Urgent Call to Action: Special interests groups are mounting a duplicitous effort to ban the federal government from using LEED

Groups seeking to unduly influence LEED and diminish the progress of green building are spending millions to lobby lawmakers to have LEED banned at the federal level. They are spreading misinformation about the LEED development process and saying that only ANSI certified standards should be used by the federal government. If we don’t act quickly and decisively to refute these false claims, our efforts of market transformation could be setback by single-interest trade associations. Don’t let special interests advance unprecedented greenwashing efforts that will cost taxpayers money and hurt the green building movement.

You can even spread the word by send this sample letter to your Senators as soon as possible. Please contact us at chapter@usgbc-oklahoma.org for more information.

TALKING POINTS -

LEED Satisfies All Consensus Requirements of the Federal Government

• As defined by the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act (NTTAA) and OMB Circular A‐119, PNNL found that LEED is a voluntary consensus‐based standard. This means that LEED has been determined to have the following characteristics: openness, balance of interests, due process, an appeal process, and consensus.
• LEED is developed using the most open and transparent consensus‐driven process of any building rating system used by the federal government. LEED is private, voluntary, and democratic.
• The formula underlying LEED’s 100‐point rating system is developed in an open, consensus‐based process among stakeholders and technical experts. Any revisions to the LEED standard must be approved through a democratic balloting process open to all 12,000 USGBC members.
• Technical committees of practitioners and subject matter experts develop and maintain the LEED credit categories and work to draft changes to the rating system. Subject matter experts contributed 12,000 hours in FY 2012 to improve LEED credits.
• LEED is extremely inclusive in its consensus‐based decision‐making. After the draft is released for public comment, it is open to all stakeholders, regardless of their affiliation with USGBC. These comments are collected and responded to individually and publicly. To date, the most recent version of LEED has had six public comment periods and received more than 22,000 comments from stakeholders across all sectors of the green building industry.
• Once the comment process is complete, the draft is subject to a ballot of participating members. To be accepted as a new version of LEED, the draft must receive and overwhelming consensus: ‘yes’ votes from 66 percent of the voting members. In addition, the draft must be approved by more than 50 percent in subcategories designed to ensure no stakeholder groups are given special weight or excluded.
• The contents of LEED are available to the public at no charge, unlike other rating systems or standards that charge a price for access.

 ANSI is One Way to Achieve Consensus, Not the Only Way

• ANSI is a valuable process through which large groups can attain consensus. But it is not the only legitimate and workable process. The LEED rating system consensus process is a useful and proven mechanism for helping large and diverse groups agree to standards.
• There is no reason beyond political favoritism to deviate from the private sector’s green building certification of choice, LEED.
• The well‐regarded iCodes, which are used in 50 states and by federal agencies to meet minimum health and safety standards for construction, electrical wiring and plumbing, do not use ANSI to define or achieve consensus.
• LEED allows all of its 12,000 members to vote on standard changes, a truly democratic process. ANSI explicitly does not require all affected members to vote, but relies on a group of representatives, often fewer than thirty persons, to vote.
• The LEED rating system has been a very successful, flexible system that allows the market to drive change. It has proven to be a nimble process that is conducive to the pace of innovation and ever changing market concerns, as opposed to other standards development process that are not designed for this tempo.
• Every aspect of the construction, real estate, and building industry is represented in LEED, among others who represent environmental and health interests. This includes (but is not limited to) architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, financial services, real estate, non‐profits, and academics. No one segment of the marketplace is given special weight or excluded. No other rating system represents such diverse interests

 Government Intervention in LEED is a Mistake and would Increase Costs

• LEED provides financial benefits to building owners, operators and some of America’s most admired companies. To date more than 16,000 commercial projects are LEED‐certified in every state and in 130 countries, representing over 2.4 billion square feet of space. The economic benefits and market driven brand value would be jeopardized if single interests were allowed to improperly influence LEED’s consensus‐driven technical review process.
• The private and public markets should pick the best tool to reduce utility bills. The economic value of LEED would be diminished if Congress were to intervene.
• In a letter to GSA in July of 2012, more than 1,260 companies from the green building industry opposed deviating from LEED in federal facilities because such a change would “add cost to the building and leasing process across the building industry.”
• Like the private sector, the federal government has been successfully using LEED to reduce utility bills and environmental impacts. For example, the U.S. Treasury building recently achieved LEED certification during its extensive retrofit and is saving taxpayers $3.5 million each year.
• A post‐occupancy review of the General Services Administration (GSA) found that LEED Gold buildings have a 27 percent reduction in energy use and 19 percent lower operating costs. These are results that should be expanded and embraced by the federal government.
• Changing the existing federal requirements sets a dangerous precedent that has implications for a countless group of industries involved in standards development, and sends a chilling message to private sector leaders and successful private sector innovation that the federal government is closed for business and Congress is picking winners.

Over 75 people attended a USGBC tour of Downtown Tulsa Brady Arts District Projects. The group visited the recently completed Griffin Communications – KOTV, Guthrie Green and the Tulsa Paper Company: 1958 portion projects, and Visual Arts Center (AHAH). Although none pursued LEED certification, the projects served as examples for the use of sustainable technologies.

Griffin Communications utilizes a geo-xchange HVAC system to heat and cool the building, which significantly reduced the structural steel requirements to support rooftop units. The state-of-the-art news studio is the first of its kind to use only LED lighting for TV production. The split-level design takes advantage of the existing grade thereby minimizing the building’s overall footprint.

Guthrie Green, a former brownfield site where 15 underground petroleum storage tanks were discovered throughout construction, includes several sustainable features. Below the park’s surface is a geo-xchange well field comprised of 120 wells, which provides 600 tons of cooling capacity for the park’s pavilion, and the adjacent University of Tulsa Zarrow Center, Philbrook Museum, Tulsa Paper Company: 1958 portion and Hardesty Arts Center. A photovoltaic system utilizing 192 bi-facial solar panels that also serves as a skylight for the Guthrie Green’s pavilion. Because light shines through, energy is drawn from light reflected on the concrete to the PV cells on the panel’s underside, too. Rainfall on the Pavilion’s zinc roof drains into a gravel band surrounding the open-air structure. The drainage flows through bio-swales, which cleans the park’s runoff free of contamination before entering the city’s storm sewer. Guthrie Green’s stage structure is covered with greenscreen, a lattice system, that will eventually become fill with wisteria serving to reduce the heat island effect. LED fixtures are used for lighting throughout the entire park.

Tulsa Paper Company is an example of sustainable reuse of a historic building. The 40,000-square-foot historic renovation serves to maintain the district and decrease waste. The open floor plan and oversized windows optimize day lighting thereby contributing to reducing the energy demand. TPC 1958 utilizes Guthrie Green’s well field for its HVAC system.

USGBC Oklahoma will soon be seeking nominations for the USGBC Oklahoma Board of Directors! Stay tuned for more information….

General responsibilities and expectations are:

• Two Year Term.
• Attendance at 80 percent of monthly board meetings; conducted at lunchtime.
• Regular contact with other board members, the Executive Director and staff through e-mail and meeting attendance.
• Attendance at a Winter Retreat and Summer Retreat.
• Strong ability and desire to fund raise, solicit and cultivate major donors and sponsors during the Annual Drive, Holiday Season, and for special events and educational programs.
• Active acceptance of a liaison or champion role for a specific committee, branch or program.
• Desire to attend National and Regional leadership events and retreats if asked, Greenbuild and other activities to become more involved in the USGBC community.
• LEED AP status is always respected but not required.
• Basic understanding of the concepts of sustainability and a holistic approach to its use in the built environment.

Email the Chapter Coordinator at chapter@usgbc-oklahoma.org  for more information or if you have any questions.

Check this out.  The Green Building Council of the Tulsa Home Builders Association is at it again.  They are preparing to kick-off a 5 day building blitz with Habitat for Humanity, to construct what could become one of the greenest, most energy-efficient homes in Tulsa.  This innovative and affordable new home will feature geothermal heating and cooling and 100% American-made building materials, and will also be built to the new ENERGY STAR v.3 and NAHB Green Building Certification standards.

A big thanks to John Madden for leading this big effort to demonstrate that super-efficient green homes can be affordable and accessible to all Tulsans.

OKC’s own LEED Silver Certified Fire Station 6 in Bricktown!  Deputy Chief Cecil Clay gave a great presentation of the facility

and even gave his personal experience with the LEED process!