ASHRAE’s newly published Guideline 32-2012: Sustainable, High Performance Operation and Maintenance aims to give facility managers guidance on operation and maintenance of buildings to meet low environmental life cycle costs. The $69 publication contains recommendations for three levels of building oversight: senior managers, facility managers and technicians, ASHRAE said.
Southern California Edison (SCE) and The Climate Registry have added the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) as a member of their Cool Planet Program. UCSB plans to reduce greenhouse gases to the levels emitted in 2000 by 2014, then to 1990 emissions levels by 2020, and to reach carbon neutrality by 2050, the Climate Registry said.
Total Reclaim has been recognized as an e-Stewards recycler for socially and environmentally responsible electronics recycling. Its Seattle headquarters is now certified – the first in the Pacific Northwest – and additional facilities in Alaska and Oregon are undergoing certification. The company also holds R2 and ISO 14001 certifications, Total Reclaim said.
Eco Building Products said that its Eco Red Shield coatings have successfully achieved Greenguard children & schools certification by meeting criteria for low emissions of VOCs. To maintain their certification, the coatings will undergo quarterly quality monitoring testing and an annual recertification test, the company said.
The Boxshop Ltd, a corrugated cardboard box manufacturer in Scotland, announces its certification to the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) Chain of Custody accreditation. The company said it has also previously earned ISO 9001, BRC/IoP, ISO 14001, ISO 22000 and OHSAS 18001 certifications.
Miller Park, home of the Milwaukee Brewers, has earned LEED certification for existing building operations and maintenance (EB O&M) to become the third Major League Baseball stadium to achieve the standard. Johnson Controls is the facilities manager. Among its accomplishments, the stadium has diverted 35 percent of waste from landfills through recycling programs since the start of the 2010 season, writes the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Boston Properties announced that its fourth owned-and-managed building – Market Square North in Washington, D.C. – has received LEED-EB O&M Gold certification. The facility has implemented water efficiency measures that are expected to reduce water consumption by 1.2 million gallons annually, and has documented annual emissions reductions of more than 11,000 tons of CO2 equivalent, the company said.
TÜV Rheinland has established a PV module and component testing and certification facility in Gyeongsan, South Korea. The lab – TÜV Rheinland’s seventh – was set up in cooperation with Yeungnam University and it is Korea’s first to operate according to the IEC 61215 and IEC 61730 standards, the company said.
Channel Technologies Group has received ISO 9001 certification issued through Bureau Veritas North Americas for its quality management systems. The standard applies to the whole group, which includes Channel Industries, ITC and Sonatech, CTG said.
Orbus Exhibit & Display Group said that it has been recertified for ISO 14001 after completing its 2011 environmental objectives and setting new goals for 2012. The company said it eliminated all use of foam packing materials and used 50 percent or 100 percent recycled plastic to manufacture its trade show cases. The company said that it aims to recycle five percent more plastic in 2012.