Every December, the Sacramento Branch of the USGBC-NCC takes time to celebrate the success of the past year and the continuing development of the Branch and green building in our region. December 2011 was no exception, and this year’s celebration held special meaning as we introduced our membership to our new name - Capital Branch. The Leadership Team believes this name better represents our position in the green movement locally, solidifying our involvement and impact on greenbuilding in Northern California and throughout the state.

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Name: Donny Gallagher

Member Since: 2010

What's your occupation?
After graduating from UC Davis with my BS in Civil Engineering, I joined RBF Consulting’s Sacramento office. Today I am a project engineer at RBF focusing on entitlements and civil design for a diverse range of multidisciplinary projects including utility scale renewable energy projects, military base rehabilitations, hospital expansions, commercial developments, residential developments, utility infrastructure, roadway design, and highway realignments. My day to day work includes preparation of preliminary and final plans for grading, utilities, drainage, surface parking facilities, roadways, Low Impact Development (LID)/stormwater quality, American with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance, and erosion control/Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plans (SWPPP).

Over the past few years I served as lead designer for several projects including the Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System Seismic Upgrade and Modernization Project, the new $43 million Calaveras County Detention Center and Sherriff’s Administration Office (the single largest public works project in Calaveras County history), and numerous large scale solar projects throughout Sacramento County.

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By Dan Geiger, Executive Director, USGBC-NCC

As we look forward to what promises to be an incredible 2012 - with USGBC’s Greenbuild International Conference and Expo coming to San Francisco November 14-16 – I’d like to report on the Chapter’s achievements during 2011, and provide a preview of the exciting Road to Greenbuild.
 

2011 Year in Review

2011 was another great year for USGBC-Northern California Chapter (NCC). The Chapter’s growing leadership role in California and the United States reflects the region’s innovative culture and global green leadership.

NCC and our members have a lot to be proud of:

• NCC is home to approximately 70 million LEED Certified square feet, nearly 6% of the total LEED square footage in the United States.
• The Chapter’s region has 12,000 LEED AP’s, or ~8% of all AP’s in the country
• San Francisco is rated Northern America’s Greenest City.
• The World Green Building Council awarded San Francisco its prestigious Government Leadership Award for Excellence in City Policy for Green Building.
• California’s wide range of breakthrough green public policies lead the nation. Other states look to California for the latest trends – as they say – “as California goes, so goes the country”. From upholding the landmark climate change bill AB32, setting ambitious goals for renewable energy and energy efficiency, greening of the building codes and so much more, California continues its green leadership, even in the face of a challenging economic and budget situation.

Impact – NCC Programs

Founded in 2003, the Chapter has grown to be one of the largest and leading USGBC Chapters in the USA. NCC includes most of the northern part of the state – from Monterey Bay, up through the Bay Area, and east to the Sacramento area. Our mission to be a thought leader, educate the industry, and advocate for sustainable public policy was realized in a variety of ways this past year, including:

Education

• Events: NCC hosted or co-sponsored 150+ events throughout Northern California. Between LEED credentialing and energy efficiency workshops, conferences, monthly Branch events, and special events, about ~4,500 attendees received education and benefited from professional networking opportunities.
• 2011’s 8th Annual Water Conservation Showcase was the most successful ever, drawing about 800 people for a day-long set of sessions, vendor exposition, and plenary sessions. Special thanks to co-sponsors PG&E and East Bay MUD.
• GreenerBuilder 2011 built on 2010’s first green building conference geared to the trades to include sessions for AEC’s. The conference attracted 500 professionals who attended sessions ranging from introductory green building, the future of LEED, building codes, to net zero energy and a compelling Executive Panel discussion. Special thanks to our general contractor partners, presenters, executive panel, sponsors, and exhibitors.
• NCC provided more than 40 GBCI continuing education units.
  

• NCC has approximately 25,000 constituents on our mailing list and 1,300 dues paying Chapter members. Help us reach our 2012 x 2012 membership goals by joining now and telling your colleagues and friends about the benefits of membership.
• NCC welcomed its 5th Branch, the San Francisco Bay Bridge Branch, which joins the Diablo East Bay, Monterey Bay, Capital, and Silicon Valley branches in putting on innovative monthly programs, membership networking events, expos and special events.

Advocacy

California Advocacy

In 2011, NCC played a leading role in the California Advocacy Committee (CAC), aka USGBC California, which represents the eight California USGBC chapters of Northern California, Redwood Empire, Central California, California Central Coast, Los Angeles, Inland Empire, Orange County, and San Diego. NCC Board Member Dennis Murphy chairs the committee.

2011 California highlights include:

• USGBC California tracked 75 California legislative bills.
• Two of our three sponsored bills, AB930 Gordon, Redwood City –California Building Standards Commission Sustainability) and SB128, Lowenthal, Long Beach – School facilities funding: high-performance schools) were signed into law by Governor Brown. In addition, seven other bills we supported were signed into law.
  
• Organized a USGBC membership Lobby Day at the state capitol in May.
• Continued its work in support of the Building Codes Education Coalition, and many other issues throughout the year.

Regional Advocacy

Within the Chapter, in addition to its 2011 work on CalGreen, green schools, and green homes, this year NCC completed a major restructuring of Chapter-wide advocacy committees:

• Formed or re/formulated four Policy Sub-Committees: Sustainable Neighborhoods, Green Schools, Green Residential, and a new Sustainable Healthcare committee
  
• Recruited 8 new industry-expert Committee Co-Chairs, and 80 new volunteers from throughout the Chapter to work on the committees
• Held a kick-off retreat on December 15th, where 2012 plans were presented and refined. Watch for some significant developments this year!

This reorganization and planning process has been recognized by USGBC national as a national exemplar of best practices.

Special thanks to outgoing Committee Chairs: Suzanne Nolan for her many years of dedicated and outstanding service as the Chair of the previous incarnation of the Local Advocacy Committee, and to outgoing Green Schools Committee Founding Chair Pauline Souza for her leadership on the Chapter’s and state’s green schools initiatives.

The Road to Greenbuild

As probably everyone knows, Greenbuild International Conference and Expo is coming to San Francisco in November 2012. Naturally, this Greenbuild promises to be the biggest and best in history – we expect more than 35,000 people from around the world to attend. USGBC was founded here in 1993, we’re one of the largest green building markets in the world, California’s policy leadership, and Silicon Valley and the bay area’s innovative culture makes it the proto-type region for creating the future - and everyone loves San Francisco. So fasten your seatbelts – the eyes of the world will be upon us!

As USGBC-NCC gears up as the Host Chapter for Greenbuild 2012, we’re honored to have a distinguished Host Committee Co-Chaired by Lynn Simon, President of Simon & Associates, and Andrea Traber, Principal of Kema’s Sustainable Buildings and Operations Group (and former NCC Board President). Upwards of 100 stellar members volunteered to serve on 6 Greenbuild Host Sub-Committees. The Host Committee has begun its planning and will be hard at work for the rest of the year.

The Greenbuild 2012 Conference in San Francisco represents a powerful and unique opportunity to broaden and build support of USGBC’s mission and vision. NCC is working with USGBC to develop a multi-faceted campaign to support and enhance the success of the Conference, expand the green building constituency, and highlight Northern California and the State’s green leadership. This Road to Greenbuild will feature a series of events and programs throughout the year, culminating in a fantastic Greenbuild Conference in November. We’ll be working with many of our partners, reaching out to new constituents, and engaging thousands of members in this exciting conference.

Thank You

Our accomplishments are made possible by the work of hundreds of passionate and brilliant members, the Board of Directors and Branch Leaders, a highly dedicated and talented staff, a host of volunteer committee members, Chapter annual sponsors, event and conference sponsors, and our many partners, friends and allies.

As a non-profit, membership organization, we are mission-driven, not an industry association. The thousands of people who propel this movement and chapter forward share our mission “to transform the way buildings and communities are designed, built and operated, enabling an environmentally and socially responsible, healthy, and prosperous environment that improves the quality of life.”

Thank you all very much for your incredible contributions, and for caring enough about creating a healthy and sustainable planet to give your heart, minds, passion, time and money to help realize USGBC’s vision: “Buildings and communities will regenerate and sustain the health and vitality of all life within a generation.”

Dan Geiger
Executive Director
USGBC-Northern California Chapter 

   

Frito Lay's LEED Gold facility and the California Academy of Sciences' LEED EBOM Platinum museum
are just 2 examples of our our region's leadership in green building this past year.

By Mary Ann Dickinson, President and CEO, Alliance for Water Efficiency

We have all heard that water and energy are connected. But what exactly does that mean? And in California -- the epicenter of the water-energy nexus --what do you need to know about this issue as a green building professional?

The good news is that there is a conference on March 20 that will explain all of this to you. The Northern California Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC-NCC), East Bay Municipal Utilities District (EBMUD) and PG&E are teaming up to present their annual Water Conservation Showcase, a day filled with presentations and information on the close connection between water and energy. Learn how 49% of the nation’s water withdrawals go toward providing cooling water to generate electricity, and how so much energy is needed to pump and treat drinking water and wastewater that it forms nearly 15% of the country’s carbon emissions. Learn how 19% of California’s electric energy load is related to the pumping, treatment, and end use of water and wastewater, and how 32% of California’s gas load is related to the heating of hot water by consumers. Conference presentations will explore various ways in which saving water saves energy – often more cost effectively then through direct energy efficiency programs.

The Alliance for Water Efficiency is extremely interested in this issue, and will be speaking at the Showcase on March 20. Last year, the Alliance partnered with the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy on a project to explore the needed actions related to the water-energy connection. Over 75 stakeholders gathered in Washington DC to brainstorm about how to combine efforts on water and energy. Called the Blueprint for Action, the final report from that workshop documents eight needed areas of research, coordination, and policy -- and the tasks that are required to make forward progress in these important key areas. The Blueprint for Action was distributed to Congress and is viewed as an important milestone in the national discussions on water and energy. Prominent in the Report’s recommendations are developing better methods of integrated water and energy into LEED, green codes, stretch codes, and whole building rating systems.

Don’t miss the Water Conservation Showcase on March 20 to hear all about these important water issues!