USGBC Federal Summit

Chris @WebMindSet — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 23:48:13 +0000

The U.S. Green Building Council’s 2009 Federal Summit in Washington DC showcased President Obama’s commitment to greening federal buildings and operations around the world. Among attendees were environmental adviser Nancy Sutley, leaders from GSA, Department of State, Department of the Navy, EPA and representatives from many other federal departments and agencies.

One of the administration’s long-term goals is to convert 15% of the federal building stock to “high performance” category, meeting LEED Silver standards. Military bases are no exception to this. LEED refers to the US Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design ratings system.

To the end, dollars have been assigned as follows:

$58 billion for environmental activities
$500 million for the Clean Tech fund
$2 billion for climate change science
$475 million to restore the Great Lakes
$600 million for EPA’s enforcement program

“There is a huge opportunity to green federal government buildings,” said Sally Ericsson, Program Associate Director, Natural Resources Programs Office of Management and Budget. Ericsson was joined by Kevin Kampschroer of GSA, Dennis Talton, Dr. Teresa Pohlman (DHS), Melanie Berkemeyer (Dept. of State) and many others representing the leading edge of sustainability in the federal government.

Following is the agenda to provide an outline of events that took place and better understand the topics:
Opening session speakers
Rick Fedrizzi
President, CEO & Founding Chairman
U.S. Green Building Council

Nancy Sutley
Chair
White House Council on Environmental Quality

Workshop A Leveraging Stimulus Funding to Advance Green Building: New Resources, Challenges, and Opportunities

William Guerin
Executive
Recovery Act Program Management Office
US General Services Administration

Richard Kidd
Program Manager
Federal Energy Management Program
U.S. Department of Energy

Kathleen Hogan
Director
Climate Protection Partnerships
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Moderator: Doug Gatlin
Vice President, Market Development
USGBC

Workshop B Energy Performance Contracting
Cynthia Vallina
Deputy Associate Administrator for Procurement and Senior Budget Analyst
Office of Management and Budget

Schuyler Shell
Supervisory Energy Technology Program Specialist
Federal Energy Management Program
U.S. Department of Energy

Jonathan Cohn & Irvin Gray
Project Managers, USG Datacenter Project
U.S. Department of State, third-party contractors

Moderator:
Tom Hicks
Vice President
USGBC

Workshop C Green Building Success Stories from the Federal Government
Randy Overbey
Oakridge National Laboratory Green Campus Initiatives

Rick Pospisil
LEED AP, Operations & Maintenance
USAA Real Estate Company
FBI Regional Headquarters, Chicago, IL

Robert Matya
Project Manager, Omaha District Corps of Engineers
Ft. Carson, Colorado

Moderator:
Ken Sandler
Co-Chair, EPA Green Building Workshop
Office of Policy, Economics & Innovation
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Workshop D Advancing Sustainability and Security
Richard J. Cofer, P.E.
Special Assistant for Antiterrorism and Security Engineering
Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Atlantic
U.S. Department of Navy

Dr. Teresa Pohlman
Director, Occupational Safety and Environmental Programs
US Department of Homeland Security

Melanie Berkemeyer
Acting Sustainability Program Manager
Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations
U.S. Department of State

Moderator:
Dennis Talton
Sustainable Development Program Manager
Naval Facilities Engineering Command
U.S. Department of Navy

Workshop E The Launch of LEED Version 3

Scot Horst
Senior Vice President, LEED
USGBC

Mike Opitz
Vice President, LEED Implementation
USGBC

Brendan Owens
Vice President, LEED Technical Development
USGBC

Workshop F Federal Department/Agency Success Stories
Kenny Floyd
Director, Division of Environmental Protection
National Institutes of Health

William Ridge
Chief, Architecture, Engineering and Asset Management Branch
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Matt Gray
Chair, Interagency Sustainability Working Group
Federal Energy Management Program
U.S. Department of Energy

Josh Silverman
Deputy Director
Office of Environmental Policy and Assistance
U.S. Department of Energy

Julie Thomas McNamee
Air Resources & Climate Change Liaison
National Park Service

Moderator:
Melissa Gallagher-Rogers
Manager, Government Sector
US Green Building Council

The Role of the Federal Government in a Low-Carbon Economy
Kevin Kampschroer
Acting Director
Office of Federal High Performance Green Buildings
General Services Administration

Mark Bailey
State and Local Programs
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
U.S. Department of Energy

Chris Pyke
Director of Climate Change Services
CTG Energetics

Moderator: Scot Horst
Senior Vice President, LEED
USGBC

Leading the Way on Energy and Climate
Sally Ericsson
Program Associate Director, Natural Resources Programs
Office of Management and Budget
Introduction by: Michelle Moore
Senior Vice President, Policy and Public Affairs
USGBC

USGBC Website

I have several pages of notes from several sessions and will be posting them soon.

Semper Fi

Chris Moline, LEED AP, Former 0351 Marine
Email
Website – TacticallyGreen.com

Ways to green up your home or business

Chris @WebMindSet — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:29:44 +0000

The other day my 11 year-old son came to me and asked, “Dad, are we dumping all our trash into the oceans and filling them up?” I would have been hard-pressed to come up with a more appropriate teaching moment. It was then that I started to tell him what we’re doing for the planet instead of letting his mind be filled with what others are doing to it.
He learned about what we’ve done with our own home, some of the things our military is doing to make operational efforts more green, but with the welcome wave of “green” washing over our local and national landscape, I thought it may be helpful to take some time to list some basic things homeowners can do to conserve energy, help the environment and save money. These items are on my mind all day so I tend to take for granted the fact that everyone knows them. But some don’t and my passion is to do whatever I can to contribute to saving our natural resources.
Use efficient lighting: Compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) use 70% less energy and last 10 times longer than standard bulbs. A local flooring business, Alexandria Carpet One, uses these in their showroom exclusively and saves over 34 million watts per year! But your choice is not limited to CFL’s. They also use LED spots in their “green” area for even greater cost savings (7 watts) and to add to the overall lighting temperature to show how colors change under different light sources.
Adjust your thermostat: Set your programmable thermostat two degrees warmer than usual in summer and two degrees cooler in winter—then watch your energy use drop. A programmable thermostat can be purchased for less than $75 and will pay for itself quickly.
Reduce phantom load: Home electronics draw 40% of the electricty they use while turned off—unplug chargers and home entertainment systems when not in use. In my home, we use power strips with on/off switches for equipment. When not watching or listening, we hit the switch and save energy.
Conserve water in- and outdoors: Treating and pumping water takes huge amount of electricity—saving water saves money and power too. You can also go so far as to capture rainwater from your downspouts in a drum and use that for watering flowerbeds and gardens. There are also a variety of solar-powered pumps that can be integrated as well.
Plant a tree at home: Carefully chosen and planted trees soak up CO2 and shade your home for lower summer utility bills. If you plan in advance, as the tree grows it can shade the south-facing wall of your home and reduce what is called the “heat island” effect. This effect refers to how certain building materials absorb, then radiate heat back into the atmosphere, raising temperatures in the vicinity by as much as 10 degrees.
Drive less: Walk, ride a bike, carpool, take the bus, and combine trips when possible. You can even find out if your employer is willing to install bike racks and a shower facility. This is one way a business can walk the green talk.
Keep your car in tune: A poorly tuned engine wastes 10 to 20% of its fuel; a clogged air filter risks a 10% increase in fuel consumption; and low tire pressure means another 5% drop in efficiency.
Reduce, reuse, recycle: Create less waste by reusing or recycling items. I was in a DC-based architectural firm a week ago and saw the reuse of a door as a table… and with some classy, renewable and very-green linoleum installed on the top surface, it was a perfect example of resource conservation. Also, a great website – Etreev.com – specializes in sourcing of used commercial furniture. Some companies discard furniture after a few months or years when they move, are sold or just do a make-over. There are some beautiful choices at great savings and it’s a very environmentally-friendly choice.
Buy local: Most food is shipped more than 1,500 miles to get to your plate—locally grown food saves fuel and tastes better. Go a step further and go organic. The production of organic foods is very earth-friendly.
Talk: Raise awareness among your friends, family, and coworkers, and tell government leaders you want meaningful climate protection planning and policies now. In that spirit, do you know what the following logo’s represent? I copied them from a green convention brochure and they show that the publishers really had the environment in mind when producing their materials.

Make “green” home-improvement choices: Earth-friendly flooring can have a major impact on your home’s carbon footprint. The image at the beginning of this article shows soda bottles about to be recycled into carpet. Find a sales person who knows the green side of the flooring business and do your research. Our blog is a great place to start and our sales staff is on the cutting edge of green flooring choices. Better yet, deal with a LEED AP and you’ll know you’re working with someone who has a breadth of knowledge far beyond your average sales person.
Check out your contractor!

Semper fi,

Chris Moline, LEED AP

The tactical cost of doing business

Chris @WebMindSet — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 01:28:26 +0000

When doing business, opportunity costs are of great importance when decisions must be made. Usually, an opportunity cost discussion will go something like this -
“If we invest in property “A”, what will it benefit us compared to the potential loss of not being able to use that capital to invest somewhere else?” I know it’s overly-simple, but when options are weighed, the choice with the greatest potential benefit usually wins. The benefit can be financial or, in this case, security-focused.
And I believe… no, I’m convinced that energy independence has a direct impact on our national security.

When was the last time you heard someone compare cost and/or energy savings to a decrease in support for regimes who do not have our national security interest in mind?

I’d say it’s not heard often enough…

Let’s look at the cost of a barrel of crude and compare it to the cost of one ammo can full of 7.62 mm AK-47 rounds. Or maybe a picture can better illustrate:

Let’s assume that a barrel of crude is going for $55 and we purchase that crude from Mr. A, who happens to be a Wahabist-loving supporter of terror (not all are, mind you, and this is simply an illustration).

Mr. A takes that $55 and pays out his production cost of $5/barrel, leaving him with $50 to do what?

Well, we won’t delve into all the unpleasantries such as renting an entire floor of the Ritz Carlton when only one room is needed, or any of the other lurid details. Let’s just assume he gives a small portion of the remaining $50 to support Hamas, Al Qaida, Al Aksa, or any number of nasty folks. Let’s say 1%, or 50 cents as his “zakat” or alms giving, which is one of the 5 pillars of Islam. I’ve chosen 1% although 2.5% is the customary figure.

In most countries, 50 cents can buy you 10-20 rounds for your Ak-47. 10-20 rounds is about a full magazine depending on the size the end-user chooses. They can even be cheaper and in a country like Iraq, still overflowing with the legacy of Sadam’s penchant for hording weaponry, 7.62 mm rounds are as common as rice.

Maybe this picture will further illustrate my point:

Next time you fill up, think about Hugo Chavez, our Venezuelan neighbor, or Hamas and any number of questionable characters, all of whom benefit from the sale of oil and our dependance on it. We can even go so far as to say that the model we’ve established will continue to do damage even after we’ve hopefully changed our ways. Indians and Chinese by the billions are striving to attain our level of comfort and, in turn, consuming more and more.

Here is a link to a New York Times article related to this topic and how migration caused by “global warming” impacts national security.