Advanced Sustainability

This article is not for those newly initiated into green building. It's not for the faint-at-heart, nor is it for those just learning about sustainability.

Why? Because this article pushes our view of 'green' into the next phase.

So you've wrapped your mind around the idea of recycled and renewable, life cycle costs, carbon footprint, and energy savings. Now, let's talk about embodied energy.

Embodied energy refers to the energy required to extract, manufacture, transport, install, assemble and supply to the point of use a product, service, or material.

On the surface, a product may appear 'green', but what happens when we take into account the full, embodied energy?

The following is an article from Forbes Magazine:

When Building Green Harms The Environment
Matt Woolsey, 07.15.08, 6:15 PM ET

Gay Browne and her husband Tony have set out to build the greenest house in Montecito, Calif., in a small gated community near the ocean. They'll find the task much simpler than when they pursued the same green goal, in 1994, in Pacific Palisades, outside of Los Angeles.

Back then, builders had no idea about which materials were truly sustainable or were start-to-finish green, as opposed to being "greenwashed"--materials and appliances that might purport environmental friendliness through advertising or a fancy seal, but are environmentally detrimental. When Gay needed counter tops, she took a Geiger counter to a rock quarry to find the stones with the lowest radiation levels; she even found the one insulation maker in the country that used cotton batting instead of environmentally harmful fiberglass. In other words, she had to do everything herself.

Today, Browne, as the founder of greenopia.com, a site that helps consumers distinguish between those products that are highly efficient and have a low footprint from those that are masquerading as environmentally conscious (likely to take advantage of the growing green-materials market), has a much better idea as to what home-building materials and procedures are the greenest. The site is now a go-to resource for truly green construction, as buying greenwashed materials isn't just the slightly less environmentally friendly alternative; these products can increase your carbon footprint significantly.

Enthusiasm Despite The Downturn The remodeling market has slid with the housing market. Starting at the end of 2005, activity in remodeling has been decreasing steadily, according to the National Association of Homebuilders' Remodeling Market Index. David Seiders, the NAHB's chief economist, estimates that the market will further weaken through 2008. However, research from the NAHB and the American Institute of Architects indicate that green building is a growing component of the overall sector, and that green contractors have longer backlogs.

As a result, an increasing number of products are being positioned as green to take advantage of one of the few growing segments of housing. The most common false claim involves hidden trade-offs, according to research from TerraChoice Environmental Marketing, an Ottawa-based firm that, in November 2007, tested 1,000 household products making green claims. A good example of a hidden trade-off is concrete, which seems green once you own it, but is environmentally harmful to produce.

"Concrete is very durable, all natural and technically recyclable," says Eric Corey Freed, the principal of organicARCHITECT, a green architecture firm in San Francisco. "But its chief ingredient is Portland cement, which is heated to 5,000 degrees during manufacturing and lets off high carbon emissions."

How a product uses energy over its life makes a big difference as well. Carpets, for instance, might be made from sustainable fibers or recycled soda bottles. Assuming it's not backed with vinyl, which some are, think about the idea of the carpet itself. It requires cleaning, vacuuming and collects dust and pollen more than hardwood does. You need to amortize every extra watt it will require--and sneeze it will cause--over its life.

Supply-Chain Uncertainties. Another problem stems from how global supply chains work. Very few green operations are completely vertically integrated, meaning that it's rare for a company to own and operate every phase of the manufacturing process. From the time a piece of bamboo is harvested in China to the time it's installed as flooring in an Omaha living room, it's often gone through the hands of multiple companies--some green, some not so much.

While the flooring company in Omaha can truthfully say that it's using sustainably harvested wood (though bamboo is technically a grass), the shipping and trucking companies used to get the materials from China might not be green-oriented, and the factory where the bamboo is pressed might bond it with formaldehyde, or use a toxic finishing product.

"Consumers are looking for easy answers, and when I shop I prefer to see a logo on something and just buy it," says Scot Case, vice president of TerraChoice. "But the biggest piece of advice I have is don't buy a product because it has some green dot on it unless you understand exactly what that green dot means."

If a company doesn't chart all the materials used, makes claims on only one component of its sustainability, or makes no mention of manufacturing techniques, it's important for consumers to call companies and demand a material safety data sheet, which details every material used in the product, its disposal instructions, what sorts of gasses it emits, its level of toxicity and disposal instructions.

But another important tactic is conservation. For example, PaperStone and Richlite make high-end, recycled countertops that will more than likely outlive you, but so will your current granite countertops. Another good example is linoleum floors, which don't off-gas anything harmful, are easy to clean, aren't toxic and will last 25 to 50 years. Neither granite nor linoleum is as green as post-consumer compressed paper countertops or bamboo floors, but if you throw away the old floor and counter top in a landfill just for the sake of switching to a greener material, you're not doing a lot to reduce your footprint.

When a remodel is absolutely necessary, however, take the phone book out from under the short leg of the table, and look up salvage yards. In many cases, older is greener.

"Salvage companies are inherently green," says Freed. "We have clients who buy a new house and want to remodel it, and will throw away a perfectly good toilet and bathtub because it's the wrong color. If we can't change their mind, we try to salvage it."

Though if you've got a flair for design and carpentry, you might want to refashion what wood or metals you're throwing away. As anyone who's ever been to an artisanal furniture store can attest, old barn doors and rafters are converted into high-cost furniture.

"I really like the antique look of reclaimed stuff," says Browne. "But they really do mark it up."

http://www.forbes.com/lifestyle/2008/07/15/green-home-decisions-forbeslife-cx_mw_0715realestate.html

Why do I need the LEED Plaque?

That's a fair question. If you build responsibly, follow LEED guidelines, incorporate best practices and focus on sustainability, why do you need the added expense of certification?

How about this... According to a recent article in Urban Land Magazine, ULI's periodical, not having the third-party certification may hurt future sales opportunies. Charles Lockwood, a green real estate authority and consultant in southern California, had some interesting things to say about green real estate space:

"Green is now becoming the rule - not the exception - in some office markets. Expect other building types - retail, industrial, warehouse and hotels - to go green shortly.

This past May, a top New York real estate broker, in a conversation at a conference with ULI president, worldwide, Richard M. Rosan, told him: 'You won't believe what's happened. Today, none of the leading companies will look at office space in New York unless it's green. They won't look at it.'

Companies are not restricting their green demands to New York. Brokers in Washington, DC, report that Class A buildings without a LEED plaque are at a disadvantage.

Around the world, companies are insisting on green workplaces. In Australia, for example, 'Every commercial tenant seeking more than 10,000 square meters requires five- or six-star Green Star space, the equivalent of LEED-Gold or Platinum,' says Che Wall, chair of the World Green Building Council.

Driving the green juggernaut are all the familiar benefits of green: lower operating costs, improved workforce productivity, reduced employee absenteeism, lower health care costs, greater drawing power to attract and retain skilled workers, higher property values, and increased profit for building owners and investors. More recently, green also is being driven by a greater awareness of how buildings contribute to global climate change, by a major shift in how many corporations view the environment, and by worker and shareholder demand for green workplaces.

How does the green juggernaut affect tenants? Green development results in healthier workplaces that are most competitive in terms of attracting desirable skilled workers, lowering operation costs, and providing a green image that will gratify shareholders and lore clients.

How does the green juggernaut affect building owners and investors? They will need to prepare for the looming obselescence of their existing conventional buildings. But, that massive obsolescence will, in turn, create a major new profit center for owners and investors and the entire real estate industry - the green renovations of existing convential buildings."

This market transformation has well-surpassed the "this is just another trend" stage. It will take a special kind of traditionalist to continue to say this is another passing phase. Green's here to stay and will only continue to transform real estate, development, design, and construction. The question then becomes: Are you going to be part of the transformation? Or are you going to be the one running from behind the industry to catch up?

Part of the transformation, then? Great choice!

So, back to our initial question: Why do I need the LEED Plaque? Not only does the third-party certification ensure sales and occupancy opportunity in future transactions, but it also affirms that the building meets or exceeds certain standards. It's your report card. It's something you can bring to the table and say, "Look what we did!"

And, most importantly, it is your Statement of Authenticity. When faced with the choice between purchasing the LEED-Silver Building A and 'green' Building B, what are you going to choose? There is simply too much greenwashing out there to risk Building B, no matter how much the agent tells you. I want to see the Report Card and the LEED-Silver Building has one.

An important note on the cost of certification: In a 50,000 square foot building, the cost for certification (for a USGBC member) is $1750.

Is that report card worth $1750? Absolutely.

Can Big Boxes Be Green?

Best Buy has announced that all their upcoming new construction will be LEED certified. Their annual report on sustainability recognizes the cost-effectiveness of high-performance building and expects the plan to save the retailer 1/3 on their annual energy costs.

"In its annual sustainability report, the company stated that it's upping its green cred beyond ink-cartridge and cell-phone recycling, to jump into the complicated world of green building. Beginning in early to mid-2008, the company
intends to build only eco-friendly stores, certified by the USGBC through LEED
-- a program approved by many eco-activists for its tough standards and
inspections. " -Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, August 10, 2007

The Internet has been abuzz with talk. Can a "big box" store be green? Can a store that covers thousands of square feet of space, often placed in the midst of suburban sprawl be sustainable?

For another point of view, I refer you to Treehugger and their "Lipstick on a Pig Dept":

"Best Buy's ambition to build with "some combination of energy-efficient lighting, rainwater recycling, recycled or otherwise eco-friendly building materials, a high-efficiency HVAC system and some type of day-lighting system" is laudable, but meaningless. The big box model, with its acres of parking where it is almost impossible to walk to the other stores, let alone the big box farm, is unsustainable and has to be stopped.

There is no such thing as a green big box, period. " --Lloyd Alter, www.treehugger.com, August 15, 2007

Do we give Best Buy a thumbs up for their efforts to green their established business? Or do we give them a permanent thumbs down for not changing their chronically unsustainable building?

Is it the first, noble step towards green? Or is it laughable greenwashing?