Fastrack, February 11, 2009

Older and Wiser: Reinventing an L.A. Landmark
By Matthew Cherry
How an iconic 1970s office tower was turned into a progressive, environmentally friendly commercial property...MORE

Building-Energy-Labeling Program
The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) proposed a building-energy-labeling program during its 2009 Winter conference in Chicago. The program would include a method of rating the energy performance of buildings covered by ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings; qualification criteria for raters and assessors; asset and operational ratings to cover both design and operations; and a process for approving alternative methods...MORE

AHRI Addresses New Legislation
The Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) offers insight into the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the Environmental Protection Agency's proposed hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFC) rules...MORE

Green School-Construction Projects
Rachel Gutter, the U.S. Green Building Council's senior manager for the education market, discusses why green school-construction projects will continue to be successful in 2009...MORE

Respiratory and Ocular Symptoms at Hotel Indoor Waterpark Resort
From January to March 2007, the Warren County (Ohio) Combined Health District (WCCHD) received 665 reports of respiratory and eye irritation from patrons and lifeguards at a hotel indoor-waterpark resort. Tests revealed normal water chemistry and air-chlorine concentration. Exposure to airborne trichloramine in the waterpark was suspected as the cause of the symptoms. Insufficient air movement and distribution likely led to accumulation of trichloramine and exacerbation of symptoms...MORE

NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory
NASA is preparing to launch the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO), a spacecraft dedicated to studying atmospheric carbon dioxide. OCO will map the global geographic distribution of cabon-dioxide sources and sinks, the places where carbon dioxide is pulled out of the atmosphere and stored. The measurements will be combined with data from ground stations, aircraft, and satellites to help answer questions about the processes that regulate atmospheric carbon dioxide and its role in Earth's climate and carbon cycle....MORE

New Energy-Performance-Contracting Model for Retrofits
Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International and the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) announced the development of the BOMA energy-performance-contracting (BEPC) model. BEPC is a model contract and includes supporting documents that allow building owners and operators to execute energy-efficiency retrofits...MORE