CBS Newsletter
Summer 1994
pg. 11
 |
News From the D.C. Office:
U.S. Green Building Council Priorities |
The U.S. Green Building Council was recently formed as a nonprofit,
Washington-based organization to promote environmentally sound building
design, construction, and operation. The Council's concept of "green
building" includes energy efficiency, indoor environmental quality,
occupant comfort and productivity, and "sustainable choices of
materials, location, and site design.
LBL is one of the few research organizations to have joined the Green
Building Council thus far. Steve Selkowitz is LBL's primary contact,
and Jeff Harris covers many of the meetings in Washington. Other
Council members include industry organizations, manufacturing firms,
utilities, environmental groups, and several Federal agencies.
At the Council's general meeting in Washington D.C., 18-19 April,
members selected three priority program areas for work this year:
- Green Building Resource Center. This would be a national
center for disseminating information and educational tools on energy
efficiency, indoor air quality, and sustainable buildings.
- Green
Building Benefits Study. The Council wants to work with real estate
industry, lenders, and insurance underwriters to help establish a
consensus on how to calculate tenant and owner benefitsÑand thus create
a marketable dollar value--for a "green" building.
- BuildingRating
Systems. The Council wants to explore options for a national system of
rating and labeling green buildings, modeled on similar programs in the
UK and British Columbia. The target is mainly commercial buildings, but
there is also interest in rating homes.
Some of the Council's other interests include:
- A proposed program for product certification and environmental
labeling.
- Life-cycle assessment for building products, including
energy-using equipment and lighting.
- Environmental (pollutant)
fees, full-cost accounting, and "green" utilities. The Council would
encourage both new accounting methods and supportive public policies in
these areas.
- Demonstrations of Green Buildings. The demonstration
project efforts to date have been led by the National Institute for
Standards and Testing as part of a new program mandated by Congress in
1993. Five demonstration sites have been funded.
LBL shares with many Council members a whole-buildings perspective on
performance--one that seeks to integrate technologies and systems, hardware
and people issues, design and operation, and attention to end-of-life issues for
structural components, equipment, and furnishings. Participation in the
Council offers LBL an opportunity to apply its tools and expertise on
energy efficiency to a broader spectrum of building performance issues
and to link its concerns with indoor air quality and energy. LBL's
expertise on energy efficiency is a valuable resource for the Council,
since energy cost savings, the one benefit relatively easy to document,
represents a solid foundation for the claims of added market value
being pursued by Green Buildings advocates.
Jeff Harris
Environmental Energy Technologies Division
1250 Maryland Ave. SW, Suite 150
Washington D.C. 20024
(202) 484-0880
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