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.

We are proud to announce that Urban Green Council has issued its 1,000^th GPRO Certificate!

In the 11 months since we launched our first public class, we have trained or are in the process of training over 1,700 candidates in five different construction modules.  We wanted you to hear from our Certificate Holders directly, so we invited a student from each GPRO module to tell us how GPRO has impacted the way they work.

Loretta Tapia, GPRO: FUND

NYC Cool Roofs Site Supervisor, Community Environmental Center, New York, NY

I look at buildings differently.  I better understand the relationships between building systems and their effect on the environment. My job involves painting cool roofs and concentrates on the urban heat island effect, reducing carbon emissions and air pollution while increasing energy efficiency within the building.  We are still learning the effects of cooling roofs and how they prolong the life of vents and machinery on the roof.  I often have in depth conversations with building supers, while inspecting their roofs, which include benchmarking, lighting efficiency, weatherizing, and updating boilers and air conditioners. GPRO has given me a good foundation to build upon in understanding how important it is to do this work and continue to learn and educate others about sustainability.

Ty Stranger-Thorson, GPRO: CM

Area Manager, The Garland Company, Magnolia, TX

The actual way I work has not changed much, but the hard hat stickers and my GPRO credential listed on my LinkedIn page have both raised some questions from colleagues and clients alike regarding my GPRO certificate. This has started dialogue regarding green construction and practice, from the designers to the installers.

The more we are able to spread the word about these types of programs the easier it will be to have our buildings constructed by workers that understand and implement green building practices.

Isaiah Matos, GPRO: O&M

Assistant Resident Manager, Douglas Elliman, New York, NY

The GPRO courses changed various aspects of my life, both professionally and personally. GPRO illuminated a new way of thinking when performing at work on a daily basis. Simple things from the types of products that I purchase for the buildings to the way I manage construction and renovations have all changed. GPRO introduced me to integrated design and thinking, so making simple decisions like changing lamps may have inverse cost effects on the HVAC system, which is something I never considered before. Water conservation can reduce energy use by simply not having to heat and transport as much water as before the reduction. The integrated systems approach has changed the way I make every decision.

GPRO also introduced me to the USGBC and the LEED rating system. The influence of some of the lecturers inspired me to move further into the green building industry and pursue LEED accreditation. As of now I am a LEED Green Associate and I am studying for my LEED AP in Building Operations & Maintenance, which I hope to have before new year 2012.

Bob Hattier, GPRO: EL

NABCEP Certified PV Installer, IBEW Local 134 Chicago, Chicago, IL

GPRO addresses the disconnect that has long plagued green building.  Now with trade level certification there can be a true integrated design and construction process.  In my work I have a new understanding of the other trades’ approaches and strategies used in efficient building, and it fosters communication between us. I look forward to the day when many more are trained and green building is the norm.

Carl Gambino, GPRO: PL

Journeyman Plumber & Instructor, U.A. Local 1 NYC Plumbers Union

The day after the Fundamentals class, when I went back to my job at Tower 1 at the World Trade Center (the project is working towards LEED Gold certification), I looked around and was able to understand so much more about what was being built and why I was being asked to change the way we worked. I also noticed how other trades were contributing to the green building design.

Interested in taking a GPRO course? Our delivery partners in Upstate NY and LaGuardia Community College are both holding public sessions this winter.

An early start at Greenbuild this morning with a really fun session on the next generation of LEED.  Scot Horst of the USGBC moderated the 90 minute program which was modeled after Shakespeare’s play, The Tempest.  Seriously.  There were “players” acting scenes while Scot delivered quotes from the play.  Sounds corny, I know.  But it worked pretty well.  My guess is that he was inspired by the setting- the “room” was actually a traditional theater, with raked floor, raised stage and a hanging mezzanine.  Each session in that space today is an “Act” and each speaker a “Scene.” The individual speakers were great.   Lauren Riggs from the USGBC talked about the metric reporting they hope to provide to those that have signed on to their Building Performance Partnership.  Garvin Cardi from Christman Company talked about their new headquarters building in Lansing (more on this, below).  And Marcus Sheffer of 7group talked about creating positive feedback loops that span the divide between completion of construction and occupancy.  I chose the session to see my YR&G colleague, Lauren Yarmuth, present on building a culture within an organization.   She used her own stories and a series of photos, several of which were laugh out loud hilarious, to describe the continual journey and the constant attention needed, to build and maintain a sense of community.

On a more nuts and bolts level, Garvin Cardi from Cristman talked about the development of their headquarters in Lansing, Michigan.  The project got a lot of attention from the green building community for being “double Platinum”- for both LEED Core & Shell and Commercial Interiors (for their offices’ portion of the building.)  It was singular for being achieved in a landmarked building (it received significant historic building tax credits) and was one of the very first applications of underfloor air distribution in an existing building.  Michigan State University did an extensive study of the health and productivity of the building occupants and found solid evidence of reduced absenteeism, less asthma and generally happier employees.   Despite these solid results, when looking at their utility bills, Cardi found a problem. They were using twice as much energy as expected- even though people were generally very comfortable.  Their Energy Star score was 35.  Which is appalling.  So they spent a year commissioning their systems and found that without proper attention to the building controls they had systems like the perimeter heat in the underfloor cavity that were running full tilt, every hour of the year.  Through improvements of these systems, documented through the LEED-EBOM process they improved their Energy Star score to 81 (which is stellar) and became one of the first triple-platinum projects in the country.

Photo credit: The Christman Company and Gene Meadows

READ MORE
Greenbuild: Tuesday
Greenbuild: Benchmarking Roundtable
Greenbuild: Cradle to Cradle
Greenbuild: Finale

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 2011 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.

LISA BLAKE (LinkedIn)
[GPRO Intern] Urban Planning graduate student at Columbia University – educational focus on environmental and land use planning.
This summer at Urban Green Council has been great; I’ve learned a ton about sustainability practices, had terrific co-workers, and met interesting professionals in the green building industry.  That said, it’s hard to pick a favorite intern moment, but it was probably either watching the sun rise from the top of 7 World Trade Center while setting up for the Speak Green Conference or attending the, “Pioneering Design in Portland, Oregon Salon,” and learning about cutting- edge green building techniques. Next up, I’ll be brainstorming thesis ideas(!), finishing up my graduate degree, and looking for full-time employment.

JAKE GOREN (LinkedIn)
[Programs/Development Intern] Senior at Columbia University – BA in Architecture; Concentration in Sustainable Development expected May 2012
I’m from Los Angeles, California (I drive a hybrid!), and I love Vietnamese sandwiches.  This summer at Urban Green has been great—I’ve really enjoyed helping at all the events and seeing many LEED spaces in New York City, interacting with green professionals across nearly every industry, and finally being able to realize my dream of working at a non-profit. Though I’d have to say that some of my most memorable moments are from sitting at the conference table in the UGC office sharing a few good laughs with my fellow interns.  My future is still undetermined: I know I’ll first finish college, and then hopefully go on to grad school, either in architecture or sustainable development.

CHELSEA HANEMAN (LinkedIn)
[GPRO Intern] A Pennsylvania native In her 4^th year of Syracuse University’s 5-year Architecture School
The best aspect of being an intern at Urban Green has been the opportunity to attend lectures by industry leaders in some of New York’s most innovative and historically distinguished buildings.  Furthermore, as an intern I’ve had the opportunity to use graphic design software, such as Adobe Creative Suite, in editing GPRO manuals and graphics.  Next year I will incorporate the knowledge I’ve gained this summer into my architecture thesis on sustainable design at Syracuse.
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ERIC KIM
[GPRO Intern] Born and raised in New York City and a recent graduate of University of Michigan in 2010 with a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering
During my time at Urban Green Council I learned a lot about green buildings, sustainable construction practices and building systems through helping the GPRO team and attending GPRO classes. It was very fulfilling to work on a socially valuable project such as GPRO that educates the construction and building trades on sustainability. This fall I will be entering my first year at the University of Southern California for a Master’s in Environmental Engineering. After school, I look forward to joining the movement toward a cleaner and more sustainable future.

JACOB KIPNIS
[GPRO Intern] A Brooklynite and rising sophomore at Dickinson College
Of the tasks I’ve worked on over the summer, I’d say my favorite was constructing questions for a GPRO exam. It allowed me to get creative which was fun. I’ll be working for the Urban Green Council till the end of the summer, after which I’ll be returning to Carlisle, PA, home to our nations worst air quality. Dickinson College, however, maintains three LEED certified academic buildings so I guess I made the right decision in the end. 

SARAH SPIELMAN (LinkedIn)
[GPRO Intern] A native Montanan and recent graduate of Tufts University, with degrees in Environmental Studies and Art History
My favorite moment of the internship was my second week when Lisa (a fellow intern) and I arrived before everyone else at the venue for the Speak Green Conference. Held on the 40th floor of the World Trade Center in the offices of the New York Academy of Sciences, we watched the sun rise over the city skyline. This fall I will be attending Parsons, the design school within The New School, pursuing an Associates Degree in Interior Design.

Best of luck to Lisa, Jake, Chelsea, Eric, Jacob and Sarah on their future endeavors! We are now accepting applications for our Fall 2011 internship positions through August 15th. More information is available here.

It took us awhile, but we finally totaled up all the Green Codes Task Force proposals that worked their way into PlaNYC 2.0. By our count, there are 16 Task Force proposals in PlaNYC that are not among the 36 in recently passed laws, new regulations, revised city programs or pending legislation (an additional 7 proposals noted in PlaNYC are part of this group of 36). This means the total number of Task Force proposals in play is 52—almost half of the original 111 recommendations! And this doesn’t even include many others that we know are being worked on by the City Council or Mayor’s Office but are not yet public. Our Codes Status Report provides the latest information on each proposal, including requirements for proposals that have become law.

Although PlaNYC specifically acknowledges the contributions of the Task Force, I suspect that the incorporation of Task Force ideas into PlaNYC was not always conscious. Many city agency staff actively participated on the Task Force, attending meetings, contributing to discussions, helping to generate ideas, and connecting with private-sector experts on sustainability. I would like to think that those discussions and interactions, along with the influence of PlaNYC, stimulated agency interest in sustainability. In short, the Task Force helped to create a sustainability culture within city agencies.

Pick any city agency that is key to sustainability, and you will now find senior staff  experts and green champions: Buildings has Deborah Taylor and John Lee; Environmental Protection has Carter Strickland and Sergej Mahnovski; City Planning has Howard Slatkin; DDC, which has long roots in green building, has David Resnick, Eric Boorstyn, and Tom Paino; and DCAS (which manages most of the city’s buildings) has Ariella Maron, Melissa Wright-Ellis and others in their energy group. This may seem so much the norm now that it’s taken for granted; yet most of these people occupy senior sustainability positions that didn’t even exist a few years ago.

The city employs a quarter million people and it takes a long time to shift the culture of such a large organization, which also has an upside. Now that sustainability is regarded as mission-critical, there has been a mindset shift among agency staff, allowing green initiatives to grow and prosper within the agencies themselves.  This may very well be as important a Bloomberg sustainability legacy as PlaNYC or any of the laws passed under his watch. So even if our next mayor doesn’t quite share Bloomberg’s passion for sustainability, it will still march on through city agencies and their committed staff.

If you’d like to learn more about green building in PlaNYC 2.0, join us on July 14th for a special presentation from Laurie Kerr, Senior Policy Advisor at the Mayor’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability, on these important initiatives. Event details are here.

Quite a few people have commented on the recent proposal by Apple to build a kind of suburban spaceship headquarters (pictured above) in Cupertino, CA.  Alexandra Lange at Design Observer has noted that suburban HQ’s are decidedly retro, and Lloyd Alter at Treehugger is reminded of the passage from Lord of the Rings, “One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them” and predicts the end of the creative giant (Apple, not Sauron.)

There is something kind of creepy about the uber-slick aesthetic Apple has successfully applied to their gadgets and retail stores being applied to such a massive structure. With a diameter similar to the Pentagon, the pop cultural reference it brought to mind for me was Revenge of the Sith. But that’s all totally subjective. What struck me most forcefully was the difference between this particular design solution and the solution proposed by another global tech company trying to house a rapidly growing workforce: Google.

First, let’s review the Apple proposal. The building, though only 4 stories in height is massive and is designed to provide space for 12,000 employees. Presenting the project to Cupertino City Council (see the video here),  Steve Jobs points out that the current site is only 20% green space and that their proposal will increase this to 80% landscape, achieved by placing “most” of the parking underground. I put “most” in quotes because in addition to underground parking below the main building there is a huge above-ground parking structure proposed alongside I-280. Jobs says this parking structure is 4 stories because they want everything on the site to be “human scaled,” but one wonders how a parking structure that appears to be 2,000 feet long can be considered in any way approachable. To give you a sense of the scale of parking required in places like Cupertino (where everyone drives everywhere, for everything)- Apple will reduce the surface parking by 90%. It’s a laudable achievement, but still leaves 1,200 surface parking spaces on the site. Another scale adjustment for you, the “café” in the new building serves 3,000 people at a sitting.

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Bill Clinton is on the cover of Newsweek and he can’t stop talking about green building.

The former President offers Newsweek 14 ideas to get the economy moving forward, and he doesn’t get past #4 before he places green building front and center.  In this item he proposes the country use the Empire State Building retrofit project as a model.  The Clinton Climate Initiative was heavily involved in the project, which provided a 38% reduction in energy use and provided Newsweek with their cover quote:

“We could put a million people to work retrofitting buildings all over America.” – Bill Clinton

In subsequent items he advocates for energy efficiency retrofits of single family homes financed by the utilities, financing of government and institutional building retrofits guaranteed by left-over TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) funds, and mobilizing the un- and under-employed to paint roofs white all across the country.  All in all, more than a quarter of his recommendations revolve directly around green building, and at least another quarter deal with the directly related issue of clean energy investment.  Read the whole piece here.

Weather is what’s happening in the air around us, and climate is how it is, long term, where we are. At least, that’s what we used to mean, back when a location came with a climate: temperate, tropical, sunny, or moist.  Seasonal variations were part of the idea of climate – summer, winter, monsoon, mistral – but there was little room for other change within the concept.  On the other hand, the weather changes constantly, giving us a way to make conversation in elevators with total strangers or romantic rivals.

At the end of the nineteenth century,  Arhennius pointed out that man-made variations in the carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere could alter the earth’s temperature, and the science of climate change was born.  A fringe activity until around 1990, it now attracts most of the attention of atmospheric scientists, since it is well established that if we continue our wasteful ways we will irretrievably alter the earth’s climate, and not in a good way.

But all this talk of climate change is about long term statistical quantities, like average temperature, area of minimum arctic sea ice, fraction of coral reefs bleached past recovery, or the range of altitudes over which the edelweiss can flower.  Ask a climate scientist about the severity of the rainstorm last Sunday night and she will suggest that you talk to a weather analyst, since no individual weather event can be directly tied to the slow process of climate change.

Well, for any individual event, that’s probably true.  But have you been following the news lately?  Bill McKibben, the founder of 350.org, has, and in an astonishing op-ed piece published in the Washington Post he implicitly challenges climate scientists to deal not with individual weather events, but with the extraordinary series of floods, tornadoes, and everything but a rain of frogs that have been devastating one locality after another.  I won’t tell you his conclusion because everyone should read the entire piece for themselves. Less time than you’ve already put in, guaranteed!

Photo credit: NASA

As noted in our newsletter today, Curtis Ravenel, Global Head of Bloomberg’s Sustainability Group, will deliver the Keynote at our upcoming conference, Speak Green.

We invited Curtis to speak both because of his strong background on these issues and because Bloomberg has just released their first ever annual sustainability report.  Corporations release sustainability reports all the time, so what makes this one special?  In our minds there are three strong reasons: scale, exposure and ambition.

With more than 12,000 employees and annual revenues of nearly $7 billion,  any initiatives  Bloomberg LP adopts are poised to have a dramatic impact.  As one of the highest profile media organizations in the world, their initiatives are likely to draw far more attention than those of a typical corporation, and if successful will serve as a beacon for many other organizations.  Bloomberg’s position within the financial industry is critically important.  The business cases for sustainability and green building are being built step by step, project by project.  But with a relatively limited number of green building projects available as examples, Wall Street has largely been reluctant to recognize their financial benefits.

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