Healing the Split

Lisa Goddard — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:27:40 +0000

Going “green” is a message heard from the President that reaches all the way to the pre-schoolers, but the problem is that even though 62% of Americans consider themselves to be environmentalists, convenience, comfort and freedom have put limits on what citizens are willing to do to live environmentally sustainable lives. The problem does not lie in the technologies, the problem is in the society.

Americans say they are “doing their part” to sustain the environment but in actuality they are often doing just a small amount and justifying why they won’t do more. Reducing energy use and preserve our natural resources are the actions required to combat global climate change.

I will examine what the San Francisco Planning and Building Departments have done to incorporate energy efficiency into their building codes and if mandating the built environment has created the structures for efficiency to “healing the split” that Berry talks about.

What about operational efficiency?

Lisa Goddard — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 04:22:22 +0000

The Poet/Farmer Wendell Berry wrote, “Nothing will change until we heal the split between what we think and what we do.” Organizations like the U.S. Green Building Council and cities like San Francisco are attempting to heal the split by addressing the fact that commercial and residential buildings generate nearly half the carbon emissions of the entire U.S.
I tracked the formation of the San Francisco Green Building Ordinance, which codified building green based on standards created by the U.S. Green Building Counsel (USGBC). The USGBC determines what leadership in energy and environmental design (LEED) looks like. The buildings that have been certified LEED are largely specimens on how to build for our changing world. The problem that needs to be addressed is how to motivate the population of the world to maximize the technology of efficiency that these buildings are designed to create.
The CEO of a large commercial development company in the Bay Area addressed this by simply stating that, “if you build a better building it will operate better.” It’s hard not to agree with this statement, but it doesn’t address the people problem. That is to say, what about the accountability of the tenants or the owners to support the building’s operational efficiency? In another conversation with a senior building inspector in San Francisco, I was told, “Incentives don’t work. You have to tell people what to do.” This got me thinking about how to insert an accountability mechanism into the LEED standards. It’s more then just an energy efficient building, it’s about tenant participation, accountability and healing the split that Wendell Berry talks about..

HER LEED » Built to Last

Healing the Split

What about operational efficiency?