of our building. We will make no use of Seattle public water supply.” To help protect Puget Sound, rainwater will be retained on site and “grey water” from sinks in the building will be filtered through a green roof.”

  Bullit Center in Seattle, WA

Other Green initiatives 

The University of North Texas built a state-of-the-art Zero Energy Research Laboratory, where students and faculty will get first-hand experience with sustainable energy technologies. The facility is designed to test emerging technologies that allow building systems to have a net-zero consumption of energy. The UNT ‘Zero House’ uses Benchmark wall panels because they cut the electric load by one half to two thirds. Initially, the facility was powered by solar energy.

“Two faculty members, 6 graduate students and one post-doctoral research associate are working in ZØE research group at UNT,” explained Rambod Rayegan, a Visiting Assistant Professor in the mechanical and energy engineering department. “The research group is currently focused on integrated simulation and verification of the building and its sub systems, air flow and heat transfer analysis of solar chimney, human behavior factors sensitivity and uncertainty in energy modeling of the building, multiyear modeling of the ground loop heat exchanger, and design a novel thermal energy storage system to achieve the maximum utilization of solar power.”

Dr. Yong Tao, chair of the Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering and PACCAR Professor of Engineering at UNT, and a committee of experts oversaw the design of the lab. Tao is an internationally known researcher in fundamentals of thermal sciences, refrigeration system performance and renewable energy applications in buildings. He joined the UNT faculty in the fall of 2010. Tao also served as the director of the Future House USA project, an initiative that brought together academics, builders, industry sponsors and lobbyists to create a 3,200 square-foot zero-net energy house that was built in Beijing for the 2008 Olympic Games.

(Read More)

(Excerpt of article from Azobuild. NOT AFFILIATED WITH LAMBOO)

Lamboo, Laminated Veneer Bamboo (LVB), designed from one the most rapidly renewable plant species on the planet, bamboo, has the potential to be integrated in this new wave of "Green" buildings. Lamboo can be used to replace less sustainable materials in nearly any conceivable application from curtain wall systems to office furniture. Additionally use of Lamboo materials can receive accreditation from building codes such as LEED from the USBC on qualifying projects.

LEED Credits available through Lamboo integration MR Credit 6 - Rapidly renewable materials IEQ Credit 4.4 - Low-emitting materials ID Credit 1 - Innovation in Design (Environmentally Preferable Material) ID Credit 2 - Innovation in Design (Life Cycle Assessment / Environmental Impact) FSC Certification - Available Upon Request

Learn more about Lamboo What is Lamboo? Certifications Product Information Research

Continue reading

 

For questions regarding Lamboo or our products please visit our website
at www.lamboo.us or contact us at info@lamboo.us 866-966-2999
…
“MAKING INNOVATIVE THINKING A STANDARD” – Lamboo Incorporated

Blog by: Dustin Dennison 

Rebound in U.S. Green Building Materials Market

U.S. demand to post double-digit gains through 2017

Through 2017, a rebound in construction activity, combined with continuing consumer interest in environmentally friendly products, will propel US growth in green building materials demand 11 percent annually to $86.6 billion. US construction activity declined sharply during much of the 2007-2012 period, but demand for green building materials held its own, boosted by consumer interest in products that could reduce utility bills or promote environmentally friendly construction practices. For instance, homeowners installed ENERGY STAR-certified windows and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems to lower energy costs and reduce energy consumption. 

Builders, architects coming to grips with LEED system

For purposes of this study, green building materials are defined as those products that can be used to earn credits toward certification in any of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating systems extant as of February 2013. These materials do not necessarily have to be installed in buildings where LEED accreditation is being sought to be considered green materials. Over the forecast period, builders and architects will increasingly opt to earn high levels of LEED certification by specifying the use of materials that earn LEED points. Lumber harvested in a sustainable manner can contribute to LEED certification, and is forecasted to exhibit demand gains.

Details on these and other findings are contained in Green Building Materials, an upcoming Freedonia industry study available for $5100. It presents historical demand data for 2002, 2007 and 2012, as well as forecasts for 2017 and 2022 by product, market, and region of the US.

(Read More)

(Excerpt of article from Herald Online. NOT AFFILIATED WITH LAMBOO)
 
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Lamboo, Laminated Veneer Bamboo (LVB), is an ultra renewable alternative to traditional building materials. Produced from one of the most rapidly replenishing and environmentally friendly plants in the world, bamboo, Lamboo can be used as a replacement for depleting building resources. To learn more about the superior attributes of Lamboo, please visit our Product Information Page for additional information. LEED Credits available through Lamboo integration Incorporating Lamboo (LVB) Laminated Veneer Bamboo into projects can earn LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification under the following: MR Credit 6 - Rapidly renewable materials IEQ Credit 4.4 - Low-emitting materials ID Credit 1 - Innovation in Design (Environmentally Preferable Material) ID Credit 2 - Innovation in Design (Life Cycle Assessment / Environmental Impact) FSC Certification - Available Upon Request Learn more about our certifications here.

For questions regarding Lamboo or our products please visit our website
at www.lamboo.us or contact us at info@lamboo.us 866-966-2999
…
“MAKING INNOVATIVE THINKING A STANDARD” – Lamboo Incorporated

Blog by: Dustin Dennison

‘Green’ Buildings Gaining Status

The commercial real estate construction and investment philosophy that places a premium on location and quality is giving way to interest in sustainable design, according to market analysts. A focus on ‘green’ development, particularly with refurbishment efforts and new construction of iconic buildings in New York City, is drawing more attention to the benefits of an eco-friendly focus that include lower operating costs and long-term savings as energy prices rise. Investors are now looking to build green portfolios, which is also encouraging more builders to lean in that direction. For more on this continue reading the following article from National Real Estate Investor.

Sustainable buildings result in lower operating costs, not to mention long-term savings as the cost of energy continues to rise. Many real estate scions are building green—think of the Durst Organization’s Bank of America Tower in New York City and One World Trade Center, which is being co-developed by Durst and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey—as well as retrofitting green—most famously, Malkin Properties’ newly refurbished Empire State Building.

So it isn’t surprising that some investors and real estate firms are starting to focus on amassing green portfolios. But when will sustainability become as standard a criterion as location and quality in U.S. investors’ acquisitions? According to many within the industry, thanks to a growing awareness of green as well as several benchmarking programs, that day is almost here.

Many public pension funds and some private pension funds are interested in being environmentally responsible, says Real Capital Analytics Managing Director Dan Fasulo. But “the only real green buildings are brand new buildings built to the U.S. Green Buildings Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards. While these buildings are becoming more common, especially in the major markets, it’s still very uncommon for them to be up for sale.”

 
On a green mission

One investor that’s got a green investment thesis is 5 Stone Green Capital LLC, an organization founded in 2010 in New York City by Doug Lawrence and Lewis Jones, both former JP Morgan managing directors with 34 years of experience between them. The firm is on a mission not only to amass a green multifamily portfolio but to have a positive social impact.

“We have a very simple demographic model,” says Lawrence. “If there are going to be 9 billion people on the planet in 2050, you’ve got to feed them, house them, find them work and they’re going to need more energy.”

5 Stone targets investors who have an interest in green projects and products, including large and small companies, endowments and foundations. “We’ve identified broadly what we call ‘impact investors’—it’s a whole category that we want to tap into,” says Jones.

The firm’s mission is to provide a “triple bottom line” to its investors, says Lawrence. “Our investment thesis provides immediate value creation—by our energy efficiency, sustainable design, lower consumption levels of energy and use of technology, we reduce operating expenses and capital expenditures.”

Bring on the benchmarks

Early on in the USGBC’s LEED rating program, launched in 1998, “investors were seeking so-called green funds,” says Gary Holtzer, global sustainability officer with global real estate firm Hines, “Now it is generally accepted that development will be green and that the best-in-class managers will pursue a sustainable course. The good news is that sustainability is increasingly becoming a baseline, and those that do not pursue this path will suffer a ‘brown discount.’”

Europe’s Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) rating system is also pushing investors toward green buildings. The system is used by investors to determine the sustainability of properties they are acquiring. An external group rates the funds for potential investors.

“At the bottom level, you’re being required to demonstrate your energy efficiency in the marketplace and at the top level funds are being evaluated based on a number of characteristics, so building users are seeing the push toward sustainability from both sides,” Pogue says. “Do users care about this? More and more we’re seeing this is true.”

At press time, yet another benchmark, the FTSE NAREIT USGBC Green Real Estate Index, was about to be launched. The product of collaboration between the economic indexing firm FTSE Group, NAREIT and the USGBC, the indices, which so far include 78 publicly traded REITs, will provide investors with a credible set of criteria for identifying an environmentally responsible property using constantly updated data that goes back to 2008. The methodology utilizes both LEED and Energy Star designations. All information is validated by a third party.
 
Many green drivers

The shift toward sustainability began in earnest with the Government Services Administration (GSA) requiring LEED Silver certification for all new construction federal lease properties of more than 10,000 sq. ft. In 2011, the GSA upped its requirements by requiring projects funded prior to 2010 to be LEED Gold certified. With a portfolio of over 361 million sq. ft. of space in 9,600 federally owned and leased facilities, according to the GSA Web site, the GSA has significantly influenced the trend toward LEED.

“The GSA was an important early adopter because, with very long-term occupants toward perpetuity, this was a pretty big demonstration of what LEED can do,” says David Lynn, executive vice president and chief investment strategist with Cole Real Estate Investments. “But I don’t think the demonstration factor is so important anymore. I think everyone has got religion at this point. People thought it wouldn’t catch on in triple net lease buildings, but it’s even catching on there, too. Major investors see LEED as the future going forward.”

Today the drive toward green investment is being driven largely by multinational corporations, says Dan Probst, Jones Lang LaSalle’s chairman of energy and sustainability services and a founding member of its global environmental sustainability board. He says JLL’s large corporate clients—such as Bank of America, Proctor & Gamble, HSBC and Yahoo—“are very progressive on the environmental front; they’ve had strong focus for a long time on improving the buildings that they own and in which they house their employees.”

(Excerpt of article by Susan Piperato of NuWire Investor . NOT AFFILIATED WITH LAMBOO)

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In this new era of green construction the industry will have to search and develop innovative practices and materials to replace traditional forms that are no longer sustainable. Bamboo is an example of one of these new ultra renewable resources that will be looked towards as a solution.

Bamboo as a resource is unmatched in its potential as a environmentally friendly structurally stable renewable building material. Bamboo produces 30% more oxygen and sequesters 35% more carbon than a like sized timber forest area. With a growth rate of 6-8 years to maturity (compared to timber 25-50) and root structure that eliminates the need for replanting bamboo can be produced on a large scale with much more ease than timber forests cutting costs and limiting energy consumption. Learn more about the amazing attributes of bamboo here.

LEED Credits available through Lamboo integration. Incorporating Lamboo (LVB) Laminated Veneer Bamboo into projects can earn LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification under the following: MR Credit 6 - Rapidly renewable materials IEQ Credit 4.4 - Low-emitting materials ID Credit 1 - Innovation in Design (Environmentally Preferable Material) ID Credit 2 - Innovation in Design (Life Cycle Assessment / Environmental Impact) FSC Certification - Available Upon Request Learn more about our certifications here.

For questions regarding Lamboo or our products please visit our website
at www.lamboo.us or contact us at info@lamboo.us 866-966-2999
…
“MAKING INNOVATIVE THINKING A STANDARD” – Lamboo Incorporated

 Blog by: Dustin Dennison

Can bamboo tackle environmental and poverty concerns?

HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Bamboo, considered to be the world's fastest-growing woody plant, could be a key component in lifting thousands of people in the developing world out of poverty.

According to the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR), as many as 1.5 billion people currently "depend in some way on bamboo and rattan," and several organizations are now investigating how growing bamboo in economically deprived areas can boost the income of the residents, particularly small-scale farmers.

One of them is Hanoi, Vietnam-based Prosperity Initiative (PI). Many people can escape poverty by increasing bamboo production in rural areas and by linking local communities with domestic and foreign buyers, the non-governmental organization believes.

PI aims to bolster the Mekong region's bamboo industry sufficiently enough to bring 750,000 people out of poverty by 2020. It sounds a tall order, but Tim de Mestre, head of Prosperity Initiative's Mekong bamboo program, believes it is "both realistic and achievable."

"Income poverty can only be solved by sustainably increasing household incomes," de Mestre said. "The poor have two assets they can use to do this: their land, to grow commodities, and their labor."

China currently produces 80 percent of the world's bamboo and consumes 60 percent of it, according to PI. Smaller and poorer bamboo-producing countries such as Vietnam are in a prime position to "out-compete China" by supplying industries with raw materials at lower prices, De Mestre said.

But why would growing bamboo increase income levels any more than any other type of crop? Its advantage, proponents say, is its versatility and how quickly it can grow.

Bamboo is a genuinely renewable resource which grows extremely fast, is incredibly strong and has a vast number of practical uses -- particularly in the building industry.

Around 1 billion people live in bamboo houses, according to INBAR. Deforestation of tropical forests and illegal logging will also make people search for more sustainable alternatives in the future, such as bamboo.

PI's strategy is to refocus the bamboo industry on "higher-value products": That is, to concentrate on producing larger items, such as flooring, furniture or building materials.

Such a tactic could drive up the value of bamboo in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, benefiting small-bamboo farmers, as well as those finding employment in the bamboo production industry.

PI says its model is already working in Vietnam, and claims bamboo price increases from 2005-2007 have already been responsible for lifting 20,000 Vietnamese out of poverty. The price of Chinese bamboo has also been boosted in recent months by the strengthening yuan.

News like that will be welcome for poor bamboo farmers as the numbers for industrial bamboo products such as flooring are particularly appealing for them, de Mestre said.

"Typically 60 percent of the sector's output value is raw material cost."

That means for every $1 million worth of bamboo products produced, $600,000 of it goes to the farmers growing the raw bamboo, he said.

The global bamboo industry is currently worth around $11 billion per year and is tipped to reach $15-$20 billion per year by 2018, according to PI. The market for industrial bamboo products is currently only valued at around $500 million a year, but PI estimates it could grow to $4 -5 billion in the next 10 years.

For the bamboo industry to thrive, however, it needs to find large export markets.

Currently, demand for Vietnamese bamboo products is domestic-driven. That may take some time, said Darrel DeBoer, a California-based architect who is one of the biggest proponents of bamboo usage in buildings and structures in the United States.

"It's definitely a different way of thinking than most people are accustomed to here," DeBoer said. From an environmental-friendly perspective, bamboo homes are attractive, said DeBoer, but not enough people in the United States are aware of the option.

"The building industry is very slow to change and you kind of have to drag them along," he said. "We are at the very early phase of basically letting people know that it is possible."

(Read More)

(Excerpt of article by Rachel Oliver of CNN. NOT AFFILIATED WITH LAMBOO)

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More key benefits of bamboo Produces 30% more oxygen and sequesters 35% more carbon than a like sized timber forest area. Growth rate of 6-8 years to maturity (compared to timber 25-50). Root structure that eliminates the need for replanting bamboo Advantages of Lamboo Structural grade materials – On average 20% more stable than hardwoods and up to 40% more stable than softwoods such as pine or Douglas Fir. 10 times stronger than wood in tension and 3 times stronger mechanically. Our manufacturing processes use 15% less embodied energy than that of engineered wood, and 300% less embodied energy than aluminum and steel. Resistance to pests and termites (engineered process and high silica content). Resistance to mold and fungi cultivation. Low V.O.C. adhesives, no off-gassing when sanding, profiling, and handling materials.

LEED Credits available through Lamboo integration Incorporating Lamboo (LVB) Laminated Veneer Bamboo into projects can earn LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification under the following: MR Credit 6 - Rapidly renewable materials IEQ Credit 4.4 - Low-emitting materials ID Credit 1 - Innovation in Design (Environmentally Preferable Material) ID Credit 2 - Innovation in Design (Life Cycle Assessment / Environmental Impact) FSC Certification - Available Upon Request Learn more about our certifications here.

For questions regarding Lamboo or our products please visit our website
at www.lamboo.us or contact us at info@lamboo.us 866-966-2999
…
“MAKING INNOVATIVE THINKING A STANDARD” – Lamboo Incorporated

The Next Generation of LEED Tracking

BIM + Project Management Software: The Next Generation of LEED Credit Tracking

Today, software solutions are being designed specifically to help construction firms track their LEED credits. These LEED-specific solutions can drive efficiencies in the accreditation process.

"We typically see a 25-30% average in time saved when using Greengrade’s LEED Management Software, but often experience an even greater savings when working on larger projects." – Ryan Ennis, LP Consulting Engineers

According to Mike Stuart, President of Greengrade, a 12 million dollar LEED project takes (on average) 400 hours of consulting work and LEED management services are typically billed at $100 per hour. So, with a 25 percent average time savings, a customer can shave $10,000 (100 hours saved x $100/hour) off an average project.

In addition to tracking and managing LEED credits, some construction firms are also using Building Information Modeling (BIM) to plan LEED credits. BIM is a building development tool that can create a multi-dimensional design of a facility that incorporates the quantity, location and type of materials (among other things) for a building design.

By using a combination of BIM and LEED project management software, construction firms can more accurately plan for LEED credits and document project progress. Here are five ways these technologies make it easier to achieve LEED certification.

 

BIM Helps Plan for LEED Credits

Although BIM is not a new technology, it’s becoming more relevant to LEED projects. BIM is useful during the design phase of a LEED project because it allows architects to add several layers of information to a 3-D model. For instance, a BIM model of a facility can show what percentage of building materials come from recycled content, and where materials were made. This is important to know because LEED credits (e.g., MR Credit 4.1) are awarded for using recycled and local materials.

"The real work in LEED is during the design phase, not the construction phase. Construction is the easy part, it’s just about execution." – Phil Williams, Vice President of Webcor

According to Williams, BIM models allow Webcor to predict which LEED credits each project will quality for. Williams says that this kind of predictive modeling was an important factor in helping 98 percent of Webcor’s projects achieve LEED status.

 

Manage LEED Projects from a Workbench

LEED credit submittals require a laundry list of documentation, such as drawings, photos, receipts, and product spec sheets. Amid all this documentation, it’s easy to lose sight of how close the project is to LEED certification. To help LEED project managers stay on track, vendors provide visual project overviews.

 Source: Greengrade

 In the screenshot above, users can monitor the number (and type) of credits planned for a particular project. Green indicates that the project team plans to obtain this credit while red indicates that the team will not. Yellow and orange indicate a “maybe”–yellow means “probably” and orange means “probably not.” This lets team members know where to focus their energy–and where they might be able to snag a few extra credits.

(Read More)
 
(Excerpt of article by Software Advice. NOT AFFILIATED WITH LAMBOO)  

Incorporating Lamboo (LVB) Laminated Veneer Bamboo into projects can earn LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification under the following:

• MR Credit 6 - Rapidly renewable materials
• IEQ Credit 4.4 - Low-emitting materials
• ID Credit 1 - Innovation in Design
  (Environmentally Preferable Material)
• ID Credit 2 - Innovation in Design
  (Life Cycle Assessment / Environmental Impact)
• FSC Certification - Available Upon Request

For questions regarding Lamboo or our products please visit our website
at www.lamboo.us or contact us at info@lamboo.us 866-966-2999
…
“MAKING INNOVATIVE THINKING A STANDARD” – Lamboo Incorporated

Blog by: Dustin Dennison

USGBC launches Green Building Information Gateway

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has announced the launch of the Green Building Information Gateway. Coined GBIG, the web-based tool will accelerate market transformation by providing greater transparency and understanding of the green dimensions of the built environment. 

GBIG provides a transparent view of places, projects, collections and credits, detailing the actions and activities of LEED building owners and project teams over time. The tool provides maps, analytics and insights that reveal trends, patterns and processes in green building practice.

GBIG seeks to use data-driven insights to create value and competitive advantage for high performing green building projects around the world, the green building council said.

“The launch of GBIG represents years of research, information gathering and testing, and has been a true labour of love,” said Chris Pyke, the council’s vice-president, research. “Green building has gone from an era of firsts, to a global movement, connected by data.”

Users can search and explore green building activity around the world, analyze trends and patterns in green building practice and discover connections between projects, people, products and services. Additional information is available at: GBIG.org.

The tool was launched at the Greenbuild International Conference & Expo in San Francisco.

(Read More)

(Excerpt of article by Daily Commercial News. NOT AFFILIATED WITH LAMBOO)

 

Incorporating Lamboo (LVB) Laminated Veneer Bamboo into projects can earn LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification under MR Credit 6 – Rapidly renewable materials, IEQ Credit 4.4 – Low-emitting materials; ID Credit 1 – Innovation in Design (Environmentally Preferable Material), and ID Credit 2 – Innovation in Design (Life Cycle Assessment / Environmental Impact). *Please refer to USGBC for information regarding project requirements.

For questions regarding Lamboo, our products, or to schedule an interview please
visit our website at www.lamboo.us or contact us at info@lamboo.us 866-966-2999
…
“MAKING INNOVATIVE THINKING A STANDARD” – Lamboo Incorporated

Blog by: Dustin Dennison

AEC Daily Continuing Education – Lamboo

AEC Daily is a developer of online education courses for the construction and architecture industries. It is an e-learning provider for architects, engineers, and other construction professionals and serves over 450 companies.

Founded in 2001, online education courses are the main field of AEC Daily. They provide over 300 courses with a focus on sustainable design. Most courses are free while there is a submission fee for courses like the virtual tour of the USGBC headquarters. AEC Daily won the highest award in education from the American Institute of Architects in 2009 and continue to attract the highest numbers of design professionals in the industry. AEC Daily has been recognized as the common denominator for education in the AEC industry.

Lamboo offers a course covering laminated veneer bamboo (LVB) use in structural and curtain wall applications. This course compares the structural and mechanical properties of common building materials and composites, and illustrates how LVB components can be fully integrated into structural or curtain wall designs and meet the requirements of today’s sustainable built environment. Additional courses for window & door and interior panels will be added in coming months.

 (View PDF)

Sustainable Materials for Curtain Wall Innovations

Lamboo Inc. has integrated the most sustainable natural resource, bamboo, into curtain wall members and storefront system components.

Lamboo’s Renewall™ series is ideal for both residential and commercial applications bringing warmth and longevity to each project while exceeding aluminum system’s performance through longer unsupported spans, higher fire rating, and thermal performance. Renewall™ systems can easily be integrated into innovative projects large and small while meeting Passive House Standards.

The Split Mullion Design allows for easy integration of Lamboo materials with aluminum coverings for many applications from storefronts, curtain walls, and conservatories. The coupling mullion pre-fabricated frames can be finished in the fabrication shop with base profiles, interior gaskets and glass supports. Installation on site, these frames are simply coupled, glazed, and finished with pressure profiles. Incorporating Lamboo® Renewall™ materials give systems unmatched qualities including aesthetics, thermal properties, and ease of integration while obtaining optimum variability within harsh and changing environments.

 (Split Mullion technical data)

Lamboo, Inc. is leading the way of sustainable building materials and products by innovative industrialization of bamboo. As an ultra-renewable alternative to traditional materials Lamboo, LVB (Laminated Veneer Bamboo), features performance attributes far greater than other building materials such as timber, aluminum or fiber glass. Superior performance, rapid bamboo replenishment, and environmental benefits make Lamboo the ideal building material for project showcases worldwide.

  For questions regarding Lamboo, our products, or to schedule an interview please

visit our website at www.lamboo.us or contact us at info@lamboo.us 866-966-2999

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“MAKING INNOVATIVE THINKING A STANDARD” – Lamboo Incorporated

 

Blog by: Dustin Dennison