I had the pleasure of teaching a day-long workshop about the application of LEED and integrated design, the USGBC’s only workshop at the conference, and included attendees from as far away as India. Of particular note in this workshop is the need for project teams to openly set project goals prior to actual design. While a prerequisite for the forthcoming LEED 2012, this strategy of collaboration runs counter to the vast majority of projects and must be determined at the project outset.

Sustainability and energy efficiency are a significant theme in the conference presentations. Nearly a third of the seminars directly address sustainable design, a significant change from just a decade ago. The AIA Position Statements 42 and 45 directly recognize, engage and challenge the industry’s considerable ability to impact the built environment.

Of special interest were a series of seminars about the recently updated International Green Construction Code (IGCC). While too early to be yet adopted, this code will help to push the industry along towards greater sustainability targets. Intended as an alternative compliance path to the ASHRAE 189 standard, IGCC 2012 looks at interior environmental quality, commissioning, energy simulation and water efficiency. There is also a mention of measurement and verification of the ongoing building operations, linking design to actual building performance.

The noted historian David McCullough delivered the keynote address. The great man spoke of architecture’s link to history and the undeniable role that France has played in inspiring a nascent, young, developing, mature, and then dominant America. The ‘pursuit of happiness,’ a term directly inspired by French ideals at that time, was not the notion of ease and plenty that it has today become; it was seen as a culture in which people strive and excel, and a place with the ability to improve with each generation. “Nothing of consequence is ever achieved alone,” and we may be collaborators with the past and with ideals as much as we may collaborate with partners.

AIA 2012 Convention Workshop Information

BD+C 301: Implementing the Building Design + Construction LEED Rating System
May 16th, 8:30 am – 5:30 pm
Marc Mondor, AIA, LEED Faculty, Principal, evolveEA
Program Code: WE201
Location: Washington Convention Center, Room 144AB, Washington DC
Learning Units: 7.50 LU\HSW\SD

Description:
Learn how to apply the LEED BD+C rating systems by walking through the phases of a typical project and the key decisions that project teams must make, including key stakeholder considerations. Engage in interactive, case-based activities to work hands-on with LEED implementation strategies and rating system tools. The focus is on the LEED for New Construction & Major Renovations and LEED for Core & Shell. Required prior coursework: BD+C 251 or BD+C 252 or equivalent knowledge;  Attendees should be familiar with these LEED rating systems.

Learning Objective:
1. Explain unique aspects of the LEED 2009 for New Construction & Major Renovations rating system
2. Apply and facilitate the LEED process with stakeholders
3. Apply LEED tools to a new construction or major renovation project
4. Identify key green decisions throughout the process of earning LEED certification

Christine Mondor, Principal at evolveEA says “This study illustrates that the DLCC, one of the greenest convention centers in the world, is an excellent example of a building whose smart design leverages efficient operations. It is also a great story of what can be achieved by an operations team that looks for constant improvement.”

evolveEA and its team investigated the convention center’s performance, not only as a physical building, but as a functioning organization. To do this, the team benchmarked the DLCC against other convention centers, and provided recommendations to improve operations and leverage marketing opportunities. The study highlighted that over $12 million in DLCC revenues from 2006 to 2010 came from green-seeking events. These same events brought approximately $144 million in direct spending to the Pittsburgh region. In addition to added business, the convention center’s design and how it has been operated has allowed it to save over $2-million in energy costs since 2005, compared to a conventional venue of its size.

As evidenced by the approximately 50 facilities that have achieved or are pursuing LEED certification, convention centers and event destinations are prioritizing sustainability as they begin to understand the marketing and cost saving implications of sustainable operations.  In 2003, the DLCC catalyzed the green building movement in the convention industry, becoming the first LEED Gold Convention Center. Now, as a result of this study, the DLCC has reaffirmed its leadership after nearly a decade of operations.

Selected from a field of 25 national firms, evolveEA led a project team comprised of CJL Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University’s Center for Building Performance and Diagnostics, and Civil and Environmental Consultants. By analyzing energy consumption, water use, airflow, purchasing, waste management, transportation, marketing, and occupant behavior and satisfaction, the team identified opportunities to make improvements that will continue to generate financial savings, marketing value, and business growth.

Stephen Hockley, evolveEA project manager says “This study represents a truly compelling business case for pursuing sustainability. It shows that no matter the business model, an organization can do well by doing good.”

To learn more about the project and evolveEA’s role, visit www.evolveea.com/work/dlcc.

Others continue to compile more complete databases, including very sector specific standards and certifications—one such database can be found at ecolabel index. We prefer to simply illustrate the importance for an organization to evaluate leading or relevant frameworks, certifications, and standards prior to selection and deployment—as the pursuit of any third party verification effort demands time and resources. Organizations should be sure the framework or certification they are pursuing will provide the most material benefit (illustrating opportunities for improvement or highlighting existing best practices), marketing value, and are directly relevant to a major component of an organization’s core operations.

With that, we wrap-up our series with a look at some leading process-focused standards covering a range of topics from lifecycle product manufacturing, responsible forest management to green cleaning. If you’ve missed the first two parts of this series, be sure to catch our summaries focused on Place and People -based certifications and reporting frameworks.

In many ways the Process-based standard marketplace contains the most variability and likely presents the most unclear picture of potential opportunities for an organization to consider regarding a product or process. The Place and People or [Organizational] -based standards we reviewed were fairly straightforward and focused on building construction and operations, or organizational transparency, governance, and positive corporate culture respectively. Process-based certifications can vary widely across sectors, may provide various environmental or social declarations or performance attributes, and can be applied to specific products, product lines, manufacturing processes, or supply chains.

We’ve broken them down in the following categories and then provided a description of a few leading process or product-based certifications in the marketplace.

Examples:

Supply Chain: Wal-Mart Sustainability Scorecard, Worldwide Responsible Product Management (WRAP), EPEAT (Green Electronics)

Food: Certified Organic, Fair Trade, Local, Seafood Watch, Global Animal Partnership

Sector Specific: Forestry Stewardship Council, Certified Organic, Florscore, Green-e, Green Seal, Energy Star

Manufacturing Process Focused: ISO-14001, 5001, bluesign (textiles), Cradle to Cradle, EPEAT

Human Rights: Fair trade

Cradle to Cradle: In the cradle-to-cradle model, all materials used in industrial or commercial processes—such as metals, fibers, dyes—are seen to fall into one of two categories: “technical” or “biological” nutrients. Technical nutrients are strictly limited to non-toxic, non-harmful synthetic materials that have no negative effects on the natural environment; they can be used in continuous cycles as the same product without losing their integrity or quality. In this manner these materials can be used over and over again instead of being “downcycled” into lesser products, ultimately becoming waste.

Biological Nutrients are organic materials that, once used, can be disposed of in any natural environment and decompose into the soil, providing food for small life forms without affecting the natural environment. This is dependent on the ecology of the region; for example, organic material from one country or landmass may be harmful to the ecology of another country or landmass.

ISO-14001 could be classified under people, but looks primarily at environmental impact of operations and processes, typically used by leading manufacturers. is a family of standards related to environmental management that exists to help organizations (a) minimize how their operations (processes etc.) negatively affect the environment (i.e. cause adverse changes to air, water, or land); (b) comply with applicable laws, regulations, and other environmentally oriented requirements, and (c) continually improve in the above.

Forestry Stewardship Council: The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international not for-profit, multi-stakeholder organization established in 1993 to promote responsible management of the world’s forests. Its main tools for achieving this are standard setting, independent certification and labeling of forest products. This offers customers around the world the ability to choose products from socially and environmentally responsible forestry.

There is no doubt that sustainability certifications and frameworks can improve existing business practices and serve as signals or even drivers of an emergent business paradigm. They will continue to play a powerful role for organizations looking to improve and or clarify sustainability performance. Many standards and certification will continue to represent and provide evidence of a commitment to sustainability to customers and the public.

Considerations for the Applying Organization…

That said, environmental or sustainability based declarations and certifications exist in a crowded marketplace of self promotion and green wash.  In order to best ensure your organization derives value from a particular certification, standard, or framework don’t forget to ask some key questions:

• Does this standard or certification apply to a major aspect of my organization’s sustainability footprint?
• Is this standard widely recognized by the markets we serve?
• Does this standard or framework provide a set of clearly articulated requirements and outline detailed steps for achievement?
• Can this standard or framework drive my organization to discover savings or improvements within existing practices?
• Does this standard promote transparency within my marketplace?
• Does this framework or certification represent leadership in the field which we operate? Will it differentiate us from our competitors?
• Is this standard rigorous from a due diligence perspective, i.e. is it used by the market widely as an accepted standard or framework?

Considerations for Consumers…

As consumers we must continue to look critically at the value of third party certifications and demand greater transparency or better reporting if environmental proclamations can’t be confirmed by third party rating systems. The role of self proclamation around issues of sustainability and human health hurt all of us, as they distort an already difficult to understand marketplace and make consumers wary of the environmental or social value that certain products really are able to provide. So while we’d like to see a movement toward more openness and formal commitments by industry groups to use a particular standard or set of standards, for now consumers must continue to play the role of investigator. Perhaps the merging and acceptance of third party protocols by industries or governments will be a post for another time.

In the meantime, if you want to learn more about anything you’ve read here, be sure to contact us.

• 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
  Integrative Process and Verified Performance: The Expanded Focus of LEED 2012
  Moderator: Marc Mondor, AIA, LEED Faculty, Principal, evolveEA
  Panelists: Joseph Nagy, RA, LEED AP, Building Systems Ratings Manager, evolveEA, and Stephen Hockley, LEED AP, Sustainability Process Manager, evolveEA

April 25 at GMIC’s 2012 Sustainable Meetings Conference, Montreal Canada

• 9:00 am – 10:00 am
  Breakout Session on the Building in Operation Study of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center
  Christine Mondor, AIA, LEED AP, Principal, evolveEA; Mark Leahy, Convention Center General Manager, SMG; Angelica Ciranni, Project Development Specialist, Sports & Exhibition Authority

April 27 at Purdue University, West Lafayette IN

• 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm
  Building as Organism: An Approach to the Living Building Challenge
  Christine Mondor, AIA, LEED AP, Principal, evolveEA
  Location: Pfendler Hall, Dean’s Auditorium

May 16 at 2012 AIA National Convention, Washington DC

• 8:30 am – 5:30 pm
  Preconvention Workshop – BD+C 301: Implementing the Building Design + Construction LEED Rating System
  Marc Mondor, AIA, LEED Faculty, Principal, evolveEA
  Program Code: WE201  |  Event Type: Preconvention Workshops
  Location: Washington Convention Center, Room 144AB
  Learning Units: 7.50 LU\HSW\SD  |  Cost: $310.00

May 18 at USGBC’s 2012 Annual Greening the Heartland Conference, Indianapolis

• 8:00 am – 9:15 am
  Breakout Session – Ecodistricts: The Future of Sustainable Communities
  David Deal, LEED AP, evolveEA
  

evolveEA led the greening and LEED efforts for the owner, design and construction team in documenting deconstruction, demolition, energy simulation, materials selection, green roofs, funding research and eventual documentation.

Preserving a Historical Landmark

Market at Fifth is one of a small number of development projects in the country to reach this level of LEED certification while keeping the architectural integrity of the historic structures. The project is within an eligible National Register Historic District and has received approval from the National Park Service for compliance with the US Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation and as such, is eligible for federal Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit.

The historic rehabilitation of the three Fifth and Market Buildings built in 1904 also addressed the problem of reusing historic buildings with small floor plates and multiple floor levels, reconstruction of structurally unstable floors and facades, and restoration of historic storefronts with exceptional design characteristics by Alden & Harlow.

The buildings have been renovated into mixed-use retail and residential, further helping to revitalize Pittsburgh’s downtown core with additional live/work/shop environments. The three buildings have been merged into one, while maintaining the appearance and historic details of each building. The first floor features two to three retail tenants and the upper floors have been fit out with seven rental apartments, two of which are two-story and have access to the building’s green roof.

Notable Green Features

The project features numerous green features, many intrinsic to the project and location, but also several strategies consciously incorporated to enhance quality and improve performance. Prominent beneficial environmental qualities include:

Location, Location, Location
By actively pursuing redevelopment in Pittsburgh’s downtown, the project supports and takes advantage of the second largest business center in Pennsylvania, with 140,000 daily workers. Downtown also serves as the hub for the Port Authority of Allegheny County’s transit system, with over 100 different bus lines, three light rail routes, and easy access to three bus rapid transit busways, all of which fan out to serve 240,000 riders daily throughout the county. The building is also a quick walk from numerous public plazas, riverfront parks and trails, countless restaurants, the city’s theater district, and local shops.

High-Performance Systems
The mechanical systems installed are of exceptional efficiency compared to conventional residential systems. In particular, the apartments have constant fresh air provided to make up the bathroom exhaust air. The exhaust air is passed through a heat recovery ventilator to precondition the incoming fresh air. The split systems themselves have an Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER) of 15, and provide MERV-10 UV filtration. Furthermore, the building shell was retrofitted with R-15 insulation over the masonry, and the domestic water fixtures are all low-flow. The building is simulated to perform over 35% more efficiently than a conventional building.

Recycled & Green Roof
The roof of the Heinz Healey’s Fine Mens Clothing building is covered with Majestic Slate, composed of up to 80% recycled post-industrial rubber and plastic. TPO membrane was installed on the roof of the residential units, which increases light- and heat-reflectivity, energy efficiency, and resistance to ultraviolet, ozone and chemical exposure. The section of roof over the residential units consists of a 1,000 sf maintenance-free green roof that provides a cooling effect in the summer, and enhances the beauty of the private roof-decks of the penthouse apartments.

Desirable Living Environments
Each of the apartments has numerous windows that provide both natural light and ventilation, but also offer vistas of the cities skylines. The upper-level apartments have private patios that allow residents to bask in the energy of the city while looking out over the building’s 1400 sf vegetated roof.