By Joel Scanlon

The GREENGUARD Environmental Institute (GEI) has issued the GREENGUARD Indoor Air Quality and GREENGUARD Children & Schools Certification to Crane Composites’ fiberglass reinforced plastic ceiling and wall panels.

Crane Composites manufactures a variety of fiberglass reinforced plastic panels, including Sanigrid II, Sequentia and Glasbord. The issuance of the GREENGUARD Certification verifies the company’s continuous efforts in enhancing the product quality and increasing the utilization of low emitting materials are successful.

Kelly Erdmann, who serves as Vice President of Building Products for Crane Composites, commented that earning the GREENGUARD certification complements the company’s efforts in offering eco-friendly building products and enhancing the environmental footprint

Erdmann further said that fiberglass reinforced plastic is recognized for its longer operating life, cleanability and durability and now the GREENGUARD certification validates its usage as ceiling and wall panels for schools and other public places.

The Executive Director at GEI, Henning Bloech commented that the institute congratulates Crane Composites for showing its dedication towards sustainability and health by earning the certification.

GREENGUARD Certification is widely recognized by several green building programs such as the LEED Green Building Rating System of the United States Green Building Council. The industry-independent certification is developed to safeguard human health by enhancing indoor air quality.

Source: http://www.frp.com

Process delivers large-scale green building certifications for existing facilities into standard practice Washington, D.C. – (June 27, 2011) – The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) today announced thatLEED Volume Program for Operations & Maintenance is now available for existing green building projects. The track, which focuses on operations and maintenance needs, debuted at the 2011 BOMA International Conference held in Washington, D.C.

“With the launch of the Operations & Maintenance track, LEED’s largest users are now able to make a sizable impact in greening their existing building portfolio as well as achieving green design and construction of their new builds,” said Scot Horst, Senior Vice President, USGBC. “Because existing buildings make up the vast majority of the U.S. building stock and the existing building market is nearly 100 times larger than the new construction market, tools like this are essential to reducing energy consumption from this sector.”

The LEED Volume Program streamlines the certification process for high-volume property owners and managers of existing buildings and new construction projects. Utilizing a prototype-based approach, the program enables large-scale builders, owners, and managers to achieve consistency in green building improvements, allowing them to earn LEED certification faster and at a lower cost than would be possible with individual building reviews.

The Operations & Maintenance track was shaped by 11 commercial real estate firms, national retailers, hospitality providers, colleges and universities, local and state governments and federal agencies, including Cushman & Wakefield, Bentall Kennedy, City of San Jose, Kohl’s Department Stores, Stop & Shop, Bank of America, University of Florida, American University, University of California Santa Barbara, Wells Fargo and InterContinental Hotels Group.

“The LEED Volume Program benefitted both our corporate tenant and investor clients by providing a streamlined and cost-effective approach to certification,” said John Santora, Client Solutions, Cushman & Wakefield, a Volume Pilot participant. “It also allowed us to educate and empower our management professionals so that they are now able to implement sustainable operations and practices at our properties.” Currently, 18 Cushman & Wakefield properties are certified, representing 8 million square feet of commercial real estate.

“Achieving one of the nation’s first groups of certifications using the LEED Volume Program for Operations & Maintenance across such a diverse portfolio of assets demonstrates our strong belief in the importance, long-term value and opportunities presented by improving the sustainability of existing buildings, in addition to new construction,” said Christian Gunter, Vice President, Bentall Kennedy, which has certified 45 buildings representing over 8 million square feet of commercial space through the LEED Volume Program.

More than 625 building projects have certified through the LEED Volume Program, including Starwood Hotels & Resorts, The PNC Financial Services Group, Best Buy, Marriott, Citigroup and Starbucks Coffee Company. USGBC launched the program for the design and construction of new building projects at its Greenbuild International Conference & Expo in November 2010.

To learn more about the LEED Volume Program, visit www.usgbc.org/LEEDvolume.

Contact: Jennifer Easton

Communications Associate, USGBC

202.595.3957

jeaston@usgbc.org