New Green Building Standards

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 19:51:00 GMT

In May, a new version of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) ratings system for buildings was released for public comment. Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO and Founding Chair of the U.S. Green Buildings Council, the organization that oversees LEED, wrote that the new system “delivers against key environmental and human health impacts, and puts in place a transparent framework for weighting credits accordingly, based on the best available science.” The public comment period will be open until June 22.

The 2009 version of LEED was crafted to increase the rating system's emphasis on a building's environmental, economic, and social impact. As Ted Smalley Bowen of the Architectural Record writes, the new version “consolidates the many LEED variants, such as the versions for new construction and commercial interiors, into a core set of requirements.” Smalley continues:

Other key changes include the addition of bonus points (eventually core points) for addressing regional environmental conditions, and a methodology for reallocating points within the scoring system to give greater weight to human health and the environment.

The new version also shifts the scale of credits to 100 points, up from the current 69, and places greater emphasis on limiting greenhouse gas emissions. An interesting exploration (and a slightly more critical and humorous one) of the changes can be found at the blog Real Life LEED.

The new release comes on the heels of a study by The American Institute of Architects (AIA) of the three green building rating systems, LEED, Green Globes, and SBTool 07, which asses how the programs “resonate in various dimensions with the goals of the AIA position statements on sustainability.” The statements, part of a larger AIA goal to achieve carbon neutrality in construction by 2030, can be found here.

The study seems to find LEED the most complete system, noting that Green Globes needed more “stringent and specific requirements in the areas of energy reduction and operational performance” since they have a direct relationship with carbon emissions. Similarly, the study looked for SBTool 07 to be more rigorous in their standards, preferring “‘required’ items vs. those that are simply ‘encouraged.’"

Mixed Greens

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 16:14:00 GMT

There are a lot of idiosyncratic (to say the least) things about Antilia, a 490-foot-tall, 24 story facility now under construction in India for both corporate meeting space and a private residence. The building, commissioned by multi-billionaire tycoon Mukesh Ambani, is designed according to the traditional Indian concept of Vaastu Shastra, which orients structures to remain in harmony with energy flows. Besides that, and the “vertical gardens” that weave around the building and indicate separation for the different sections of the building, there is also a general air of opulence that surrounds its construction. The building is estimated to cost around $1 billion, and features a movie theatre, parking for 168 cars, living quarters that span four floors, and three helipads.

The architects plan to seek certification under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System standards. Daniel Brook discusses LEED, which is administered by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), in a great article on Slate. The piece echoes ongoing criticism that, “the growth of green design renders the loopholes in LEED more serious than ever. The point system creates perverse incentives to design around the checklist rather than to build the greenest building possible.” And the process of LEED certification can cost up to $100,000, which, though barely anything on a project like Antilia, is a significant price tag for small firms and nonprofit clients.

Brook writes later, “Lately, even the USGBC seems to realize the solution lies not in giving out medals for greenness one building at a time, but in encouraging greener communities.” Signals that progress in the U.S. might be on the way come from California and Seattle, where environmental initiatives for sustainability and energy independence are receiving close consideration. In Seattle, a proposal by the chairman of Seattle City Council's Urban Development and Planning Committee would require developers of large buildings and roads to identify and reduce greenhouse gas emissions on projects involving highways, skyscrapers, or parking lots of more than 20 spaces. Meanwhile, the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the California Energy Commission unanimously adopted a plan that would make all homes independent from the electrical grid by 2020.

Those communities might achieve a part of those goals with help from a technology developed by a Dutch company that heats and cools buildings from solar energy collected from asphalt. What began as a road maintenance project for the civil engineering firm Ooms Averhorn Holding BV morphed into a system of flexible plastic pipes under a road that runs hot and cold water to nearby buildings, heating in winter and cooling in the summer. So maybe Vaastu does have a chance to harmonize energy in Antilia; even if that energy started out metaphysical, it may just turn green.

Schinnerer's RM Blog - leed tag

New Green Building Standards

Mixed Greens