Temple Hall helps state top Green Building List

Virginia Business reported the story below about the Commonwealth toping the list of green building states in 2012. I am proud that the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority contributed to this great year by completing our first LEED Certified building in 2012. We built a new visitor Center at Temple Hall Farm Park outside of Leesburg and recieved a LEED Gold designation for this great building.


Virginia ranked as top state for green buildings in 2012
January 23, 2013

Virginia ranked as the top state for new eco-friendly buildings in 2012, according to a list issued Wednesday by the Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Green Building Council.

The Old Dominion, once a laggard in the green building movement, led the 50 states in buildings certified during the year as meeting Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards.

Virginia had 170 projects certified encompassing 29.7 million square feet of space. That footage translates into a ratio of 3.71 feet of certified space per capita, the measuring stick used by the U.S. Green Building Council to rank the states.

While Virginia was the top state on the list, the overall national leader was densely populated Washington, D.C., with a ratio of nearly 37 square feet of certified space per capita.


Following Virginia among the states are Colorado, 2.1 square feet; Massachusetts, 2.05; Illinois, 1.94; and Maryland, 1.90.

Virginia ranked behind Colorado and Illinois last year.

The Green Building Council’s report singled out a number of significant projects during 2012, including Cooper Vineyards in Louisa, the first winery on the East Coast to achieve LEED platinum certification.

CPR and AEDs in the Parks

CPR and defibrillators save lives. Heart attacks are a very common cause of death, and these methods and technology can often save people.

The Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority like many public places has AEDs (defibrillators) readily available in many locations. These devices are remarkably easy to use, and they will not shock the person in need unless it determines that a shock would be useful.

In addition to these great devices, many of the staff at the Regional Park Authority are Red Cross trained in CPR and first aid. I just went through this training and I would encourage everyone to get this kind of training. Just the first aid I learned in Boy Scouts years ago has helped me provide aid to other in need several times. Having updated skills and training helps anyone be ready to assist other when and if there is a need.