Green Remodeling Epicenter...Could It Be North Carolina?
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden 
on 06.24.08
Inhabitat's BRA-Braille wall tiles are molded bamboo paper pulp.
OK, fun facts. Portland and Seattle always seem to take the awards for most LEED-certified green buildings per capita. But dinky little Durham, North Carolina with a population just over 200,000 has the most LEED buildings in the state and ranks in the top five nationally on a per capita basis.
Durham, home to Duke University, has a plan to revitalize its city center using green building techniques. Duke has designed all of its buildings and renovations in the last 5 years to meet LEED standards - it just got its first platinum at a residence hall, and Durham County requires municipal buildings to get LEED certification. For a smallish town, there's a lot going on, and local contractor Trinity Design Build is one business trying to corner the market on green renovation, both on residential and small office sites, and green historic remodels. They've work they've done on their own remodel and in adjacent leased space are a great reminder that green remodels can be as cool or cooler than green new builds. Via ::Inhabitat and ::209 North Gregson
North Carolina Green Building
Greenbridge Developments: Bringing LEED Gold To North Carolina
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The law school is LEED Gold, it was the first in the nation.
All the top universities in the country should be building green, and many are. After all, they can afford it quite easily, and they are a powerful force for change due to their status as educational institutions. After all, dorms, classroom buildings, and offices and libraries are easy to green. The only exception is in laboratory buildings. There green features often must play second fiddle to concerns about safety and instrument stability. Some rooms might need to be kept at 50 degrees fahrenheit, a 3 watt laser might need a 2 kilowatt cooling system to ensure stable operation, and a clean room or chem lab might need a very large number of HEPA filters in continuous operation.
Durham is a great town! Having moved out of Durham (for the UK) a few years ago, it was a great place to live then and, from what I hear, an even better place to live now. From the downtown revitalization that has been going on (see http://www.downtowndurham.com/ for info) to the expansion of Duke's campus, the city is making a recovery from the industrial decay that occurred during the 1980s/90s and is, along with the whole area - including Chapel Hill & Carrboro, changing for the better. I miss living there and it is one of the places that I would move back to when I return to the USA.
'Dinky Little Durham" ? We have a thriving economy, two major universities, Research Triangle Park, a vibrant arts community, and an above average percentage of educated adults. We have the best of both worlds: the amenities of a large city and the neighborliness of a small one.
Spend some time here. Perhaps, liek so many other visitors, you'll coem back to stay!
=====author replies=====
Hi, Lea:
Having just finished five days in Raleigh Durham, I agree with you. There's a lot to like in Durham. Still, I do think it's dinky...in size.