GBS is taking part in a unique cultural exchange with Guadalajara, Mexico. Thanks to a sister city arrangement through the Jardin Portland Foundation, the people of Guadalajara will be able to experience some of Portland’s best features without having to get on a plane. The one-acre Jardin (garden) Portland will be built in the urban park of Bosque Colomos and include a simulated Pioneer Courthouse Square event space, rose garden, miniature Multnomah Falls bridge and water feature, and a Verde (green) Learning Center with some Timberline Lodge-like architectural touches. But what’s more exciting is the Jardin Portland will be a global model for environmental sustainability and cultural, educational and economic exchange.

The Verde Learning Center at Jardin Portland is being designed for hands-on sustainability education for Bosque’s one million annual visitors. GBS drafted some preliminary concepts.  Ideas include bikes that power a lighting feature, an energy awareness quiz for visitors and other interactive displays.

Like most non-profit ventures, getting the garden built requires funding so GBS will facilitate a sustainable conference at the Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara in Jalisco, Mexico to benefit the garden. The Sustainable Guadalajara 2040: International Perspectives and Local Solutions conference takes place November 10 and 11. The goal is to motivate, inspire and highlight the positive change green building and green industries can bring to the Guadalajara region. Speakers from Portland, Guadalajara and international points beyond will share strategies to drive change in energy, water and transportation. GBS will present on net zero energy buildings and communities and moderate the session on understanding the relationship between the built environment and water resources. We’ll also stage a SLAM – a fun, interactive, role-playing event – that will get everyone brainstorming about Guadalajara’s vision for 2040 and what steps are needed to make it happen. We hope that the conference produces some “takeaways” that the government.

The day following the conference, our group will head to a city government facility to offer a full-day LEED® Green Building Design and Construction Workshop.

A major goal of the Jardin Portland Foundation is to bring Portland region’s culture, livability and environmental best practices to Guadalajara, but we are all gaining a mutual exchange of sustainable knowledge and experiences. For the conference, we are working with Dr. José Benito Mauricio Alcocer Ruthling, Director of the Renewable Energy Center at the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara. Dr. Alcocer Ruthling will teach two courses at Portland State University this summer: “The Global Warming Debate: How long Can We Afford to Continue Discussing the Reality of Global Warming” and “Environment and Development in Latin America. In a country that has buildings which have stood for 500 years and remained comfortable without air conditioning, there are clearly many lessons they can impart to us about durability and passive ventilation. We look forward to creating an open dialog where we can share our experiences learn from each other about passive strategies and water conservation.

-          Ted Spear

Our weeklong tour began with a presentation on the Top 10 green building trends emerging throughout the U.S. We spoke to a variety of market leaders:  developers, retail owners, architects, engineers, and industry professionals. The topic helped to lay the framework for some fundamental principals of better operations and maintenance in existing buildings, and it was great to see the direction they were already taking sustainability. A large retail client had focused on energy and water efficiency by changing out lights, performing mechanical upgrades, and no longer watering lawns. One facility manager in particular was very innovative and had done a case study on his building and practices.

On the third day of our trip, we flew to Johannesburg and then had a repeat full-day presentation at The Forum in Bryanston. The audience here was particularly engaging.  We heard about the challenges that people faced without industry standards to guide them. The government hasn’t had the infrastructure to create building codes, so there are no standards for energy efficiency and no plumbing codes. It’s also very difficult to obtain information on the flow and flush of various fixtures.

We toured Soweto on our fourth day, where over 1 million blacks live in less than desirable conditions. During apartheid many blacks were displaced in regions throughout the area and provided not much more than four metal walls and a roof. Unfortunately, 16 years later these substandard circumstances still exist – either by conditioning, apathy or economic uncertainty. Over 25 percent of the population is unemployed in this region. We visited the apartheid museum and Nelson Mandela’s home where he was under house arrest at one time.  Later that day, a local green building consultant showed us a different perspective of how many well-educated and privileged South Africans live.

Despite an uncooperative computer, our Top 10 Green Trends in the U.S. presentation met with a welcoming crowd. An evening of interesting conversation progressed. Our cultures may be separated by oceans, but we share a common goal of making the world a better place.

The tour concluded with a full day of training on high-performance buildings to approximately 80 professionals. In all, our existing building operations and maintenance trainings reached 300 people on the trip.

Our last evening, our host drove us to Kwa Maritane Bush Lodge in the Pilanesberg National Park. We enjoyed three safari game tours and got to experience the local scenery and customs. One of the most striking things was the blend of urban and wild surroundings. Looking west, we saw city lights and cars on a freeway but a lion paused on the road directly in front of us. A short time later, we passed a herd of impala grazing near the side of the road. South Africa is an amazing country full of beauty and welcoming people. I look forward to a return journey there to see their how their efforts bear fruit in their progress toward sustainability.

Siyabonga,

Elaine Aye, Principal

As a principal at Green Building Services, Inc., Elaine brings a unique perspective to green building and sustainability initiatives. She represents, in her work and approach, the successful merger of the best of the interior design and architectural disciplines, materials specifications, and green building. Her multidisciplinary background and diverse project experience, which ranges from residential and commercial development to state of the art convention centers, distinguishes her in the green building industry.

While policy makers, politicians and oil companies battle over appropriate clean energy solutions and alternatives to fossil fuels, we must consider our responsibility and the actions we can take to ensure that another accident of this scale does not occur. So, what can we do? It is actually pretty simple; collectively we must reduce demand and become more efficient.

The built environment accounts for almost half of total annual U.S. energy consumption and 72% of U.S. electricity consumption[2]. Currently there are over 328 billion square feet of commercial and residential buildings in the United States[3]. Energy upgrades and retrofits, modified occupant behavior and appropriate maintenance and facility management practices can reduce energy demand greatly, and thereby reduce the need for oil drilling globally. Incremental change and small increases in efficiency are no longer enough.

As long as we construct and occupy inefficient buildings, we’re part of the problem. We’re setting ourselves up for reiterative environmental disasters.  Let’s make sure that this never happens again and take responsibility for our future. Now is the time to make a substantial and fundamental change to our built environment. Net zero must be our goal not only for new construction, but also existing buildings, larger communities, and entire cities. Let’s take action now.

Thanks,

Caitlin Francis

Caitlin is a Consultant for the GBS Building Management Solutions team. Her focus at GBS has been managing LEED certification reviews for USGBC, and now GBCI. She has also managed large USGBC development contracts such as the LEED 2009 Reference Guides, LEED for Retail Pilot Program and the six Study Guides for Green Associate, LEED AP Homes, BD+C, ID+C, O+M, and Neighborhood Development.

[2] U.S. Energy Information Administration. (2008). EIA Annual Energy Outlook.

[3] U.S. Energy Information Administration. Residential Energy Consumption Survey, 2005 & Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey, 2003. Retrieved from http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/recs/contents.html

Over the past several years, professionals in our firm have been on the ground and deeply involved green rehabilitation projects, working with projects teams to develop cost-effective approaches to historic preservation projects and working to balancing in the issues outlined in this article.  We have consulted on the rehabilitation of many historic rehabilitation projects and new construction projects seeking LEED certification, as well as older buildings seeking certification through the LEED for Existing Buildings Operations and Maintenance program.  We agree that the avoided environmental impacts of rehabilitation versus new construction are not clearly understood in the building industry and, in the current form, may not be adequately addressed by the LEED rating system. For example, there is a lack of hard data about the environmental value (CO2 reductions and others) of reuse.  With the LEED 2009 Green Building Rating Systems, the U.S. Green Building Council used an USEPA-developed Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tool to inform the first-ever “weighting” of LEED credits to more equitably align project LEED and environmental performance. The USGBC is committed to continuous refinement in its biennial update of LEED as scientifically-grounded LCA methodologies mature over time.

Gerding Theatre

Preservationists (of which I am one) intuitively understand that there are many values to reuse and recognize that “embodied energy” is one of them.  However, in the U.S., there exists little research to support these claims.  Some studies have estimated that the energy investment embodied in a typical building is somewhere between 13% and 18% of the building’s total life cycle energy impact, making it important, but not the primary issue in terms of environmental impact of the building.  If the remaining 22% to 87% of the energy (CO2) impact of the building is operating energy, we need to be focusing our attention there as well.  It is true that a rehabilitation project in essence has a jump start on CO2 reductions compared to new construction, since much of the CO2 impact of building the superstructure is avoided through reuse, while a new building will need to “pay down” this CO2 investment through efficient operations.  This is especially important because we all know by now that we are trying to REDUCE CO2 emissions, not increase them.  As Richard Moe, President of the National Trust, has said: “It all comes down to this simple fact: We can’t build our way out of the global warming crisis. We have to conserve our way out. That means we have to make better, wiser use of what we’ve already built.”  It is important to note that as we work to make buildings increasingly energy efficient toward net-zero energy consumption, the “embodied energy” or the impacts avoided through reuse become a much larger portion of the life cycle energy pie.  Ultimately, we are working to make that pie even smaller and reusing buildings is a very important part of the solution.

So let’s get back to LEED.  Perhaps rather than focusing on our desire to have LEED award more points to historic building rehabilitation projects (hopefully they will based upon more advanced LCA methods in the near future), let’s look at the other LEED points that a project can already earn through rehabilitation.  Under LEED for New Construction and Major Renovation (LEED NC), a rehabilitation project can actually earn four (4) points for building reuse. In LEED for Core & Shell (LEED CS), there are five (5) points available plus an additional one (1) point if 95% of the building is reused for a total of six (6) points.  Elsewhere in the rating system there are other nods to existing building rehabilitation projects, such as Energy and Atmosphere Credit 1.  Here, existing buildings get more points for the same level of energy performance compared to new buildings.  For instance in LEED NC, if a rehabilitation projects reduces design energy cost by 24% it will earn nine (9) points, while a new construction project will only earn seven (7) points.  That’s two (2) more points for historic buildings.  There are also two (2) points available for materials reuse, and we have found that existing buildings more often incorporate salvaged materials than new construction projects.  There are also additional opportunities for credit in LEED in the Innovation and Regional Priority credit categories.  In Portland, Oregon for instance, the Building Reuse credit is identified as a Regional Priority credit, thus offering one (1) bonus point to projects that earn this credit. This intentional allocation of points suggests that LEED strategically favors, rather than challenges, reuse, as is sometimes implied.

To date, the USGBC has certified over 50 historic buildings and has over 500 registered projects seeking certification.  I would like to share several fantastic examples of sustainable preservation projects that have earned high levels of LEED certification, achieved significant energy reductions and taken advantage of financial incentive to help reduce costs.  A few of the best examples are within a five minute walk of each other including three Platinum, two Gold and one Silver-rated LEED NC projects.

Mercy Corp World HQ

The Mercy Corps Global Headquarters project recently achieved LEED Platinum and is a beautiful example of the melding of half historic rehabilitation and half new construction in the heart of a historic district.  THA Architecture and the entire project team worked to retain the original building and sensitively add a complimentary addition to provide the program area that Mercy Corps needed.  Just north of the Mercy Corps project is the White Stage Block, home of the University of Oregon’s Portland Program.  Here, Venerable Properties, FFA Architects and a dedicated project team sensitively reused this 3/4 –block property into a catalytic urban project that infuses this historic neighborhood with new vitality.   In a short walk to the west is the Portland AIA Center for Architecture , also LEED Platinum.  Here, Holst Architecture and team reused this building with a contemporary flavor while reducing energy cost and CO2 emissions by more than 50% and 90% respectively. These accomplishments exceeded the 2030 Challenge targets the AIA set out to achieve.  A few blocks away is the Portland Center Stage Gerding Theater, also LEED Platinum. GBD Architects and team fit two theaters, administrative offices and a stellar lobby into the historic Portland Armory Annex building and parleyed incentives that covered more than 40% of the project cost.  To the north is the Jean Vollum Natural Capital Center , a LEED Gold building certified in 2001.  Another Holst project, the Natural Capital Center demonstrates building and materials reuse, and hosts a community of businesses, non profits and government offices in a collaborative green workplace.  The Balfour Guthrie building, a LEED building that THA Architecture redeveloped for their own offices, demonstrates that a beautiful rehabilitation can be achieved cost-effectively.  This project was accomplished for less than $100 per square foot.

Fort Baker - Cavallo Point

Farther afield, another important case study and success story is the LEED Gold certification of Cavallo Point, near Sausalito, California.  This 34 building former military complex (FT. Baker), beautifully adapted by ARG into a hotel and spa, demonstrates that these efforts can also be taken to scale, which is clearly the imperative we face to sufficiently ameliorate the relationship between our built and natural environments.  Ultimately, each of these projects has a unique story to tell about the ability of property owners, developers, designers and contractors effectively rehabilitate (both in terms of cost and schedule) historic projects, while at the same time significantly reducing the environmental impact of these buildings.

Portland has served as a virtual laboratory for sustainable preservation, yet we still struggle with these issues.  While the Memorial Coliseum has been protected from demolition with its recent listing on the National Register of Historic Places, recently the City Council voted to allow the demolition of the Kiernan Building, a historic building in a significant historic district.  These are indeed exciting times for historic preservation advocates and green building professionals as American values shift from valuing our history to valuing the “new”.  Through our consulting and advocacy, we will continue to work to build consensus and collaboration in order to help bring about the necessary transition to a sustainable built environment; creative and thoughtful reuse of our existing building stock must be a significant component of the solution.  As the world grapples with how to address climate change and energy scarcity, the historic preservation community must continue to advocate for preservation and reuse and emphasize the importance of their role in addressing environmental sustainability.

- Ralph DiNola, Principal

LEED AP, LEED Faculty, Associate AIA

While much of the last decade had all of us focused on shiny new green buildings as the silver bullet for the many environmental challenges in the built environment, the virtual collapse of new development has helped the industry to refocus on the real solution: greening existing buildings.  There are many strategies one can employ to green existing buildings, but the most recent upgrade to LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance is like your one stop shop for all things to green O&M.  Implementation of building audits, Energy Star benchmarking, retro-commissioning as well as policies and practices will not only green your building, but may just lead to the greening of your entire organization.  Now is the time! 

9. Visibility of Building Performance Data: providing feedback loops

Metrics, Metrics, Metrics!  From building owners and facility managers to occupants and visitors, information is power.  In this information age we expect building owners and facility managers to continue to integrate systems that provide detailed information on building performance.  Seizing scale-appropriate information is the key -from building portfolio tracking, whole building performance, down to the individual occupant or receptacle, real change will come when the data is in clear view.  Captured data and analysis will be leveraged to change behavior, make important capital expenditure decisions and inform building certification.   

8. Occupant Engagement and Behavioral Change: the final frontier in building efficiency

To bring about the kind of dramatic energy reductions we have to make in the next decade, occupants have to be engaged early in the design process, trained on how to occupy and operate the building and provided with detailed feedback on their own resource use within the building.  Remarkably, building users are often completely left out of the process and treated as an unknown.  The next generation of buildings will fully engage these agents of change in the fulfillment of low energy design and operation of buildings. 

7. Training and Education: the tide is rising; build your knowledge and skills

Increasingly rigorous regulations, growing political support, a variety of incentives, and consumer preferences create opportunity for professionals and companies with demonstrated green building and LEED knowledge and expertise. Cities like Washington D.C. now require energy reporting for commercial buildings, countries like Germany have outlawed air conditioning for certain building types, property management companies are certifying buildings in bulk, the LEED 2009 certification and professional programs are out and underway…there’s no time to stop and certainly no time to look back. Training and education is a key strategy to help organizations and individuals tackle the question, “How do I fit in green building and LEED?” Professionals distinguished by their breadth and depth of applied experience in green building and LEED have “been there” and can facilitate your transition from awareness creation to a discipline-specific ability to analyze and execute.

6. Green Leasing: putting it in writing

Owners and tenants can forge partnerships and come away with a win-win scenario with thoughtful approaches to green leasing.  For both tenants and landlords who are interested in green measures for the space, education and relationship building facilitates making green building and operations part of the lease.  Developing a more collaborative relationship, the stage is set to make additions to the lease in the areas of IAQ, energy use, water use, recycling, carbon credits, tenant-build out and green cleaning that will provide an incentive for the tenant and the landlord.  The result is a more efficient building with less impactful operations.  Often an afterthought in many green buildings, establishing this clear and detailed legal agreement ensures that green approaches are followed by the parties involved. 

5. Building Codes Close in on LEED: time to raise the bar

With LEED certification becoming a more feasible and even expected outcome of new construction projects, government bodies are implementing code requirements that closely match the expectations of the LEED framework.   Many of our projects that targeted LEED Silver and achieved LEED Platinum, due both to the tremendous efforts of the project teams as well as advances in the building industry.  Organizations that develop model codes, such as the International Codes Council and others are raising code requirements to help address energy and environmental issues.  These sorts of changes in 2010 will continue to push the USGBC to expand their reach and modify their frameworks at the lower certification levels and beyond their Platinum rating as well as ensure a higher level of accountability. 

4. International Expansion of Green Building: LEED and other rating systems cover the globe

With the growth of green building councils across the globe, the USGBC emphasizing international expansion, and the increase of international firsts in the second half of 2009, we are at the cusp of a wave of international projects going through certification.  As more and more countries develop LEED and LEED-like standards, there continues to be a growing need to translate green building standards and requirements into country-specific approaches that are relevant and appropriate. 

3. Manufacturers and the Supply Chain Retool for the Green Economy:

Vendors continue to work to differentiate themselves from the increasing green noise among their peers.  All one needs to do is walk the exhibition floor at a green conference to hear the emphasis vendors are placing on products with green, sustainable and LEED characteristics.   Through their internal practices and products, manufacturers will continue to push the market forward with their commitment to “green”, authentic or not.  Greening the supply chain will require significant effort.  Organizations such as The Natural Step provides programs and business case studies that help businesses successfully integrate sustainability into their organization.

2. Green Building Goes to Scale: Eco-districts take center stage, neighborhood development standard is launched:

Eco-efficiency at scale will continue to be a hurdle for city planners.  The European “eco-district” approach to a unified community of buildings is gaining traction in the US.  Portland’s Eco-districts program forges a new model for infrastructure, policy, and governance.  In the same vein, the world will learn many lessons from the BC’s Olympic Village (eco-district) this winter.  LEED ND hits the streets!  With the official rating system being released by the USGBC, this exciting standard applies to new master planned development, infill projects and existing communities…just in time for the projected upswing in green development projected for the coming years.

1.  Living Building Challenge, version 2.0: the next step towards a restorative future

Nothing could be more exciting to us than the vision outlined in the new version of the Living Building Challenge.  This Visionary Path to a Restorative Future outlines 20 Imperatives (rather than Prerequisites) under the now seven Petals of the Challenge.  Each Petal outlines the Intent, or why we should focus on these issues and revised Ideal Conditions and Current Limitations, which help us to envision an ideal built environment and describes the barriers to getting there.  The former prerequisites have been updated, and in some cases combined or renamed, while others have been added to complete the standard and make it more all-encompassing.  New elements include: Urban Agriculture, providing food production on-site; and Car Free Living, developing diverse mixed-use buildings and neighborhoods that support alternative transportation options.  New Petals of Health and Equity add the Imperatives of Biophilia, integrating natural elements and forms into projects; Human Scale + Humane Places, places designed for people rather than automobiles; Democracy + Social Justice, moving away from gated communities, providing affordable housing and universal accessibility; and, Rights to Nature including access to Fresh Air (imagine that), Sunlight (ibid), and public access to Natural Waterways. At least four projects are slated to certify this year, with over 70 in design or construction.  This will make is a most exciting start to the decade!

Thanks -   GBS Consulting Staff

New Construction

• Registration Fee is doubling – increasing from $450 ($600 non-members) to $950 ($1,200 non-members)
• Design Phase Fee – Review fees in all 3 categories increasing by 60%; Appeal and expedited review fees stay the same.
• Construction Phase Fee – All fees staying the same.

Existing Buildings

• Initial Certification Review – Review fees in all 3 categories increasing by 20%; Appeal and expedited review fees stay the same
• Recertification Review – Review fees in all 3 categories increasing by 20%; Appeal and expedited review fees stay the same

LEED-CS Precertification

• Fee – Review fee increasing by 30%; Appeal and expedited review fees stay the same.

Free upgrade to LEED 2009!

Projects currently registered under a previous LEED Rating System may upgrade to the corresponding LEED 2009 Rating System with no registration fee through 1/10/10.  The instructions to do so can be found on GBCI’s website HERE.

GBS tightened our belts and made sure that our existing clients remained happy and sought out new opportunities; A/E firms designing beautiful sustainable buildings as well as a number of building owners leveraging green retrofits as a way to stay competitive, attract tenants and lower costs.

Some Highlights:

LEED 2009 Reference Guides: As green building professionals we all get to know these guides intimately.  GBS was part of the team who the USGBC contracted to develop the LEED 2009 Reference Guides.  As long time LEED project reviewers, we worked closely with the USGBC on this effort and continue to receive thanks for this work.

Existing Buildings: Our existing building world took center stage as the number of non-government new construction projects abated.  Elaine Aye’s Building Management Solutions (BMS group is managing a number of great projects focused on improving our existing buildings’ efficiency of operations and reduced energy use, water, carbon, etc.  The Oregonian did a front cover piece on Elaine’s efforts.  Give it a read.  In addition we underwent a great project with Kennedy Associates out of Seattle who are pursuing certification under the Volume program with the USGBC for LEED-EB:O&M.  Great project and a great client!

Advanced Climate Solutions: GBS expanded our technical offerings by forming our Advanced Climate Solutions (ACS) group.  With the added emphasis on Carbon, energy efficiency and the built environment’s impact on the natural environment, our ACS group augments our consulting practice. For example, A/E firms leverage their technical solutions to confirm optimal building performance based on design decisions.  Our ACS team has been very active helping form the dialogue around these issues in our building community as well as with our new and existing clients.

Commissioning & Energy Audits: GBS has always been known for our Green Building insight, LEED Consulting and project management work but we have continued to provide commissioning services and energy audits to a number of clients…whether they are pursuing LEED or not.  Our highly experienced team has a number of very happy clients who see commissioning as one of the best things anyone could do in a down economy to improve building performance and value.

LEED Certification: We certified our 100^th and 150^th buildings using the USGBSC’s LEED framework in the past year.  This client-served number continues to tick upwards as we successfully finish projects.  We have over 300 projects in the hopper at different stages of certification.

LEED 2009 Study Guides: In addition to the Reference Guide work mentioned above, we were thrilled to work with the USGBC again on their development of their first official LEED AP study guides.  So when you are out there studying with your official Study Guide from the USGBC for your LEED GA, or any of the different LEED AP designations…remember GBS and their Verification and Program Development (VPD) team.

Going Global: GBS formed a strategic partnership with ECADI.  ECADI is a professional provider for comprehensive design services including architectural design; structural and mechanical engineering; interior and landscape design; and urban planning. GBS will provide consulting services to support ECADI’s sustainable design, research and training efforts throughout China and across the globe.   We are currently working on two projects in China, Peru, Mexico, Vietnam, Japan and others(more to come on these soon).

EverGreen Development: GBS formed partnership with Evergreen Development (out of Phoenix) to improve our overall product by combining our best in class services to deliver fully integrated green building service to our mutual clients.

Historic Restoration: Ralph’s work with the National Trust in DC and our organization’s dedication to the reuse of our existing buildings has led to an internal and external emphasis of discovering projects that focus on historic restoration.  One example was that our Texas office had the opportunity to do an assessment on the the Moody Mansion in Galveston Texas, and we were proud to work with Mercy Corp on their new world HQ in a partially restored downtown Portland facility in Old Town.

GreenBuild Phoenix: The GBS team was in full swing down in the heat in Phoenix.  Not just there for Vitamin D, Elaine, Ralph, Alan, Ted all gave well attended presentations while all of our principals engaged with our great friends at the USGBC. 

There are many more that didn’t make this list, but that is a nice selection of some of the things we are very proud of here at GBS from 2009.

As usual the real credit goes to our employees who continue to put our clients first.  As green building consultants we are always striving to support, guide and occasionally push the most environmentally and economically sound decisions for our clients.  Here is to a great 2010 and we will see everyone in Chicago for GreenBuild next November.

- Andrew

The headquarters are a physical reflection of the organization in multiple ways. Set in Old Town, Mercy Corps’ decision to consolidate several offices and locate in this part of the city catalyzes redevelopment momentum and revitalizes this re-emerging neighborhood. Directly adjacent to downtown, the urban locale leverages existing infrastructure, offers employees an array of alternative transportation options and concentrates development to protect agricultural and natural habitats in the outlying areas while infusing the adjacent district with long-term investment and ownership.

THA Architecture and their consultant team designed a thoughtful response to programming needs through appropriately sizing the facility for its employees and reclaiming a historic structure that comprises half of the new facility. As an organization that frequently provides services in regions where there is significant resource depletion, the building’s advanced energy and water-saving measures will prudently conserve resources for decades to come. The measures – along with durable construction materials – demonstrate a commitment to financial responsibility.

Social equity is a core competency of Mercy Corps, as the organization seeks to understand how people live, relate to and are affected by their bioclimatic region. Inspiring local participation, the teams bring tools, techniques, technology and processes to partner with on-the-ground stakeholders and help them sustain themselves. The global headquarters’ embodies these principles with passive and integrated strategies and technology that addresses and interacts with the Willamette Valley’s bioclimatic conditions to lower energy and water use. Drawing upon local and regional materials helps support community manufacturers and services and lighten climate impacts from transportation of goods. The influx of employees brings economic activity to this micro-region of the city. Within the building, daylight, views, green measures and spaces for collaboration spur human interaction and staff wellbeing with a healthy, inspiring and productive work environment.

The Action Center opens its doors to our community and invites us all to see the imperatives we face across the globe, to experience the work of Mercy Corps first hand and to engage in solutions at whatever level we can.

Mercy Corps describes the people who work for them as “activists, optimists, innovators and proud partners of the people we serve.” These qualities mirror the professionals at GBS. Clearly, it’s a large part of why this project is so important to us. We have a deep affinity for the people, mission and work of Mercy Corps as it dovetails with our values. Working with building owners across the nation and in places like China and Peru, we bring insights, tools and resources to our partners. Our hallmark is a process of collective participation to motivate stakeholders toward more environmental, economic and socially sustainable outcomes. Within the built environment, we strive to assist owners, facility managers, asset managers, tenants and occupants make choices that enhance their lives and the lives of those around them to promote integrated thriving communities. We are proud that the new Mercy Corps world headquarters achieves these objectives.

By Ralph DiNola, GBS Principal, Associate AIA, LEED Faculty

The energy and resource intake and expenditures of a building are mostly around our need to control our environment. We rarely think of occupants as being part of the building, but people are actually the building’s metabolism*. Bodies generate heat and absorb it. Ventilation, heating and cooling, the materials that come into the building and the solid waste goes out all contribute to making ourselves comfortable. Our presence and actions place demands on the entire system. As an organism within the building’s metabolism, it’s vitally important to look at our function and responsibility.

Passive buildings/active people
We have made our buildings so complex and automated them to such an extent that we have removed ourselves from the process. Occupants expect a building to provide ideal temperatures, optimal light conditions, and all the water they desire without thinking about the resources captured to maintain these benefits. Moreover, the way people do interact with these systems is unpredictable, and individual actions can have large ripple effects.

It’s time to reincorporate the human element into the building function from the earliest phases of design through operations. Rather than overly automating building systems, let’s use our automation technology to give people feedback on their actions and increase accountability. Can we break down information so that what is happening within a building is understandable at the building, organization and personal levels? Facilities personnel should be provided with real-time comprehensible information about how their equipment is performing and what the ramifications are if they alter recommended settings. Occupants could learn to consume fewer resources if they had feedback mechanisms and understand what they do. Imagine a “dashboard” at the restrooms sinks that shows how much water is used if the faucet is left running, or an energy panel in individual office areas that displays the amount of electricity it takes run your personal equipment (computer, cell phone, task light, ipod, etc.) and the impact of turning these things off before you leave your desk.

It becomes important to ask ourselves, how much control over nature do we have to exert to experience comfort? Looking at building programming in new ways could also help bring the people back into the equation of building function. What if there were no specified workstations and we no longer tried to maintain a consistent temperature in all work areas during all seasons? A space conditioning allowance for each floor would let us create areas that are warmer, cooler, brighter, and darker. With a smart monitoring system, an occupant could look up the temperature and illumination (weather) of a specific area and select where they want to be rather than being forced into a general “ideal.”

The Living Building Challenge asks a building to become part of a building, like a system in nature. As the largest component in a building’s metabolism, can we do more? Can we forgo our need to control nature and, instead, work within it to become part of the solution?

*Building Metabolism™
By Ralph DiNola, GBS Principal, Associate AIA, LEED Faculty

The new LEED Professional program increases the rigor, specificity and credibility of LEED Professional accreditation. But, yes, it can be clear as mud unless it’s your job to stay on top of the latest and greatest information. GBS’ working relationship with the USGBC and unequaled breadth and depth of applied consulting and technical experience distinguish us as your primary resource for information, training and services…including the new LEED Professional Program. We are also an approved continuing education provider for the USGBC, AIA and BOMI and can support your relevant credentialing needs. 

“GBCI, LEED Professional without Specialty, LEED Green Associate, LEED AP+ and

LEED Fellow…oh my!”

First, let’s clarify the terms:

GBCI: Stands for Green Building Certification Institute. The GBCI was created to independently manage LEED project certification and professional accreditation for the USGBC. The primary intent is twofold: 1) to allow the USGBC to focus on rating system development, education and other related initiatives; and, 2) to enable LEED professional credentialing to be ANSI-accredited.

LEED Professional without Specialty: Current LEED professionals (under the former exam) that decide not maintain their credential through re-testing or continuing education.

LEED Green Associate (Tier 1 LEED Professional): New LEED Professional accreditation that reflects foundational awareness, understanding and knowledge in green building and LEED. This credential is appropriate for professionals that support LEED and green building projects but do not directly apply green building or LEED in their professional practice. Examples include lawyers, manufactures, suppliers, administrative staff and government staff.

LEED AP+ (Tier 2 LEED Professional): Otherwise known as “LEED Professional with Specialty” (“LEED AP+” is not correct), this new accreditation reflects knowledge and expertise in the implementation of green building and LEED, with particular emphasis on one of the five LEED products (BD&C, ID&C, O&M, Homes or Neighborhood Development) . The credential is appropriate for professionals that directly apply green building or LEED in their professional practices. Examples include architects, engineers, contractors, building operators and consultants.

LEED Fellow (Tier 3 LEED Professional): For you Star Wars fans, I like to think of this as the LEED “Jedi” – the omniscient, master, what-have-you. The GBCI plans to further develop this accreditation in 2010.

“I’m (not) a current LEED-AP and I’m interested. What are my options?”

You’re a current LEED Professional

Do nothing:

If you are currently a LEED Professional you have the option to do nothing. If you do, you will be listed in the LEED Professional directory as a “LEED Professional without specialty”. You can still serve as the LEED project administrator and earn the corresponding LEED Innovation Point for projects.

Take the test:

You now must demonstrate eligibility in order to take any of the LEED Professional exams. Current LEED Professionals do not have to take the LEED Green Associates Exam but do have to demonstrate experience on a LEED registered project within the last 3 years. You’ll need a letter from a supervisor that attests to your qualifying experience. To register, create a login on the GBCI website. You’ll see a “My Credentials” page where registration for the new exam that corresponds to the former exam under which you previously credentialed is available. If your professional experience relates more directly to another credential (i.e. you work primarily on commercial interiors, but your current credential is for new construction), you may submit a request to GBCI to take the corresponding exam.

The best prep material for the LEED Professional with Specialty exam is the corresponding Reference Guide: BD+C for New Construction and Major Renovations, EB:O&M for existing buildings, ID+C for Commercial Interiors, H for Homes and ND for Neighborhood Development . GBS also offers live, LEED Specialty-specific exam prep study training. See our website for more information: http://www.greenbuildingservices.com/Services/training_facilitation.asp

The test is run similarly to how it was under the old version- locate a Prometric testing center nearest you on the GBCI website and sign up at a preferred time. The test is comprised of 100, multiple choice questions and you have 2-hours to complete the exam.

Credential:

This is the big new requirement. You may “opt-in” to the new credential maintenance program, which means you complete thirty qualifying credentialing activity hours over the next two years.  Six of those hours have to be LEED-specific and three of those hours have to be reference-guide specific. There are 8 different types of qualifying activities that range from volunteer work to training. Chances are, you are already fulfilling some of these hours in your daily practice and the hours you earn for other accreditations, such as AIA or BOMI, may count for your LEED Professional credential maintenance as well. You may opt in to this option on your “My Credentials” page once you’ve logged into the GBCI website. Once you’ve opted in, you can start self-reporting you activities and hours from the “My Credentials” page starting in November 2009. You may count any qualifying activities dating back to July 8^th, 2009. There is a $50 fee for every 2-year renewal period but this fee is being waived for the first round.

There is strategy involved with planning out your credential maintenance plan if you pursue this route and we’re happy to talk with you about the array of options. The Credentialing Maintenance Program Guide can be accessed here: http://www.gbci.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=202 

“I didn’t squeeze in with the 130,000+ LEED APs under the former version, now what?”

If you want to earn the LEED Professional with Specialty Accreditation you must also pass the LEED Green Associate exam. You may take both exams in one sitting (2, back-to-back, 2-hour exams) or separately. If you take both in one sitting and only pass one, you only need to re-take the other. You have three chances to pass per application period, which is one year. 

You now must demonstrate eligibility in order to take any of the LEED Professional exams. To take the LEED Green Associate, you must practice in a ‘sustainable field’, have involvement in a LEED-registered project or have completed/be enrolled in a green building educational program. You’ll need an official letter from a supervisor for the project or practice options that attests to your relevant experience. For the education option, you’ll need a certificate of completion. Create a login on the GBCI website and upload these documents in your eligibility application on the “My Credentials” page. The eligibility application also includes a $50 fee. The GBCI Green Associate Candidate Handbook is update monthly and can be accessed here: http://www.gbci.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=83

The best test preparation materials for the LEED Green Associate are the USGBC’s Exam Prep Study Guides (developed by GBS, in fact) and the Core Concepts Guide. The USGBC plans to offer the Core Concepts Guide as a supplement to the Exam Prep Study Guide sometime in October/November, 2009. It will be released digitally and then in hard-copy. GBS also offers live, interactive training sessions led by our consultants who bring years of field experience and use these documents as the primary basis for the training.

Once you’ve passed the LEED Green Associates exam, you still must demonstrate experience on a LEED project within the last three years to be eligible for the LEED Professional with Specialty Exam.

 The changes to the LEED Professional program have increased the credibility and complexity of the program. GBS is positioned to help your organization craft the most efficient and effective credentialing strategy that is tailored directly to your needs. GBS authors the LEED 2009 Reference Guides and Exam Prep Study Guides and has worked extensively with the USGBC for years- as a certification reviewer, pilot program manager and education provider among other capacities.  This experience plus our unequaled breadth and depth of applied project experience providing consulting and technical services distinguish our ability to help you meet and exceed your green building professional objectives. For more information on training and education, please call GBS Training Manger Terry Miller at 503-467-4745.