United States Green Building Council - Essay Example

USGBC and LEED USGBC The United s Green Building Council (USGBC) is a 501 c3 non-profit organization located in Washington DC committed to a prosperous and sustainable future for the nation and the world through fostering the establishment of cost-efficient and energy saving green buildings. It comprises of 78 local affiliates, an average of 20,000 member companies and organizations and more than 10,000 LEED Accredited Professionals. It leads a diverse population of builders and environmentalists, corporations and nonprofit organizations, political officials, concerned citizens and teachers and students (USGBC 1-2). The organizations mission is “To transform the way buildings and communities are designed, built and operated, enabling an environmentally and socially responsible, healthy, and prosperous environment that improves the quality of life. While its vision is to “Buildings and communities will regenerate and sustain the health and vitality of all life within a generation.” (USGBC 1-2) History of Green Building and USGBC The green building aspect can be traced back to the 19th century. Various architects are seen to have used variuos methods to decrease the impact of structure on the environment. Such systems and methods include ventilators and underground air-cooling chambers in order to regulate air temperature. In the 20th century buildings like New York times and Flatron Building used deep-set windows in controlling interior temperatures, these were effective and lessened the impact of the building on the environment (Marble 2). Around 1970 when the glass box style was seen as the best technology a group of environmentalists were inspired by the growing environmental movements and high cost of fuel at this time and formed the mordern build green movement. Architects continued to work hard on the concept of green buildings as they constructed buildings following certain guidelines. Research continued in the lates seventies and eighties about energy efficient processes that result in more effective solar panels, direct usage of light among others that reduced energy consumption. This movement culminated in the greening of the white house and other notable buildings followed suit (Marble 1-5). The USGBC was co-founded in 1993 by Mike Italiano, David Gottfried and Rick Fedrizzi in order to promote the design and construction of buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable, and healthy places to live and work in. the goals of USBC are well articulated in its mission statement. After its inception it worked with the American Society of Testing and Materials in order to create a rating system for sustainability. They broke ties with the ASTM in order to develop their own rating system and this led to the establishment of a committee that saw the inception of the LEED 1.0. LEED has grown from one standard to a comprehensive system of standards that cover all aspects of the development and construction process. It has refined down to its current form that is the talk of the construction and design communities (Marble 1-5). Importance of USGBC USGBC is important because of its continued efforts and measures to reduce the impacts of buildings on the environment. It works hard to ensure the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere and therefore ensures a safe environment. It also creates awareness of the need to reduce energy consumptions through the use of green energy available within the environment. The USGBC therefore works to provide a safer environment now and in the future. LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) can be described as a system for designing, constructing and certifying green buildings, homes and neighborhoods. It has a classification system that rate buildings depending on the number of points that a building scores on this scale. They are classified as certified, silver, Gold or platinum depending on the number of points scored. As mentioned earlier this rating system was developed by USGBC in March 2000 and headed by Robert K. Watson. This system is purposed to provide building owners a concise framework for the identification, implementation and measurement of green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions (Marble 1-5). LEED will rate a building depending on how that building scores based on the following six components: (1) sustainable sites, (2) water efficiency, (3) energy and atmosphere, (4) materials and resources, (5) indoor and environmental quality and (6) innovation and design process. In each of the above categories there exist a specific number of credits available via many subcategories. These ratings have become very important for property owners with LEED certified buildings market prices skyrocketing (Marble 1-5). LEED Certification Process The first thing in LEED certification is to choose a rating system. There are a suit of seven rating systems: LEED for new construction, LEED for schools, LEED for core and shell, LEED for commercial interiors, LEED for existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance, LEED for neighborhood development and LEED Italia for new construction. This is followed by project registration which serves as a declaration of the intention to certify a building under LEED rating systems. Here, a fee is required in order to complete the process and list the project in the LEED database. The next step is the preparation for application where a set of documentation requirements are to be completed under each of the six categories or components mentioned above. When this process is complete the next stage is to submit the application for review and this is done by the LEED project administrator. The fifth stage is application review where the received completed application will be reviewed and the review process is different for each of the rating systems. The last stage is certification and here once the application review is complete the project team can either accept or appeal the final decision (GBCI). Users of LEED LEED is used by a number of people including professionals such as architects, real estate professionals, property managers, interior designers, Landscape architects, construction managers, lenders and government officials. A second group of people who use LEED is the state and Local governments. The third group is the federal agencies that include the department of defense, agriculture, Energy and state (USGBC). Certification is important because of several reasons and these include the following. First in terms of savings such that LEED certified homes and buildings are energy efficient as they lower heating and cooling costs and utility bills. Secondly the LEED makes buildings and homes more environmentally friendly as the design features incorporate many aspects that take advantage of light and space thus creating more pleasing and comfortable living areas. Lastly LEED helps in saving energy, reduces carbon emissions and making the environment safer to live in (Goering). USGBC Kentucky Chapter USGBC Kentucky chapter is part of the larger USGBC and acts as a local voice. It helps USGBC in mobilizing grassroots efforts towards the transforming of the built environment. It functions to open the door for local people to participate and promote sustainable building, advocate for green-friendly policies and help in building of networks to help in the promotion of green buildings. Members are engaged in raising awareness of LEED and green building through education outreach and advocacy. People are allowed to register and become members of this organization. There are also education opportunities available through the partnership with the head office in training people to become LEED professionals. One such project at Kentucky is the Rosa Parks Elementary school which cut its energy usage by 47%. This was made by improving operations and educating the teachers and students on energy reduction techniques. The school received energy star certification because of its hard work in reducing energy consumption (Tyler). The Kentucky chapter is headed by Clifford Ashburner who was the chair of Wyatt’s sustainability Group. He was the first attorney to be certified as a LEED Accredited Professional in Kentucky. This chapter has over 250 members that range from architects and designers to construction companies and developers (WYATT). Works Cited GBCI. LEED certification guide. 2011. Web. 26 November 2011. Goering, Matt. LEED Certification: A Premier. 2011. Web. 26 November 2011. Marble. "Green Building: History of Green Building." 2005. Marble institute. 26 November 2011.Print Tyler, Chris. Q&A with USGBC Green School Chapter Member Chris Tyler: How one Kentucky school cut energy at no cost. 31 August 2011. Web. 26 November 2011. USGBC. "About USGBC." 2011. United States Green Building Council. 26 November 2011 —. Who uses LEED. 2011. Web. 26 November 2011. WYATT. Ashburner reelected chair of the Kentucky chapter of USGBC. 7 January 2011. Web. 26 November 2011. Read More