USGBC Conference and Expo

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1 USGBC Update November Newsletter ***News Flash*** USGBC Conference and Expo a Huge Success... LEED 2.1.Template Released... Three New LEED Buildings Certified... USGBC Conference and Expo Green building practitioners from 20 countries converged in Austin, TX for the first annual USGBC International Green Building Conference and Expo. How to capture the significance of Austin? Statistics tell part of the story. More than 4,100 people registered double our original target. The sold-out exhibit floor proved tremendously popular leading to a 92 percent renewal for Industry experts tell us that this was perhaps the most successful start-up event of the year. Quality of the learning experience was of paramount importance. And what better way to start than the inspiring opening keynote by the award-winning scientist, author and producer, David Suzuki? USGBC Board of Directors and staff collected hundreds of compliments about the quality of presentations, rich mix of topics, and information exchange with exhibitors. Most concerns focused on wanting more time for audience interaction, more time for the trade show, and the difficulty in choosing among sessions. But the less tangible part of the story is also intriguing. Long-time members wondered who could have predicted this rate of market growth or the sense of camaraderie in crowds this size? Who could not be encouraged by the hundreds attending the Young Professionals Forum? Or be infected by the celebratory spirit when recognizing our first USGBC Leadership Award recipients? Click here to see the award recipients. On behalf of our contributing partners and hundreds of volunteers and staff, we are humbled by the experience we shared in Austin even as we prepare for next year s event in Pittsburgh. Click here for information. Other Week Highlights USGBC Day kicked off the conference with the "Meet the Board Candidates" breakfast. Attendees were given an opportunity to meet the 2003 candidates vying for available seats on the Council. Each candidate was given two minutes on the podium to outline their background and campaign platform. The day progressed to include LEED program updates, committee meetings and working sessions and spirited Chapter recognition activities. Major announcements from the conference included the formal ratification of the World Green Building Council and several new product introductions--new online partner-

2 Greenerbuildings.com, a proposed USGBC Product and Services Directory, and the long-awaited State and Local Government Toolkit. Membership Metrics: New Members: Total Members: Your Views Matter! Amidst all the successes in Austin, we also received feedback from this year s abbreviated Members-only meeting. To that end, the following changes will be made for next year s event: 1) committee meetings will be open to all members even if they are working sessions; 2) a task force has been formed to further evaluate the proposed product services directory including attendee evaluations submitted at the information kiosk; 3) we will feature an Open Members Forum to promote dialogue among members and the Board. Here s another opportunity for feedback. Please watch for our third membership survey in coming days. Your participation helps us better evaluate the value of Council programs, priorities and the state of the industry. In the 2001 survey, for example, members identified lack of business case material as the #1 obstacle in working with clients. To that end, the Council prepared a new brochure Making the Business Case for High Performance Green Buildings which was distributed to all attendees of the Austin Conference and Expo. Member Spotlight Among USGBC's newest members is the International Code Council (ICC), the building code organization dedicated to developing a single set of comprehensive and coordinated national model construction codes. This uniform adoption will lead to more consistent enforcement, higher quality construction, and a single forum for addressing such issues as disaster mitigation and innovative technology. The USGBC Board of Directors just approved plans for USGBC and ICC to craft a strategic alliance that will foster technical cooperation and resource exchange and should give the green building community a stronger voice in the building regulatory community. ICC Senior Vice President, Dominic Sims, and USGBC Board member and DCAT Director, David Eisenberg, whose conversations were at the root of this alliance, have also discussed creating a new staff position at ICC for green building and sustainability issues. Stay tuned for further developments about this initiative from the USGBC s Greening the Codes Committee. Chapter News Congratulations to all the new Provisional Chapters of USGBC that were recognized in Austin, including: New Jersey, Delaware Valley, Chicago, Houston, Arizona, San Diego, and Northern California. The Council recognized three Affiliate partners pre-existing organizations dedicated solely to promoting green buildings in their regions: The Green Roundtable (Boston), Cleveland Green Building Coalition, and Southface Energy

3 Institute (Atlanta). New Organizing Groups include: Upstate NY, Detroit, Dallas, Arkansas, Colorado, and Indianapolis. Chapter Programs and benefits continue to grow including USGBC s initiative to help generate revenues for chapters through local dues and a special new member rebate program! Please contact mfay@usgbc.org with questions about starting or developing a Chapter. Corresponding Committees Open We re pleased to announce a restructuring of our committees to allow greater member participation and tracking of developments. Starting in January 2003, we will be creating Corresponding Committees for most USGBC Organizational and LEED Product Committees. Any member will be able to subscribe to the Corresponding Committee listservs on the Members side of our website. Subscribers will receive regular updates, as well as drafts of new products and other documents. Make Your Vote Count Don t forget to cast your votes among a terrific field of candidates for the USGBC Board of Directors. The 30-day elections began Tuesday, November 19 and will conclude at 5:00 PM Wednesday, December 18, Click here to access the members section. Cascadia Chapter Hiring Executive Director The Cascadia Region Green Building Council seeks an executive director to plan, direct, and coordinate activities, raise funds, and manage implementation of board directed goals and strategies. The executive director would represent the Cascadia Region Green Building Council to local, regional and national audiences. The Cascadia Chapter, serving members and communities in British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon, is one of two original Chapters of the USGBC. Click here for detailed information. Global Green Honors USGBC The U.S. Green Building Council was awarded with Global Green USA's Building Design Award in New York City. The USGBC was recognized for developing and promoting the LEED Green Building Rating System. Five awards were presented in recognition of building, product, industrial, media, and policy design efforts that promote Global Green's vision of a secure and sustainable future. Other award recipients included: Katrina vanden Heuvel, Editor, The Nation; David Moran, President, Dow Jones Indexes; Designer Giorgio Armani; and Senator Jon S. Corzine. Announcing LEED Version 2.1 and the Letter Templates On Member's Day, November 13, the USGBC announced the greatly anticipated release of LEED Version 2.1, an administrative update of the LEED 2.0 Rating System for new commercial construction, major renovations and high-rise residential buildings. Version 2.1 provides technical clarifications and streamlines the documentation requirements for

4 LEED Certification in response to concerns raised by USGBC members and other LEED users. The simplified documentation process aims to reduce the costs of documenting LEED credits while retaining the stringency and integrity of the LEED Version 2.0 standards. Version 2.1 was created through the generous volunteer efforts of the LEED Technical Advisory Groups under the guidance of the LEED Steering Committee. Since the performance criteria have not been altered, the Version 2.1 draft did not require a full member ballot prior to release but was released for public comment in July. A central component of the Version 2.1 improvements is the new LEED Letter Template, a dynamic tracking and documentation tool that must be used for complete Version 2.1 certification submittals. For each credit, the Letter Template prompts LEED practitioners for data, indicates when documentation requirements have been fulfilled, and serves as a formatting template for the project s initial submittal. Additional documentation may be requested during the certification assessment s audit phase. The Letter Template can be downloaded by USGBC Web site users with access to the online Reference Guide or Registered Project Welcome pages. The new certification procedures and fees apply to all projects registering as of the LEED 2.1 release date. Click here for more information. Three projects receive LEED certification For a Total of 32 certified projects On October 28, the Plaza Building at Pima Community College Desert Vista Campus in Tucson, Arizona, was awarded LEED 1.0 Bronze. An open shaded courtyard connects the two parts of the project: a new student learning center and the partial renovation of an existing building. During construction, a comprehensive waste management plan diverted 68% of materials from the landfill. Inside the buildings, water-conserving fixtures reduce municipal water use by over 20%, and building commissioning and monitoring contribute to a 20% improvement over the ASHRAE standard for energy efficiency. On November 5, Goodwillie Environmental School in Ada, Michigan, was awarded LEED 2.0 Certified. Owned by the Forest Hills School District, the school s curriculum focuses on experience and observation as fifth and sixth graders study environmental issues alongside core studies. Each classroom has direct access to the outdoors, both visually as well as physically. Native vegetation planted in a hilly landscape contributes to both stormwater management and water efficient landscaping. In addition, low-emitting materials, including adhesives, sealants, paints, carpet, and composite wood, contribute to a healthier indoor environment for the students while exemplary performance is demonstrated in the use of 62% local materials. On November 6, the first LEED 2.0 Gold for a K-12 school was awarded to Third Creek Elementary School in Statesville, North Carolina. Owned by Iredell-Statesville Schools, the project includes a wetland and wet pond that serve as stormwater management as well as an outdoor classroom for the students. This landscape is accompanied by learning gardens planted with drought-resistant native vegetation, eliminating the use of potable water for irrigation. Rapidly renewable materials, including wheatboard for all casework in the building, comprise eight percent of the building materials. Of the woodbased materials, 70% are FSC certified, and only non-cca treated wood is used in the project. The school also successfully addresses many issues of indoor environmental quality, including increased ventilation, construction IAQ management, low-emitting materials, thermal comfort, and views to the outdoors.

5 LEED Metrics: New Registrations: Cumulative Sq. Ft: >74m >51m >8.4m Workshop Attendees: Exam Candidates: n/a