September 17, 2009
by Environmental Building Strategies
in Energy, Green Building, LEED, Uncategorized
Tags: Green Retrofit, LEED
In another bold move by the president, he recently uttered the words LEED when referring to a Certification for the White House. Is this even possible? I mean I realize it is, but can we just take a step back for a minute and reflect on where we came from and what was happening in this country two years ago?
The test below is republished from greenerbuildings.com who posted the news on Sept 14th 2009. It’s funny… I didn’t see the Wall Street Journal mention anything about it…
“Going far beyond the organic vegetable garden and playground made from recycled materials, President Barack Obama intends to get the White House LEED certified by the U.S. Green Building Council.
That’s the word from an article on Sierra Club’s Green Home website. From the article:
White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) spokesperson, Christine Glunz, says the effort to get the White House to LEED certification includes energy and water systems as well as waste. She believes it is vital to consider toxicity and life-cycle when making purchases for facilities. CEQ is looking to reduce the carbon footprint of the White House by implementing computerized energy management systems, automatic light sensors that turn off in unoccupied rooms and low-flow water valves. Paints and sealers with low or no volatile organic compounds (VOCs), biodegradable cleaners and recycled equipment will all be used by White House groundskeepers and engineers, according to a White House spokesperson. Window films that will lower UV rays and save energy will also be added.
According to an article on the National Geographic website, any leftover materials from White House renovations and demolitions will be donated to local reuse organizations. If President Obama continues to enforce such eco-friendly changes throughout his term, he will be on the right track to making the White House more of a “green house,” proving with a LEED certification that he can lead Americans to a greener world.
We regularly report on the benefits and importance of retrofitting existing buildings as one of the keys to cutting the country’s energy dependence. Even if greening the White House itself would have just a small impact on the nation’s capital, its symbolic importance would be considerably greater.”
The EBS Team
September 3, 2009
by Environmental Building Strategies
in Green Building, Uncategorized
Tags: Government rebates, Green Building, Stimulus Bill
I don’t know if it is Obama or Al Gore but the US government is starting to understand the need for sustainability. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was signed into law by President Obama in February to stimulate the sagging US economy. By injecting $690 billion dollars to improve infrastructure the authors hoped to create millions of jobs pulling the US out of the worst recession since the Great Depression. Interspersed within this $690 billion dollars is $60 billion for green projects of which $45 billion is going specifically towards energy related programs. Within this $45 billion most will go directly towards the green building industry with some additional monies going towards large scale renewable energy production.
Whether in the form of a tax credit, grant, or subsidy, federal money is becoming more available to offset costs of greening your home or building. The breakdown of the important areas is as follows:
• $300 million for the Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate program and the ENERGY STAR® program.
• $6.3 billion from the US Department of Energy for energy-efficiency grant programs, including $3.2 billion for the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants and $3.1 billion for the State Energy Program.
• $4.5 billion for greening federal buildings.
• $5 billion for the Weatherization Assistance Program.
• $4.5 billion for Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability to modernize and improve the electricity grid.
On the residential side, the stimulus bill has expanded existing tax credits and created new ones that cover a variety of upgrades to make your home more energy efficient. New doors, windows, insulation, boilers, air conditioners, and furnaces all qualify for a 30% tax credit that is capped at $1500. This means that if you purchase and implement any of these materials or systems that meet energy efficient guidelines you can offset 30% of the cost by applying for a tax credit. In addition, renewable energy production that homeowners employ also qualifies for a 30% tax credit, but with no cap. Geothermal heat pumps, solar water heaters, wind energy production and solar panels are all included in this group. The $300 million dollars for Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate program and ENERGY STAR program will go towards home appliances that have been certified efficient by ENERGY STAR. This money will come in the form of a cash rebate.
The commercial building industry will also see a large sum of money coming their way. This includes $3.2 billion for Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants, which can be applied for by counties, cities and even Indian tribes to develop and implement projects to improve energy efficiency and reduce energy use and fossil fuel emissions in their communities. The $3.1 billion for the State Energy Program will be sent directly to State energy offices to be used for similar purposes at the state level. California has already mandated that all its state buildings be LEED Silver Certified so a good chunk of the money that California will receive will likely go directly to that endeavor. The $4.5 billion dollars allocated to greening Federal Government buildings will be focused on improving energy efficiency of all General Service Administration buildings.
The Weatherization Assistance Program is a less well known but equally effective and important aspect of the stimulus bill. The Program allocates money to improving building envelopes of low-income housing. This will not only improve the lives of tenants hit hardest by the economic downturn but also greatly improve the energy efficiency of this traditionally terrible building type. The Program seeks to lower energy costs for tenants and reduce energy drawn from the grid from low income communities.
On top of these programs $22 billion has been allocated to the Department of Transportation to improve public transportation. The aim of this money is to not only improve public transportation but also expand it in hopes of increasing its popularity and thus reducing vehicle emissions. $6 billion dollars has also gone to the EPA for cleanup of hazardous sites, revitalization of watersheds and a variety of other projects that are focused on improving destroyed natural features. The EPA is distributing this money to states based on proposals that the states have supplied on projects that are good candidates.
If you are confused by all of this you are not alone. Unfortunately, like most federal government acts the stimulus bill is massive and very hard to follow. It takes an expert to figure out where money is going and how to get it. Beyond the confusion there are several negative aspects to the stimulus bill especially concerning how the money is allocated. Most of the grants are being funneled through state governments. While this is the easiest way to go about distributing the money it is definitely not the most accurate or efficient. When the states receive the money they are often spending it how they want and not for its intended purpose. Take for example a large chunk of money supposedly going towards a program to improve and “green” schools. The states are taking this money and then using it to pay teacher’s salaries. Now I am not saying this is a terrible thing but stimulus money slated to improve buildings should not be used to balance state budgets. Additionally another hefty sum from the bill is going towards nuclear and clean coal technology. Both of these industries are not considered renewable because both are riddled with environmental problems, and consequently should not be included in a bill focused on improving the environment. Lastly, the money is slow to come. Little by little dollars are trickling to states and communities and if the desired effect of this bill was to shock the economy back into a more healthy rhythm money is going to have to come faster.
On the positive side, this bill is a leap in the right direction. As the most comprehensive and lucrative sustainability bill in history, it sets a serious standard for the United States government and its people to follow. No longer can we be complacent of wasteful actions that are detrimental to the environment. Although no amount of money is enough to reverse the harm we have already done, $60 billion dollars is a good start. Compared to the oil industry, which receives and estimated 15 to 35 billion dollars a year, it is a bit lacking. This huge sum that supports one of the worst industries, in terms of its detrimental effect on the environment, shows the vast potential of capital which can and hopefully in the future will be steered toward the recently booming green industries. Already the amount of “green collar” jobs is on the rise and the green building industry has become increasingly popular. When the economy improves and the stimulus money really starts flowing green building will no longer be a fanciful option but a mandated norm.
—The EBS Team—
September 2, 2009
by Environmental Building Strategies
in Energy, LEED, Uncategorized
Tags: Green Building, Green Materials
The biggest obstacle in the adoption of green materials is a lack of understanding of how to look at materials. Our old method of “price first, features second, appearance last” is short sighted and explains how we put ourselves in this environmental catastrophe.
The primary thing one must understand about green materials is to realize it is not black and white issue. There is no one perfect green material. All materials have both positive and negative environmental attributes. The key is in understanding which of these will benefit your specific project.
For example, many people will ask me if concrete is a “green” material. They want a simple “yes” or “no” answer. But the real answer is not so black and white.
If we look at the good things about concrete:
* durable, (technically) recyclable, natural, non-offgassing, made from natural sand, stone, and water, and
* we can see it casually appears to be a green material.
But on the other hand, the bad thing about concrete is it’s chief ingredient, Portland Cement. Portland Cement is mined out of the Earth, heated to intense temperatures and as a by-product this releases tons of greenhouse gas. Suddenly, the green concrete you hoped for is a potentially bad source of pollution.
So how do we resolve this? How do you take a complex issue of concrete and look at it in a black-and-white way?
Perhaps you remember a few years ago, when dolphins were getting caught in the tuna fishing nets. There was a large outcry among consumers, “Don’t buy tuna! It is killing the dolphins!” After all, dolphins are cute and deserve to be protected. (The tuna, I guess, were not cute enough for saving.)
With the news of Flipper dying in a tuna net, the public responded and tuna sales plummeted. The industry changed seemingly overnight. What would otherwise be a complicated issue of marine fisheries, agriculture and industry was reduced to the beautifully black and white dictum of “Don’t buy tuna!”
So getting back to our example of concrete. How do we make concrete appear to be a black and white issue?
If the main problem with concrete is its content of Portland Cement, we can replace up to 50% of that Portland Cement with a material called fly ash. Fly ash is a by-product of the coal industry. It is typically buried in a land fill where it seeps mercury into our water table. By putting it into our concrete mix, it turns out the fly ash makes the concrete stronger and more workable.
Is concrete a green material? Fly ash concrete is a green material.
This is how you make something into a black and white issue. This is the process you must go through with every material in your building.
Is wood a green material? FSC-certified Wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council is a green material.
Is steel a green material? High recycled content steel is a green material.
Ask yourself these six questions when looking at any material:
1. Where did this material come from?
2. What are the by-products of its’ manufacturer?
3. How is the material delivered and installed?
4. How is the material maintained and operated?
5. How healthy are the materials?
6. What do we do with them once we are done with these materials?
This is a shorthand approach looking at the entire lifecycle of a material.
(For more information on green-materials certification programs, visit Web sites for the Forest Stewardship Council, Green Seal and Scientific Certification Systems.)
—The EBS Team—
August 5, 2009
by Environmental Building Strategies
in LEED, Uncategorized
Tags: Green Building, LEED 2009, USGBC
12. Research the USGBC website – ask around
The USGBC wants you to succeed – they happen to want you to be in compliance too. They are pushing the market in a new direction and by signing up you are agreeing that direction is a good one – you are advocating the same thing. Because they want you to succeed they have tools and resources on their website for you to use. These include a breakdown of all the LEED rating systems, LEED projects that have been successful in the pass, sample presentations on why to build green and green building benefits, and many other useful tools and information on green building.
A new addition to the wealth of assets provided by USGBC is a new LEED online tool. Once a project is registered its status can be followed by all team members using the online template. Consultants, owners, project managers, architects, or any individual involved in the LEED process can see how many credits the project has qualified for and how many more it needs to reach the desired certification level. This great tool solves a previously serious problem, lack of transparency throughout the process and keeps all team members’ expectations firmly rooted in reality. It also helps keep the project on budget and on time.
Research the USGBC website and CIR’s – get involved in your local chapter to find contractors or people who know and understand the system. They may also be able to provide you with contacts to successfully complete the mission.
–The EBS Team–
July 28, 2009
by Environmental Building Strategies
in Green Building, LEED, Uncategorized
Tags: Green Building, LEED 2009, LEED AP, LEED AP exam
The following is from a Buildinggreen.com article written about Matt’s experience writing the new LEED AP exam:
New LEED AP Exam Writer Tells All
Editor’s Note: When Matt Macko, a principal at Environmental Building Strategies, told me that he was the only energy expert in the room when the new LEED AP BD+C exam was written, I asked him to write the story of his experience for BuildingGreen.com. Here’s what he told us. If you have questions for Matt, please leave them in the comments section, and he offered to answer them. The details of the new LEED AP credentialing program were also announced today. – Tristan Roberts, LEED AP
To see the rest of the article go to http://www.buildinggreen.com/live/index.cfm/2009/7/28/New-LEED-AP-Exam-Writer-Tells-All
–The EBS Team–
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