Greening the U.S. Economy

During the Greater Washington Economic Conference held today, January 16 in Tysons Corner, Virginia Stephen Fuller, Ph.D. (Director, Center for Regional Analysis, School of Public Policy, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia), along with local industry professionals presented the ‘drivers, challenges and outlook going forward’ for the Washington DC area economy.

Peter Coy, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, reported that the GDP measures change in consumption, inventory, government, and net export. As of today consumption is stable with unemployment dropping, businesses have capacity to invest in future growth, government is shrinking while spending is increasing, global trade deficit is dropping, and the U.S is currently the largest producers of electro carbons in the world. However, these trends can easily be overturned by policy makers, the Federal Reserve actuating inflation, or spikes in oil production & prices in the Middle East. The takeaway from this conference are that economic factors support the belief that the economy will grow moving forward.

Multi-family and single family construction adds the greatest value to the economy, i.e., growth in GDP, spurs investment, and rise in consumer spending. The five growing sectors are professional/business, construction, education/health, hospitality, and state/local. DC is the 5th largest economy with its private sector driving the market; professional and business sector service is DC’s largest sector. The questions we were left to ponder are:

1.       Will qualified workers fill the jobs?

2.       Will supply of housing house future workforce at an affordable cost?

3.       Will infrastructure support future growth?

There is a need for growth in value added jobs (mid wage and high wage jobs) according to Stephen Fuller, which have the potential to drive the future economy surpassing current projections; from 2010 - 2013, low wage jobs have surpassed low & high wage jobs. The creation of “green” jobs can address this issue and stimulate the economy. The green economy is based on six main factors: renewable energy, green buildings, sustainable transport, water management, waste management, and land management according to Van Jones seminal book, The Green Collar Economy.  There are opportunities in the Washington DC region to improve on our pattern of consumption. For example, transit oriented development can counteract  land constraints inside the Capitol Beltway and the acceleration of vehicle miles traveled in this region. Studies show that smaller apartment units, called micro-units, are appealing to the millennial generation; they are occupying less square foot of space. There are opportunities to repurpose and modernize how we move forward in growing our economy.  

High Performance Building, Green Building, LEED Building, Sustainable Building...Are they all the same?

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The terms High Performance Building, Green Building, LEED Building, and Sustainable Building have all been used to describe a building or structure that is sustainable, functional, durable, secure, productive, healthy, and cost effective. Below are the definitions of each term:
 

High Performance Building:

Energy Policy Act of 2005 Section 914: A building that “integrates and optimizes all major high-performance building attributes, including energy efficiency, durability, life-cycle performance, and occupant productivity”.

Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, Title IV: A building that “integrates and optimizes on a lifecycle basis all major high performance attributes, including energy conservation, environment, safety, security, durability, accessibility, cost-benefit, productivity, sustainability, functionality, and operational considerations.”

National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) High Performance Buildings Council: Buildings which “address human, environmental, economic, and total societal impact, are the result of the application of the highest level design, construction, operation and maintenance principles - a paradigm change for the built environment.”

Green Building:

According to EPA, a green building is a structure that is environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout its life-cycle; these objectives expand and complement the classical building design concerns of economy, utility, durability, and comfort. The U.S. Department of Energy's ENERGY STAR® program tracks and assess the use of energy in buildings.

LEED Building:

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a set of rating systems and program that provides third-party verification of green buildings for the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of green buildings, homes and neighborhoods. It was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Other third-party verification programs are Green Globes and BOMA 360 Performance.
 

High Performance and Sustainable Building (HPSB):

In 2007, executive order 13423 was issued requiring Federal agencies to comply with the Guiding Principles for Federal Leadership in High Performance and Sustainable Buildings set forth in the Federal Leadership in High Performance and Sustainable Buildings Memorandum of Understanding (2006) for new construction and major renovations. The guiding principles include integrated design, energy performance, water conservation, and material selection. These guiding principles are tracked using ENERGY STAR®'s Portfolio Manager, allowing user to assess energy and water consumption across building portfolios.

So what we see here is the term green building is used synonymously with the terms sustainable building and high performance building. There are codes and standards that are in place to regulate  and certify green buildings. Green codes such as the International Green Construction Code [IgCC], International Energy Conservation Code and California Green Building Standards Code [CAL Green] regulate green buildings. Other standards, apart from LEED, for green building include ASTM International's Technical Subcommittee E06.71 on Sustainability and Performance of Buildings. The American Society for Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) is partnering with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and Illuminating Engineering Society of North American (IESNA) to develop Standard 189, Standard for the Design of High-Performance Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings. The Living Building Challenge [LBC], created in 2006, is an international rating system developed and administered by the Cascadia Green Building Council (a chapter of both the U.S. Green Building Council and Canada Green Building Council) and is considered the most rigorous green building performance standard; certification is based on actual building performance over the span of twelve months. LBC has six categories: site, energy, materials, water, indoor quality, and beauty and inspiration.

As green buildings are being influenced by the economy, market demands, technology, codes, standards, societal impacts, and climate change we will experience a shift in the pathway to building green.

Adopting Green Building Codes

The adoption of green building codes started in the west coast with California adopting its own green code, CALGreen [California Building Standards Code], statewide in 2010.  Its purpose is to enhance the design and construction of buildings to encourage sustainable construction practices in a way that reduces negative impacts on the environment.  Since this time the east coast has developed the International Green Construction Code (IgCC) 2012, introduced by the International Code Council, for new or renovated commercial buildings and residential buildings. This regulatory tool complements existing green building rating systems such as U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED standards; and includes sustainability measures  (energy, water efficiency, site impacts, building waste, and materials) throughout the building development phases.  It’s intended to drive green building into everyday practice and be used by primarily building officials.  Whether the code will be mandatory or voluntary, it will be up to jurisdictions to decide and for existing building code systems to enforce.  The IgCC is currently adopted in  Rhode Island, Maryland,  North Carolina, Florida,  Washington DC and Oregon; and is gaining traction across the U.S. communities.  

These changes raise the bar for the standard of construction on all buildings. Although we are not at the point yet where true sustainable buildings are being produced, however buildings are expected to be more efficient and produce positive effects on our health and environment.