Archive for the ‘Advocacy’ Category

Greening the Heartland Scholarships

USGBC-Missouri Gateway Chapter is excited to be able to grant two full and one partial scholarships to attend the Greening the Heartland Conference, May 16-18, 2012, in Indianapolis, Indiana. USGBC-MG believes that everyone should have access to green buildings and green communities as well as green building education. Through this scholarship, we hope to increase the participation of those interested in serving communities not typically represented in the areas of sustainability. This year, one of USGBC-MG’s targeted efforts is to accelerate the greening of our existing building stock.

Applications are due by 5 pm Central Standard Time on Thursday, March 15. Scholarship recipients will be notified by March 29.

Download the scholarship application here.

Funds for the Greening the Heartland Scholarships were raised at our annual ECORIDE in October 2011 – a fun, family-friendly and recreation bike ride on the Riverfront Trail. Save the date for ECORIDE 2012 – October 20!




St. Louis Greenprint 2012

With the input and participation of over 80 companies and organizations, the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association developed the St. Louis Greenprint 2012 during summer and fall of 2011. Many USGBC-Missouri Gateway Chapter members were in attendance on December 14 when RCGA released the Greenprint. Chapter members also participated in the development of the Greenprint, which is an action plan for growing the St. Louis regional green economy.

The Greenprint has seven objectives – many of them apply to our vision and mission of transforming the built environment into a healthier, more environmentally friendly and prosperous place to live, work and learn:

  • Develop the region’s Sustainable Technologies Cluster, with emphasis on advanced energy technologies and sustainable building design and materials
  • Increase the depth and breadth of regional companies and institutions adopting sustainable business practices
  • Increase the regional supply and demand for green products and services and increase green exports
  • Spur entrepreneurial growth and innovation in green products and services within the region
  • Streghten the regional workforce for the emerging green economy
  • Restage the regional “green brand”
  • Enhance livability through regional sustainable attributes

Five initiatives have been identified for 2012 in order to move the above objectives forward.

  • Developing the Region’s Sustainable Technologies Cluster
  • Spreading Sustainable Business Practices
  • Accelerating the Market for Green Products and Services
  • Building a Green Innovation Network
  • Establishing a Higher Education Sustainability Collaborative

Each of these initiatives include several action steps. USGBC-Missouri Gateway is excited to partner with RCGA on a High Performance Building Initiative, which is part of Accelerating the Market for Green Products and Services. Previously, we partnered with RCGA on three-part High Performance Building Series in 2009 & 2010 that was very well-received and well-attended by USGBC and RCGA members alike. We look forward to enhancing this partnership in the coming year.

We are especially excited because the High Performance Building Initiative fits perfectly with a key area of our 2012 – 2014 Strategic Plan – focusing on greening our existing building stock. USGBC-Missouri Gateway Executive Director, Emily Andrews (pictured above) addressed those in attendance at the December 14 Greenprint release. She emphasized the important role of green buildings in advancing our region’s green economy. She also pointed out that USGBC recently announced that the square footage of LEED-certified existing buildings has surpassed LEED-certified new construction by 15 million square feet on a cumulative basis. (See press release.) St. Louis does not currently follow this trend and Emily challenged those in attendance and the High Performance Building Initiative to change that!

Look for more programming and educational opportunities this year from the Chapter focusing on greening existing buildings – at our monthly programs, webinars and in-depth sessions and in partnership with other organizations like RCGA. We’re already engaged in a great LEED EB:O+M Community Project Pilot with the Missouri Botanical Garden (thanks to generous support from a Wells Fargo Green Team Grant). Over 30 Chapter members are volunteering their time and expertise to assist with the certification process. The performance period is scheduled to begin on February 1 and we plan to complete all the documentation by the middle of May. We hope this project will create a model for pursuing similar projects with non-profits in the future.

For more information about or to download the St. Louis Greenprint 2012, visit the RCGA website at www.stlrcga.org/greenprint.xml. Or read the December 20 Special Edition of RCGAdvocate about the Greenprint.

- Submitted by Emily Andrews, USGBC-Missouri Gateway Chapter Executive Director

 




Chapter Volunteers Help Out in Joplin, MO

On July 23 – 24, under the solid leadership of Pat Justis, USGBC-Missouri Gateway Chapter members and volunteers headed Joplin, Missouri to assist in general clean-up efforts. Eleven of us arrived at the well organized volunteer center and were quickly put to work clearing debris and organizing clothing.

Chapter Volunteers before work started

The news coverage outside of Joplin has not conveyed the magnitude of the destruction that took place or the ongoing needs of the people of Joplin. Try to imagine neighborhoods about three times the size of Forest Park simply scraped off the ground. For blocks and blocks, nothing remains. Wind speeds exceeded 300 mph – some of the highest winds every recorded. Sewer pipes were lifted out of the soil. A concrete framed seven-story hospital shifted 6” off its vertical, severing every joint and connection in the structure.

Today, debris piles line streets waiting for FEMA-sponsored trucks. The highest pile I saw was over three stories tall; matchstick ruins of people’s homes and businesses. All told, over 8,000 structures were deconstructed in about 12 minutes, 170 people lost their lives, and upwards of 20,000 people were displaced. The need for volunteers will likely go on into next spring.

Our group was surprised the that loss of life was not greater given the scope of destruction. At the 200 unit apartment complex we worked at, every building’s roof and second story was simply pushed off the first and strewn in the adjacent yards. How did only 1 person die out of 200 families in buildings that simply blew apart? Stories of real miracles abounded and I for one have no idea how so many peopled simply walked away from that evening. Our efforts at removing and sorting debris at times seemed futile given the need. We recycled metal and construction debris, much of which was being reused to make small sheds and temporary shelters. Some of us collected personal items- toys, photos, and medical records of past occupants. The Red Cross was leading an effort to connect personal items with their owners, most of whom lost all of their belongings.

Chapter Volunteers after working all weekend -
way to lend a hand!

Larger questions remain. Clean up is far from over. What to do with the remaining land is in limbo. Property values are baseless after so many people have moved away and the City has no idea if it will be solvent in a year for lack of tax revenue. Brand new schools were destroyed. This fall, children will be attending high school in an abandoned big box shell.

All given, it was an eye opening and educational trip. We helped in the clean up effort but much remains to be done. Our neighbors in Joplin will need help for months to come.

- Submitted by Chris Manzo, Manzo Architects and USGBC-MO Gateway Advocacy Committee Member

***** *****

USGBC-MO Gateway will likely organize additional trips to Joplin to assist with clean up. Please contact emily.andrews@mobot.org if you’re interested in being notified about the next trip.




Win Membership Prizes!

This month USGBC-MO Gateway Chapter is holding its March Madness Membership Drive, an event to celebrate our 10th Anniversary.  There are lots of opportunities to win great gifts this month…and each month throughout the entire year! You can join or renew your membership online or at any of our monthly programs and events. Click here to see a calendar of events for March!

Join us in our efforts to transform the built environment and win some of these great prizes in March:

 - NEW MEMBERS – Join in the month of March & you’ll be entered to win free registration to an In-Depth Session ($30-$50 value)

- NATIONAL MEMBER EMPLOYEES – Join or renew & you’ll be entered to win a free Lunch ‘n LEED Webinar Series Pass ($40-$65 value)

- MEMBERS – Refer the most people and win a gift basket of goodies (including a gift certificate to a local restaurant, a chapter water bottle, & a bottle of local wine)

- STUDENTS – Join or renew & you’ll be entered to win a gift certificate to Left Bank Books. Student membership is just $25/year!

If you are a USGBC-Missouri Gateway Chapter Member and received an “I’m Transforming the Built Environment.  Ask me How!” button at the March program, please wear your button each day during the week of March 14 – 18 to help promote Chapter membership as part of our March Madness membership drive campaign.




USGBC Congressional Advocacy Day

On September 29th, USGBC hosted their 3rd annual USGBC Congressional Advocacy Day. 40 advocates representing 26 states met with 100 congressional officials to promote green building legislation under consideration in both the House and Senate. These bills included the Home Star Energy Retrofit Act, the Green Credit Enhancement Program Act, the PACE Assessment Protection Act, and the Federal Building Personnel Training Act.

I represented USGBC-Missouri Gateway Chapter and met with staffers from the offices of Senator Claire McCaskill, Representative Todd Akin, and Representative Russ Carnahan.

USGBC Congressional Advocacy Day 2010From L-R at USGBC’s 3rd Annual Congressional Advocacy Day: Congressman Russ Carnahan, USGBC CEO and Founder Rick Fedrizzi and Tony Ruebsam, chair of USGBC-Missouri Gateway’s Higher Education subcommittee.

For someone who had never participated in government advocacy, the entire experience was new to me. I have never advocated at any level of government, so there was certainly an intimidation factor going straight to the US Congress. Considering it was also my first time in Washington DC, I also had to adjust to the grandiosity of the Capital. To quote a fellow advocate, ‘I felt like a plebeian walking into Rome.’

Thankfully, the staff at USGBC headquarters did a great job preparing us for the seemingly chaotic nature of day to day activity in DC. They told us what to expect, what not to say, and most importantly to be on time (but not early).

Regardless of all the reassuring things USGBC staff told me the day before, I was still nervous as I walked into my first meeting in the office of Senator McCaskill. As one her staffers greeted us, I heard another on the phone with a constituent: ‘Sir, I understand you disagree with everything the President does, but there is no need to use profanity. If you continue to do so, I will have to end this conversation.’  I immediately relaxed, figuring if they are polite to the guy on the phone, they certainly won’t get upset with anything I have to say.

My meetings all went very well. I was able to speak to my experience as a general contractor and how the highest unemployment rates are within the construction industry. I explained how these pieces of legislation would infuse money into local economies and help this struggling industry recover and put the country on the path to a cleaner energy future.

As I asked the staffers to consider these pieces of legislation, I received requests for similar information: job creation potential, economic benefits, a list of LEED projects, and a list of companies that perform energy audits and efficiency upgrades.  Thankfully, Missouri is full of organizations that have been compiling this information for many years, such as USGBC-Missouri Gateway Chapter, St. Louis RCGA, Missouri Department of Economic Development and Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

I returned from my trip invigorated about what USGBC and the thousands of volunteers are dedicated to achieving. Seeing the effort and commitment from both sides of the political spectrum gave me the sense not only that our elected officials understand the value of green building technology, but they are going to see it through. The cynic in me might say that is just political posturing, but the pragmatist wonders how they could argue against it.

- Submitted by Tony Ruebsam, Chair of the USGBC-Missouri Gateway Higher Education subcommittee of the Advocacy committee and a project manager for S.M. Wilson & Co.




Fear Public Speaking? Join the USGBC-STL Speaker’s Bureau

The fear of public speaking ranks among Americans’ top fears, surpassing fear of illness, fear of flying, fear of terrorism and often the fear of death itself.

Jerry Seinfeld once joked about a survey that found that the fear of public speaking ranks higher in most people’s minds than the fear of death. “In other words,” he deadpanned, “at a funeral, the average person would rather be in the casket than giving the eulogy.” Can you relate? I can. Not that I would prefer to be the one in the casket, but I have definitely had my share of anxiety when it comes to public speaking. My profession requires making presentations to various groups. Whether it is to a selection committee to win project or to present information about a project that has been constructed, public speaking can play a major role in the duties of an architect, one that I feared for many years.

So, I decided to volunteer for the USGBC-STL Speakers Bureau and pushed myself to overcome this fear. As I reasoned, I was interested in promoting green building and in volunteering some additional time for the Chapter. As an architect and LEED AP, I have knowledge on the subject, the audiences should be noncontroversial and interested in the topic, and I would probably learn something in the process. Most of all, I thought, I just might overcome one of my biggest fears.

After a few years as a volunteer speaker, all of my initial reasoning has proved to be accurate. I have come to enjoy the presentations and actually find myself looking forward to the next. Even though I misspoke during a recent presentation, saying ‘LEED Green Fellow’ instead of ‘LEED Fellow’ and had a few jokes thrown at me afterward, I survived and even laughed at my own error. So, I may not give a perfect presentation and still experience some anxiety, but the overall experience has been a very positive one.

Therefore, if you are interested in promoting green building but fear public speaking, like the rest of us, there is likely an opportunity for you as part of the USGBC-STL Speaker’s Bureau!

For more information about the USGBC-STL Speakers Bureau, see http://www.usgbc-stl.org/speakers-bureau. To volunteer for the Speakers Bureau, contact Chapter staff at usgbc-stl@mobot.org.

- Submitted by Barbara Anderson, a member of the USGBC-STL Advocacy Committee, a member of the USGBC-STL Speakers Bureau and an an architect at Oates Associates.




Green Building Legislation in Missouri Moves Forward!

This is the year. This is the year we hope to join 33 other states with some sort of LEED for state buildings legislation or executive order. Well, we are a few steps closer to this becoming a reality in Missouri thanks to House Bill 1871, which contains language that would require all state owned or leased buildings, new construction or major renovation (over 5,000 sq/ft) meet LEED Silver or Two Globes (Green Globes) or conduct a 30 year life cycle analysis showing the financial costs in the long term do not justify certification. It also requires that when obtaining LEED certification, a major facility project shall reduce energy use twenty-four percent for new buildings or twenty percent for existing buildings over ASHRAE standard 90.1-2007. In order to ensure that buildings remain energy efficient, all major facility projects that were certified at the LEED Silver or two Globe standard or higher shall be inspected by a third-party commissioning agent, at a minimum, in the fifth, tenth, and fifteenth year following certification.

GSCaucusEvent 4-16-10Pictured at the Missouri Green Schools Caucus Reception on April 16 left to right: Pam McIntyre, President of St. Louis Community College – Wildwood Campus; Representative Shane Schoeller; Richard Schuessler, USGBC-STL Government Advocacy Subcommittee Chair; Representative Margo McNeil and Jeremy Sigmon, USGBC Building Codes Advocacy Manager.

Another component of the legislation hopes to ensure more government accountability and transparency. It involves the Office of Administration regularly reporting building information to House and Senate Energy and Environment committees. Information reported will include the number and types of buildings designed and constructed and the level of certification achieved; actual savings in energy costs; a description of potential environmental benefits, such as water savings and solid waste reduction; and a building’s ability to perform at the standard to which it was originally certified.

Not only do we hope that state owned and leased buildings will become greener with the help of this bill, but that the state of Missouri benefits from the triple bottom line for years to come.

House Bill 1871 also contains the Property Assessed Clean Energy Act, know as PACE. This language authorizes municipalities to form a clean energy development board in order to establish a property assessed clean energy program to finance energy efficiency or renewable energy improvement projects. A property owner can then apply to the board to finance their clean energy project through a property tax lien against the property.

PACE addresses the upfront costs associated with some clean energy projects and the lien is paid back to the board over a given time frame from the energy savings and/or generation. PACE will be an optional program for local residences and provides no financial burden on the State. It will help create jobs and allow everyday Missourians to green their homes without a financial burden.

I would like to thank Rep. Shane Schoeller for sponsoring House Bill 1871 as well as one of its biggest supporters, Rep. Margo McNeil (who introduced the LEED portion). Reps. Schoeller and McNeil have been instrumental in the perfection of this bill in the House where it was passed by a landslide (137 for, 9 against). They also are the co-chairs of the Missouri Green Schools Caucus which kicked-off this January at the Lewis and Clark State Office Building – a LEED Platinum building and home to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Nearly one quarter of all Missouri House members have signed onto the caucus already. The caucus held its second event at the St. Louis Community College Wildwood campus just last week on April 16. In order to further engage educational leaders, local municipal leaders and school board members were invited and over 40 people attended. Further events will be planned for Springfield and Kansas City. We look for the Caucus to work on greening Missouri schools through legislation and green building education. Special thanks also goes out to the folks at the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and St. Louis Community College for their continued support of green buildings and for hosting this year’s Green Schools Caucus events.

For more information about House Bill 1871, see the bill’s full text.

For more information about other environmental legislation in Missouri, visit the Missouri Votes Conservation website.

Submitted by Richard Schuessler, an employee of Huntleigh McGehee and USGBC-STL Government Advocacy Subcommittee Chair.




$$$ Available to Finance Green Building

Lou Brouk with Terra-Wise, Inc. and also the USGBC-STL Advocacy Committee’s Leadership Circle representative, spent a million hours collecting data for his February 2nd presentation “An Overview of Federal, State and Local Green Building Incentives.” A million might be an exaggeration, but I’ve conducted similar research myself, and I know he devoted many, many, many hours to finding all the tax credits and deductions, loans, grants, and rebates that are available to owners, builders, developers, and designers of green buildings in Missouri and Illinois.

The simple charts and bullet-point lists that filled Lou’s just-the-facts slides, were golden—a wealth of practical financing information, targeted precisely to the 100+ business leaders attending the third of three High Performance Building Seminars co-sponsored by the USGBC-STL and RCGA.

Lou admitted that he could have missed some resources, noted that the programs change daily, and recommended the Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency website for up-to-date, comprehensive information.

Kudos and many thanks to Lou. His complete presentation is available at http://www.stlrcga.org/documents/public_policy/green_incentives.pdf.

LBrouk

- Submitted by Jan Niehaus, president of Communication by Design, a long-time member of USGBC-STL, and Chair of the Marketing Committee.




High Performance Building Session a Success Despite Cold, Snowy Day!

USGBC-STL and St. Louis RCGA soldiered on last Thursday morning despite weather forecasts and held the second high performance building session of a three-part series. This one featured three Chapter leaders as presenters and focused on the business case for green building and LEED certification.

Paul Todd Merrill, Marc Lopata and Matt Malten represnted the Chapter , their respective organizations and green building well. Between Paul’s excellent overview ofUSGBC, LEED and St. Louis’ green building succes, Marc’s convincing business case and Matt’s discussion of Washington University’s sucess in managing their carbon footprint by efficiently managing their buildings, I know the 50+ attendees found the session worth the snowy trip downtown!

Check out the presentations yourself:

And be sure to attend the final session on our High Performance Building session on Tuesday, February 2 on Greening Existing Buildings – Certifications & Incentives!




Impressions from Copenhagen

Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope and and Frank Lorberbaum at Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change

Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope and and Frank Lorberbaum at Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change

I am back home a week now and still trying to understand what happened. I am used to attending conferences like the American Institute of Architects or US Green Building Council that are educational and entertainment opportunities. The Conference on Climate Change was an educational opportunity but the similarity stops there. This was a working conference attended by people from all over the globe that I believe care. They care first about their own countries future and I believe they all care about the future of our planet, some more passionately than others. They work all hours of the day and night. They are bright caring respectful people of all ages. Two thousand concerned youth attended the conference as observers.

Official decisions at the conference are made by consensus. The intent is for representatives of nations from all over the globe, all climates and all stages of development and wealth to sit down and reach agreements by consensus. These agreements are to be for the betterment of the planet regardless of their own personal interests. Can you imagine what would happen if decisions by our senate were made by consensus, every single one of our senators must agree before a bill is to be passed? I can’t even make an intelligible response to that question. The process is seriously flawed and must and will be reviewed prior to the next conference in Mexico City in December 2010.

There are six official United Nations  meetings going on often simultaneously during the two weeks, many into the wee hours of the night and they are:

  • COP 15 – the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP), signatories to the UN
    Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Treaty (192 countries)
  • CMP 5 – the 5th Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the
    Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (189 countries)
  • Two Ad Hoc groups that have been assigned tasks by the Cop or CMP
  • Two technical groups that have been assigned tasks by the COP or CMP

In addition there are 135 side events (presentations by various businesses, groups or governments) and 200 exhibits. There are 5000 media representatives documenting everything that moves or might move. A daily program is handed out as you enter the center. It is daily because it changes daily. Monitors are placed throughout the center that show scrolling updates on additions and changes to the schedule that was updated and printed early that morning. There are also people outside picketing and kids running around the conference center dressed up in Polar bear outfits singing clever songs to Christmas carol tunes. At 6:00 pm daily an attractive young Asian woman named Hilge dressed like a mermaid allegedly emerges from the depths of the ocean to award the Fossil of the Day Award to a chorus of boos from onlookers called NGO’s. Naturally, Arnold Schwarzenegger walks by. Mandela is in another room chatting with Hillary. Get the picture? Total Chaos.

There were ambitious expectations for this conference. It was hoped that developed and developing nations would establish future emission goals that would slow down and then stop global warming soon. It was hoped that mechanisms for sharing wealth and technology with the developing and least developed countries would be established. It was hoped that the countries most ravaged by climate change gain assistance for adaptation. It was hoped that a legally binding agreement be forged. Bold actions from ALL parties to satisfy these hopes were not realized.

I do think there were some positive outcomes from the conference:

  • All parties acknowledged that climate change is real and we need to act
  • Honest open discussions between parties took place
  • Some developing countries established emission goals
  • China agreed to some form of inspection/verification, exact form yet to be determined
  • $30 billion was pledged over the next three years to assist the poorest
    countries needing assistance for adaptation due to climate change

The Copenhagen Accord (CA) was only “noted” by the conference. The CA has been agreed to by countries that are responsible for over 50% of worldwide CO2 emissions. The CA may develop into a meaningful agreement, and then it may not. In its absence the conference would have ended in total failure. Don’t forget that the Kyoto Protocol was presented in 1997 and did not take effect until 2005. It is still the only legally binding agreement by the United Nations Framework Convention Climate Change.

The US agreed to the Kyoto Protocol at the conference, only to have the US congress retract the offer. Only 39 of the 189 countries under the Kyoto Protocol have any tangible responsibilities under the protocol, many of which are not living up to their commitments. There are no consequences for not living up to their commitment. The developing nations not only create the most green house gases (GHG) annually but are predicted to have the greatest annual growth in GHG emissions as well. They have no responsibilities under the Kyoto Protocol.

I think progress has been made at Copenhagen in 2009, but not as much as we had hoped. I think our planet is eager for a major country to step up and take the leadership role in the battle against climate change. I believe the present administration in Washington is ready and able to accept that role if it has the support of our legislature and our people. With strong support maybe the US can provide that leadership role at COP !6 in Mexico City in 2010.

- Submitted by Frank Lorberbaum. Frank is a long time member of USGBC-STL, former board member and former Green Homes Subcommittee Chair. He served as the Sierra Club delegate to the Copenhagen Conference.