August-2006

Inaugural Sustainable Summit a Great Success 

Below is a story that made the Front Page of the San Diego Daily Transcript on Wednesday, August 16, 2006:

Green building summit explores rating systems, environmental designs
By DIANA SAMUELS, The Daily Transcript
Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Attendees to a Sustainable Facilities Summit this week discussed green building efforts and even found themselves singing "It's Not Easy Being Green" in one session, as a stuffed Kermit the Frog rested on the podium. Speakers representing private and public organizations ranging from Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) to Virginia Beach City Public Schools described their organizations' environmental efforts and shared tips on green building, at the conference Sunday through Tuesday at the Hilton Torrey Pines, La Jolla.

The conference was the first of its type organized by CraigMichaels Inc., said Michael P. Owens, CraigMichaels director of production. Green building had been a prevalent topic at the company's other building conferences, inspiring a summit specifically on the topic.
Owens said the conference sold out almost immediately, with about 200 attendees, and CraigMichaels is already planning another for next June in New Mexico. "People traveling across the country for three days, I think that speaks a lot for itself, and to their commitment
to this idea," Owens said.

Owens said that since the conference was not sponsored by an organization promoting a certain rating system, such as Leadership in Environmental Energy and Design certification, it allowed for constructive debate on the ratings systems. The conference also included a forum with University of California, San Diego professors, who shared current research of interest to green builders, such as environmental sensor networks and tools for integrating environmental conditions into a building's design.

Funding was often cited as a challenge to green building, though David G. Lever, executive director of the Maryland Public Schools Construction Program, and many others said there is a common tendency to look at only the implementation costs rather than the long-term savings. Though cost can sometimes be a barrier to green building, Paul Schwabacher, senior vice president of facilities management at the New York University Medical Center, said in his presentation that combining the financial expertise of management with the passion of an individual assigned specifically to green building efforts worked well in his experience. Schwabacher suggested that when constructing a green building, someone independent of the design team should do energy analysis, and the construction schedule and budget should still override conservation concerns.

Bucky Green, chief of the Sustainable Facilities Branch at the Environmental Protection Agency, also described techniques he used to encourage green practices. As EPA facilities are decentralized, Green said he shares data about energy usage at each location to encourage peer pressure among facilities. Jim Bullock, director of facilities for the J. Paul Getty Trust, discussed the methods the Getty Center used to achieve LEED certification, including monitoring lighting systems and staging lights in the parking garage, and turning off lights during off-hours on certain garage levels. The museum also provides incentives, such as personal days and gift certificates, to encourage staff to use alternative transportation methods to get to work.

Bullock, who later brought out the Kermit stuffed animal and song lyrics, said residents in the Getty's neighborhood appreciate the building's environmental qualities. "They're very pleased that we're a LEED EB (existing building) facility, and they look at us differently because of it," he said.

Many attendees said they were impressed by the presentation by Wal-Mart, whose environmental efforts include three "demonstration stores" with elements such as recycled asphalt in the parking lot, an irrigation system that uses extra water from drinking fountains and restrooms,
and prototype skylights that let in extra daylight. "We can't do this without the commitment of the major corporations of America," Lever said. "That's why it's so important for Ford and Wal-Mart to be here." Lever said he would take back to Maryland ideas about grants and new green technology, and would visit green projects in his area. Many of the presenters and attendees represented public organizations, such as the U.S. Green Building Council and Seattle Public Schools. Roz Guthrie, director of corporate facilities for Jack in the Box Inc. (NYSE: JBX), said it might be more difficult for a corporation, compared to public entities, to implement green building practices, since corporations have to have a payback.

Dan Burgoyne, a sustainability manager and LEED Accredited Professional at the state of California, said it was encouraging that large companies have been involved in green building. "You know that it's a business reason why they're doing it, because it's better for the bottom line," he said. Burgoyne said presenters had demonstrated that green practices can help preserve the life of a facility and techniques such as daylighting can increase productivity within. "I personally think that this whole issue, someday we'll look at this and think, 'This is the way it always should have been,'" Guthrie said.