Certification Carousel: Will LEED 2012 Result in Increased Product Transparency?

During the collection of responses for the Opening the Door to Green Building studies, one of the recurring themes from each region was the real confusion in the certification marketplace.  Only 30% or less in each region felt that they understood the current landscape of certifications and rating systems.  One respondent expressed confusion even for those who are active in the market, “As I am in the green market myself, my understanding today is much better than what I marked (as I did spend hours trying to digest it), however, it is still confusing and not well explained.”

A few weeks ago we discussed “greenwashing” and the mistrust in the green claims of products particularly in the building industry.  The lack of transparency at times within the marketing and specification process was another area of contention in the ODGB studies.

I think ultimately these two areas are highly interrelated.  Whether it is being driven by proving certification value or expectations for products, the market needs assurances and a stronger trust in what the certification carousel actually means to their project and most importantly to their clients’ financial and perhaps environmental objectives.

I wanted to revisit these issues as the USGBC earlier this week, opened up the second public comment period for LEED 2012…

Yesterday, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) opened the second public comment period for the proposed update to its LEED green building rating system, coined LEED 2012. The comment period, which will close on September 14, 2011, is the next step in the continuous improvement process and on-going development of the LEED program.

In its initial analysis and discussions with the USGBC, Tristan Roberts at buildinggreen.com highlighted one significant change related to transparency and performance in the latest version: 

The new draft is rife with changes, but among those surest to draw attention is an overhaul of the Materials & Resources (MR) section (see Tables 1 and 2). Scot Horst, senior vice president for LEED at USGBC, explains that the section puts new emphasis on both life-cycle assessment (LCA) and transparency by manufacturers. “It’s a transition from where we think the market needs to get to be up-to-date with the rest of the world, and where it is right now,” he says. Horst notes worldwide trends in increased reliance on LCA in evaluating relative impacts of products and materials from extraction to manufacture through use and disposal.

The new focus solely on transparency departs from LEED Pilot Credit 43, which was just released in June 2011 to protest from some environmentalists who objected to how it mixed transparency and performance measures (see “LEED Pilot Credit to Promote Product Transparency—Not Performance,” EBN June 2011). “We cut loose all of the eco-label stuff” that caused consternation about the pilot credit, explained Brendan Owens, vice president for LEED technical development at USGBC. “It is now strictly about product transparency.”

I do hope that the intention of the change to focus on transparency does increase the “trustability” factor in the marketplace.  It is however difficult for a “performance-obsessed” market viewer, like me, not to worry about continuing to grow trust in the performance attributes of products and services.

Debt Agreement = Defunding Green (Cont’d)

Politico describes potential debt deal pain for energy and environmental programs…(via Sarah Laskow at grist.org)

Popular energy and environmental programs should prepare for a decade of spending cuts under the debt deal reached late Sunday between the White House and congressional leaders.

Less clear, however, is the effect that the landmark agreement will have on popular tax incentives for the oil, gas, renewable and other energy industries.

How will the debt bill effect the environmental and clean energy future?  Sustainable Business is rightfully concerned…

While President Obama and Congress may have averted short-term economic disaster by reaching an agreement to raise the nation’s debt ceiling, in the long term they are undermining the nation’s competitiveness in the new, clean energy economy and defunding clean air and water programs.

On the Mother Nature Network, Andrew Schenkels cites the early Republican debt ceiling proposals as the potential roadmap for what will ultimately be the effect of the DEAL on environmental and clean energy

Early indications show that the renewable energy industry stands to lose some serious ground in the debt ceiling deal that has gripped Washington for the better part of a month.

The first warning sirens sounded as July came to an end and House Republicans unveiled their wish list for environmental cuts. But as July turned to August and the deal finally got done, the news got no better for those looking to develop clean sources of fuel in the United States.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Debt Agreement = Defunding Green?

The news coming out of Washington D.C.  this morning indicates that a compromise deal may avert a national credit crisis.  What does the deal, which is being characterized as by the media as containing significant cuts to military, discretionary and other spending, mean to to green building and energy effiiency?  Here are a few comments from the media/blogosphere over the last week. Its important to note that these posts were all made during the week leading up to the deal.  We should keep our eyes open on what the final bill entails.

Defense Department LEED Funding to Be Eliminated?  Chris Cheatham at Green building Law Update

At the New York Times, Debt Deal Set to Crater Energy, Enviro Spending for Years to Come,  Elana Schor of Green wire described some of the deep long term cutbacks…

The bipartisan alignment on knifing what is likely to be billions of dollars from U.S. EPA and the Energy and Interior departments’ budgets over the next 10 years is drawing little notice as the debt-limit talks hurtle toward a hectic climax marked by bitter intra-party tensions.

Even as they focus on a splashier battle against restrictive policy riders in GOP spending bills, Democrats and environmentalists alike acknowledge that the deficit endgame spells doom for their priorities.

“We’re fighting riders today on the Hill in the Interior funding bill for one year, but this sets up the blueprint for potentially a number of years,” Sierra Club deputy national campaigns director Melinda Pierce said of the debt byplay between House GOP and Senate Democratic leaders.

Its Halftime! 1st Half Energy Star Challenge Nets $3.7 Million in Utility Savings

On Tuesday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Energy Star program announced the top contenders at the midpoint of the 2011 National Building Competition: Battle of the Buildings. The list of top contenders identifies the leaders with the greatest percent reduction of energy use in each of the twelve building categories in the competition. EPA also provided an update on the progress of all participants as they continue to go head-to-head to save energy, reduce costs and protect Americans’ health and their environment.

“Competitors in the second year of the Energy Star Battle of the Buildings are already achieving energy-savings that really pack a punch,” said EPA Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation, Gina McCarthy. “The stories behind these energy-savings speak to the dedication of American businesses and organizations to protecting the environment and public health, and to economic common sense.”

In the first six months of the competition alone, teams representing 245 buildings around the country have saved more than $3.7 million on utility bills and reduced greenhouse gas emissions equal to the electricity used by 2,300 homes annually. Competitors measure and track their building’s monthly energy consumption using EPA’s Energy Star online energy tracking tool, Portfolio Manager. The building with the largest percentage reduction in energy use, adjusted for weather and the size of the building, will be recognized as the winner in November.

Hope the half time show is a good one!

Green Building Market Summer Reading (Cont’d)

A few more suggestions:

Clean Energy Solutions for America’s Cities, The United States Conference of Mayors

Show Me the Money: Energy Efficiency Financing Barriers and Opportunities, Environmental Defense Fund (via greenbiz.com)

Environmental Leader’s 2011 Insider Knowledge Report, Lessons Learned from Corporate Environmental, Sustainability and Energy Decision-Makers, Environmental Leader and Sponsor: Pew Center on Global Climate Change

 

 

 

 

 

Green Building Market Summer Reading List

Interested in making sense of the sustainable building or energy efficiency marketplace?

Just in time to round out your summer reading list or to replace those beach bestsellers, Sustainable Rhythm has identified 5 recently released market studies, reports and white papers that can help build your understanding of the ever-evolving business of green building and energy industry (since I am sure you will save paper, be careful not get sand in your laptop).

(in no particular order)

Guide to State and Local Energy Performance Regulations, CB Richard Ellis

Building Energy Transparency, A Framework for Implementing Commercial Energy Rating & Disclosure Policy, Institute for Market Transformation

Sizing the Clean Economy: A National and Regional Green Jobs Assessment, Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings Institute and Battelle’s Technology Partnership Practice

2011 Green Building Opportunity Index, Cushman & Wakefield and the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance’s (NEEA) BetterBricks initiative

2011 Energy Efficiency Indicator Global Survey Results, Johnson Controls’ Institute for Building Efficiency, the International Facility Management Association (IFMA), and the Urban Land Institute

Feel free to add more to list through the comment section!

Also, (shameless self promotion coming), if you are interest in green building and energy efficiency market news on a monthly basis, check out the archives of the RHYTHM REPORT.  The Report, which was launched by Sustainable Rhythm nearly two years ago, is a monthly news aggregate of the top 20 stories moving the sustainable building industry.  Our subscription base is located throughout North America and some parts of Europe.

Scaling Sustainability Beyond Individual Buildings

As sustainable building becomes more accepted on a variety of levels across cities and states, the next question becomes how do we scale these efforts to a neighborhood, city and/or regional planning level?  Bert Gregory explains why  Moving From Green Buildings to Green Neighborhoods (from Design Intelligence) is the natural next step…

In the early days of the green building movement, the thinking was often focused around reducing the environmental footprint (energy, water, or materials) of an individual structure while minimizing toxins that would degrade human health. The design effort centered around the building as an individual object. Considerations of off-site issues were certainly integrated into the thinking, but in fact, social, economic, location, and transportation implications were often overlooked. That movement transformed design at the building scale to improve environmental performance and human well-being. This has become a standard in the industry and is moving increasingly to becoming a code requirement.

There are still opportunities for designing more efficiently and more sustainably within the unit of the building itself. Advances in computer modeling at the conceptual level and green building rating systems (such as BREEAM, LEED, and Green Globes) offer metrics that promote it. One such rating system, the Living Building Challenge (LBC) is an inspirational metric that demands innovative integrated design solutions with only one level of achievement — for the building to act as a living organism. LBC metrics include site, water, energy, health, materials, equity, and beauty. They include the requirement for on-site net zero energy and water. LBC is easier to achieve for a small building in a low-density area than it is for a multi-story building on a dense urban site.

However, in the next two decades, we must look beyond individual buildings to reach our broader societal goals while optimizing human well-being, costs, and resources. Moving beyond the building scale to create efficient, walkable, mixed-use districts linked by low-carbon mass transportation is fundamental. We must also include the opportunities of the site and district-level integration of water, waste, and energy strategies as we move to implement the goals of Architecture 2030 and the AIA 2030 Commitment and are faced with increasing stress on regional energy and water systems. A district, campus, or neighborhood is also an important unit of identity and community. Broader civic goals around economic development, public health, and knowledge can be imbued at this scale.