If Betty White Were a Green Building...

Christopher Davis
Certification Team Lead, Existing Buildings
Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI)

Perhaps you've heard the idea that "the greenest building is the one already built." Our friends in the historic preservation movement use this phrase to argue that tearing down an existing building and starting from scratch wastes a lot of materials and energy. And they have a point: A recent report from the National Trust for Historic Preservation concludes that it can take up to 80 years to make up for the environmental impacts of demolishing the old building and constructing the new one, even if the new one is super energy efficient.

Could this be the next star
of the green building movement?

So, granted, in most cases it's better to keep a building than to build a new one, but let's think about that creed again: The greenest building is the one already built. What if you’re not planning a new building? Does that mean your existing building is already green? Does the mere fact that something already exists mean that it exhibits certain qualities? Does the fact that you were born mean that you live a healthy, prosperous and generous life? One can argue that our experiences and aspirations say substantially more about who we are than our DNA ever will. The same holds true for buildings.

Let's face it; LEED was conceived because there are a bunch of really bad buildings out there. They use too much energy and water, and make people sick. But the solution isn't to just tear them down and start over. Existing buildings, and in particular historic buildings, tell valuable stories. They've been worked in, lived in, and loved in. They teach us about our past and form the bedrock of our communities. But just like your wise but slightly behind-the-times grandfather who doesn’t quite get what those new-fangled CFLs and LEDs are all about, sometimes we need to drag those old buildings, kicking and screaming, into the 21st century.

USGBC and AIA Accomplish Shared Goals for 2011

Maggie Comstock
Associate, Policy
U.S. Green Building Council

Last week, hundreds of architects stormed Washington as part of the American Institute of Architects’ annual Grassroots Leadership and Legislative Conference. Grassroots serves as a forum to convene AIA’s extensive local chapter network, with which USGBC’s local chapters often collaborate. Partnerships are the primary tools in any advocacy organization’s tool belt; however, the ongoing collaboration between the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and the American Institute of Architects (AIA) goes far beyond the average partnership.

USGBC and AIA are natural allies in the green building arena. Over the years, our shared goals for a sustainable built environment have fostered a rich and robust collaboration. This relationship has led to successful outcomes on far too many occasions to name, but here are some of the most notable achievements from 2011.

Overcoming Zoning and Code-Based Challenges to Build Sustainable Communities

Aaron Lande
Sustainable Cities Specialist
U.S. Green Building Council

The LEED for Neighborhood Development rating system has been out in the marketplace and available to developers for several months now. With its release, interest continues to grow, both among local governments seeking a tool to achieve sustainability goals; and developers looking for a way to distinguish and strengthen their communities and cut carbon emissions.

Unfortunately, LEED for Neighborhood Development is met with many challenges from existing zoning standards that reflect a bias against compact development, ranging from density maximums, to parking minimums, to bans on mixed use zoning. This all reflects the now outdated mindset of planners and policy makers from generations past, who were ruled by the automobile.

Since the benefits of sustainable communities, like the kind fostered by LEED for Neighborhood Development, are incredibly far-reaching and impactful, finding methods to work with outdated standards or change existing codes altogether is crucial. Sustainable communities promote:

• Economic diversity
• Greater convenience for residents by ensuring that the essentials for everyday life (work, food, entertainment) are accessible without having to drive
• A sense of comunity and civic engagement, leading to increased safety
• Public health by allowing residents to walk and bike through their communities

The good news is that strides are being made to reduce the challenges that Neighborhood Development projects face, improving the ease in which walkable, sustainable communities can be incorporated in to our cities. USGBC is currently working with Pace University’s Land Use Law Center, with funding from the Oram Foundation: Fund for Environment & Urban Life, to develop a technical assistance manual and model overlay zone for local governments to work to remove these code barriers. These resources will be made available to local governments in the fall.

Also, USGBC is now hosting an exhibit about LEED for Neighborhood Development, enabling our staff to work with local governments to raise awareness of the program and enact policy change. The Neighborhoods Go Green exhibit, which USGBC co-curated with the Chicago Architecture Foundation and Farr Associates, has been on display at the Chicago Architecture Foundation since. Nov. 14, and will soon be open at the AIA headquarters in Washington, D.C., from Mar. 14-Apr. 21. As part of the exhibit, USGBC assembled panels in Chicago and D.C. (forthcoming), consisting of local chapter members, and state and local government officials and staff to discuss how to encourage LEED for Neighborhood Development projects, and how to remove existing barriers to sustainable communities.

In line with efforts to promote modern zoning codes and remove blocks to sustainable community projects, it’s worth noting that many LEED for Neighborhood Development projects have spurred important code-related changes or solutions within their communities.

In Cleveland, Ohio, three high-profile LEED for Neighborhood Development pilot projects have given the city an opportunity to rethink how to create policies and tools to support green projects. With close involvement from the city, project team members and representatives from the Cleveland Foundation were able to create a set of green design guidelines that acted as an overlay for the three project sites. This meant that projects teams did not have to seek individual variances each time LEED for Neighborhood Development principles conflicted with current regulations. Similar success was seen in Nashville, Tenn., when the city adopted a new Downtown Code (DTC) in response to numerous projects seeking rezoning or variances.

Above all, LEED is a powerful tool for communities looking to reduce their carbon emissions, and can help local governments rethink the regulations and design of their communities. Roughly 38% of carbon emissions in the U.S. can be attributed to buildings, with another 30% coming from the transportation sector. Redesigning our communities to better promote walkability and alternative forms of transportation, practices fostered by programs like LEED for Neighborhood Development, will go a long way toward reducing carbon emissions and accomplishing the goals set forth in the U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. Working to overcome code-based challenges is an important step in getting there.

More information:
LEED for Neighborhood Development is a voluntary rating system that incorporates the principles of smart growth, New Urbanism and green building into a national standard. It was developed in partnership by the U.S. Green Building Council, Natural Resources Defense Council and Congress for the New Urbanism. For more information, consult the Local Government Guide to LEED for Neighborhood Development and stay tuned for additional resources this spring.