I first discovered and joined Urban Green Council’s Emerging Professionals about three years ago when I first moved to the city. I was looking for a job in the architecture industry and wanted to meet like-minded people and share my passion for sustainable design. I felt welcomed into a tight-knit group from my very first meeting and have continued to gain valuable personal and professional relationships ever since this time. I became more and more involved with the group, volunteering to help organize events and making connections with an ever broader group of professionals. The relationships I made quickly introduced me to my current position, architect at Kohn Pedersen Fox, which has afforded me incredible experiences over the last three years.

Continuing to be involved with the Emerging Professionals has led to many leadership opportunities throughout the years. I served as an EP co-chair for one year, learning to engage a broad group of people in new and exciting ways. I moderated a successful panel discussion, Sustainability from the Bottom Up, which gathered industry leaders to to share their insider perspectives and forecasts for the future of green building. It was a great opportunity to interact with more experienced sustainability pros in a very tangible and meaningful way. Most recently, I was elected to the Urban Green Council Board of Directors, serving as the Emerging Professional representative and working to influence the future of the organization and its influence within the industry and city as a whole.

As I transition into the role of an “Emerged Professional,” I continually look back on my three years of experience and am grateful for the support and opportunities offered by the Emerging Professionals and Urban Green Council.  Through my experiences with the group, I have made valuable industry connections, gained valuable professional skills, and honed my leadership abilities. These qualities have easily transitioned into my architectural practice, affording me opportunity to take on more responsibility on projects and within the office. I look forward to many more years ahead working with Urban Green Council and taking this valuable knowledge and experience back to my architectural practice at KPF.

Urban Green Council is introducing a new member level for sustainability-minded recent college grads under 30. The Emerging Professionals membership is now available and has all the benefits of our regular membership. We hope to make this a permanent part of our members structure based on participation, so please sign up today! 

The following was blogged live from our Fall Conference on September 18, 2012 – Cooling on Climate Change: Designing the Message.

In this first panel discussion this morning, speakers outlined a few key points that we can all use to capture the attention of varying audiences.

Elliot Diringer, C2ES says climate change is complicated by a number of conflicting characteristics.  Because it is a global phenomenon that affects cultures and landscapes in different ways, our message must be adaptable to different audiences around the world.  This, he says, is further complicated by the fact that the effects of climate change are still somewhat uncertain and being experienced sporadically and in different forms (if at all), making it difficult for individuals to understand the importance of taking immediate action.

Lisa Fernandez, Yale Project on Climate Change Communication shares her research showing that in the US, surveys show that the public perception of climate change has declined over the past few years as a result of the economy and unemployment, decreased media coverage, unusual cold weather, an effective “denial industry” and increasing political polarization.  She goes on to say these studies have also demonstrated that there are six different levels of climate change perception (alarmed, concerned, cautious, disengaged, doubtful, dismissive), all of which require tailored engagement strategies.  Each audience interprets facts differently to construct their own understanding of the issue.

David Ropeik, Author and Consultant at David Ropeik and Associates, wrapped up the powerpoint presentations with a summary of the science behind how our brains actually process information.  He outlined the five components of risk perception, only one of which addresses the conscious, which is our ability to reason.  All other components come from our subconscious and deal with how we use mental shortcuts, circumstantial generalization, and common social influences to assess the risk associated with a certain event.  In summary, Ropeik illustrated that risks will not seem applicable to the individual if they don’t concern the individual on a level that is personal, local, and immediate.

Speakers agreed that effective messages must maintain credibility for the movement by staying close to facts outlined by current scientific research but counting on science alone won’t work. Spreading this knowledge is important, but that appealing to an individual’s (or a culture’s) emotions, values, and ideology also play a critical role in messaging effectively.  Finally, the message must appeal to the current social, political, and economic forces that are impacting an individual’s current perspective.

If you’re taking notes, write this down for tips to create and effective climate change message:

-        Present scientific data and consensus that climate change is real

-        Convey the real risks and impacts that climate change has on humans and focus on health consequences.

-        Portray linkage to recent extreme weather conditions

-        Avoid referring to climate change as an idea

-        Remind your audience that it’s solvable through immediate action

More to come in the next panel (The Role of the Green Building Industry) as we look to our “non-scientist validators”  to speak out to other key audiences.  Stay tuned for an update!

This month Urban Green will be holding a conference on climate change communication with the goal of bringing together some critical thinkers for a candid discussion about climate change messaging and action.  The topic of this conference derived from a few questions that have been nagging environmentalists for some time now. Why don’t some people believe climate change is happening? Or for that matter, that it’s caused by humans?

This of course excludes those with a vested interest in denying the science (“big oil” etc.).  Instead I’m talking about those individuals who actually aren’t convinced by the overwhelming scientific evidence, not those who are pretending not to believe it for financial or political gain.  A recent poll released by the Brookings Institute in July reveals that “belief” in climate change is literally changing with the weather. Of the 62% of Americans who believe global temperatures are rising, approximately half of those came to this conclusion because of weather changes or warmer temperatures.

What does this mean? It means talking about climate change is more complicated than just explaining the science.  In a recent New York Times article, Beth Gardiner spoke to leading researchers in the field of climate psychology about the inherent difficulty we have engaging “with the more abstract, global dangers posed by climate change.” It’s a fascinating article that concludes that the pitch is as important as the message.  To reach the roughly 40% of Americans who don’t believe and those who will no longer believe when the mercury falls, we’ll want to adjust our narrative.

There’s been a swell of research into this topic from a variety of highly focused academic centers over the last few years, including American University School of Communication, The Yale Project on Climate Change Communication (YPCCC), and George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication (4C), among others.  A collaborative report from the YPCCC and 4C, Global Warming’s Six Americas in March 2012 and November 2011, argues Americans can be described as part of one of six groups in terms of belief in climate change: Alarmed, Concerned, Cautious, Disengaged, Doubtful, or Dismissive. Nearly 40% of American adults fall into the two most concerned groups while only 25% are in the least concerned groups.  Understanding these categories and the values of these individuals will help us communicate more effectively about climate change.

Once we’ve sorted this out, we’ll have to move on to the next and more challenging question.  If we all agree climate change is happening now and is a significant threat to our well-being, why aren’t we taking more action?  What specifically and practically can the green building industry do to combat climate change?  How do you fight climate change when you’re primary role is not a climate change warrior?

To hear more about these ideas and to participate in the discussion, join us for “Cooling on Climate Change: Designing the Message” on September 18 at Bloomberg. For more information and to register, please visit our website.

The media coverage of the earthquake that devastated Haiti and the city of Port au Prince on January 12, 2010 stopped long ago, creating a silence that allows many of us to remove the event from the list of immediately pressing concerns.

For a moment, let us think back to 2010 when initial reports stated that the total cost of the earthquake was between $8 billion and $14 billion and the death toll was approximately 316,000.   Later, in June 2011, the International Organization for Migration reported that an estimated 634,000 people were still living in displacement camps (New York Times).  Now, two and a half years after the natural disaster, hundreds of thousands are still living without safe housing and much of the infrastructure in Port au Price remains in disrepair.  Tent camps and damaged buildings provide unstable housing for those remaining in the city, while others have moved to the countryside to build homes with tarps and sheet metal. The crisis is far from over, and the need to build more permanent housing and infrastructure in Haiti still persists.

During times like these, it seems that our role as architects, engineers, developers, and builders is obvious.  The concepts of social entrepreneurship, social architecture, or social engineering have been around for a long time, all of which revolve around the goal of mitigating a social problem through conscious organization, planning, or design.  Shortly after news of Haiti’s earthquake reached this country, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) committed to helping the people of Haiti rebuild and recover from the disaster.  The current USGBC-led initiative, Project Haiti, is an effort to build a LEED-certified orphanage in Port au Prince.  Once complete, the Orphanage and Children’s Center will provide shelter and safety, immediate care, and a hopeful future for children.

Upon hearing about USGBC’s effort to raise money for this noteworthy project, the Urban Green Council Emerging Professionals came on board to support the cause.  At a fundraiser on August 15, 2012, the group raised over $1,700 to be donated to USGBC and used exclusively for expenses related to the design and construction of Haiti Orphanage and Children’s Center.  The evening was a cultural celebration with a brief presentation of the project and a performance by local Haitian drumming group, La Troupe Makandal.  A generous donation of raffle prizes from the Four Seasons Restaurant, TJ Allan, Rachel Goldfarb, Volta, Alexandra Weiss Designs, and Urban Green Council contributed to the funds raised.  See photos from the event here.

This project has been designed as a model for high-performance green building practices that can be tailored to any culture.  As sustainable builders, we cannot just rebuild buildings and infrastructure; we must “rebuild them better”. Project Haiti aims to inspire and teach how construction can both minimize impacts on the environment and, through maximizing energy and water conservation, be financially sustainable.  Sponsored by USGBC with partnership from the Foundation L’enfant Jesus and pro-bono design by HOK, Project Haiti has been recognized as a Commitment Maker by the Clinton Global Initiative.

The Urban Green Council Emerging Professionals are a dedicated group of young professionals who work to create a network of leaders in the field of sustainability.  Led by a core group of volunteer leaders, they develop opportunities for involvement through Urban Green Council to further generate momentum for the green building industry.

Want to learn more about how the green building industry is practicing “social design”?  Urban Green Council’s conference Cooling on Climate Change: Designing the Message on September 18, will examine how the green building industry should be responding to climate change by asking questions such as: How can the green building movement better communicate the threats of climate change?  What role do designers, developers, operators, and other real estate professionals have in climate change activism?  What role does marketing play regarding climate change in the green building industry?  How are marketing strategies adjusted for clients who are uninterested in mitigating climate change?

Urban Green Council relies on our interns to help with our monthly educational programs, assist with fundraising, and work on developing our national certificate program GPRO. The Fall 2012 Internship season is upon us, and we wanted to take this opportunity to introduce you to our summer interns and thank them for their incredible work over the past three months.

JESSICA JOANLANNE
[GPRO Intern] Recent graduate from the New York School of Interior Design with an MPS in Sustainable Interior Environments.

Interning at Urban Green Council has been such an amazing experience!  The entire staff is truly dedicated to spreading the message of sustainability, and I am so happy for the opportunity to learn from them and contribute to their mission.  Working on GPRO has been especially rewarding, because I’ve been able to apply so much from my recent graduate studies to the development of the different course modules.  After this internship, I hope to implement all that I’ve learned to advance my career in the field of sustainable design and advocacy.

JAMIE KLEINBERG
[Research Intern] Graduate of Tufts University with a B.S. Chemical Engineering

As a research intern, I have been working on the 90×50 project, which aims to describe the energy efficiency measures necessary to reduce citywide greenhouse gas emissions 90% below 2010 levels by the year 2050. It is truly an eye-opening project, and I hope to see a greener New York City as a result of it! Working on 90×50 has taught me so much about the careful interaction between scientific research and feasible policy. I am so thankful for the opportunity to see the project through to its end, and I expect to use what I’ve learned about sustainability in all of my future endeavors.

NATALIE SELZER
[GPRO Intern] A California native and recent Tufts University graduate with a B.A. in environmental studies and English. 

The past three months at Urban Green Council have been a great learning experience. Working on GPRO curriculum development allowed me to combine my two primary interests—urban sustainability and writing/editing—in a really interesting way that I hadn’t experienced before. It opened my eyes to a new set of professional possibilities in environmental education and training, which I may not have otherwise considered. I was also lucky to work with the small, dedicated staff of GPRO. They gave me both independence and support, and really involved me in the big projects they were working on. They welcomed me as a part of their team, and I was able to learn so much about sustainable building practices, curriculum development, and the nonprofit workplace because of their inclusive attitude. Once my time with Urban Green Council ends, I hope to pursue a career in environmental journalism or communications (anything that involves both words and the environment!).

CHARLOTTE STANLEY
[GPRO Intern] California native with a B.S. in Environmental Science from UCLA.
I’m so glad I got the opportunity to continue my spring internship at Urban Green Council through the summer. As a member of GPRO’s curriculum development team, I gained additional responsibilities and helped with research, writing, editing, and more for the Construction Management and Operations & Maintenance modules. I’ve really enjoyed all aspects of my internship and I’m excited for my next step – joining Urban Green’s staff full-time as GPRO’s Curriculum Associate!

Best of luck to Jessica, Jamie, Natalie, and Charlotte on their future endeavors! We are now accepting applications for our Fall 2012 internship positions through the end of August.

Urban Green Council relies on our interns to help coordinate our monthly educational programs and special events, assist with research and  fundraising, and work on developing our national certificate program GPRO. The Summer 2012 Internship season is upon us, and we wanted to take this opportunity to introduce you to our spring interns and thank them for their incredible work over the past several months.

JENELLE HOFFMAN (LinkedIn)
[EBies Intern] A California native, studying Sustainability Management as a Graduate Student at Columbia University.
I loved working this semester as the EBies Intern for this new and exciting competition!  I learned a lot about how sustainability initiatives can be implemented into existing buildings in order to improve our global carbon footprint.  One of the greatest perks of being an intern is being able to go to all the events and presentations by some of NYCs most forward thinking revolutionaries in the sustainable building sphere.  When I graduate from Columbia in December, I hope to find a job as a Sustainability Consultant either here in NY, or back home in San Francisco.

JAMIE KLEINBERG
[Research Intern] Recent graduate from Tufts University with a Bachelors of Science in Chemical Engineering.
As an intern at Urban Green Council, I’ve had the chance to learn about all of the amazing strides that New York City leaders have taken to create a sustainable urban environment. There have been so many opportunities to attend courses and events, with great speakers at the forefronts of their fields. My favorite part about working here has been all of the laughs, advice, and life-talks with the other interns and the rest of my coworkers. After this internship, I hope pursue a career in sustainable development, chemical engineering, or some fusion of the two!

ANDY LETWIN (LinkedIn)
[Programs Intern] B.A. Political Science from Skidmore College, focus on environmental studies and sustainable development.
As someone who is passionate about green buildings and sustainable development, my favorite aspect of this internship has been the networking opportunities. I have met so many wonderful people in a variety of fields. I have also enjoyed working with my great co-workers over the course of my time here.

With the internship winding down, I am shipping off to Vietnam for four months where I plan to teach English and travel. Upon my return, I hope to find full-time employment in the sustainability field!

HANAA ROHMAN
[GPRO Intern] A recent graduate of Princeton University with a degree in architecture and certificate in urban studies.
I’ve met and worked with a lot of amazing people during my time at Urban Green Council. This is what I value the most, as many of the issues we’re confronting could not be tackled without the passion and dedication of those involved. Among my favorite moments were interacting with industry professionals at our GPRO courses and attending many of Urban Green’s programs—both of which left me constantly thinking of the interactions between environment and design, especially in the context of the city. I’m very excited about all of the inspiring discussions I’ve had here and hope to continue developing these ideas in graduate school, where I’ll be pursuing a Master’s in Architecture.

CHARLOTTE STANLEY
[GPRO Intern] A California native and UCLA graduate with a BS in environmental science and environmental engineering.
I’ve had a great experience interning at Urban Green Council these past few months. I’ve learned a lot about green building practices from working on the GPRO Fundamentals and Electrical Systems curriculums. The best part of the internship was attending the Urban Green Council events (and eating the delicious food at those events!) with my coworkers. While I don’t know where my next move will take me, I know I’ll welcome any opportunities to show my commitment to a more sustainable future.

A little over 10 years ago, I began a four-year stint as a legislative attorney at the New York City Council. Back in those pre-PlaNYC and pre-Green Codes Task Force days, it was no easy feat to get the Mayor’s Office to concentrate on environmental legislation and we had a big one cooking at the City Council: Local Law 86, which required all city owned and funded construction over $2 million to be built to LEED Silver.

One of the people who would attend meetings at the Mayor’s Office on this legislation was an elegant, soft-spoken woman who seemed to know everything about the building code: Deborah Taylor. Unbeknownst to me at the time, she was one of the principal advocates for this green building legislation within city government. I later discovered she was probably the first person to propose that city agencies meet to develop a broad sustainability agenda – this became the “Mayor’s Task Force on Sustainability,” the precursor to PlaNYC. Without her,  PlaNYC may never have happened. Deborah also recognized that New York City would need to adopt its own version of the state energy code, both to close state loopholes and so the city could make its own amendments. This led to the city finally starting to enforce the energy code for the first time since it was adopted in the 1970s. Another Deborah special. And so on, again and again and again.

Long before Urban Green Council or the U.S. Green Building Council New York, before PlaNYC and the Greener, Greater Buildings Plan, before the Office of Long-term Planning & Sustainability, before the Green Codes Task Force, and before Local Law 86 there was Deborah Taylor. Working behind the scenes and without public credit, she nurtured much of the green building revolution we’ve seen in city government and her imprint is on so many policy accomplishments in the last decade.

Last month, Deborah retired from city government after nine years at the Department of Buildings, and eight years at the School Construction Authority before that. A great public servant, she is one of New York City’s unsung green heroes. Let’s all celebrate her enormous achievements and hope that other champions within the Department of Buildings will continue in her footsteps.

Green codes continue to fly off the City Council’s legislative shelf like bagels on a NYC morning. We can’t even keep track and we helped draft them!

Last Wednesday, the City Council gave New York a New Year’s present by prohibiting the sale, offer for sale, or installation of carpets and carpet cushions that contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in excess of the Green Label Plus standards from the Carpet & Rug Institute. Implementing the Task Force proposal Health & Toxicity 1: Limit Harmful Emissions From Carpets, we believe this law is another first in the nation for a municipality. While many jurisdictions have standards on paints and coatings, carpets haven’t received the same attention.

But they should. For those who aren’t familiar with VOCs, they are a class of carcinogenic chemicals behind “new car smell” that cause a host of health problems ranging from respiratory ailments to major organ damage. While paints and coatings off-gas VOCs very quickly, it takes longer for carpets to release their VOCs thus increasing the likelihood that end users will be impacted. Interestingly, the vast majority of U.S. carpet manufacturers meet the Green Label Plus standards — the problem is with imported carpets. So, in one package we have a new law that improves the health of New Yorkers and also increases the competitiveness of American carpet manufacturers.

For ongoing updates on the status of the GCTF proposals, check out our Codes Status Report.

After last year’s Urban Green Council Board Member elections, one of the successful candidates suggested that we take a second look at our election procedures, which felt a bit like high school. He had a point; we recruit senior, well-qualified candidates only to then ask them to compete against one another.

The Board of Directors recently voted to revise our bylaws, including changing our election procedure to match that of most other nonprofits. Rather than have some people elected by the Board and others by the members, all candidates will be part of a slate put before the members for a vote approving or disapproving the full slate. The members will help us put together this slate through a Call for Nominations we’ll issue each Fall.

We made other updates to the bylaws, which were 10 years old, making them more in line with other nonprofits:

• We removed the two-year time limit for Board officers. Now they will be able to serve for as long as they remain on the Board and their colleagues would like them to serve;
• Extended the term for the Emerging Professionals Director from two to three years, aligning this position with that of other directors;
• Added various provisions found in most nonprofit bylaws. For example, authority to enter into contracts and obtain a loan.

Most of these details are inside baseball, but they are the rules underpinning the organization. We’ve just updated them so Urban Green Council better reflects the mature organization it has grown into.

The 2012 Board Election will kick off on December 6th at the Winter Member Meeting, where members will be have the opportunity to meet all the candidates. Elections will remain open until December 31st.