Greensburg, KS rebuilt their community to be green after a tornado destroyed the town.

A decade ago, an immense EF-5 tornado reduced the town of Greensburg, KS to rubble. Steve Hewitt, the city administrator was talking to (then) Gov. Kathleen Sebelius about rebuilding & planning for the future when the realization came to them both that Greensburg was going to go green… And they could literally do so from the ground up.

With only about 800 residents, undertaking the task of serving as a benchmark for a sustainable community was “easier” compared to a sprawling metropolis; but it was far from simple. When work began, Greensburg’s eco-accomplishments included:

• Utilizing wind power to generate 100% of their electricity.
• Utilizing low-flow faucets and collecting rainwater in order to conserve water.
• Implementing community-wide single-stream curbside recycling.

The ability to integrate green building standards and practices was difficult, but it has been paying off as the community has the most LEED-certified buildings, per capita, in the world.

The Coalition for Responsible Equitable Economic Development (CREED LA) proudly supports environmentally-responsible construction projects throughout Los Angeles that not only have a positive impact on the local community, but support LA’s working families as well.

CREED LA fights to ensure that developers pay fair wages to all the hard working construction professionals throughout the industry while simultaneously providing them with quality health care, continued training, and trustworthy retirement plans. To learn more about how our non-profit organization supports those building a better, greener world for us all, contact CREED LA at (877) 810-7473.

*photo: Photo by Greg Henshall / FEMA

Tesla’s Gigafactory is the key component in their quest to help the world transition to sustainable energy.

Elon Musk, the modern-day industrialist and founder of Tesla, is seeking to revolutionize the way we perceive what is possible with sustainable energy. Central to his business plan is a structure called the Gigafactory. Located in Nevada, just outside the city of Sparks (ha!), this mammoth structure will be the second largest building in the world by footprint at 5.5 million ft². Central to Tesla’s sustainability mandates, the Gigafactory will run entirely on renewable energy, primarily solar & wind power. More importantly, it’ll have the ability to recycle old battery packs, which will allay the concerns critics have regarding the current proliferation of battery technology.

The Gigafactory will serve as Tesla’s battery production facility for their automotive, residential, and commercial-based products. Its name is meant to reflect the facility’s planned battery output of 35 gigawatt-hours (GWh) annually. When one considers that “giga” represents one billion, the scale of Tesla’s ambitions becomes shockingly evident.

The Coalition for Responsible Equitable Economic Development (CREED LA) proudly supports environmentally-responsible construction projects throughout Los Angeles that not only have a positive impact on the local community, but support LA’s working families as well.

CREED LA fights to ensure that developers pay fair wages to all the hard working construction professionals throughout the industry while simultaneously providing them with quality health care, continued training, and trustworthy retirement plans. To learn more about how our non-profit organization supports those building a better, greener world for us all, contact CREED LA at (877) 810-7473.

Pictured Above :Tesla Motors Inc. Rendering courtesy of Tesla

A New Twist on a Weighty Matter

When most people think of tuned mass dampers, they immediately call to mind the variants installed within the stunning Taipei 101 in Taiwan or near the top of the slope-roofed Citigroup Center in NYC. In fact, when the latter opened in 1977, it was the first skyscraper in the United States to feature this type of sway mitigation apparatus. Able to quell movement due to wind by almost 50%, these behemoths weigh in at a far-from-svelte 400+ tons!

Recently, researchers at Virginia Tech, led by architecture professor Mehdi Setareh, developed an incredibly compact, portable tuned mass damper that can reduce structural vibrations in structures by up to 75%. Weighing under 300 lbs., their device can be tuned on-site with a custom smartphone app. This is a far cry from the highly complex tuning methods that need to be employed on large dampers that might otherwise occupy 1000 ft² of space.

Video and Picture: Professor Mehdi Setareh’s device makes a previously complex, cost-prohibitive technology for reducing structural vibrations universally accessible. Students, including Sriram Sankaranarayanan, a graduate civil engineering student (background), helped with the research.  http://vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2017/01/CAUS-PTMD.html

The Coalition for Responsible Equitable Economic Development (CREED LA) proudly supports environmentally-responsible construction projects throughout Los Angeles that not only have a positive impact on the local community, but support LA’s working families as well.

CREED LA fights to ensure that developers pay fair wages to all the hard working construction professionals throughout the industry while simultaneously providing them with quality health care, continued training, and trustworthy retirement plans. To learn more about how our non-profit organization supports those building a better, greener world for us all, contact CREED LA at (877) 810-7473.

Talk About an “Eye” For Design

Although it may look like someone took an outrageously kitsch movie prop from Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989) and placed it between two buildings in the middle of Venice, CA, the reality is that the Binoculars Building was anything but!

Frank Gehry, in conjunction with Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, originally designed this 30’ tall structure for advertising agency Chiat/Day along with two other buildings at its site on Main Street. In true Gehry fashion, Binoculars Building functions as a pair of meeting rooms, complete with integrated skylights. After the discovery of toxic waste on the site led to some delays, Binoculars Building was completed in 1991. Chiat/Day has since moved to another facility and the site is now leased by Google. The irony of *Binoculars Building serving as a campus for the world’s most popular search engine is seen by many as more than pure coincidence! 

The Coalition for Responsible Equitable Economic Development (CREED LA) proudly supports environmentally-responsible construction projects throughout Los Angeles that not only have a positive impact on the local community, but support LA’s working families as well.

CREED LA fights to ensure that developers pay fair wages to all the hard working construction professionals throughout the industry while simultaneously providing them with quality health care, continued training, and trustworthy retirement plans. To learn more about how our non-profit organization supports those building a better, greener world for us all, contact CREED LA at (877) 810-7473.

*Picture courtesy of: By Bobak Ha’Eri – Own work, CC BY 3.0,

Disconcerting News for Gephyrophobics

Gephyrophobics, individuals that suffer anxiety with respect to crossing bridges or going through tunnels, often reveal their fears manifested from traumatic experiences at some point in their lives. Rather disconcertingly, statistics released by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), for 2016 reveal that the condition of many of our nation’s bridges and tunnels won’t do much to allay their fears any time soon… Consider that there are approximately 58,500 structures throughout the country that have been marked by the FHWA as functionally obsolete or structurally deficient.

Within California, a state with over 25,000 bridges, approximately 2000 of them have been classified as structurally deficient, meaning one (or more) key bridge elements, such as the deck, superstructure, or substructure, is considered to be in poor condition. Furthermore, approximately 4400 bridges are classified functionally obsolete, meaning the structure no longer meets design standards in line with current standards.

Indeed, our transportation infrastructure needs help.

The Coalition for Responsible Equitable Economic Development (CREED LA) proudly supports environmentally-responsible construction projects throughout Los Angeles that not only have a positive impact on the local community, but support LA’s working families as well.

CREED LA fights to ensure that developers pay fair wages to all the hard working construction professionals throughout the industry while simultaneously providing them with quality health care, continued training, and trustworthy retirement plans. To learn more about how our non-profit organization supports those building a better, greener world for us all, contact CREED LA at (877) 810-7473.

Another Man’s Trash…Waste-to-Energy power generation reduces landfill volume while providing electricity for the facility and the surrounding community

Once upon a time, almost everyone burned common household waste or leaf & grass matter in metal drums or dirt pits in their yards. Federal and state clean air legislation saw to it that this practice was banned in most parts of the country as a necessary step in improving nationwide air quality. Today, many municipal landfills are rapidly filling up around the country, leading to the development of more modern and tightly regulated ways of burning garbage that would allow it to possess a usefulness heretofore underutilized.

Called Waste-to-Energy power generation (WtE), this form of incineration utilizes trash as the fuel for generating power. Burning garbage boils water into high-pressure steam that spins turbines connected to generators to create electricity for both the facility and the surrounding community. WtE facilities reduce local landfill volume by up to 90% while preventing the release of one ton of CO₂ for each ton of garbage burned.

The Coalition for Responsible Equitable Economic Development (CREED LA) proudly supports environmentally-responsible construction projects throughout Los Angeles that not only have a positive impact on the local community, but support LA’s working families as well.

CREED LA fights to ensure that developers pay fair wages to all the hard working construction professionals throughout the industry while simultaneously providing them with quality health care, continued training, and trustworthy retirement plans. To learn more about how our non-profit organization supports those building a better, greener world for us all, contact CREED LA at (877) 810-7473

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“Cementing” Our Place in History

Of all the advancements discovered or created that culminated in the formation of modern society as we know it today, concrete has to be near the top of the list. Concrete is a durable, highly versatile, and cost-effective building material that is available in a variety of types, each featuring its own unique set of properties based on factors such as strength required and the environment in which the cured product will be located.

With roots dating back to the time of the ancient Egyptians approximately 5000 years ago, this seemingly simple mixture of broken stone (or gravel), sand, cement, and water helped transform the world as we know it. Upon the emergence of portland cement back in 1824, mankind’s ability to utilize this material in an endless number of ways enabled roads, bridges, and buildings to be built to specifications that would impress the architects responsible for the Pyramids of Giza!

The Coalition for Responsible Equitable Economic Development (CREED LA) proudly supports environmentally-responsible construction projects throughout Los Angeles that not only have a positive impact on the local community, but support LA’s working families as well.

CREED LA fights to ensure that developers pay fair wages to all the hard working construction professionals throughout the industry while simultaneously providing them with quality health care, continued training, and trustworthy retirement plans. To learn more about how our non-profit organization supports those building a better, greener world for us all, contact CREED LA at (877) 810-7473.

The Leaning  Millenium Tower

Rated one of the “Top 10 Residential Buildings in the World” by Worth Magazine, the stunning, blue-gray glass Millennium Tower in the Yerba Buena section of San Francisco nicely compliments an already stunning skyline at 58 stories. Serving as both the tallest residential building -and the fourth tallest structure overall in the city- the Millennium Tower is indeed the stuff of dreams for those fortunate enough to afford to live there.

Unfortunately, the dream has become a nightmare… one where that sinking feeling has segued into harsh reality since this 645’ Handel Architects-designed structure has descended approximately 16 inches (as of November 2016) into the soft soils & sands upon which it was placed. Already built on reclaimed land, the decision to forego anchoring the tower into more stable bedrock was done as a cost-cutting measure that has created a myriad of legal battles that may prove to be as costly as its remediation.

The Coalition for Responsible Equitable Economic Development (CREED LA) proudly supports environmentally-responsible construction projects throughout Los Angeles that not only have a positive impact on the local community, but support LA’s working families as well.

CREED LA fights to ensure that developers pay fair wages to all the hard working construction professionals throughout the industry while simultaneously providing them with quality health care, continued training, and trustworthy retirement plans. To learn more about how our non-profit organization supports those building a better, greener world for us all, contact CREED LA at (877) 810-7473.

Energy Efficient Technology and Environmentally-Responsible Construction Projects

Conscientious homeowners are purchasing products that will make their homes greener by reducing their carbon footprint. Elaborating on this, Zillow released a report listing the top 100 cities possessing the greatest number of homes featuring energy-efficient technology.

The results were surprising, especially for citizens in five California cities.

Despite topping the list in which residents installed some form of energy-efficient technology on their homes, these same locations featured larger carbon footprints relative to cities (primarily found on the East Coast) that didn’t feature such technology.

At 24%, San Jose topped the list with the highest percentage of home listings featuring energy-efficient technology. Marring this achievement is the fact they have the fifth largest carbon footprint in the country at 53.4 tons/year. Conversely, Buffalo, NY has but a scant 3% of its home listings possessing energy-efficient technology, but they have the smallest carbon footprint in the nation at just 33.5 tons/year.

The Coalition for Responsible Equitable Economic Development (CREED LA) proudly supports environmentally-responsible construction projects throughout Los Angeles that not only have a positive impact on the local community, but support LA’s working families as well.

CREED LA fights to ensure that developers pay fair wages to all the hard working construction professionals throughout the industry while simultaneously providing them with quality health care, continued training, and trustworthy retirement plans. To learn more about how our non-profit organization supports those building a better, greener world for us all, contact CREED LA at (877) 810-7473.

Welcoming an Art Museum With Broad Appeal

The Broad Museum will add to LA’s vibrant Cultural District.

Designing a building that will serve as the centerpiece for one’s legacy means striving to capture the essence of the individual while ensuring the structure stands out amongst its peers. Within Los Angeles’ thriving Cultural District, regional philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad are doing just that. The newly-opened 120,000 sq. ft. LEED Gold-certified contemporary art museum that bears their surname joins other iconic structures such as the neighboring Frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall.

The Broad features an underlying design theme known as “veil-and-vault.” A honeycomb exterior “veil” provides ample daylight in which to showcase numerous artworks from their impressive collection, while the “vault” refers to a darkened core, suitable for protecting sensitive & archival works. Among its most interesting architectural details can be found on the roof; featuring 318 skylights, they all face north in order to protect artwork from damaging sunlight… That’s intelligent design with a Broad appeal!

The Coalition for Responsible Equitable Economic Development (CREED LA) proudly supports environmentally-responsible construction projects throughout Los Angeles that not only have a positive impact on the local community, but support LA’s working families as well.

CREED LA fights to ensure that developers pay fair wages to all the hard working construction professionals throughout the industry while simultaneously providing them with quality health care, continued training, and trustworthy retirement plans. To learn more about how our non-profit organization supports those building a better, greener world for us all, contact CREED LA at (877) 810-7473.