USGBC NFC Monthly Lunch: BD+C 255: Building & Material Reuse

Date: July 17, 2012
Time: 12:00pm - 1:00pm (check in begins at 11:30am)
Location: Scott Conference Center, 6450 Pine Street, Omaha, NE

Cost is $15 for NFC Members, $25 for non-members. Students may attend at a discounted rate of $10 (lunch will be provided)

Please RSVP to programs@usgbcne.org with your last name, company name, email and
phone number.

This session is approved for 1.5 hours of LEEDS Specific (BD+C) GBCI hours as well as 1.5 AIA/CES LU/HSW/SD hours.

Continuing with our webinar series this session will discuss BD+C 255:Building & Material
Reuse: Understanding the Challenges,Celebrating the Success.  The LEED credits related to building reuse (Materials & Resources Credits 1.1 and 1.2) and material reuse (Materials & Resources Credits 3.1 and 3.2) are some of the least utilized credits within the rating system. In a time of increasingly limited resources and a growing awareness around sustainable stewardship, however, building and material reuse represents one of the ultimate forms of resource conservation. The reuse of existing built fabric can be economically pragmatic, nurture communities, and provide vision of how to live more sustainably.

Join USGBC for this exciting webinar session addressing reuse, credit challenges and opportunities, innovative tools and resources available and strategies to utilize reuse as a vehicle for creativity and sustainability. Upon completion of this webinar session, attendees will gain a greater understanding of how to integrate building and material reuse into their projects with useful strategies for navigating the related LEED credits.

LEEDv4 Information Summary

By now you should be aware of the announcement made by Rick Fedrizzi regarding changes to the LEED 2012 program. USGBC membership has clearly indicated the need more visibility into the infrastructural improvements that were promised with the LEED 2012 (now v4) program. Therefore, USGBC will use the v4 development process to build an improved program, better supporting resources and simplified reporting requirements. They are also building in feedback loops throughout the beta testing period which will result in a stronger final program. 

As a quick recap, here are the major points:

• LEED 2012 ballot has been postponed until June 1, 2013.
•  As a result of this change, the name of the program is now LEED v4. 
• LEED v4 will include a fifth public comment running from October 2 through December 10. 
• We are extending the time which LEED 2009 is available for registration.
• We are continuing to engage project teams in an upcoming beta test of LEED v4. More information on this process will soon be available.

It is of utmost importance to us that the voting body has an understanding of the full LEED program to make an informed decision at ballot.  In the next several weeks, USGBC will distribute a revised schedule of education and engagement opportunities that will be hosted by USGBC for consensus body members beginning this summer and extending into next year. This is a very exciting opportunity to provide important insight into LEED v4 program support development.

Any member who has registered to vote in the LEED 2012 ballot will remain in the LEED v4 consensus body, provided your member company is in good standing during the ballot period.  Members of the consensus body will be notified of how to maintain their company in good standing for the modified ballot date.

USGBC NFC Monthly Meeting: A Review of the LEED 2012 Changes

Two oppoutunites to see this presentation:

Omaha:

Date: June 19, 2012

Time: 12pm - 1:30pm (check in begins at 11:30am)

Location:Scott Conference Center (6450 Pine Street, Omaha, NE)

Cost is $15 for NFC Members, $25 for non-members. Students may attend at a discounted rate of $10. Lunch will be provided.

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Lincoln:

Date: June 20, 2012

Time: 12pm - 1:30pm (check in begins at 11:30am)

Location: Holiday Inn, 141 S 9th Street, Downtown Lincoln, NE

Cost is $15 for attendees. Students may attend at a discounted rate of $10. Lunch will be provided.RSVP to programs@usgbcne.org with the following information: your last name, company name, email and phone#.

GBCI CEU credit information pending.

Meeting Content: Over the last several years, a tremendous amount of work has been put into the development of the LEED 2012 green building program and this fall, it's scheduled for release. Since its establishment in 2000, the LEED green building program has propelled growth in the building market and educated hundreds of thousands of industry stakeholders in sustainable development.

This presentation, based on information provided by National USGBC (presented by Sarah Gudeman, Morrissey Engineering & Mike Kros, DLR Group), will examine the new rating system in detail and help answer questions like...
- Are there new prerequisites?
- Are there new LEED credits?
- Have the point values changed again?
- What parts of the rating systems are changing?
- When do I need to comply with 2012?
- Will there be a new LEED Online?

The differences between LEED 2009 and LEED 2012 can be seen in three main areas: Addition of new market sectors - Changes to technical content that increase rigor - Revision of Credit Weightings.

Obviously we can't touch on all the details of the new rating system in 1.5 hours, but this will be a thorough general overview including where we are in the process and other relevant information from National USGBC.

USGBC Recycling Grant Application was awarded to OPS

Omaha Public Schools started its Green Schools Initiative in the fall of 2010 following the completion of a comprehensive Energy & Sustainability Action Plan. Over the course of the
last two years, OPS has decreased its energy costs by $750,000 (year over year 2010 vs. 2011) and reduced GHG emissions by over 12,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalent.

In the fall of 2010, OPS set goals for the Green Schools Initiative in the areas of energy (ENERGY STAR), water, waste, recycling, paper, integrated pest management, and green team participation. OPS is either on or ahead of schedule in every case except waste production.

Despite exceeding its goal related to recycling, reductions in waste aren’t materializing as quickly as hoped, primarily because the majority of the waste comes from cafeterias and, to a lesser extent, athletic events. In both cases, there are many hurdles to creating a successful recycling system.
The USGBC Nebraska Flatwater Chapter (USGBC NFC) requested a $2,000 grant from National USGBC and will provide matching funds to provide recycling containers, signage, education, and a waste audit (of one school’s waste only) to five OPS high schools, which is where most of the waste is produced. Students and USGBC NFC members will be able to observe a portion of the waste audit and tour a local materials recovery facility where City of Omaha recyclables are processed.

In addition to USGBC NFC's matching contribution of $2,000, chapter members that participate in the Green Schools committee will also have an opportunity to assist with the effort on a volunteer basis. OPS’ Buildings & Grounds staff will oversee implementation of the program with some assistance from the district’s sustainability consultant, Verdis Group.

Key personnel in each high school will manage the on-the-ground implementation, and a local nonprofit, Conservation Fusion, will assist with the education and student engagement elements.

A secondary goal of the program is to ascertain and share best practices for decreasing waste and increasing recycling rates. Two outputs will be created that can be shared with any school to help them further their efforts:
1) a brief description of the program and associated lessons learned, and
2) an online video that helps schools create their own recycling program or system.

The USGBC Nebraska Flatwater Chapter will work with other organizations to share the aforementioned resources with the rest of the state’s schools and will make the resources developed as part of this program available to other chapers that could benefit as well.

LEED 2012 Postponed to 2013, Renamed LEED v4

Here are a couple of excerpts and interpretations of what this change means and where it comes from. As of now, USGBC Nebraska Flatwater Chapter is continuing to plan on hosting our monthly lunch sessions on June 19th and 20th, though the focus may shift a bit from what we originally anticipated. We are working with National USGBC on the details.

Note that a fifth public comment period will open on October 2, 2012, and run thru December 10, 2012

The official email from USGBC President, CEO & Founding Chairman Rick Fedrizzi:

In response to overwhelming feedback from our members, core LEED users and engaged stakeholders, USGBC announced today that it will delay ballot on LEED 2012 until June 1, 2013. Because of this date change LEED 2012 is being renamed LEED v4.

To be clear... this change is 100% in response to helping our stakeholders fully understand and embrace this next big step. The passion for market transformation that resides in our membership and our LEED users is undeniable, but we also acknowledge the reality of the day-to-day assessment of market conditions that has informed this decision. Our commitment to you is that the balloting and launch of LEED v4 will be seamless for our users and successful in terms of advancing the market transformation we all seek.

Please read my letter on the USGBC blog »

Visit usgbc.org/LEEDv4 »

A post by USGBC LEED Faculty Member and President of Building Green, Inc., Nadav Malin:

In response to growing concerns from the market, USGBC is postponing plans to ballot the next version of LEED until 2013.

In a surprise move, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced today that it is postponing plans to ballot the next version of LEED until as late as June 2013. With this announcement, USGBC promises to keep LEED 2009 available for a full three years from now, although it intends to gradually ramp up incentives for teams to move to the new version of LEED during that time.

The move came in response to a growing outcry from architects and other building industry professionals—including many who have been core supporters of LEED since its inception—who had three related concerns:

• The proposed changes in the rating system were too much, too fast, especially in a weak real estate market.
• Some of the changes needed more refinement , especially in the Materials & Resources category, where whole new approaches to material selection had been introduced and had changed significantly with each public comment draft.
• Tools and resources needed to achieve the credits would not be widely available by the time the new system was slated to launch in November 2012.

LEED Regionalization

Back in early 2011 the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), in collaboration with its chapters, recruited volunteers to help contribute to the further regionalization of the LEED rating systems.

(Regionalization is the process by which chapter-level volunteers identify priority environmental issues in their areas and the LEED credits that address those issues). These credits are known as Regional Priority credits that - when earned by a project - reward one bonus point per credit. Over the course of this volunteer effort, chapter volunteers helped select Regional Priority credits for LEED 2012.

Our chapter recruited a diverse task force composed of local professionals, drawing from various areas of expertise and professions. These volunteers had first-hand opportunities to tangibly effect LEED and deepen their personal understanding of important, local environmental issues and make themselves better-informed green building professionals.

Responsibilities of the Task Force included:

• Identifying regional priority issues (priority issues). These are unique, geographically-distinct environmental issues within a chapter.

• Identifying regional priority zones (zones). These are geographic areas in the chapter where regional priority issues occur.

• Identifying  Regional Priority credits (RPCs). These are LEED credits that address regional priority issues.

• Volunteering at least one hour per week researching information and/or participating in task force meetings

The technical expertise and enthusiasm exhibited by our Task Force was much appreciated and on behalf of the 2012 USGBC Nebraska Flatwater Chapter Board of Directors, I would like to take this opportunity to publicly offer congratulations and thanks now that we are at the conclusion of the regionalization efforts for LEED 2012.


We are grateful for the contributions made by the following task force members:

Ryan Bentley, Task Force Chair - USGBC NFC Chapter Member

Ryan Tushner, Task Force Vice-Chair

Amanda Bogner, Task Force Secretary - USGBC NFC Chapter Member, Former Chapter BOD Member

Shervin Ansari, Task Force Regional Representative - USGBC NFC Chapter Member, Current Chapter BOD Member

Nathan Timm

Katie Torpy - USGBC NFC Chapter Member

Kay Carne - USGBC NFC Chapter Member, Current Chapter BOD Member

Dave Lampe - USGBC NFC Chapter Member