{"id":1968,"date":"2020-08-26T01:34:07","date_gmt":"2020-08-26T01:34:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?p=1968"},"modified":"2020-08-26T13:05:27","modified_gmt":"2020-08-26T13:05:27","slug":"to-leed-or-not-to-leed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?p=1968","title":{"rendered":"To LEED or Not to LEED\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Oh, such a loaded title. Loaded because of the moment we find ourselves in.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul class=\"ul1\">\n<li class=\"li1\"><span class=\"s1\">Part of this written reflection is based on my own work in updating contracts and guidance documents to help staff achieve our goals for better buildings and transformational achievements in energy, health, and carbon reductions.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\"><span class=\"s1\">Part of it comes from nearly two decades working with a variety of green building rating systems, from simple to complex, and from checklists limiting damage to \u201cdo good\u201daspirations.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\"><span class=\"s1\">Part of it comes from what is quickly becoming my passion, my art, and my calling: the understanding of transitions, transitional language, and iterative learning.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">And all of it centers on our initial steps into green building achievement, with LEED as the prominent tool.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Quick primer &#8211; LEED is for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, and it is a toolkit and a checklist that truly brought us our first and most reliable understanding of what a \u201cgreen building\u201d is. It was created by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) a not-for profit that has truly transformed the building market. This system has introduced awareness of toxins in building products, includes 102,000 buildings plus to-date, and is in use in over 178 countries to inform and drive greener building practices and products. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Unfortunately, LEED also got us used to using a checklist approach to greening our work. We are now faced with un-learning so we can re-engage to learn what we must do now for true systemic achievement. <strong>We must engage in a process that is robust, flexible, inclusive, and likely different for each project.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">You see, a checklist cannot be all-encompassing. Every question does not apply to each project. A checklist does not understand the possibilities in a project because a checklist is like energy code &#8211; the smallest and most simple rendition of what can be done. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">If you are a parent or guardian, think about your child and how they might be inadvertently pigeon-holed into, say, an education track by someone who doesn\u2019t know them well. Inevitably, the values, interests, passions, and fears of your child will be missed or misunderstood by that uninformed plan. If you care about your child, you will absolutely insist that <em><strong>all information be considered so the pertinent information can be found<\/strong><\/em>, even if that info is not on the generic assessment\/planning form.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">We must insist that all information be considered, so the pertinent information can be found and then applied to support the success of our project.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">This is not to blame the USGBC in any way. They started from nothing, and have helped us to learn and grow and change. USGBC has also been diligent in revisiting their rating system(s) to update them regularly, ensuring they would always pull the market forward, leading from a bit ahead of the comfort level.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">We must engage in a process that is robust, flexible, inclusive, and likely different for each project.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Recently, the focus of the USGBC has been on ARC, which is a platform for continually understanding building performance during operations. This platform ties to Energy Star Portfolio Manager, which is an EPA nation-wide info-repository and rating platform initially focused on energy, and now including water and waste metrics. ARC can also connect directly to building management systems (BMS). It puts green building performance into the hands of facility managers and helps drive understanding of fossil fuel use, costs on a yearly basis, human comfort in the building, NPV (net present value) metrics, pipeline planning for projects, and more.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Shifting to ARC is a valuable attempt to get away from the checklist approach. In fact, the language of the USGBC has changed over the years to speak about LEED as the instrument or the implement to achieve\u2026but we were taught 20+ years ago to use the LEED checklist to set goals for the project, and this is now a ridiculously hard habit to break.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">One of the issues I am trying to figure out is how to guide design project managers, per their request, as to what state mandates and laws apply to their particular projects. Everyone hates my answer, even though it is 100% true: they all apply, if they apply.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">What laws and mandates apply to my project? <strong>They all apply, if they apply.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nested.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1969 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nested-300x225.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nested-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nested-768x576.png 768w, https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nested-1024x768.png 1024w, https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/nested.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>We are at a point on our transition (the transition of the world, BTW, not just of the building industry) where we need to stop looking for guidance from outside, and look for the truth from our position within and involved with the work. No one should need to tell us what to do, specifically. In fact, they cannot, because they don\u2019t know what is needed in our time, with our program, in our situation. They should be able to say \u201cdo better\u201d and we, as responsible adults, team members, insightful experts, can define for this specific project and circumstance what \u201cbetter\u201d is. The goals of the state, the aspirations related to climate, equity, closed-cycle, community activation, and more, each apply differently to each project that we encounter. <strong>And the only way to figure out HOW they apply is to think about them, push them around, see how they inform the work, apply them and see what you and your team can discover, together.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul class=\"ul1\">\n<li class=\"li1\"><span class=\"s1\">Only then can you see what the goals for the work could possibly and rightly be.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\"><span class=\"s1\">Only then can you find the tough decisions that must be made in order to achieve as much as possible within the real and useful constraints of budget and schedule.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\"><span class=\"s1\">Only then can the Natural systems, the architecture, the built infrastructure, the user engagement, and the engineering all come together into a cohesive whole.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\"><span class=\"s1\">Only then can you determine how the project is supporting state mandates and laws, decide to what level that achievement takes place, and define how to document it. <\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\"><span class=\"s1\">Only then can you truly reach for the aspirational goals we ALL must reach for in <b>every single project<\/b> while designing and choosing the correct achievements for that <\/span><span class=\"s2\">one singular project<\/span><span class=\"s1\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Only then can we achieve what we must achieve in our building projects, of all scales from small renovations and repairs to large urban planning, to have a beneficial impact on climate, equity, health, and Nature\u2019s systems, including us. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The question is not \u201cTo LEED or not to LEED&#8221;. The question is, and always should be, how can we do better, this time?<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Think and be greener,<\/p>\n<p>Jodi<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Oh, such a loaded title. Loaded because of the moment we find ourselves in. Part of this written reflection is based on my own work [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10,5,156,13,8],"tags":[223,55,21,51,56,23],"class_list":["post-1968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-critical-commentary","category-gbtools","category-process","category-profession","category-all-usgbc","tag-arc","tag-challenge","tag-change","tag-flexible","tag-leedv4","tag-sustainability"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p40KlT-vK","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":43,"url":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?p=43","url_meta":{"origin":1968,"position":0},"title":"LEED and &#8220;certifiable&#8221;","author":"greenerjsa","date":"October 18, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"This is my perspective on some legislative language in NYS. I wrote this in early 2009, and it still applies to green building goal setting. Being \"certifiable\" means you have already committed to doing the work, paying design professionals, ensuring the work is done properly (through documentation, energy modeling, commissioning,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Green Building Tools&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Green Building Tools","link":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?cat=5"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1021,"url":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?p=1021","url_meta":{"origin":1968,"position":1},"title":"Awesome Charrettes: Part 1- Big Picture","author":"greenerjsa","date":"August 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"First, what is a charrette? The historic term comes from French design schools where project would be picked up at midnight in a cart. The candidates for design would be frantically finishing their sketches, riding on the cart, squeezing every last moment in order to complete the work. The modern-day\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Green Building Tools&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Green Building Tools","link":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?cat=5"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/2bgreener.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/charratee-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/2bgreener.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/charratee-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/2bgreener.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/charratee-2.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/2bgreener.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/charratee-2.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/2bgreener.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/charratee-2.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/2bgreener.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/charratee-2.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":134,"url":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?p=134","url_meta":{"origin":1968,"position":2},"title":"changing the world","author":"greenerjsa","date":"March 6, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Heads up \u2013 we know we\u2019re changing the world when people start fighting back! - Jodi From Marisa Long of the USGBC By now, many of you have seen the unabashed false claims that came out in a press release last week from the fictitious organization called the \u201cEnvironmental Policy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Critical commentary&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Critical commentary","link":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?cat=10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":96,"url":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?p=96","url_meta":{"origin":1968,"position":3},"title":"perspectives","author":"greenerjsa","date":"December 18, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Written to the head of GreenTV: In trying to expand: Maybe you could provide clips\/interviews exploring (truly exploring) the perspectives on LEED and other tools for greening up. What I mean, basically: Quite often the lack of respect and a high level of judgmental behavior is based on a perspective\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Critical commentary&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Critical commentary","link":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?cat=10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":616,"url":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?p=616","url_meta":{"origin":1968,"position":4},"title":"LEED and Yoga ONE: Time for a Stretch","author":"greenerjsa","date":"June 13, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The newest version of the LEED rating system (LEED v4) has been out for use for a year and will become the only available version for Building Design and Construction projects come October of this year. There are many challenges in the system, and many significant improvements. First, let me\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;community&quot;","block_context":{"text":"community","link":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"Stretch a Bit","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/2bgreener.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/yoga-200x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":212,"url":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?p=212","url_meta":{"origin":1968,"position":5},"title":"Thoughts on Building Energy 15 in Boston","author":"greenerjsa","date":"March 7, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Wednesday, March 4th: I'm speaking today, and I chose to not wear the suit I brought. Not a big deal, but that decision encapsulates my impression of Building Energy 2015. This is a conference full of serious people, and seriously fun, engaging, interesting people, most of whom are directly designing,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;community&quot;","block_context":{"text":"community","link":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"IMG_5518","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/2bgreener.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/IMG_5518-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1968"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1968\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1975,"href":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1968\/revisions\/1975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/2bgreener.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}