Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) governs the LEED rating systems which it describes as a “voluntary, consensus-based, market-driven program that provides third-party verification of green buildings.”

Now 13 years old, the LEED rating systems have been used to certify projects in 135 countries. LEED rating systems can be applied to a variety of building project types including home construction, commercial buildings, existing building operations and maintenance, community development and more. The program offers certifications at four levels (certified, silver, gold, or platinum) depending on how many rating “points” the project earns.

The specific green building requirements vary depending on the rating system a project applies under, but the main categories in which projects can earn credit towards certification include: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality. Projects can also earn bonus credits for particularly innovative techniques, or for addressing environmental issues specific to their location.

LEED is frequently updated based on continued research and input from USGBC staff and volunteer committees. LEED Version 4 is next up and according to USGBC, is anticipated to include changes like new market sectors (for example, data centers), increased technical rigor (for example, life cycle analysis of materials), and streamlined services including an improved LEED Online platform for applicants.

Living Building Challenge

A relative newcomer, the Living Building Challenge was launched in 2006 as a standard available to the public. The Living Building Institute (LBI) was founded to administer the challenge and certified its first projects in 2010. The LBI describes the challenge as “the built environment’s most rigorous performance standard. It calls for the creation of building projects at all scales that operate as cleanly, beautifully and efficiently as nature’s architecture.”

The program offers three levels of certification (petals, net zero energy, or full certification). The challenge takes seven building performance categories into account including: site, water, energy, health, materials, equity and beauty. Projects must be operational for 12 months prior to being evaluated for certification so that the certification can be based on actual performance. The challenge includes 20 requirements, most striking of which include the requirement that the project be energy and water self-sufficient.

Example – Green Roof Anacostia Gateway courtesy of GarberDC via flickr creative commons.

As the New York Times reported this week, the Bullitt Center in Seattle claims that it will be the greenest commercial building in the world when it officially opens on April 22, 2013. The project is seeking Living Building Challenge certification and includes water-related features like a green roof, composting toilets, grey-water treatment, permeable pavement and green stormwater infrastructure, all in the name of protecting nearby Puget Sound. The building will use solar arrays to generate as much power as it uses, with strict metering for tenants.

While every green building rating system has its critics and proponents, these two seem to be continually raising the bar in building performance. Considering that buildings can take a significant portion of a country’s resources (39% of U.S. energy use goes to buildings (PDF)) and that there is a growing/modernizing world population, a continued effort to improve building performance will be critical to resource and environmental protection efforts in the future.

How “green” is your home or office? Have you ever worked with a green building rating system? We’d love to hear your thoughts on the pros and cons!

The Exxon Mobil Pegasus pipeline ruptured on Friday, leaking an estimated 4500 barrels (189,000 gallons) of oil into a subdivision in Mayflower, Arkansas – less than 30 minutes from Little Rock. There are conflicting reports on the source and type of oil that was spilled, with some environmentalists claiming this to be a Canadian tar sands pipeline and Exxon simply stating that the pipeline originates in Illinois.

If it turns out the Pegasus pipeline is in fact transporting tar sands oil, this spill could bring more attention to the environmental risks that tens of thousands of protesters rallied over in February, calling for Obama to stop the Keystone XL Pipeline project. Keystone XL would extend an existing pipeline (which currently runs from Alberta, Canada to Oklahoma) in two directions: from Alberta to Kansas, and from its endpoint in Oklahoma all the way to the Gulf Coast of Texas, totaling an additional 1700 miles of pipe.

Creative Commons image “Exxon” courtesy of Minale Tattersfield Roadside Retail via Flickr

Regardless of the source or type of oil flowing through the streets and stormdrains of Mayflower, people have been evacuated from their homes – and Lake Conway, which borders a state wildlife management area, is at risk for contamination – until the mess is cleaned up. More details will surely become available on the Arkansas spill as the cleanup progresses, but as of Saturday night local news stations and blogs were the best source of information; only brief updates from AP and Reuters could be found on any major news networks.  Today NPR and CBS have picked it up as well.

March 22^nd is the United Nations World Water Day, a day to call attention to water issues around the globe. 2013 is also the International Year of Water Cooperation, highlighting the importance of water as a global resource. Check out this list of worldwide events to find something near you!

No Deal: Obama Administration Won’t Trade ANWR Drilling for Energy Fund

The Obama administration says that drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge is not an option as they seek support to launch an Energy Security Trust Fund. The proposed fund aims to support the research and development of automotive technology that doesn’t rely on oil.

Creative Commons image courtesy of ali_pk via flickr

Wind is Picking Up

The wind industry appears to be experiencing an uptick following the renewal of a tax credit. In late 2012, the U.S. Congress allowed the production tax credit to lapse and the industry experienced a lull of uncertainty. The credit (which provides 2.2 cents per kilowatt hour for the first 10 years of a wind facility’s operation) was renewed in January and as a result many delayed projects are being picked up.

Something Fishy Going on in Coronel, Chile

Locals are baffled by the thousands of dead prawns washed up on the shores of Coronel, Chile, this week. Fishermen speculate that local power plants using seawater as a cooling fluid may be to blame, but an investigation into the water temperature and oxygen levels is still underway.

Coral Reefs: A Delicate Balance at Heron Island

National Public Radio launched a weeklong news series on coral this week, focusing on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Scientists at Heron Island on the Great Barrier Reef are simulating potential future scenarios to determine what’s next for coral and other reef organisms if current trends in ocean temperature and acidity changes continue.

The EPA uses 0.1 micrograms per kilogram of body weight per day as the accepted exposure level for oral consumption without recognized adverse effects.  Inhaling mercury vapor in significant amounts (greater than 0.025 mg/m3) can cause deficits in cognitive functioning, tremors, kidney damage and even death in cases of high exposure. If mercury is so toxic, why is it in a common household item?

When mercury vapor  is stimulated by electrical current, it produces ultra-violet light. When this UV light bounces off the phosphor compound painted on the inside of a CFL, it converts to visible light and the bulb glows. Mercury is the most efficient element known – no other alternative can achieve comparable energy efficiency, making it an essential component of CFLs.

image courtesy of http://www.climatechange.gov.au/what-you-need-to-know/lighting/resources/fs.aspx

The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 set energy-efficiency standards for light bulbs that will come fully into effect by 2014. The law will require light bulbs to use 25-30 percent less power than incandescent bulbs use today – which means incandescent bulbs will be effectively phased out because they cannot meet these standards.

Currently over 670 million mercury-containing bulbs are discarded each year nationwide.  Where do they all go? The EPA strongly encourages the recycling of all fluorescent light bulbs, but only requires it for certain commercial and industrial waste, relying on states to enforce residential recycling. The easiest recycling centers for residential and consumer access are typically home improvement/hardware stores such as Home Depot and Lowes (check out Earth911.com for recycling locations near you). Unfortunately, many people are not aware of the importance of recycling CFLs, and instead just toss them in the trash.

Virtually all components of a fluorescent bulb can be recycled – including the mercury. By recycling, you’ll ensure that 99.98 percent of the mercury used in the lamp is recovered. But even in a state such as Maine, with progressive laws that prohibit mercury disposal in landfills, the estimated recycling rate is still very low. A 2009 study found that 79 percent of those surveyed didn’t know that recycling was a requirement. Of those who did know, 17 percent still disposed of CFLs in the trash.

As CFL use becomes more widespread due to federal regulations, it’s important that the general public is educated on the dangers of bulb breakage, safe cleanup, and proper disposal for spent bulbs. About 11 percent of the mercury vapor inside CFLs is released if the bulb is broken. If sent to a landfill, mercury leaches into the soil and groundwater, or is incinerated into the air.  If broken inside your home, mercury can contaminate your carpet and vaporize into the air. The EPA has detailed instructions for what to do – and what not to do – in case of a ‘mercury spill’ (i.e. CFL breakage) inside your home.  But unless the bulb breaks in a tiny closet, with you inside, and the door shut – the vapor should dissipate enough over time that inhalation isn’t a serious threat. Opening windows and vacating the room and/or building is the best way to ensure you aren’t breathing in significant concentrations of vapors.

While the amount of mercury in one CFL may be negligible compared to other sources of mercury we encounter, we must still consider the impact on the environment. Some argue that even in the worst-case scenario, the mercury added to the environment if every CFL bulb was incinerated would add only 0.12 percent to annual manmade mercury emissions in the U.S.  But considering the fact that current emissions are already significantly high enough to cause a public health risk via the food chain (think mercury-laden fish) then perhaps even a 0.12 percent reduction is worth the effort to educate the public and divert CFLs from the landfill.

How mercury enters the environment…where is the landfill in this equation?

Some potential solutions to CFLs-in-landfills are tougher regulations at the state or federal level to require recycling, better product labeling, and manufacturing standards that limit the amount of mercury used, as is already done in the U.K. Do you recycle your CFLs? Why or why not?