May is Bike Month!

The weather is getting warmer, the pollen is in the air and the road is looking mighty fine...you know what that means? It's MAY IS BIKE MONTH! National Bike Month is starting soon and that means one thing here at I Bike Fresno: the Million Mile Challenge. Every year we challenge the Greater Fresno area to ride a collective million miles in the month of May. Here's how it works: Go to ibikefresno.org Pledge your miles. Think about what kind of riding you'd like to do this month. Plug in your pledged miles and start thinking about where your first ride will take you! Ride your bike. When you get back from your awesome bike ride, login to ibikefresno.org and log your miles into the Million Mile Challenge Dashboard. From there you'll be able to team up with up to four friends to ride and keep each other motivated during the month of May. If you're feeling really inspired head over to bike2workfresno.org and see how you can take part in the Kaiser Permanente Bike To Work Day Corporate Challenge. It's an event that's just as fun as the name is long! Plus, with tons of events in May and our 31 Days of Prizes giveaway, you're sure to be motivated to ride everyday in May! So get on your bike and ride all over this town. We want you riding to the store, to work, to get ice cream with the kids. We want you riding for fitness, recreation or to save a little money on gas. We want you on two wheels, with the wind in your hair remembering how great it is to just...ride. Because we know if you get out on that bike, you'll remember the mantra we've been shouting from River Park to Downtown for the past three years: "Biking = Joy."

Fresno Project Awarded Platinum LEED Green Building Certification

For Immediate Release:

Fresno, CA – Tutelian & Company announced today that the General Services Administration center located at the Park Place Office building has been awarded prestigious LEED Platinum certification. The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), is the most respected and widely used certification program for commercial buildings and communities that are designed, constructed, maintained and operated for improved environmental and human performance.

“This LEED certification demonstrates tremendous green building leadership,” said Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO, and Founding Chair U.S Green Building Council. “Given the extraordinary importance of climate protection and the central role of the building industry in that effort, Tutelian & Company, demonstrate their leadership through this LEED Platinum certification of GSA Park Place, Fresno CA.”

Buildings in the United States are responsible for 72% of Electrical Consumption, 39% of CO2 emissions, 40% of primary energy use, 14% water consumption, and 65% of Solid Waste Output per year, making green building a source of significant economic and environmental opportunity.  Greater building efficiency can meet 85% of future U.S. Demand for energy, and projects like Tutelian & Company’s GSA Park Place are leaders in this effort.

“We are honored to be able to announce that Fresno now has a Platinum certified project,” reported Green Expectations' Michelle Musson, the LEED AP (Accredited Professional) for the project.  “This puts Fresno on the map for being prominent in the effort to save energy and costs associated with maintaining commercial spaces.  It is important to note that having a third party, like USGBC, verifies to the Tenant, Developer, and community that the space is in fact truly sustainable.”

The Team of Professionals included:  Tutelian Construction, Green Expectations Sustainability Solutions LEED AP Services, mechanical systems engineer/contractor New England Sheet Metal (NESM), and DPG Engineering.  NESM engineer, Joelon Chinn (PE, LEED AP) commented, “Many people are surprised that you don’t have to choose between value and performance when designing building systems.  A quality design should always have both construction costs and long-term implications in mind.” 

The 19,493 sf Fresno Office located at Palm and Nees near Palm Bluffs earned LEED Platinum certification through the implementation of several strategies and solutions that affect the project’s site, water conservation, energy use, indoor atmosphere, and building materials and resources.  Some of the energy saving measures include: 43% water savings, 33.65% lighting power reduction beyond CA's Title 24 requirements, 96.17% of on-site generated construction waste was diverted from landfills, including reused walls, flooring, and ceiling systems, occupancy sensors have been installed for 87.67% of the project lighting load, 100% of purchased appliances are ENERGY STAR-rated, 30.87% of project materials were used salvaged, refurbished, or reused, 20.81% of building materials were manufactured using recycled materials, and 33.68% of building materials were manufactured within 500 miles of the project site.

The Property Owner, Tutelian & Company, values energy savings as it equates to financial savings and leased spaces.  This first LEED Platinum certified project is part of over 181 LEED projects and over 9 million square feet in the Central Valley.

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The LEED green building rating system, developed and administered by the USGBC, a nonprofit coalition of building industry professionals, created the LEED green building rating system to promote sustainable design and construction practices.  As the most widely recognized and widely used green building program across the globe, LEED or Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design is transforming buildings, homes and communities in all 50 states and 135 countries worldwide. With 9.8 billion square feet of building space participating in the suite of rating systems and 1.5 million feet certifying per day around the world, LEED is transforming the way built environments are designed, constructed, and operated.

What types of projects can use LEED?  LEED is flexible enough to apply to all building types – commercial, residential and entire neighborhood communities, and works throughout the building lifecycle – design and construction, operations and maintenance, tenant fit-out, and significant retrofit.
Points & Levels of Certification: LEED rating systems generally have 100 base points plus six Innovation in Design points and four Regional Priority points, for a total of 110 points (LEED for Homes is based on a 125-point scale, plus 11 Innovation in Design points). Each credit is allocated points based on the environmental impacts and human benefits of the building-related impacts that it addresses. Projects achieve certification if they earn points according to the following levels:
Certified: 40–49 points
Silver: 50–59 points
Gold: 60–79 points
Platinum: 80+ points

How does LEED work?  LEED certification provides independent, third-party verification that a building, home or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at achieving high performance in key areas of human and environmental health: Sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

LEED rating systems address the following types and scopes of projects:
New Construction & Major Renovation
Core & Shell
Schools
Retail: New Construction & Major Renovations / Retail: Commercial Interiors
Healthcare
Commercial Interiors
Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance
Homes
Neighborhood Development
By using less energy, LEED-certified spaces save money for families, businesses and taxpayers; reduce carbon emissions; and contribute to a healthier environment for residents, workers and the larger community.  Learn more at usgbc.org/leed.

The Beat Goes On For Earth Day

Read more from Fresno Bee

See USGBC CC at Earth Day Fresno This Saturday, April 20th