More infighting about sustainability

First there was the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) vs. CALGREEN (California Green Building Code) tussle - now we have the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) vs. the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) tussle about who certifies the greenest wood.

It all stems from the fact that to achieve LEED Certification from the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), a project needs to earn a pre-defined number of "credits", some of which may be earned in the category of Materials and Resources. At this time, the only wood products eligible under the current process is wood that is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). The folks at the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), think this is a bit "narrow", and would like the USGBC to open the process up to other "forestry certification systems". Of course the FSC believes this would weaken the overall certification process, remarking that "all certification systems are not created equal".

In the end, it is clear that the sustainability industry loves acronyms, and arguing. The bottom line is that the more complex, difficult, and expensive, the industry makes it to achieve "sustainability certification", the less likely people are to pursue it. Can't we all just get along...

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USGBC announces their Top 10 Green Bills for 2009

The United States Green Building Council (USGBC) has released its Top 10 Green Bills for 2009. Topping the list is the ubiquitous American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (aka the Stimulus Bill).

Courtesy of various sources, the USGBC highlighted the following pieces of pending legislation:

House Legislation

•The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Public Law
•The American Clean Energy and Security Act, Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.)
•The 21st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act, Chandler (D-Ky.)
•The Expanding Building Efficiency Act, Dave Reichert (R-Wash.)
•The Property Assessed Clean Energy Tax Benefits Act, John Sarbanes (D-Md.)
•Act to Enhance Private Financing for Clean Energy Technology Deployment, Steve Israel (D-N.Y.)
•The Energy Efficiency Modernization Act of 2009, Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Ohio)
•The Water Accountability Tax Efficiency Reinvestment (WATER) Act, Michael Coffman (R-Colo.)
•The Livable Communities Act of 2010, Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.), pending introduction
•The Federal Personnel Training Act of 2010, Russ Carnahan (D-Mo.), pending introduction

Senate Legislation

•The Clean Energy and American Jobs Act, John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.)
•The American Clean Energy and Leadership Act, Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska)
•Energy Efficiency in Housing Act (EEHA) of 2009, Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.)
•The Livable Communities Act of 2009, Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.)
•The Expanding Building Efficiency Incentives Act of 2009, Snowe (R-Maine)
•The School Building Fairness Act, Tom Harkin (D-Iowa)
•Clean Energy for Homes and Buildings Act of 2009, Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.)
•The Energy Efficiency Modernization Act of 2009, Michael Bennet (D-Colo.)
•The Water Accountability Tax Efficiency Reinvestment (WATER) Act of 2009, Mark Udall (D-Colo.)
•The Federal Agency Energy Efficiency Improvement Act of 2009, Susan Collins (R-Maine)

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Green building = 8 Million jobs

Green building practices will support 7.9 million U.S. jobs and inject $554 Billion into the U.S. economy over the next 4 years according to a recently released study from the U.S. Green Building Council and consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton.

The study took into account the total value of green buildings and the results include workers from the architects who design them, to the workers who build them, recognizing how extensive the impact of green building is.

To read the complete report click HERE.

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LEED Certification of Existing Buildings On the Rise

A recent article in Commercial Property Executive noted an increased interest in seeking LEED certification for existing buildings. The article pointed out that many corporations now require their facilities to be housed in LEED certified buildings, so by not retrofitting an exisiting building, ownership is potentially losing a growing segment of tenants. To read the article click HERE:

Our own experience shows that local government is leading the way in requiring their staff be housed in LEED certified buildings, with many cities and counties having mandates to "go-green" within a certain time frame.

For more information related to LEED for Existing Buildings, click HERE.

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Holding Onto That LEED Certification Just Got Tougher

Tenants moving into a LEED Certified building assume that they are doing their part for the environment by moving into a building that has been certified to consume less energy and leave a reduced carbon footprint.

2100 Franklin Street, Oakland Ca. Certified LEED CS Gold

The United States Green Building Council (USGBC), the organization in charge of awarding LEED Certification, wants to make sure this expectation is met, and is in the process of implementing a system to monitor on-going energy and material consumption as a requirement to maintain LEED Certification.

According to the USGBC press release, The Building Performance Initiative will "develop a comprehensive data collection and analysis methodology - based on all buildings that have achieved Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification - that will be shared with LEED building owners and project teams to close performance prediction gaps."

To see the USGBC press release click (HERE), or to read an article on this subject from the New York Times click (HERE).

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