Green Buildings: A Bridge to a More Resilient Future

Jeremy Sigmon, LEED® AP BD+C
Director, Technical Policy
U.S. Green Building Council

I overheard a lot of scary things in the workshops and in the halls during last week’s 37th Annual Natural Hazards Research and Applications Workshop. The sessions I attended were worrisome, and the mere titles of some of the sessions I missed were downright frightening – like, “Community at Risk: Biodefense and Civic Action after the Anthrax Attacks,” or “What Keeps Me up at Night: Senior Hazards Researchers Reflect on Lessons (Not) Learned.” It's a sobering conference to be sure, but it's also extremely important to learn about the many ways that our society, economy and infrastructure are very, and increasingly vulnerable to disaster.

Where I come from, the motivation for action today is not typically driven by the threat of disaster. Instead, we're driven by the promise of a brighter, greener future. I was uncertain about how this optimism would be received when I was invited to participate on behalf of USGBC in this conference, but I learned very quickly that emergency managers and the many minds that stay up late thinking about how to better prepare for and mitigate myriad disasters are advancing a hopeful and constructive approach to planning for a resilient future. Phew!

Build to last: Green building methods and codes can help prepare and mitigate the effects of natural disasters. Photo source: NOAA Photo Library, Flickr

As you may know, USGBC has been involved in this line of thinking for several years, after being called upon time and again to help communities rebound from disasters and build back better, stronger and greener. Resistance, preparedness, mitigation and resilience to natural hazards are at the heart of a resiliency agenda. And we know, intuitively, that a resilient future is a sustainable future.

At our panel session, we addressed a simple question, “The Future of Green Codes and Standards: Is there a Place for Disaster Resistance?” The short answer is, “Of course!”

Resilient Buildings and Self-Reliance Will Strengthen Haiti Now and into the Future

Jeremy Sigmon, LEED® AP BD+C
Manager, Building Codes Advocacy
U.S. Green Building Council

Rubble and tent villages in every direction. Mountains of trash with no place to go. A stench that makes your stomach turn.

Canals full of stagnant, disease-filled water. Thirsty livestock and nesting mosquitoes competing for the same dirty water.

A denuded landscape with hardly any nutrient-rich soil left to retain the precious water needed to support replanting.

Millions of people with limited or no access to basic amenities like clean water, safe shelters, electricity and toilet facilities.

My heart sinks.

Solidarité Market surrounded in trash sometimes taller than trucks on Boulevard La Saline in
Port au Prince. (March 11, 2012)

Tent villages extend to the foothills that, without vegetation, come sliding down when it rains. (Photo taken by my colleague outside of Port au Prince in February, 2012)

Yet I see so many of Haiti’s own smiling amidst these tough times and even tougher conditions. Haiti, with its rich culture and instinct of hope and resolve, is building for a better future, trying to put behind them a government that has failed them time and time again.

This was both my first and last impression of Haiti as I traveled on an old American school bus out of and back into Port au Prince. My many other thoughts and impressions during my seven-day stay were far more hopeful.

Resiliency & Sustainability: A Great Convergence and Synergies in Solutions

Jason Hartke
Vice President, National Policy
U.S. Green Building Council

It’s not zero sum. It’s not either/or. It’s not this or that.

Instead, when it comes to sustainability and resiliency, we need (and thankfully we’re seeing) a great convergence.

Not only do the agendas of these two great causes overlap, but their destinies must be forged together.

This is certainly true for the built environment. Just last week, Administrator Craig Fugate of the Federal Emergency Management Agency made the point at our National Press Club event: “Being green is one part of being resilient.”


National Leadership Speaker Series: FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate from U.S. Green Building Council on Vimeo.

At the same event, USGBC, in partnership with the University of Michigan, released a first-of-its-kind report – Green Building and Climate Resilience – showing the myriad ways that green building strategies in LEED support a more resilient built environment.

For Prosperity and Security, Build a Resilient Nation

Jason Hartke
Vice President, National Policy
U.S. Green Building Council

Tonight President Obama will address the nation to outline a jobs plan, propose a robust infrastructure initiative, restore confidence in a fragile economy and ensure our continued leadership in the new global economy.

We need a plan for immediate and long-term employment. We need a strategy to reinvigorate the economy and make America a safer place. We need to build a resilient nation. Advancing a resiliency agenda, a post-partisan plan will help us meet the challenges of today and tomorrow.

While over the years our politics has sharpened, seeming more stinging and acidic, our leaders from both parties and those of all political ideologies in America are uniformly guided by a primary principle – strive for greater prosperity and security for the citizens of this country. Those two hallowed objectives – prosperity and security – are inextricably linked. And a strong and sustainable America is a prosperous America.

But we’re facing a silent onslaught at home that is jeopardizing that future. Our brittle infrastructure is crumbling below our feet and all around us. Our roads and bridges and buildings – the bones of our economy – are in dire need of attention. It is imperative that we avoid a cascading effect where one system’s breakdown leads to another system’s collapse. In 2005, the U.S. was ranked first in infrastructure, according to a World Economic Forum report. In a reprisal of the report released this week, the U.S. has dropped to 24th.

Take our schools for example. Sadly, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gives the state of our public school facility infrastructure a shameful “D” rating, calling for tens of billions of dollars in urgent investment. If education is the foundation, we’re chipping away at this precious bedrock of American leadership and success. The average school in America is more than 40 years old. A fifth of our schools, roughly 25,000 school buildings, require $112 billion in extensive repairs and renovations just to bring them up to minimum standards. And more than 15,000 schools have air that has been deemed unsafe to breathe.

ACSE, further diagnosing our severe osteoporosis, grades our “infrastructure GPA” (which covers other categories like roads, bridges, levees, transit, and drinking water) a “D,” saying we need a $2.2 trillion five-year investment.

Resiliency adds calcium to the bones. It would make us stronger, reignite our ability to lead and innovate, and ultimately power our productivity.

That’s why, among other clean energy policy proposals we may hear about tonight, one of the most important is an Infrastructure Bank that builds resilience, advances sustainability and stimulates long-term investment opportunities. We can put Americans back to work by focusing on nation-building at home and strengthening the very sinews of our country. There are more than 2 million jobless construction workers. An infrastructure bank would put these people back to work to build and rebuild our roads, bridges, buildings, dams, levees and transit – better, stronger, greener. And a strong infrastructure is the backbone of a resilient nation and a sustainable future.

Tonight, as President Obama stands before Congress and the American people to call for action to spur job creation, many of us will be at the Newseum for the Nine Eleven Tenth Anniversary Summit. The theme is Remembrance, Renewal, Resilience. We will remember those family and friends who lost their lives. We will honor the survivors and heroes who responded and carried on to rebuild America. And together with leading organizations such as the Center for National Policy and the Community and Regional Resilience Institute, we will launch of a National Resilience Campaign that calls on individuals, communities, and companies to become more involved in a national effort to build a more resilient America.

Breaking News: New York Times Columnist Thomas Friedman and ABC News Political Commentator Cokie Roberts to Tackle Building Resiliency at Greenbuild

Kimberly Lewis
Vice President, Conferences and Events
U.S. Green Building Council

The Greenbuild speaker roster is shaping up to be an incredible one! We just received confirmation that Thomas Friedman and Cokie Roberts will join the diverse roster of thought leaders and innovators at the Greenbuild International Conference & Expo in Toronto.

Friedman, Pulitzer Prize-winning and internationally renowned author, reporter, and columnist, will lend his expertise to USGBC’s Resiliency Agenda panel, taking place at the Opening Keynote & Celebration on Oct. 5. The panel, moderated by Roberts, an Emmy Award-winning journalist, bestselling author and a 40 year veteran of broadcasting, will discuss resiliency and demonstrate how all industries can play a role in community rebuilding efforts in Haiti and around the globe.

In his 2008 bestselling book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution—and How It Can Renew America, Friedman explored the parallels between the climate crisis and the global economic crisis, proposing a national strategy, coined “Geo-Greenism,” to make America healthier, richer, more innovative, more productive, and more secure. "I find this set of issues—how we take the lead in the clean-tech revolution and use that to refresh, renew, and revive America—is what animates me most,” Friedman has said.

Friedman, Farmer and Roberts will speak at Greenbuild 2011 in Toronto.

Roberts serves dually as Senior News Analyst for National Public Radio and Political Analyst for ABC News, where she spent six years co-anchoring This Week with Sam Donaldson. An inductee into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame, Roberts has won countless awards, and was cited as one of the 50 greatest women in the history of broadcasting.

Medical anthropologist and physician, Dr. Paul Farmer, will also participate on the panel. As Chair of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Founder of Partners in Health, Dr. Farmer has written extensively on health, human rights, and the consequences of social inequality.

Check USGBC’s blog tomorrow for another breaking Greenbuild announcement. Additional panelists will be announced on the blog later this week. Stay connected via greenbuildexpo.org and follow @USGBC on Twitter using hashtag #greenbuild for late-breaking announcements and information. See you in Toronto!

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