Leading the nation in environmental initiative once again, the California Building Standards Commission has unanimously approved the country's first green building code for all new structures'from homes to businesses, schools to hospitals'built in California. 'We have already committed to making our state-owned buildings more green and energy efficient. This statewide code will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve energy efficiency and conserve water in all new buildings,' Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a statement. As part of its goal to curb emissions by 2020, the new standard is voluntary for now, but will become mandatory in 2010. This green code looks
When the New York Times Building opened in late 2007, critics marveled at the 3-inch-diameter ceramic rods covering the façade of the 52-story skyscraper—the first glass tower with a sunscreen to be built in the United States.