Oregon House Debate Highlights Building Performance Labeling

Should building owners be required to provide public information on the energy performance of their buildings? Would such disclosure help to promote the local commercial and residential real estate sectors? A number of Oregon legislators and their constituents would answer “yes” and “yes.”

SFO Mandates Energy Disclosure for Commercial Buildings

On February 9, 2011, the City of San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed the Existing Commercial Building Energy Performance Ordinance, signed into law by Mayor Lee on February 18^th. The ordinance requires that owners of commercial buildings of 10,000 square feet or more determine how much energy their building consumes on an annual basis, and make this information publicly available. In addition, building owners will be required to conduct an energy audit of these commercial properties every five years.

Is Landscape Urbanism a Threat?

Many Earth Advantage stakeholders are familiar with the term “new urbanism.” I generally describe new urbanism as a planning framework that encourages walkable neighborhoods, dense housing patterns, and proximity between residential and non-residential uses. But have you heard of the term “landscape urbanism”? Until last year, that was a new one for me as well.

Landscape urbanism is a planning/design approach that puts an emphasis on landscape and exterior elements of a project. Charles Waldheim is a leading figure in discussions surrounding landscape urbanism. He defines the term as “a theory … arguing that landscape, rather than architecture, is more capable of organizing the city and enhancing the urban experience” in his book, The Landscape Urbanism Reader. 

The State of the Union, Clean Coal Ads, Green Jobs , Energy Efficiency and Van Jones.

Best quote of the week: In a discussion of building energy efficiency and building performance labeling, and making an analogy to the current requirement to provide miles per gallon information when selling a car, Van Jones proclaimed: “It’s criminal that we don’t provide Energy Performance Scores on all our buildings.”

Worst quote of the week: In online ads interrupting the State of the Union address: “Clean Coal.” Courtesy of the American Coalition of Clean Coal Electricity 

Earlier this week I had the pleasure of joining Van Jones in a roundtable discussion preceding his lecture hosted by the University of Oregon on “The Next American Economy.”  Van Jones is a leader in the clean energy economy and social justice movements, a senior fellow at the Center For American Progress, a senior policy advisor at Green For All, and is the author of the NYT bestseller The Green Collar Economy.  What I enjoyed most about the conversation with Jones was his emphasis on Efficiency First, both as a policy approach, as well as a personal approach. In fact, he suggested that everyone should have a “house tune up,” just like we schedule our regular car tune ups.  As a green building non-profit, EAI focuses specifically on energy efficiency, but as Jones points out, it should be a priority for everyone.  Why exactly, you ask? What about renewables? 

Top Ten Green Building Trends for 2011

January is a time we all look forward to because the new year holds such promise. We believe it's going to be a promising year for the green building industry -- despite flat market conditions for conventional homes, we've seen market share for high performance homes increase from 18.5 to 23 percent in the Portland Metro area alone. In both Seattle and Portland 1 of every 4 new homes is certified. Clearly the time has come for energy efficiency, and with it, healthier green homes.

In keeping with the spirit of renewal, we are releasing our annual green building trends for 2011. The trends, which range from “affordable green” to lifecycle analysis of materials, were identified by Earth Advantage Institute based on discussions with a range of audiences over the latter part of 2010. These sectors include policymakers, builders, developers, architects, real estate brokers, appraisers, lenders, and homeowners. We encourage you take a look, cogitate and comment...

Greenbuild 2010: EPS Goes TED

We were fortunate enough to be selected by USGBC to take part in a special initiative for select sessions at GreenBuild this year. This is part of USGBC’s efforts to keep the conference fresh and exciting for attendees. Our session on the Energy Performance Score (EPS), a Market Catalyst, was selected by the Special Programs Working Group to take place in a new interactive and multimedia environment in order to better engage the audience in our presentation. 

The project was not without peril. Our PowerPoint, which included man-on-the-street video interviews, was projected on a suspended cube hanging above a runway catwalk of sorts. The audience completely encircled the runway so that we had to walk, turn to all directions, pass off the single remote control, and talk at the same time, all without falling off (luckily the platform was only 16 inches high). Thanks to the USGBC providing rehearsal time, we were able to traverse the runway and engage the attendees in a fairly unusual format, while remaining safe. We opted not to take advantage of instant smartphone polling capability as we had enough to keep track of already.

Green Day Forum to Hit Gerding Theater Nov. 4

Think of it as a series of TED talks with a common sustainability theme… On November 4^th sustainability leaders from around the Northwest will convene for Green Day Forum.  Discussions will take place around regional trends and policy, how sustainable building is moving to the next level, whether technology influences occupant energy behavior, and what the issues are that green building is ignoring. 

$11M DOE Award for EPS Builds Retrofit Momentum

It’s not often that you see a concept get traction fast, but the Energy Performance Score (EPS) is an idea that has gained considerable interest and a growing track record.

The most recent milestone for this residential energy labeling system – a miles-per-gallon style indicator that enables home-to-home comparisons of energy consumption and related carbon emissions -- is a multi-state award from the US Department of Energy for $11 million to roll out an EPS infrastructure for locales in Massachusetts, Virginia, Alabama and Washington.