Department of Education Announces Landmark Green Schools Program

Nathaniel Allen
Associate, Schools Advocacy
U.S. Green Building Council

Today, the federal government launched an initiative that may be the biggest thing to ever happen to the green schools movement.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson, and White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley announced the creation of a Green Ribbon Schools program. (Read the Green Ribbon Schools press release from the Department of Education.)

Modeled after the Blue Ribbon Schools program, which recognizes academic distinction, the Green Ribbon Schools program will be a voluntary award, recognizing schools that are demonstrating excellence – or making notable improvement – toward sustainability. Though still in development, the program will evaluate schools across four categories: environmental education; energy efficiency and resource conservation; healthy operations and maintenance; and community engagement and service learning.

L to R: Sean Miller, Earth Day Network; Danielle Moodie, National Wildlife Federation; Jim Elder, Campaign for Environmental Literacy; Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education; Rachel Gutter, Nathaniel Allen and Jason Hartke, Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council.

The program is a milestone in collaboration among the Department of Education, EPA and White House CEQ, and it will undoubtedly raise the profile of green schools. But more significantly, if one looks closely within the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Education and the Department of Energy, there are dozens of programs, grants and initiatives that can relate to healthy, high-performing schools. The Green Ribbon Schools program has the opportunity to help connect these dots and advance change at a level we've not yet seen.

Kudos to our friend Jim Elder, Director of the Campaign for Environmental Literacy, for originally conceiving this idea. We've been proud to work closely with Jim, as well as our colleagues at the National Wildlife Federation and Earth Day Network, to help advance this concept to reality. (Read our shared press release.) In total, 75 state and national organizations signed on in support of this program prior to today's announcement. This is a landmark day for green schools, and we give the federal government tremendous credit for advancing an initiative that will help ensure the vision of green schools for everyone within this generation.

DOE and NREL: Zero Energy Building with Zero Added Costs?

Hope Lobkowicz
Manager, Policy
U.S. Green Building Council

DOE and NREL: Zero Energy Building with Zero Added Costs? That's what I call Global Leadership. Now Let's Keep it Up.

On Thursday and Friday of last week, member countries of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group got together to discuss the state of green building, building efficiency standards, and codes within APEC economies. The United States is the 2011 host of this prestigious, trade-based multilateral process, made up of 21 participating countries that comprise approximately 60% of world GDP and more than half of global trade.

At the workshop - Green Buildings and Green Growth: The Enabling Role of Standards and Trade - it became abundantly clear that countries are moving at an astounding pace to implement sustainable building practices and other strategies to reduce energy use. While I was tickled to hear about Chile's new residential energy labeling initiative, and Indonesia's new 'Greenship' rating system, I couldn't help but think as the workshop went on: What is it going to take to maintain U.S. leadership on green buildings?

As if to read my mind, USA at APEC did not disappoint. At the end of the two-day workshop, Roland Risser, Program Manager of Department of Energy's Building Technologies Program, wowed the crowd with a splendid testimonial of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)'s Research Support Facility in Golden, Colo. – the largest zero energy commercial building in the country, which was designed and constructed to LEED Platinum standards with zero added costs. With the Better Buildings Initiative (BBI) in his back pocket, Risser had no problem showcasing to everyone in the room that the United States is, and has been, the trend-setter in green buildings.

But we can't quit there. Something tells me USA can't chalk up a W just yet on green buildings. If we are competing against the rest of the world for an edge on the green tech industry and the jobs it will bring, the game isn't nearly over. As the APEC workshop illustrated, there is literally a gaggle of countries that have sprouted green building industries in the last few years that are now growing at lightning speed. Singapore, for instance, has witnessed a 15-fold increase in gross floor area of green buildings in the past five years. They also have a national goal to increase energy efficiency by 35% by 2030 above 2005 levels. When surveyed, 76% of APEC economies reported voluntary green building codes or rating systems for commercial buildings. Meanwhile, China is beating the United States in high-tech manufacturing exports. The list goes on. (As a reminder folks… the European Union isn't mentioned here because it is not part of the APEC process… lest we forget about that global green giant and their magnificent green targets and timetables.)

So what's a green building trendsetter like the United States to do? Well for goodness' sake, keep on, keepin' on! For the budget makers on the Hill: the United States has the lead – let's not lose it. Now, when we are on the cusp of a new energy revolution and zero energy buildings have just barely begun to break the cost curve, don't slash the White House request for energy efficiency and renewable energy. Instead, set the partisan rhetoric aside and start working with the White House on crafting new policies to help us stay competitive. You can focus on BBI and tax policy for starters.

And for the Administration: Listen to Roland. His theme on Friday was, "Where there's a will, there's a way." Meaningful political commitment to sustainability has proven to be a catalyst for successful implementation and private sector action.

Now how about a few more of those zero energy buildings?

Congressional Outlook Uncertain, but Executive Branch Opportunity Abounds

Lane Burt
Technical Policy Director
U.S. Green Building Council

There has been a whole lot of negative talk about the prospects for energy, climate or other significant legislation coming out of our newly divided Congress, and that is not the best news for the green building industry. However, this does not imply that green building advocates should pack up and go home – in fact, it means quite the contrary. It turns out that a renewed focus on utilizing the legal authority already granted to federal agencies by Congress could reap huge benefits for architects, engineers, builders, developers, manufacturers and others involved in the green building process.

The shocking size and scope of the United State’s potential energy and water savings were highlighted by a 2010 study on existing authorities held by the executive branch to push efficiency in commercial and multifamily buildings. USGBC commissioned this study with a diverse group of building sector organizations (e.g., the Natural Resources Defense Council, Real Estate Roundtable, and Building Owners and Managers Association).

The findings of this report were clear. There is something, and usually something very impactful, that nearly every agency can do to improve the public and private building stock. The more digging we did into the existing authorities, the more opportunities we discovered to “stoke the fire” of the building industry and its sustainable potential. I wrote about the highlights of the report when it was released, and the opportunities I noted then remain before us—still knocking—today.

In many ways, the sheer quantity of opportunities identified by the report (and sheer size of the report itself) is daunting. Where should the White House, the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, etc. start? Which potentially transformative policy must come first?

That’s why the full report was just the beginning of a broader federal push. Over the weeks and months to come, we will be reaching out to our 16,000+ member companies and working with our other partners on the report to generate support for industry- and agency-specific recommendations—ones that are targeted, actionable, and potent. We want to make sure that the voices of our member companies and the larger green building community are heard by the executive branch. We expect to deliver real results from their advocacy and leadership. We have already sent our top three recommendations over to the Department of Energy. Our January 21st memo recommends action on a green real estate appraisal standard, the tax deduction for commercial energy efficient commercial buildings, and loan guarantees for financing retrofits.

And the executive branch is paying attention! The President recently announced the Better Buildings Initiative (BBI) to improve commercial building energy performance, and he touched specifically on two of the three priorities. The BBI calls on Congress to take action but also lays out the steps the Administration is going to take by utilizing their existing authorities to create better buildings, better jobs, and lower energy bills.

By targeting executive branch action— along with continuing to push Congress to make progress on BBI and our other priorities like energy and water efficiency, healthy built environments, livable and walkable communities— we will continue to push forward toward the transformation of the built environment. Elections may change our strategy, but they certainly don’t change our priorities—or our expectations for meaningful results.