To help builders, consulting engineers, facility owners, and other professionals understand the U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, explore a Green Touchscreen sustainability interface, or calculate the emissions abatement of energy-efficiency measures, Siemens Industry Inc. has launched a new suite of interactive tools on its Green Online Tools Web page. The site delivers content and applications aimed at helping customers advance the sustainability of their buildings.
The online tools include:
Green Building Portal. A user-friendly educational tool to navigate through the USGBC's New Construction and Existing Building (NC and EB) LEED rating systems, the Green Building Portal helps industry professionals understand the key requirements for each prerequisite and credit and demonstrates how Siemens Building Technologies solutions can help meet and support specific LEED certification objectives. Users can navigate LEED two ways: point-by-point or via the solutions Siemens offers. The portal's Solutions page offers navigation across individual Siemens solutions tabs covering:
• Evaluation & Planning
• Efficient Infrastructure
• Information Management
• Ongoing Services & Improvements
Supporting those choices are additional tabs that cover LEED rating systems, associated Siemens solutions, and supporting resources.
Siemens GreenTouchscreen. The interface powered by Quality Attributes Software technology uses Web-based technology to educate the public and building occupants about a building's sustainability measures and energy use. Visitors use a touchscreen interface that's typically placed in the building's lobby to view specific data related to the building's energy consumption, visualize its carbon footprint, learn fun facts, and much more. Live demos incorporate graphics and information for a variety of virtual facilities, including heath care, academic, and commercial buildings.
Environmental Impact Calculator. This tool allows for estimating of a building's baseline carbon footprint from purchased electricity, natural gas, or heating oil, and calculating the environmental benefits of reducing their consumption. Additionally, the impact of energy-efficiency improvements can be measured on an annual basis or throughout the length of a project.