CAD News for Govies is a weekly feature on Acronym that scans thousands of industry articles to present you with a regular source of CAD and GIS news, information and ideas that impact the public sector. Here’s the latest round-up:

Is it Possible To Design Buildings That Can Withstand 250 MPH Typhoon Winds?

Tomorrow, April 22, is Earth Day 2011 and the global organizers of this annual celebration of our planet are once again asking us all to make a pledge to help achieve “a billion acts of green.” Now, we all know that, as the U.S. economy’s largest consumer of energy, the Federal government is grappling with significant energy issues – but it’s not all bad news. From the multiple benefits of cloud computing, building information modeling (BIM), virtualization, and smart grids to simple acts like putting lighting controls in the hands of office workers, the federal government is already achieving specific gains in its sustainability and green efforts as mandated 2009’s Executive Order 13514. So, in honor of Earth today we picked our “best of” articles and insights that show just how the public sector (and those that serve it), with the help of technology, can and is, going green.

Earth Day 2011 is on April 22 but Google Earth Day is taking place all week long and is showcasing just how government agencies are putting Google Earth to work, for the good of our planet!

In December of last year, Google released its new Google Earth Engine, an application created specifically with scientific research in mind. This new product provides an unprecedented 25 years of satellite images with the goal of enabling more precise climate modeling, based on change studies and mapping trends of the Earth’s environment with a principle focus on identifying areas of deforestation. This short video does a great job explaining the goals and background of this ground-breaking project.

From the many-layered benefits of cloud computing, building information modeling (BIM), and smart grids to simple acts like putting lighting controls in the hands of office workers, the federal government is already achieving specific gains in its sustainability and green efforts as mandated 2009’s Executive Order 13514. Not only this, but many are seeing the road to new sustainability standards as an exciting, once in a lifetime opportunity, that is quite literally changing the mindset of government leaders. This is the focus of the latest industry-sponsored “On the Frontlines” e-magazine “The Greening of Government”, which takes a sweeping look at what has been achieved to date in support of the green government imperative and what is on the cards for 2011.

Over the past several years, substantial regulation has been passed mandating the “greening” of federal government buildings. Last month was no exception and saw the declaration of a new “gold” standard. In late October 2010, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) issued a new mandate requiring that all federal building construction projects and “substantial” renovation projects achieve a minimum LEED Gold certification in their quest to improve energy efficiency. Leadership in Environmental Efficiency Design (LEED) is an internationally recognized and widely-accepted third party green building certification program, established by the U.S. Green Building Council, that determines the energy efficiency and sustainability of building projects.

Green building has been a hot topic for a while, but new building projects aren’t the only thing getting attention. In fact, according to the Green Building Retrofit & Renovation SmartMarket Report, only 1.5% - 2.5% of building stock in the U.S. is new each year. To add to that, green building comprises 5-9% of current building projects and that number is expected to increase to 25% -30% in the next five years. The report, found here, details data collected from market research and qualitative case studies (there are 20 highlighted in this report) showing the highly positive trend of green building projects, even in the government sector.

The Empire State Building in New York City is one of the most iconic modern buildings of our time. Built in 1930, the height of the building and speed of construction made it one of the seven wonders of the modern world. However, the engineers and architects of the 1930’s did not exactly consider such things as sustainability or carbon footprint.

Green buildings, green transportation, green computing, in fact all things green, is a hot trend. In the public sector, “green” isn’t just the ideal – “green” is mandated. Since the Obama administration moved into the White House, green legislation and “green IT’ directives have been fast-tracked culminating in October 2009 with Executive Order 13514 which, to quote the White House: “…expands the energy reduction and environmental requirements of Executive Order 13423 by making reductions of greenhouse gas emissions a priority of the Federal government, and by requiring agencies to develop sustainability plans focused on cost-effective projects and programs.”

Caron Beesley, Editor, [acronym] Mike Evanoff, Geospatial Engineer for Google Earth Enterprise. Originially published in [acronym] magazine, Issue 11 Mike joined Google’s federal team in June 2006, and has traveled the globe to help a broad range of federal, state and international government agencies put Google Earth to use in their organizations. Earlier in his career, Mike was a Navy Commander. Google Earth Enterprise helps organizations with imagery and other geospatial data make that information accessible and useful to all employees who need access via an intuitive, fast application.