In order to further work on my research project, I was tasked with asking a knowledgeable person questions that related to my essential question:
"How do LEED Assessments advocate for the construction of environmentally-friendly buildings?" In order to get background knowledge on the subject, I asked Mr. Pate, the project manager for the Sawnee Mountain Preserve Visitor Center who worked towards making sure that the building met LEED Codes. (Format as follows: The question I asked, Mr. Pate's response, then my reflection of the response) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ 1. What are LEED Assessments? LEED assessments are used by project managers, architects or engineers to grade criteria when designing a sustainable or green building with the ultimate goal of having the US Green Building Council certify it as such. For Commercial Buildings LEED Certification is based on a point system in 6 main categories. Then, there are 4 levels a building can achieve...Certified,Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum. I've had a little bit of experience using LEED Assessments through an architectural-based competition over the last few years, but I was unaware of the levels a building can achieve. Points from each category of the LEED Assessment are used to award the building based on how many total points it reaches at the end of the assessment. This allows for a greater flexibility in how a building can be labeled as "sustainable." While it has to have something from every category, it's okay if it the builder decided to focus on, say, the usage of rainwater for watering the turf and plants outside as opposed to focusing on using less water in public restrooms. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. What is your experience with them? I had direct experience working with an an engineering firm and LEED AP (accredited professional) architects on a LEED certification design and designation for the Sawnee Mountain Preserve's Visitor Center back in 2007. It's crazy to think that just spending time with someone knowledgeable about the LEED world allows someone to learn so much about it! But then again, I believe the best way to learn is by watching someone do something, so I think gaining that experience through both your own motives and by being educated by someone knowledgeable impacts you for the better. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. How has your support of LEED impacted the community? When we started the visitor center project in 2007, I saw what was happening with rising energy and building costs and voiced my opinion that the county and parks department had the perfect opportunity, as a steward of the tax payers dollars, to be a role model in developing a sustainable energy efficient building using the USGBC's LEED model. My hope was its success would help spur others to make the same choice. I would like to think my work on the Sawnee Mountain Preserve's Visitor Center helped initiate the Forsyth County Library's development of their LEED certified building at Post Road. During the beginning of a project that has the potential to impact the community for the better, one may not wind up immediately seeing the results they set out to gain from doing such. However, I think that, as you advocated for the visitor center, people started noticing how energy-efficient buildings aren't just for "tree huggers." They benefit the community while still keeping the operating costs low, which allows for a longer amount of time to reach out and educate the public. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4. Other than the Sawnee Preserve Vistor Center, are there any other buildings within the state that you've worked to meet the LEED requirements? No, but I did have a bit of input in regards to the Post Road Library's Silver Certification through LEED. Personally, I think that this may have had to do with all of the time and effort put into both the physical design and constructing of the visitor center and trying to persuade county officials to go through with building something that was going to be a bit more pricey than most standard projects. Being able to set aside a lot of money at the beginning with the uncertainty of how it may turn out in the future is something that requires a lot of thought, and I completely understand how this could be tiring in the end. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ 5. I noticed that the Post Road Library was a silver level LEED certified building. Do you know anything about this, and if so, can you tell me about the reason why the county funded a library to be environmentally-friendly? The Former Director of the Library System is an avid hiker and he used to visit Sawnee Mountain weekly to hike the trails after we opened the visitor center. He began asking questions about the process to one of his Board Members who happened to also be the President of the Sawnee Mountain Foundation. The Sawnee Mountain Foundation President thought it would be a great idea to build a LEED certified building and suggested speaking with me about the process and what could be expected, if it was it worth it, and what the benefits would be. After some lengthy discussions with me and assurances of success, he proposed the idea to his Board and received approval to proceed. It's amazing that, through your avocation of constructing environmentally-friendly buildings, you were able to impact an important county official into designing a building of their own - and not just any building, a library! Having a library with LEED certification allows for even more people to learn about how awesome taking care of the earth really can be. For as busy as a library is on a day-to-day basis, it's easy to realize that libraries attract a wide range of demographics, which can in turn help impact a large percentage of the local population. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ 6. How difficult is it for a building to obtain a LEED certification, and how long does the process typically take? It's not very difficult if you are committed to seeing it through as a matter of principle. It does add some extra costs and time to a building project. Hiring an experienced LEED AP certified architect and engineering firm helps make the process a lot more easier because they know the hoops that have to be jumped through. This surprises me, I always would've thought that a "fancy," government certification process would take a long time to be completed. However, through using the LEED AP certified architect, the amount of paperwork required reduced significantly. If I ever decide to go through with designing my own LEED-certified building, I'll definitely make sure to hire a LEED AP certified architect! ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ 7. What are the benefits of designing and promoting LEED certified buildings? The benefits are twofold. For one, it's going to save a lot of operation and maintenance costs over its lifespan versus a traditionally built structure. The second benefit is that this recognition can be used as a great educational and interpretive tool for visitors to show how they can incorporate small changes to their home's energy usage and efficiency. If we want to ensure that future generations have a safe, clean place to live, it's important that we have opportunities to educate everyone, especially the youth, in how there are ways outside of recycling and cleaning up garbage to make the world a better place. I think through LEED, we are able to accomplish this. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ 8. What are the drawbacks? There are a little more up front costs, and the extra time added to fund those costs can add to the completion of an overall project. Public funded facilities tend to also have politically-charged arguments from tax payers due to extra costs and timelines. Sometimes ideas with good intentions are picked apart by both sides of the argument and take the idea as an insult to their political ideologies. If I've learned anything through my mentor, it's that the world of recycling and waste management isn't all smooth-sailing. Politics always finds a way to seep into everything within society, but this is especially true for eco-friendly promotion. It's been an issue since the 1960's, and I'm thankful that people, regardless of what their political party affiliation may or may not be, realize that it's important to reduce our carbon footprint and make the world a better place! ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ 9. If you had the opportunity to educate the public about the importance of LEED, how would you do so? I do it all the time. I explain to folks when I give tours of the Visitor Center that we designed it this way using a "dollars and cents (sense)" philosophical approach (he paused a moment to laugh at the pun). We spent a little more money up front but would see a cost savings of at least tenfold over the lifespan of the building. For example, in 2012 I took 3 years of utility bills from 3 other similar county buildings and compared them to the visitor center's. Our utility usage and bills were anywhere from one third to one half the cost of similar county facilities. Point made! Also, our programs at the visitor center are based in 3 major thematic areas: Preservation, Conservation and Stewardship. Building the center to basic LEED certification standards helped us put our money where our mouth was and we were able to "walk the talk," if you will. Wow! It seems that, even after a little more than ten years of the visitor's center's completion, you've been able to still educate the public on how beneficial LEED actually is. Having utility bills nearly cut in half is an incredible feat. It not only reduces the operating costs, but it also shows the public that they can do this in their own homes and businesses, too. I think that one is never too young or too old to learn about the ways they can take care of their world. 10. What has been the biggest takeaway from managing LEED-certified buildings? If you can spend a little more now to save a lot later why wouldn't you? It's not difficult to obtain the certification and if the overall process scares you, then just do as much as you can. Just incorporating small, eco-friendly design elements, such as energy-efficient light bulbs, can have a big effect on your overall costs over time. And why wouldn't anyone want to save money in the long run? I definitely agree. I think that, while initial costs may seem to be a bit steep and the overall process is daunting, it's going to be worth it in the long run. Even if average people don't design LEED-certified buildings, learning from what goes into them can impact their lives for the better. Whether it's installing a water-saving toilet in one of their bathrooms, or purchasing energy-efficient appliances, it's clear to see that everyone has the opportunity to impact the environment in a positive way. And all of the little steps people take can surely add to a huge reduction in our carbon footprint! ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ Having this opportunity really helped me get a better idea of how I want to approach my capstone project, and gave me tons of answers to the things I was curious about.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AboutThis blog follows the weekly adventures that occur throughout the course of my mentorship. Archives
April 2018
Categories |