INDUSTRY NEWS & NOTES
THE BERNHEIM ARBORETUM AND
RESEARCH VISITORS CENTER IN CLERMONT, KY., WAS AWARDED THE "OUT-STANDING ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FOR
BEST GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION."
PHOTOGRAPHY © THe BeRNHeiM ARBORe TuM
AND ReSeARCH ViSi TORS CeNTeR
ePa hOnOrs Green BuildinG
challenGe Winners
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently honored six
innovative green building concepts as part of its 2009 Lifecycle Building
Challenge. These concepts are designed to facilitate disassembly and material
reuse to minimize the environmental and energy impacts of buildings, and to
assist the building industry in reducing more than 88 million tons of building-related construction and demolition debris sent to U.S. landfills each year.
The EPA, along with its partners, the American Institute of Architects
(AIA), West Coast Green, the Collaborative for High Performance Schools
and Stop Waste.org, invited professionals and students nationwide to submit designs and ideas that support cost-effective disassembly and anticipate
future use of building materials.
The EPA recently reported that doubling the reuse and recycling of construction and demolition debris would result in an emissions savings of 150
million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year, equal to the entire
annual carbon emissions from the state of North Carolina. For more information on the winners, visit www.lifecyclebuilding.org.
FOrEcLOsurE crIsIs
ExPAnds TO OuTLYIng
u.s. rEgIOns
Although foreclosure rates are slowing in some of the
hardest-hit cities, the crisis has started to expand into
new metro areas, according to the latest Realty Trac
report. During the third quarter of 2009, Reno, Nev.,
posted an 80 percent gain in foreclosures compared to
the third quarter of 2008. Boise, Idaho cracked the top
20 for the first time as foreclosures jumped 141 percent,
and foreclosures in Provo, Utah also rose 120 percent.
As expected, towns in California, Florida and Nevada
dominated the top 10, with Las Vegas once again taking
the top spot with a foreclosure rate of 1 in 20 homes (a
53 percent increase over the third quarter 2008).
Despite these changes, the report did reflect some
good news: half of the cities in the top 10 showed
declines in their foreclosure rates and 60 percent
improved since the second quarter of 2009. To view
the report, visit www.realtytrac.com/foreclosure.
Federal regulators to Issue
commercial Mortgage
guidelines
At a hearing in October 2009, Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Chair Sheila Bair testified
with others from the banking industry that regulators
are close to issuing new guidance for banks to use in
modifying troubled commercial real estate (CRE) loans.
The forthcoming guidance will give banks the necessary
resources to restructure weak credit relationships and
manage real estate holdings in an organized way. At
the hearing, Bair, along with several other witnesses,
expressed concern over the state of the CRE market.
Bair cited CRE loans as “the most prominent area of
risk for rising credit losses at FDIC-insured institutions
during the next several quarters.”
To read the testimony visit http://tinyurl.com/ykkmxav.
