Advice for responding to the LEED haters

By Ryan Sparks

If you follow anything in green building, you have heard that Henry Gifford has filed a class action lawsuit against the USGBC and its founders on behalf of "consumers, taxpayers, building design and construction professionals." In reviewing the comments and responses to these postings/articles, it is apparent that there are a significant number angry building professionals that are supporting this legal action.

Now, I am not a lawyer, but as a USGBC supporter, I have the following recommendations for the USGBC to help reduce the number of LEED-haters out there:

1. Don’t charge for promotional materials. $0.75 to obtain a brochure to learn more about more about the core values and purpose of USGBC? And if you are going to charge for a brochure, make the total cost clear and don’t make me wait till I checkout to find the full amount (including shipping and taxes) is $4.98. The fact that the USGBC does not make the brochure easy to find in a downloadable format does not only portray a priority of profit over promotion, it is also not green.

2. Provide a Transparent Financial Information: The About USGBC section of the USGBC provides a link to a 2008 Annual Report, that shows the net assets, end of 2007, but nothing for the following fiscal years.Providing a simple statement of financial activities will go far to reinforce the commitments as a non-profit organization.

3. Acknowledge the lawsuit and reinforce that LEED is consensus driven: Information on the class action lawsuit can be found almost anywhere except on the USGBC website. In fact, as of Oct 26, 2010, the “In the News & Press Releases” section is noticeably empty. Why not post a simple statement that reinforces the fact that the LEED rating systems was created from “consensus-based decision-making from across an extremely diverse membership” and that the USGBC will review the claims in the same manner? There is no doubt that the lawsuit is attracting a lot of traffic to its website, use this as an opportunity to remind the public that LEED is build based on the experience and wisdom of builders and not a single entity.

These are comments from some casual observations. Please share your thoughts.

Going Green Is Not An Option

By: Jeff Nippes

Green Building is no longer optional for one Canadian province, it’s the law. Starting Dec. 1, energy efficient furnaces, low-flush toilets and other environmentally friendly fixtures will be required by law for all new homes built in Manitoba.

The provincial government has changed the Manitoba Building Code and Manitoba Plumbing Code to include energy efficiency as an objective for the first time ever.
Ok, So Canada has gone green, would such mandatory green building ever be able to take root in America? The answer yes and it is already happening too. California’s First Mandatory Green Building Code, effective Jan. 1, includes provisions to reduce energy usage, conserve water and improve environmental quality. And its not just California many other states are considering legislation and upgrades to the building code to make green building the law. In Albuquerque, NM the city has the Green Path Program which calls for adopting energy efficient building codes. In 2007 the city signed the adopted revised Energy Conservation Code which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by requiring new buildings, and existing buildings undergoing alterations, to be more energy efficient.

The point is if you are still resisting the green revolution its time to get on board. Its no longer just the right thing to do or the environmentally conscious thing to do is rapidly becoming what you have to do, and if its not required to build green today, it most likely will be tomorrow.

The Numbers Behind Going Green: 5 Fun (& Informative) Calculators

By Vicki Zambito

Google “environmental websites” and you get 31 million results. Look for “green blogs” on Technorati and the results show over 6,000 sites. No doubt about it, there is a lot of information on “being green” out there. It can be intimidating if you are looking for a place to start and trying to figure out how to be more environmentally-friendly without upending your life. Like any good businessman or woman would tell you, start with a benchmark. Figure out how green you are today, and then go from there. Here are five fun calculators to help get you started.

1. IN THE OFFICE:
Widgetbox’s Eco Calculator - This online widget calculates how much greenhouse gas, trees and wastewater you and your company can save by using eco-friendly paper products.
Link: http://www.widgetbox.com/widget/eco-calculator

2. AT HOME:
Low Impact Living Calculator – This household environmental calculator shows not only the carbon footprint but also energy, water, wastewater, trash, and stormwater runoff footprints of your home and lifestyle.
Link: http://lowimpactliving.com/pages/impact-calculator/impact-calculator

3. ON THE ROAD:
Vehicle Eco Calculator – This number cruncher uses fuel economy, sticker price, miles driven per year and the price of gasoline to determine annual fuel costs and carbon dioxide emissions. I learned that I am going to spend roughly $2,000 in gas this year and give off 6.22 metric tons of CO2.
Link: http://www.leopardo.com/vec/

4. IN THE AIR:
TerraPass Air Travel Calculator – This tool allows you to input your air travel plans to calculate your air emissions and compares it to your emissions if you chose other forms of transportation to reach the same location. It’s fun to use. I am about to head from Tampa to San Francisco for a work conference so I plugged in my flight information and learned my flight will give off 2,312 lbs of CO2 and that it would be “greener” of me to carpool. Anyone on their way across the country? Can I hitch a ride?
Link: http://www.terrapass.com/carbon-footprint-calculator/#air

5. YOUR TOTAL IMPACT:
World Wildlife Fund’s Footprint Calculator - This simple, handy calculator looks at the impact of food, transportation, work and other important indices. It takes just five minutes!
Link: http://footprint.wwf.org.uk/