Welcome to the U.S. Green Building Council
Northern California Chapter

Comment now on LEED forestry standards

Large-scale clearcuts and landslides on SFI-certified lands in Washington State 2007, Nova Scotia 2009

The mission of the green building movement has always been the pursuit of Triple Bottom Line – Environment, Society and Economics. The LEED Certified Wood Credit (MR7) has long embodied this ideal; it is being revised and the revision process is at a crucial juncture. Decisions are being made now that will set the bar for the industry for decades and many members believe they could weaken standards for forest management and forest protection.

It is important that members weigh in with their opinions.

The USGBC has proposed a revised forest certification benchmark to be used to judge which forest certification systems are worthy of recognition under the Certified Wood Credit. The recently released third draft of the benchmark may lower the standard relative to the previous version. We believe that LEED should maintain the current standard, and encourage you to review the proposed changes and our suggested responses.

Read the background documents and review our guidance document for commenting.

Step 1: Opt in to the vote . New rules for LEED require that you opt in to a "consensus body" to be eligible to vote. You must do this before commenting. All employees of USGBC member organizations are eligible to opt in, but it is "1 organization, vote."   

Step 2: Submit your comments. Review the proposed changes and give your feedback. Comments must be submitted by 5 PM PST March 14.

Step 3: Get more people involved. Spread the word and encourage others to opt in and comment. It is particularly important to recruit more contractors and builders.

USGBC - Northern California Chapter (USGBC-NCC) has been approved as a USGBC Education Provider as of March 3, 2010. This means that USGBC-NCC may now hold workshops and events that provide Continuing Education hours for GBCI's LEED Credential Maintenance Program (CMP).
Visit www.usgbc-ncc.org/continuingeducation for a schedule of upcoming CMP approved events and workshops.

About the Credential Maintenance Program

Along with the changes to LEED certification and credentialing levels rolled out in LEED 2009, the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI) developed a Credential Maintenance Program (CMP) for LEED professionals. GBCI now requires all LEED Green Associates and LEED APs with specialties to receive green building education to maintain their credentials. This ensures that LEED professionals stay informed and have a certain level of knowledge, which is particularly important in the constantly evolving world of green building.

• LEED APs with specialties must earn 30 CE hours biennially
• LEED Green Associates must earn 15 CE hours biennially
• LEED APs without specialty (credentialed before June 30, 2009) may opt-in to become LEED APs with specialties by completing credential maintenance requirements or retest to earn a specialty.

To fully understand the Credential Maintenance Program, please read through GBCI's CMP Guide and the CMP webpage. For directions on how to log your CE hours, read this guide.

About USGBC Education Providers

USGBC created the Education Provider Program to ensure the quality of green building education. Education Providers are third-party organizations that offer the highest-quality education that has been peer-reviewed and approved by USGBC.  An increasing number of USGBC Education Providers, including USGBC-NCC, are emerging to meet the demand for green building professionals. 

USGBC Education Providers, once approved, can hold events and workshops approved for GBCI's Credential Maintenance Program Continuing Education units. See USGBC's course catalog for a list of courses and providers (NCC is listed under the provider name Northern California Chapter).

Education Provider status does not automatically make every event or workshop held by the Provider eligible for Continuing Education units; each individual event or workshop must be submitted to USGBC's Education Review Body for approval. LEED exam prep workshops are not eligible for CMP Continuing Education units.

These events and workshops have been approved for Continuing Education units:

3/11: Strategies for Achieving & Keeping EBOM, Sacramento

4/13: Green Schools, LEEDing the Way, San Jose

Past Events:

3/3: Concrete As a Green Building Materia, Monterey Bay

3/3: Green Finance Series Part One: Investment Analysis of Green Building, SF

As more events and workshops become approved for Continuing Education Units, they will be marked as such with the USGBC Education Provider logo and listed at www.usgbc-ncc.org/continuingeducation.

Attendees of Continuing Education approved events and workshops will receive a certificate of attendance. For more information on the requirements and submittal procedures for the Credential Maintenance Program, please visit GBCI.org.

USGBC - Northern California Chapter is proud to provide our  community with the most direct source of green building and LEED information, provided by our expert Chapter leaders, instructors, and members.

Envelope

Prescriptive requirements for cool roofs were added. Roofing products used must be tested and labeled by the Cool Roof Rating Council (CRRC). The prescriptive minimum for fenestration was lowered to 0.40 u-factor in all climate zones. A new Prescriptive Package (E) for metal framing in low-rise buildings was added.

Mechanical

All residential low-rise new construction must ensure compliance with the ASHRAE 62.2-2007 indoor air quality standard. The standard includes mechanical ventilation and minimum operable window area requirements. The furnace's watt-draw is limited if a central fan integrated ventilation system is utilized.

Domestic Hot Water (DHW)

The performance ratings for instantaneous (tankless) water heaters and hot water supply boilers were reduced by a factor of .92 to account for thermal cycling and for other aspects not included in the "Energy Factor" test procedures. Parallel piping systems with a manifold will only allow 15 ft of piping between the manifold and the water heater. Demand recirculation systems can utilize two control options.

HERS (Third-Party Verification)

HERS verifications have been expanded to include: Low Leakage Ducts in Conditioned Space, Low Leakage Air Handlers, Refrigerant Charge Indicator Display (CID), Evaporatively Cooled Condensers (High EER), Ice Storage Air Conditioners (High EER) and Quality Insulation Installation for Spray Polyurethane Foam (SPF).

CF-1R Registration

For projects using the "multiple orientation" approach for plans or buildings that use HERS field verification measures, registration of the CF-1R is required. The documentation author and the building designer must upload this document to a HERS Provider Registry and digitally sign. Beginning on October 1, 2010, registration will be required for all buildings that use HERS measures for compliance.

To help you understand this new code, there are a number of free resources available to through residential utility programs and training. Some of these resources are listed below.

Incentive Programs

California Multifamily New Homes provides incentives and free technical assistance. CMFNH is available in PG&E territory and implemented by HMG. Contact Sophia Hartkopf, (916) 962-7001.

California Advanced Homes (CAH) provides energy efficiency and green building incentives. CAH is available statewide and is implemented by the Investor-Owned Utilities. In PG&E territory, this program applies to single-family new homes.

Training Opportunities

Multifamily Energy Efficiency Trainings are offered for free, by HMG on behalf of PG&E. Trainings are offered at various locations in Northern California. These trainings cover three topics: 1) Introduction: California Multifamily New Homes; 2) Intermediate: Multi-family Energy Efficiency Training; and 3) Advanced: Multi-family Building Simulation Training. Contact Serena Schlaile, 916.962.7001.

Builder Energy Code Training (BECT) is offered for free, by ConSol on behalf of PG&E. Trainings are offered at your location in the classroom, web, or on the job site. These trainings cover current and upcoming code requirements, as well as practical, quality construction practices. Contact Andrew Au, (209) 473-5049.

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This article was compiled by the Heschong Mahone Group, Inc. HMG provides professional consulting services in the field of building energy efficiency. We specialize in applying our knowledge of building design, construction technology, policy development and program design to the problem of making buildings more energy efficient.

As part of the Distinguished Lecture Series at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Professor Jim Sweeney, Director of the Precourt Institute for Energy Efficiency at Stanford University, spoke on January 28, 2010. His lecture, entitled Energy Efficiency and Renewables: Market and Behavioral Failures, examined correlations between energy-related market failures and behavioral issues, and plausible ways to redirect these trends.

Prof. Jim Sweeney began his presentation by defining energy efficiency as the intersection of "economically efficient reductions in energy use and the intensity of energy being used." Using a Cartesian grid to illustrate this concept, Sweeney labeled the x-axis Economic Efficiency and the y-axis Energy Intensity. Optimized Building Construction was located in the most meritorious quadrant, the Energy Efficiency Improvement quadrant.

After noting several simple improvements in technology that are both economically and environmentally advantageous, Sweeney then asked, "Why aren't we picking this low-hanging fruit?" More specifically, he questioned why society is neglecting to implement negative cost options, such as those that are highly responsive to carbon dioxide prices, evident in the well-established global GHG marginal abatement cost curves. Sweeney believes that the reasoning behind unexploited negative cost options, many of which have been recommended for almost 20 years, is due to behavioral issues. In order to change these trends, Sweeney argues understanding behavior is fundamentally key.

Many green building examples fall into one, or both, of two categories of market failures:

Externalities

• Costs or benefits arising from an economic activity that affect somebody other than the people engaged in the economic activity and are not reflected fully in prices
  
• A significant factor in energy use due to a tremendous amount of unpriced costs and benefits
  
• Present in research & design, especially with respect to ownership and proper compensation

Principal-Agent Problems

• Account for the majority of green building market failures
• Fueled by behavioral issues resulting from lack of motivation toward energy issues and poor information
• Examples include: rental vs. owner-occupied (OO) buildings, consumer product marketing, and consumer product design
  

Illustrating the discrepancy between rental and OO properties, reports show that over 80% of OO homes have insulated attics compared to only 40% of rental properties. Reminding his audience that market behavior is greatly influenced by establishing good economic incentives, Sweeney cited several progressive examples, including PG&E's decoupling of energy use and profit margins.

Another example involves the typical digital video recorder (DVR) unit that draws a shocking 60 watts of electricity when turned off. The principal, or the electronics company, is concerned with producing the cheapest device possible. The agent, or consumer, is not aware of the cost of energy expended. Ideally, if demanded by consumers, proper marketing information would state electricity use for both the point of purchase and time of use. Since this type of consumer-driven information has become standard in some household appliances, including washing machines and refrigerators, society is familiar with the steps to accomplish such transparency in marketing materials.

Perhaps the easiest problem to address is the issue of consumer product design. For example, nearly 80% of programmable thermostats are not actually programmed by the owner. Sweeney suggested exploiting, instead of fighting, these behavioral issues by setting the default options to the desired settings.

How do we create these behavioral changes in the market? Sweeney advised his audience to look closely at multi-faceted campaigns such as the significant reduction of cigarette smoking in the United States and Europe, and the increased sexual safety in Mexico City due to telenovelas. By addressing several aspects of the human psyche, these campaigns, targeting social and individual behavioral change, show the need to have many interventions simultaneously.

Prof. Jim Sweeney concluded his presentation by summing up his underlying message: aggressive economic incentives combined with behavioral science need to play a much larger role in the marketing of energy efficiency and renewables.

Watch a video of Sweeney's lecture: youtube!

All images and statistics courtesy of Prof. Jim Sweeney, Energy Efficiency and Renewables: Market and Behavioral Failures.

USGBC's Natural Talent Design Competition (NTDC) is a nationwide design challenge that was started in 2003 by the USGBC's Emerging Green Builders program as a vehicle for young designers to gain applied learning experience in the principles of integrated design, sustainability, and innovation. This year, the Salvation Army joins the U.S. Green Building Council in hosting the 2010 Natural Talent Design Competition. Entrants will design an affordable, 800 square foot green home for an elderly client in the Broadmoor, New Orleans neighborhood as part of Salvation Army's EnviRenew Project.

Competitors will be divided into students and young professionals categories. Chapters will select winning teams from both categories, and nationally, two winning teams from each category will be selected, and those four teams will be brought to Greenbuild 2010.

For the first time, the top four winning teams will see their designs built! Once the homes are built, they will enter a measurement and verification phase in which they will be graded on energy efficiency, water reuse, and indoor air quality among other categories. The design team whose home performs best during measurement and verification will be awarded the final grand prize.

Learn more about the Chapter Competition or visit OpenArchitectureNetwork.org to view competition guidelines and register.