Building Capacity

A Taste of Living Future 2012

 

 

 

Chris Edlin, Donna Trost, and Kathleen O'Brien from O'Brien and Company attended Living Future 2012 in Portland. In addition to enjoying  great food at the local street food carts for lunch, we picked up some tasty tidbits we'd like to share with Building Capacity fans. Please keep in mind we weren't everywhere, and this isn't everything we participated in, either.

Note:  If you were there and you have additional highlights (or critiques) you want to share, COMMENT on this post.  If you weren't there, you can download or view presentations at Living Future 2012 -- and start planning now to go to Living Future, Seattle,  2013. They are (happily) capping attendance at 1000 (this year's tally), so don't miss out.

Money Talks

Both Kathleen and Donna attended sessions focused on money -- how to get it (funding) and how to get others to spend it (investment). The bottom line for the first continues to be creative partnerships that produce projects that have multiple uses (and therefore benefits) that can be monetized and "pitched" to potential funders. The Portland Public School District hooked up with the Boys and Girls Club and the University Park Recreation Center in a partnership that not only saved the school from building their o wn gymnasium but also created a Community Campus for the largest revitalization project in Oregon history. Hood River Middle School's new science and music building; and greenhouse doubles as the local farmers’ market on weekends and offers its amphitheatre for public use.

The Vernonia School in Northwest Oregon was able to achieve LEED Platinum partly because it also serves as a community and emergency center and received funding to rebuild its flood damaged school (on higher ground!) for these uses; in addition the school was able to meet FSC wood goals because it included local lumber companies in its planning discussions. Another reason the Vernonia School succeeded in its fundraising is its decision to work with local residents first to approve a bond measure. This local buy-in was compelling when the district applied for county, state, and federal funding.

Partnership also figures in moving the needle on real estate investment. A team, including Jason Twill (Vulcan), David Batker (Earth Economics), Theddi Wright Chappell (Cushman & Wakefield), Stuart Cowan (Autopoiesis), reported on the work they've done to identify where the investment barriers (and opportunities) are now relevant to sustainable real estate. The results of their efforts, which they now call Phase I, are included in "Economics of Change: Catalyzing the Investment Shift Towards a Restorative Built Environment." They are now partnered with the International Living Future Institute (ILFI) for Phase 2, which is anticipated to produce an open source investment decision making tool that integrates public and private benefits not currently considered for a variety of reasons. In the U.S. where investors are driven primarily on ROI, going beyond LEED Platinum is not yet defensible, in the opinion of the panelists. In Phase 2, the team hopes their work will help justify investments in meeting the performance requirements of the Living Building Challenge.

Another tool that might be used to justify investment in the future if and when decarbonization becomes a defensible real estate investment has been hatched in Chicago by architects Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill. The decarbonization strategies they are promoting for existing buildings and infrastructure are familiar to most of us, but the new angle is a calculator that provides feedback on the potential carbon emissions reduction these design strategies have in a specific building project and/or a district (in their research case the Chicago Loop). Of course, one hopes that investors will look at this data in the context of other benefits.

What's the Economy, Stupid?

Turning perceptions on their head is a regular exercise at the Living Future Unconference. This year was no exception. The Living Future bookstore featured "What's the Economy For Anyway?" co-authored by David Batker (mentioned above) with John de Graaf. The book explains "why it's time to stop chasing growth and start pursuing happiness." David and Kathleen traded books and autographs, and Kathleen just lauuuvs the book -- really.

Donna attended a session on "Living Economies," which posed the need for a more complete articulation of economic value (to include social and natural assets now seen as externalities to the economy) as a design problem, not a design constraint, and suggested that Biomimicry could be the framework for solving this problem.

Vedana Shiva offered an inspiring keynote at the conference that touched on the Living Future conference theme "Women Reshaping the World." She described the critical importance of seeing nature as a living feminine being, not an industrial resource to keep the world's GDP spinning upward. With her project Naydanya (Nine Seeds), and her book "Soil not Oil" she is working for food security in India, while enlarging the definition of economic value to include seeds, soil, and the protection of nature as a whole.

This larger view of our natural, living systems should not be unfamiliar, but a form of "Re-Connecting." Chris enjoyed a presentation by Bill Reed (Alliance for Regeneration) and John Boecker (7Group), which explored the nature and practice of pattern thinking to harmonize the interrelationships between human aspirations (where the economy comes in) and the nature of living systems.

Speaking of the larger view, Pliny Fisk, as usual, invited us to his orbit on EcoBalance design, but thank goodness, Gail Vittori (his life partner and his Co-Director at the Center for Maximum Building Potential) was there to explain what Pliny was talking about. (It's okay, Pliny can take it, he and Kathleen are old pals.) Chris' take-homes: think in cycles, utilize new information visualization tools to bring together abundant and complex data, reprogram thinking that your product will look different, and learn the value of cycles and regeneration.

See Women Lead

To be honest, Kathleen, and several of her women colleagues, cringed at first when this year's theme was announced at the 2011 conference. Would the conference "trivialize" women's issues by making the their contributions "special?" Although there were a few odd moments in the program -- for example why (???) should women especially be the ones balancing business and families, the topic of one session. (Shouldn't we all be concerned about that? Let's hear it for paternity leave!) And a keynote by Carol Sanford that seemed to promote being tough and argumentative, while selling her book (Did anyone not know the name of her current and future books by the time you left the talk? Shame on you.)

But there were two workshops on the theme that were just terrific. The first launched "Making Women's Leadership Visible"-- an advocacy project that involves women interviewing each other as a way to make our achievements visible. As women readers are painfully aware, women are generally uncomfortable taking credit for their work, often qualifying their claims with "helped, was instrumental in developing, was part of a team, etc." Nothing wrong with these statements, except that men don't seem to share this discomfort. Project principals Ann Edminster (Design Avenues), Christine Magar (Greenform), and Karen Tucker (iLiv) believe that building womens' ability to stand up and be counted will actually benefit all of us . For the curious, interviews are located on youtube channel seewomenlead. If you want to contribute an interview, contact any one of these folks for the instructions.

The second workshop included a panel of women leaders ranging in age from the mid 20s to the early 80s. Besides the fact that this was a total hoot for the panelists (we know this firsthand, since Kathleen was on the panel) it was clear that the topic and the workshop design were pretty darn engaging. From what we can tell, not a single person -- woman or man -- left before the session was over! In addition to visual presentations and stories by each participant, focusing on significant moments in each panelist's professional development, as well as personal inspiration and achievements, a timeline exercise designed by Ellen Southard (Site Story) allowed participants to identify critical moments in their lives that led to their current passion and involvement in sustainability. And Marj Barlow (The Possible Woman) and Nadine Gudz (InterfaceFlor) led an affirmation exercise that brought the session to a resounding and hope-filled finale. Other panelists for this workshop included Patti Southard (King County Green Tools), Jamie Statter (Clinton Global Initiative), and Kerry Mason (TetraTech).

Chris was particularly moved by Pete Munoz (Natural Systems International) in the closing session, who emotionally voiced his opinion that the UnConference theme was not about gender at all, but about all of us integrating the qualities often associated with the feminine. This attitude will go a long way towards redefining the value of money, the scope of our economy, and the health of our professional community.

Part 2: What’s The Story? Developing a Green Building Education Plan - Elizabeth Powers, LEED AP BD+C, CSBA Reports on Developing a Green Building Education Plan

This is Part 2 of a two- part blog. Before you read this blog, please take a moment to skim last week’s article (Part 1).

Now that you’ve got a good storyline for your green building education plan, let’s talk about how to put together an effective presentation and earn credit for it in LEED or other rating systems.

It is fundamental to good storytelling to know your audience. A building’s green building education program should be geared toward the audiences to which the building most directly relates or the groups of people that are most interested in stories about that type of building. There are usually two or three groups to target which will involve using different communication tools with different messages. Let’s look at two examples.

For a university campus academic building, the most direct audience is the faculty that teaches or works in the building and the students that take classes there. Communication tools with this group should be physically linked to working and learning in the building, like building signage, electronic kiosks, and visible sustainable design features. The messages can share what features were built into the building, the benefit of those features, and how they, as building users, can help keep the building green.

Other audiences include alumni and funders, potential students, and the nearby community. Communication with these groups is more likely through electronic media or one-time events like grand openings or potential student tours. The messages for alumni and funders can demonstrate responsible use of funds by reducing operating costs and how building features improve teaching and learning. Potential students (and their parents) are also concerned about costs, but more likely want to hear how green building supports a good education. The environmental stewardship message fundamental to green building will resonate with alumni, funders, students and the community.

For a residential apartment building, the obvious primary audience is building tenants. Good ways to reach this group are electronic kiosks or a display of building features in the lobby, an informational brochure provided on move in, and building newsletters. For prospective tenants, your green building message is a sales tool. You can use signage on sample green features in a leasing center or model unit, create a take-away brochure, and develop a tour script for use when walking prospects around the building. The message for current and prospective tenants is that the building is efficient, helping them save on rent and utilities, and is better for the environment than other apartment buildings. As any building, the education should also enable the tenants to live green in the building by explaining how to use, take care of, or benefit from green features, and providing additional ideas of activities they can engage in on their own. A good example is providing all new tenants a green cleaning kit upon move in that also points out the durable, easy to clean finishes used in the building.

A secondary audience for all buildings is the greater real estate, design, and construction community. This group is the audience most likely to be interested in how many LEED points the project received and how it was done. As this group is often responsible for developing green building education, a lot of what is produced is about the LEED story on the project. This can be a good story on a project, and the role of LEED should not be excluded from the story, but think carefully about what makes this LEED project unique from others and what elements of LEED the targeted audiences care about. A good way to reach out to the building industry audience is web based case studies and tours with local green building organizations. These industry case studies and tours can share detailed lessons learned about green design and construction practices and LEED documentation.

The process of identifying the audiences and communication tools for stories is a natural set-up for putting together a package that will earn a LEED Innovation point, meet the Living Building Challenge education imperative, or earn the Sustainable Sites Initiative credit. Let’s look specifically at the requirements for LEED.

To take advantage of the educational value of the green building features of a project and to earn a LEED point, any approach should be ACTIVELY instructional. Two of the following three elements must be included in the educational program:

• A comprehensive signage program built into the building's spaces to educate the occupants and visitors of the benefits of green buildings. This program may include windows to view energy saving mechanical equipment or signs to call attention to water-conserving landscape features.
• The development of a manual, guideline or case study to inform the design of the buildings based on the successes of this project. This manual will be made available to the USGBC for sharing with other projects.
• An educational outreach program or guided tour that focuses on sustainable living, using the project as an example.

 Following this structure, the first step is to decide if you will do a building signage program. This is probably the most durable and long lasting tool in your communications tool belt and can support a tour program as well. More engaging signage like window or “truth” walls, or electronic kiosks showing energy and water usage make a “signage” program one of the most effective education elements.    
In some cases, a signage program may not  make sense, as with buildings that have a very small audience or limited public access. In that case, a good approach is provide an overview sign next to the LEED plaque in the building lobby or put information from a case study on an electronic kiosk.

   A building case study does make sense for almost all projects, although there may be different versions distributed to different audiences. For the audience most likely to learn about the building on your organization’s website or marketing, use your storylines to organize and write the most effective case study for your that audience. [Example Left – BSCS] For sharing the technical details and lessons learned with the building industry, we recommend completing a project profile in the High Performance Buildings Database. This comprehensive resource is recommended and used by the USGBC and others to produce case studies and stories about green buildings. Its detailed structure is a great way to make sure you collect and organize all the green building information about the project.

The third option for the LEED innovation credit, an educational outreach or tour program, is a good place to leverage what you’ve already done in preparing signage and/case studies to do additional outreach. If you conduct a grand opening or LEED plaque event, distribute hard copies of the case study or make a brochure and do a building tour. Collaborate with local green building or industry organizations to provide another tour or two, or to do case study presentations, and you have the foundations of a educational outreach/tour program.  Round it out with an article in the local media, ongoing green building blurbs in a newsletter, or an annual tour.

The above elements can be combined in ways to best match your building’s purpose and audiences, whether it is hands-on with signage and tours, or more arms length with digital case studies, presentations, and newsletters. Whatever the method, remember that a green building education program is most effective and engaging when it tells a unique story that is compelling and appropriate for the audience(s) you are trying to reach.

Elizabeth Powers is Principal/Owner of O'Brien & Company, a mission-based firm in its 20th year focused on achieving sustainability in the built environment. Powers leads the green building consulting services team and is a regular contributor to the Building Capacity blog. O'Brien & Company publishes the blog as well as a monthly newsletter. For the most current edition of the newsletter, please see www.obrienandco.com/news-and-events/newsletters

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What’s The Story? Elizabeth Powers, LEED AP BD+C, CSBA Reports on Developing a Green Building Education Plan

LEED, the Living Building Challenge, the Sustainable Sites Initiative and other rating systems offer opportunities to earn credit for, or require, the development of a green building education plan. The intent of the credits is to inspire and educate others by sharing the feasibility and benefits of green building. Too often however, the materials produced to meet the letter of the requirements are just a litany of LEED credits or building features, without drawing any lessons or meaning from the accomplishments. Whether a project is doing green building education for credit or out of a desire to pass on lessons learned, and whether the program will be big and splashy, or simple and low-tech, it is worth taking moment to craft an effective and compelling education plan for your project. Not only will this actually accomplish the intent of the rating system requirements, it yields better results in getting press coverage, marketing your project, developing community support, fundraising and even gaining support from building occupants and users in keeping your building green.

The foundation of such a plan is a good story. Every project has unique characteristics, challenges, and accomplishments that can teach others important lessons about green building. O’Brien & Company has found that project teams often need a little guidance in finding the heart of their story and understanding the lessons of the project.

This article talks about developing a good story. Next week, the blog will address developing content and deciding on the types of educational media to use.

When tasked with developing a green building education plan, don’t start by looking at the LEED scorecard, instead, go back to the origins of the project. Pull out the eco-charrette report, owner’s project requirements (OPR), or other documents that defined the vision and goals for the project. Reflect back – what were you trying to accomplish on this project and how did it play out?

Try writing down the three most significant challenges or accomplishments of the project as the story lines. Ask yourself and your team - When did the project get stuck on accomplishing the goals, and how did you get beyond it? What green approach failed on the project and what did you learn from it? What will you always remember about this project? What green feature will you definitely incorporate on your next project? What are you most proud of when you drive by the completed project? You could do this with the project team and stakeholders as charrette-style brainstorming exercise and see what themes emerge. Then you can pull out the LEED scorecard as another lens to think about the unique story of your project.

The best stories may not be individual building features, but human stories that resulted from the project. Here are some examples of stories that still stand out for me from one of our earliest LEED projects, Merrill Hall by the Miller Hull Partnership. This project accomplished the following:

• A diverse community of stakeholders came together to seek alternative funding and enable the Center for Urban Horticulture to rise from the ashes of a fire (literally) and create a building that exemplified their mission of stewardship.
• The project inspired a student group to lobby for green building standards campus-wide, leading to adoption of a LEED requirement for capital projects.
• The design opened the space to the surrounding natural environment and created a great outdoor living room for more collaboration and education.

Do you feel your project is more boring than this? Think it won’t lead to wholesale change like Merrill Hall? Maybe, but there is still something to be learned. Here are some of the fun stories from the more mundane projects we’ve worked.

• A contractor figured out how to collect rainwater from a nearby hillside to pressure test waste water tanks at a waste water treatment plant instead of using large quantities of municipal water which saved resources and a lot of money.
• An industrial park building put in bike racks and shower and restrooms for tenants (something tenants usually have to build themselves) to earn LEED points, one of several LEED features that attracted tenants and caused the park to lease out quickly.
• An office building renovation of a 1960’s building earned LEED Gold after starting out with a stretch goal of LEED Silver.

The message from these examples is that your project is unique, has a story to share, and people can learn from every green building. Tune in next week for discussion on how to turn these stories into a “credit-worthy” green building education plan.

 

Elizabeth Powers is Principal/Owner of O'Brien & Company, a mission-based firm in its 20th year focused on achieving sustainability in the built environment. Powers leads the green building consulting services team and is a regular contributor to the Building Capacity blog. O'Brien & Company publishes the blog as well as a monthly newsletter. For the most current edition of the newsletter, please see www.obrienandco.com/news-and-events/newsletters

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Time to Deal with Your LEED AP Credential

 

Living Building Results from a Living Vision: HPA’s learning laboratory starts with a charrette

In 2007 O’Brien & Company facilitated a strategic visioning process for the staff, students and stakeholders of an independent school with a strong commitment to “Go Green.” Today, HPA’s leadership points to that process as the foundation for successful completion of its new Energy Lab, a living, learning laboratory. A Little Background:

Hawaiʻi Preparatory Academy (HPA), founded in 1949, is an independent coeducational school providing a full range of opportunities for students from kindergarten through grade 12. The school is located in Waimea on the island of Hawaiʻi (the Big Island). Their main, 200-acre campus is located at the foot of the Kohala mountains, with views across the rolling paniolo (Hawaiian cowboy) country to Mauna Kea to the south.

Visioning Process Plants the Seed

A desire for a more integrated, comprehensive approach to sustainability was the natural outcome of the work of a small group of campus enthusiasts who began meeting a year or so earlier and who had already achieved some success with the installation of solar street lights and solar water heating on campus.

The visioning work, facilitated by Kathleen O’Brien and Elizabeth Powers of O’Brien & Company in 2007, marked the beginning of a campus-wide integrated process, aligning the passion, energy and intention of the students, faculty, staff and parents towards a vision of a sustainable school in a sustainable community with clear goals and metrics for measuring success along the path of progress. Topics covered all aspect of campus operations: food, transportation, buildings, and natural resources (such as energy and water), and discussions went beyond operations to integrating learnings into curriculum and into community relations.

We met in the old Parker Ranch House and the walls for each room were literally covered by the end of the day with ideas that eventually were organized and compiled in a report for the committee to work with. A blown-up campus map provided a canvas for participants to answer the question: What would it look like for HPA to “Go Green?”

HPA wanted to be a major leader in the region’s sustainability efforts – a goal made all the more meaningful by the fact that their region is a collection of islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, which once supported a population of more than one million people without any input from the outside world, but is now dependent on a continuous IV drip of oil tankers to meet its energy needs. Says Bill Wiecking, a participant in the early visioning process and now Energy Lab Director, “The Big Island can serve as a model for the planet: this is all we have, we must learn to use our resources wisely, while thinking about forever.”

One of the strategies that emerged from the visioning work was creation of an Environmental Energy Lab that would focus on locally-appropriate strategies towards achieving energy independence. The learning laboratory would offer a fully integrated curriculum, real-time reporting of performance and a forum for learning about project management – not a one-off but a model that could be replicated across the state of Hawaii and beyond.

The Seed Bears Fruit

As a testament to the strength of that vision, Bill Wiecking’s passion, and the commitment of HPA’s stakeholders, the new Energy Lab, designed by architect David Croteau of Flansburgh Associates recently earned certification under the Living Building Challenge – the most rigorous rating for sustainable building.

The building is finely tuned to respond to its environment. Form and orientation evolved to balance complex flow dynamics that drive the natural ventilation system, designed by Buro Happold with access to daylight and views that are critical to creating an optimal learning environment – it is, first, a classroom, after all. Not a singular effort, this building forms the blueprint for future structures on the campus – an integrated, optimized response to a complex system.

At the award ceremony in May, 2011, David Croteau spoke of the challenges of designing and constructing a Living Building in Hawaii. Between the Red List of unacceptable materials and the limitations of transportation distances for different resources, just writing the specifications for the project was a major effort. But seemingly insurmountable barriers were overcome because everyone’s values were fully aligned around the larger goals. The value that the building represented as a model was so great it justified extraordinary steps to ensure the coherence of the story it had to tell.

Without the clarity that came from the Go Green visioning, that unity of purpose might not have existed. Bill Wiecking said of the process, “Our school had a nascent "Go Green" movement for years before our first charrette challenged us to reach for something beyond our grasp. This workshop had many outcomes besides the kernel of our energy lab project: recycling, energy auditing, farming, materials awareness. As a school we are uniquely vulnerable to supply disruptions, with energy and food costs among the highest in the country. We are well motivated, and now we have a place to study sustainability using tools and techniques years ahead of any other school, presenting educational opportunities beyond the scope of anything we might have envisioned several years ago (prior to 2007).”

Posted by Alistair Jackson & Elizabeth Powers, principals and owners of O’Brien & Company, Inc, a green building consultancy founded 20 years ago in the Seattle area and publisher of the Building Capacity Blog. See also Elizabeth’s article on Living Buildings in the Northwest in the O'Brien & Company June 2011 newsletter.

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Come Rain/Shine: Envisioning a net-zero water future

I arrived at Cascadia's recent all day Come Rain/Shine workshop thirsty for a deeper dialogue about water issues, obstacles to change, and solutions that make sense for Washington. Being a sustainability consultant, I’m well aware of the smart and simple steps –like low-flow fixtures, rain gardens, and bioswales – that we can do on every project to reduce water consumption and restore our ecosystem. I was looking for the giant leaps needed to achieve a net-zero water future. Happily, Come Rain/Shine quenched my thirst.

Living in Seattle, especially after experiencing an “extra wet” winter and spring, it is easy to take water for granted or even begrudge it. The fact is that all water is precious. Whether living in a region of abundant water like Seattle or a place where water is scarce like the high desert east of Cascade Mountains, all water is vulnerable to the same threats of climate change, deforestation, over development, pollution, and unsustainable water use behaviors. What better test bed for creating new ways to support healthy and resilient water systems than the State of Washington? This state’s extreme range of wet and dry climates presents unique challenges and opportunities to innovate. Like other innovations spawned in Washington, these solutions can be exported to wet and dry climates around the world.

A Call To Action: The Replacement Era

Early in the day, Steve Moddemeyer, Collins Woerman, pointed to the root cause of our water crisis saying, “Water connects all life, yet we disintegrate water into silos – potable water, rain water, storm water, gray water, and waste water.” Our decaying water infrastructure model is based on a time when energy was cheap and resources were plentiful. We focus on building “reliable” systems in an increasingly uncertain world. Yet, we have entered a time that compels us to change -- and perhaps be more agile than predictable. The Pacific Northwest region has the capacity to navigate and define this change with pragmatism and good-natured idealism.

Design alone won’t save us. The Bullitt Foundation's Cascadia Center for Sustainable Design & Construction, Seattle, is designed to meet the Living Building Challenge, but it won’t be able to treat its black water on site until the City’s health code allows it.

As great as new technology is, it is not the complete or only answer, either. As Katie Spataro, Cascadia Green Building Council, revealed through her research on alternative waste water treatment strategies (Toward Net Zero Water: Best Management Practices for Decentralized Sourcing and Treatment), when comparing the life cycle analysis of a natural system versus an engineered bio-membrane reactor, Mother nature wins again!

We can not overlook the important role of governance in moving us toward a more resilient environment. Chuck Clark, Cascade Water Alliance, stressed the need to look at a full-cost pricing of water systems (with price based on environment, economic, and social values). Full-cost pricing can lead to policy changes that in turn support design changes. In Washington, we allow net metering for solar energy. How about net metering for onsite water reuse?

Probably the most important key to solving this puzzle is our behavior. We need a willingness to experiment, collaborate, and advocate. Come Rain/Shine was a great forum to foster this spirit among a diverse group of elected leaders, public utilities representatives, designers, developers, and members from the non-profit sector and academia.

The Slam

Katrina Morgan, Fermata Consulting, introduced “the slam,” a brainstorming session on steroids – fast and concentrated. Teams worked on scenarios of differing scales from urban to small city to rural communities with the common goal of envisioning healthy, resilient water systems. There were only a few rules of engagement. The most important was to leave your day job at the door, represent yourself -not your organization. Nametags intentionally left company names off to reinforce this notion. Slam teams explored solutions from the multiple perspectives of design, technology, policy, and behavior.

I facilitated a slam session for a hypothetical new eco-city just east of the Cascade Mountains. Here, rainfall is less than eight inches per year. Although this is a dry and arid city, it sits along an 18-mile long lake. The city has access to a major highway. Our assignment was to invent an eco-city that protects the existing natural ecosystem while creating a healthy mix of industry, residences, and tourism.

We named our community “WOW” for “wise on water”. WOW offers an out-of-the ordinary experience from the moment you leave your car about a ¼ mile away from town at the “exchange and recharge” station. Here, you can plug your electric vehicle into solar powered charging stations and bike or walk into town. The city is compact and walkable with dozens of restaurants featuring local produce, artist studios, boutique hotels, urban farms, year-round residents, and a center for sustainable agriculture.

Scarcity of water drives design, technology, policy, and behavior in this community. Sewage is not conveyed with water. Instead, WOW uses composting toilets and the public utility picks up bio-solids. Waste water and stormwater are treated in beautiful constructed wetlands by the lakeside.There are no individual bathtubs, just stand-up showers with ultra low flow showerheads. But here’s the perk, WOW has a public bathhouse that is free and luxurious.

Organic farming happens within the town center instead of outside of it. This shift from large scale monoculture crops for national distribution to diverse crops for local sales supports a healthy ecosystem and creates an economic draw for WOW. This is a destination for all who want to unplug and enjoy the simple things of life.

The “New” Normal

Current water use is simple and wasteful. Net-zero water use, on the other hand, requires a complex approach--imitating nature’s water cycle--where potable water is sourced from many places, use, reused, cleansed and returned to nature. We won’t get there alone. Nor will we arrive there using a one-size fits all approach. Arrival requires a toolbox filled with design, technology, policy, and behavioral change tools, and individuals qualified and willing to use those tools creatively and appropriately for climate and cultural conditions.

Nora Daley-Peng, AICP, ASLA, CSBA, LEED AP is a Senior Project Associate with O'Brien & Company, providing project management and planning for green building projects. She is a regular contributor to the Building Capacity Blog, and recently participated in a committee reviewing the IP ANSI Standard organized by Vulcan Real Estate. Photo Credits: Miller Hull Partnership (Bullitt Rendering), Buster Simpson (Slam Exercise)

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Living Future 2011: Delicious

The Mac Lovers among us must have loved Majora Carter's declaration in her keynote that the “USGBC is PC, Living Future is Apple.”  Not sure I agree with the exact analogy but I get what she means. Regrettably I didn’t get to the Cascadia Green Building Council’s Living Future Conference this year, but I learned this pearl second hand from Alistair Jackson, my colleague at O’Brien & Company. Alistair and Kelly Kirkland, also of O’Brien & Company did attend, and when asked to share their highlights came up with more than I can reasonably cover in a single blog…so I will summarize:

Impact: Majora Carter’s keynote focused on local strategies that solve big problems and pay back multiple times.  Her examples included working with the most expensive citizens in our community (the generationally impoverished and veterans of war) – and provide them with the skills to do environmental restoration, climate change adaption and energy retrofit work.  This “conversion” would reduce entitlement budgets, reduce municipal operating budgets and foster self-respect in these generally marginalized populations.  For planners, this amounts to risk reduction. She called it “Hometown Security” rather than Homeland Security. 

In the same vein, Kelly was encouraged by the increasing value place on the contribution construction trades can make to green building. Outside of the formal sessions, she “heard more than ever before about green building training for the construction trades. Some of this training is happening on the job site of projects in progress, and one project even set aside time to build a ‘practice’ building to help trades people learn by doing—so they could do better when it came time to build the real project.”

Connections: In her keynote, Margaret Wheatley encouraged the audience to focus not on “critical mass” but on “critical connections” with others. At most conferences that might seem daunting, but Kelly “found most attendees of LF11 fully present and engaged in looking for ways to advance green building. I met people building the most progressive Living Buildings on the planet, people engaging kids to improve their community, and people with a genuine passion for their work.” Before Kelly even arrived on site, she met presenter Jane Turville on the Amtrak bus ride up to (Vancouver, BC) Canada. Jane is the writer/director/producer of “The Greenest Building” an inspiring case for green renovations of existing (especially historic) buildings, with case studies from around the US. Check out the film’s web site to see some clips: http://www.thegreenestbuildingmovie.com.

The issue of connection was implicit in a presentation on “trust-based” contractual arrangements offered by Turner Construction. Apparently not all of the designers in the room were comfortable with the idea based on their comments, but Alistair appreciated Tony Toppenberg’s (Tony is a Cost Estimator at Turner) discussion of an integrated approach in which the three key parties  (owner, architect, and the builder) share the risk and reward of delivering (or failing to deliver) on project goals.   (More on this subject in a future blog!)

Re-Imagination:  In addition to the novel idea of trust-based contracts (!) Jason Twill (Senior Project Manager for Sustainability) of Vulcan Real Estate discussed how the Living Building Standard forces one to rethink both the ideal building design process and business model for multi-family buildings. In Seattle, at least, it turns out that 4-5 story mid-rise is the maximum for truly achieving Living Building.   While on-site energy is inevitably one of the limits to growth, it turns out that Net Zero water is the greater constraint.  Seattle-based research shows that relying on precipitation alone won’t get you to net zero water (even in Seattle!). That means relying on recycling grey and black water to some degree.  Working outward from this “natural” building constraint, one would need to review thinking about design (integrating the process) regulations (permitting water recycling), economics (valuing water recycling), leasing (moving to gross leases to allow capture of performance savings), and marketing (including building performance transparency and education). Only this, Jason?

For their “15 minutes of Brilliance” presentation, students from Jasper High School read their inspiring, opinion essays about the state of education.  Kelly’s favorite line: “education should be experimental (read experiential) with real consequences.”  Education, no matter the age of the learner, needs to do a better job of making connections between the way we behave and the consequences or impact of that behavior.  It seems obvious from the takeaways shared by Alistair and Kelly, that Living Future did a good job modeling that.

Alistair Jackson, LEED AP for Homes, CSBA is Principal and part owner of O’Brien & Company, and is responsible for the company’s residential technical services team (including the LEED for Homes providership). Kelly, LEED AP for O+M, CSBA is Project Associate for O’Brien & Company and the firm’s marketing and educational services coordinator. She presented at Living Future 2011, on Washington Green Schools, and has produced several green building curricula for construction trades.

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Capacity Building Tool for Planners hoping to achieve Net Zero Water Buildings and Neighborhoods Marks World Water Day

Although the energy crisis has long held our attention in the green building world, the global water crisis urgently needs our attention. That’s because we can do a lot to reduce the consumption of water, and in particular, potable water, in the way we design our buildings and neighborhoods. To celebrate World Water Day, and its 2011 focus on urban water systems, our friends at the Cascadia Green Building Council (CGBC) have released “Toward Net Zero Water: Best Management Practices for Decentralized Sourcing and Treatment.”

The authors, Katie Spataro and Joel Sisolak, Cascadia’s Research Director and Advocacy and Outreach Director, respectively, have produced what I predict will be a significant capacity building tool for communities hoping to achieve net zero water at the building and neighborhood scale. The report contains an overview of best practices and technologies for decentralized and distributed water systems, with special focus placed on rainwater harvesting, greywater reclamation and reuse, and on-site wastewater treatment for reuse – the systems that face the highest hurdles when it comes to permitting them. (Presumably it is for this reason the manual does not address on-site stormwater management systems and fixture efficiencies, both of which do contribute to net zero water schemes, but also enjoy greater regulatory acceptance in the past few years. There are also plenty of resources out there  on these topics, including one O'Brien & Company helped develop: “The Low Impact Development (LID) Guidance Manual  for Kitsap County".)

Each BMP chapter describes major system components, how the systems work, and background on appropriate scale and efficiency. Design considerations are provided for system sizing, location, and integration with other building systems. And, because case studies can be very compelling, there are several demonstrating the best practices covered. The manual is more of a planning tool then a design tool; for each system, resources are provided to find more in-depth technical details.

Katie and Joel have done their homework and made it easy for us. Though there is a tremendous amount of information on these systems out there, it isn’t easy to access in a methodical, efficient manner. They’ve sifted through it all, gleaned the credible data, and organized it in a way that is useful. No fear, this is not a “cheerleading” document, but you also don’t have to be an engineer to “get it.”

The Living Building Challenge’s net zero water imperative requires “closed-loop” water systems, and that is the focus of the manual. Mark Buehrer, of 2020 Engineering, and a peer reviewer for the study has long held that closed-loop water designs are “critical for net zero water buildings.” I concur. Similar to the low impact development approach to stormwater, decentralized on-site closed-water systems can mimic nature better. Because they are more site-appropriate, they will be diverse, but the overall approach of these small-scale systems remain the same: begin with super-efficient measures to reduce overall water demand, and then treat the water needed for potable and non-potable uses.

When faced with the facts that many cities around the country are anticipating water shortages; that the cost of replacing our steadily degrading water and wastewater infrastructure is huge; and that the money (and political will) to invest in centralized infrastructure is dwindling, it only makes sense to stop using potable water for uses that don’t require it, and to find more agile and effective ways to supply and treat our water.

Building Capacity Blog is edited by Kathleen O’Brien, a Cascadia Fellow, and President of O’Brien & Company, a green building consultancy, founded nearly 20 years ago, and located in Seattle, Washington, providing services in green project consulting, sustainability policies, plans, and programs, and education. Sisolak and Spataro are among the line-up of presenters at this year’s Living Future (April 27-29 in Vancouver, BC). Their session, “Getting to Net Zero,” digs into the elements of the Living Building Challenge water petal and regulatory challenges impeding the progress of net-zero water projects. Cover image courtesy of Cascadia Green Building Council.

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Students Shout Out for the Living Building Challenge and the Bertschi School's New Science Wing

Imagine over 230 elementary schoolers standing on a public street chanting, "Liv-ing Build-ing! Liv-ing Build-ing! Liv-ing Build-ing!" That's what happened last week when the Bertschi School opened its new Science Wing, on track to be the first certified Living Building in Washington State. In addition to the students' cheerleading, the ribbon cutting included remarks from Seattle City Council President Richard Conlin, Governor's Chief of Staff Jay Manning, local gardening celebrity Ciscoe Morris, and Head of School Brigitte Bertschi. According to Ms. Bertschi, the students have been counting the days and hours until they could move into the science wing." Hence the shout out.

In addition to its laudable achievement as a Living Building project, the Science Wing is an outstanding exemplar of design collaboration and commitment, so appropriate for sustainable building projects. The project is a result of a unique partnership between Bertschi School and the Restorative Design Collective, a multi-disciplinary team that contributed design services pro-bono to further the Living Building Challenge (LBC) in the Northwest while gaining hands-on experience with the LBC. The Collective donated more than $500,000 in professional time and building materials. Led by KMD (the project architect), the Collective 's members also include SKANSKA (the general contractor), GGLO, 2020 Engineering, GeoEngineers, Quantum Consulting Engineers, O'Brien & Company, Rushing, Back to Nature Design LLC, and Parsons Public Relations. The City of Seattle and King County provided support as well.

The facility was designed and constructed to meet the requirements of version 2.0 of the Living Building Challenge. Under the system, the building must perform as modeled for one full year of occupancy before receiving its certification as "living." James Jenkins, Senior Project Associate at O'Brien & Company (shown in the photo at left) acted as the sustainability consultant on the project. His role going forward will be to put systems in place for monitoring and documenting building performance. Stay tuned.

Building Capacity Blog is a publication of O'Brien & Company, focused on highlighting problems, solutions, and lessons learned transferable to problems our colleagues face when developing sustainable buildings, developments, and communities.  Articles rotate between interviews with clients or other respected practitioners, "Ask the Expert" responses contributed by O'Brien & Company staff or guest experts, or inspiring news items. Don't hesitate to comment on articles or to submit your technical questions.

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First Time LEED Construction Project Manager Beats Gold and Helps Build Schuchart’s Green Portfolio: Interview with Joe Giaudrone

In mid 2007, George Schuchart committed to integrating sustainability into the way Schuchart approached its role as a general contractor. With Parson’s PR and O’Brien & Company, they embarked on a process to turn that commitment into reality. Three short years later, in a challenging climate for the construction industry, they’ve just completed the Bastyr University Student Village, certified Platinum under LEED for Homes, on-time and on-budget. They have also been selected as the contractor for the new Bullitt Foundation headquarters, pursuing the Living Building Challenge.

Joe Giaudrone joined Schuchart in 2007 as an assistant project manager. He was given the opportunity to cut his teeth on the company’s first LEED for Homes project, targeting Gold. His thorough style and tenacious attention to detail contributed to the project’s Platinum achievement and earned him an O’Brien & Company Hummingbird Award. Alistair Jackson of O’Brien & Company followed up with Joe to find out how this project had tested and developed his capacity as a construction project manager.

To start us off, Joe, can you give our readers a thumbnail of this project?  JOE: We built 11 student housing “cottages” and one support services building on 4.5 acres at Bastyr University, located near Saint Edwards Park in Kenmore. The cottages are 4,500 sq.ft., three-story buildings that can accommodate up to 12 residents. Each resident has their own private bedroom and private bathroom with a shower. Residents share additional study areas, a great room, and a large kitchen fit for a food network cooking show.

What excited you about getting the project? This project was a real treat for me! First and foremost I was excited to manage my first LEED project; Schuchart gave me the opportunity to participate in and manage the LEED process. What made it even more special was the location. I was raised in the neighborhood; my childhood home is just a mile away through the woods, and currently I live two miles away. I was pleased to have the opportunity to complete such a monumental project for both Schuchart and a place with such personal significance for me.

What made you nervous? I was nervous for many of the same reasons I was excited. This was the first LEED project I’d been involved in so I anticipated a steep learning curve. It was Schuchart’s first opportunity to participate in a LEED for Homes project and they were entrusting me with a lot of responsibility. I felt like there was a lot at stake and a lot to gain for both Schuchart and myself.

What role did you personally play in the project? As the Assistant Project Manager, I managed submittals, RFIs, office and field communication. I was also involved in field engineering, and our quality management and quality control processes. And as I mentioned earlier, I had full responsibility for managing the LEED aspect of the project.

What challenges did you face? Familiarizing myself with the LEED for Homes rating system and really nailing down the general contractor’s role in the process was the first challenge. Then we had to develop a plan for ensuring all LEED features were properly installed during construction, and to track and acquire the necessary documentation. Another challenge we faced was how to deal with subcontractors who were intimidated by and/or new to the LEED process.

And how did you face these challenges? I read the whole LEED for Homes rating system before we got started and spent a lot of time on the USGBC website understanding how the process works. We were engaged early in the project, so we were at the table with the architect, Collins Woerman, during the design process. Being familiar with the Rating System really helped me understand how and why certain design details were included. Because I had studied ALL the credits, I was even able to pick out some possible credits we could easily pursue during construction, which the architect hadn’t picked up on.

O’Brien & Company, as you know, was our LEED for Homes Provider, and you really helped with planning for implementation. I especially appreciated the tools you provided to clarify which consultant, contractor or sub is responsible for which credits, when they need to be initiated and completed and what the verification requirements are. Once I understood the documentation requirements, we realized we could integrate the LEED performance and documentation requirements right into our regular submittal process. This put it into a framework that both Schuchart and our subcontractors were familiar with, avoiding a lot of the perceived burden of LEED documentation that construction teams seem to dread.

Any lessons learned you want to share from the project? Get started on the LEED process early, VERY early. I can't say this enough. Other lessons learned:

• Make sure to pursue all the credits that are easy to obtain - the low hanging fruit – that make sense for the client and project. The one thing that I am most impressed with about the Bastyr project it that we were able to obtain a LEED Platinum rating without including big ticket items generally thought to be necessary to achieve Platinum. There are no solar panels, no geo-thermal system, no grey water reuse systems – those are all great but they weren’t in the budget. The target for this project was Gold, but we had a good cushion of “Maybe” points that we had control of in the construction phase. Through early planning, good team communication and careful construction management, we were able to capture almost all those points, exceeding our goal.
• Communication is really key. Make sure subcontractors are aware of the LEED requirements associated with their particular scopes of work from the get go. That starts with the office staff and the estimators, making sure they understand requirements for materials control, scheduling, and submittals. But it also has to go right down to the laborers. I can tell you, walking the site with a group of non-English speaking insulation installers, showing them what Grade One batt installation looks like in pictures and in the walls themselves was time well spent. Noone had held them to that standard before – if we hadn’t taken the time to show them and check them, they would have done the same job they’ve always done. But once they knew what was expected and how to get there, it just became part of the process.
• Develop a good plan for documenting and tracking the LEED credits. Start a file at the beginning of the project, label and file everything as it comes in – after you make sure it includes the information you need for LEED. It’s much easier to chase down a vendor the week they deliver (and before they’ve been paid) than months later when the project is over.

From this vantage point, what positive outcomes occurred for Schuchart as a result of building this project? The project has provided a wealth of experience in the LEED process, and I can share that with the rest of our team. We had to figure out a lot of solutions in the field; more efficient ways to meet the LEED performance requirements, like running our wall sheathing long so the seams were in the middle of the band instead of at the top plates. This eliminated the need for a lot of expensive peel-and-stick sealing material. It took time and a change of construction approach to figure that out, but from now on, it will be common practice for us – better performance, less cost. This gives us a competitive advantage on future projects, green or not.

Schuchart has also received quite a bit of publicity from being part of the project. It is definitely a feather in our cap. We hope that our success on the Bastyr project leads us to more such projects in the future.

How about for the owner? Bastyr University has also received a great deal of public attention for the project. Even USGBC was impressed that we aimed for Gold and got Platinum. That doesn’t happen often. It has been a great opportunity for Bastyr to showcase their commitment to promoting sustainability in human terms - a healthy life style and healthy living.

How does this project fit into Schuchart’s corporate vision/mission/business plan? The current trend in the construction industry is going towards more “green” projects and Schuchart would like to be at the cutting edge of this movement. This project was the perfect opportunity for us to gain experience needed to become an industry leader in the green movement and to demonstrate that by greening the way you think about and run your business, you make it easier to build greener buildings.

What tips would you share to a green building contractor who wants to do their very best? Any tips for owners wanting successful green building projects? I’ve touched on this earlier regarding challenges and lessons learned. Get started with LEED early! Study it to identify the credits that will reap the most reward with the minimum impact on cost. If you wait, you'll miss opportunities. And once more, as cliché as it might sound: Communicate!Good communication is key when it comes to maximizing efficiency, minimizing costs, and achieving the project’s goals, whether these goals are associated with LEED or any other aspect of the project.

Joe Giaudrone began his construction career as a carpenter for a local Seattle-based general contractor. His goal to transition to construction management was realized when he joined Schuchart Corporation as an Assistant Project Manager in 2007. Joe holds a Bachelors Degree in Sociology and Anthropology and has completed the Certificate Program in Construction Management at the University of Washington. This interview was conducted by Alistair Jackson, LEED AP, CSBA. Alistair is Principal in Charge of O’Brien & Company’s Residential Technical Services, and is a LEED for Homes Rater, LEED for Homes Faculty, Energy Star Verifier and Performance Tester, an ARCSA Accredited Professional, and a Built Green Verifier. Laura Swimmer is the Photographer for the Student Village Project.

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Shoreline's Sustainability Strategy Bears Fruit: Interview with Juniper Nammi, Associate Planner, AICP.

  
Editor: The theme of this blog is to provide inspiration and practical advice to help build capacity in the realm of sustainability and green building. In 2007, O’Brien & Company partnered with the planning firm AHBL to help develop an Environmental Sustainability Strategy for the City of Shoreline. This Fall, we checked in with Juniper Nammi, Associate Planner for the City of Shoreline, and Project Manager for our contract to see how implementation of the Strategy is going.

Before we get into today, let’s provide the reader with some background. Can you provide a little history for our reader? JUNIPER: Certainly. As of 2006, there was actually a good deal happening throughout the City’s departments and among our residents with regard to sustainability. But there was nothing tying all of these efforts together and no comprehensive guidance going forward. In 2006 the City Council added "creating an environmentally sustainable community" to its goals. Under the Council’s charge, City Staff leadership worked on what this might mean and determined that a plan or strategy to define and direct municipal and community wide efforts towards sustainability would be helpful. The Council approved a consultant budget of $75K (keep in mind this was different economic times!) and City Staff leadership created an interdepartmental team to work with the consultant team. This team was the foundation for our green team which still functions today and is a key component of Strategy Implementation. The process took one year, and included review of our Comprehensive Plan and Development Code regulations, interviews with various city staff, and two very important community conversations. The Strategy document went through an intensive review and was adopted formally by the Council in 2008 with unanimous support of Council, Planning Commission, and the Parks Board.

You mentioned an interdepartmental green team as a key component of Strategy Implementation. What is your role on the team and how does the team function? I’m co-chair of the green team along with Miranda Redinger. We have about 13-15 members at any given time and meet monthly, although there are subcommittees that meet in between to do more specific tasks. I’m happy to say that all City departments are committed and the work is included in our work plans. With lean times, it is definitely a challenge to get full support from every team member all the time, but the team does provide a city-wide forum for the implementation of ideas generated during and since the strategic planning process in 2007-08. As I mentioned earlier, prior to the Strategy there were a number of individual efforts going on. This team gives us all a better understanding of what's happening in other departments, and allows us to collaborate. It enables us to do what we are already doing, better, and to build on that.

What kind of budget does the team have? Not much. We have a few hundred dollars for direct expenses. However, sustainable elements recommended in the Strategy are being integrated into many of the City's projects. An important outcome of the strategic planning process was to add the question -- What are the sustainability implications for your project? -- to the budgeting process.

Bravo! What other positive outcomes have you seen? The Strategy provided a good starting point for the green team’s discussions, but it intentionally wasn’t a prescriptive plan. If you visit our City’s website you will see projects that have been completed or are in-progress that were identified at the community conversations we held as part of the strategic planning process. The City is also doing a better job of explicitly calling out the environmental sustainability implications of our plan updates and capital projects

A good example is our Transportation Master Planning process, which is currently underway. A number of specific recommendations in the Sustainability Strategy are related to transportation planning and the plan update is systematically reviewing those recommendations for incorporation into the Master Plan. Recommendations being considered include transit oriented development, improving the safety and connectivity of walking and biking routes in the City, and addressing transit service issues.

Anything else? We were able to secure grant funding for some projects including getting our sustainability indicators and baselines up on our website, conducting a carbon inventory, and updating our urban tree inventory and related regulations. Also, we have an approved framework for an environmentally preferable purchasing policy in place. Now we are working on specifics for various categories of purchases such as office supplies, janitorial supplies, or consulting contracts.

What about green building efforts? Planning and Environmental Services staff are currently developing a comprehensive Green Building Program, including evaluation of building codes, outreach materials, technical assistance and training opportunities, as well as incentives for greener buildings in our zoning standards. We are developing guidance for capital improvement projects to ensure sustainability is a consideration along with financial feasibility. In addition, we are in the process of benchmarking the energy efficiency of our facilities through a comprehensive carbon emissions inventory effort.

In addition to all the activity you've described, have you seen a change in the way City staff approach the concept of environmental sustainability? From the very beginning of the strategic planning process, the City Council and management staff recognized that environmental sustainability was not just about trees and recycling. There has definitely been an organizational shift in thinking about environmental sustainability, broadening staff understanding beyond the commonly understood environmental topics of habitat and the three Rs. Interdepartmental involvement supported by the leadership has been a big part of making this shift happen.

Strategy development engaged the community in planning. How is the public involved now? Public participation opportunities in environmental sustainability include outreach events such as Earth Day Every Day and Clean Sweep Recycling events, community meetings and public hearings related to specific plan and project development topics, and ongoing volunteer opportunities in our parks. At this time the City does not have a citizen committee or volunteer opportunity specifically related to the Sustainability Strategy implementation because the Green Team is primarily focused on city operations, updating processes, and developing new programs.

Any lessons learned you’d like to share with municipalities trying to do something similar? Start with the basics. In our case the leadership explicitly added sustainability as a value for our community. This begins to shape all other guiding documents and policies. And it is critical to have interdepartmental collaboration, even more so when our budgets are so constrained. For this to happen you need the blessing of your leadership, both from elected officials and City staff. Shoreline has been fortunate to have the continued support of our Council, our City Manager, Department heads, and the community at large.

Are there other tools besides a sustainable strategy that you feel are/could be useful for municipal planners? (Including tools that don’t exist but would be great if they did!) We need analytical and assessment tools that are easy to use -- for example, a Life Cycle Cost Analysis tool that doesn't require you to be an LCA expert. We also need tools that can help us convey the significance of the data in an articulate manner.

What do you think the big opportunities are there now for municipalities? We need to be looking at neighborhood or district level solutions -- although there can be challenges with maintaining centralized systems. Collaboration with neighboring jurisdictions will also be essential, especially given limited resources, to share ideas and tools that work as well as coordinate projects and ideas that need to be implemented at a larger scale. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel if the city next door has an excellent wheel model to get things rolling. Cascadia Green Building Council has issued a challenge to create Living Communities using the International Living Building Institute's Standard.. It will take some time and effort to shift the thinking of the building industry and general public as to why this approach is a good idea, but I think it's time to move beyond the low hanging fruit to more comprehensive steps toward sustainability.

Juniper Nammi is currently an Associate Planner with the City of Shoreline and a Shoreline resident. She acted as project manager for development of the Shoreline Environmental Sustainability Strategy and is currently co-chair of the City’s interdepartmental Green Team, which is charged with implementation of this Strategy. Juniper also works as part of the permit services team reviewing a wide variety of permits and assisting customers when they have questions about City regulations. She has a Masters degree in Water Resources Management from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2004).

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