129799171754241250_TT13_spring12_FINAL_P by Jean-Yves Mesnil

THE MAGAZINE FOR TRANSFORMATIVE PEOPLE + DESIGN

TR A NSFORM ATION A L THOUGHT

DEEP COMMUNITY RESILIENCE TR A NFORM ATION A L DE SIGN

UP TO THE CHALLENGE TR A NSFORM ATION A L PEOPLE

VANDANA SHIVA TR A NSFORM ATION A L ACTION

LIVING, LEARNING, BUILDING AND SHARING I S SUE 013 L I V ING -F UT URE.ORG

SPRING 2012

EDITOR IN CHIEF

Jason F. McLennan jason.mclennan@living-future.org

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

Michael D. Berrisford michael.berrisford@living-future.org

SENIOR EDITOR

Sarah Costello sarah.costello@living-future.org

MANAGING EDITOR

Joanna Gangi joanna.gangi@living-future.org

C R E AT I V E D I R E C T O R

Erin Gehle erin.gehle@living-future.org

ADVERTISING

Joanna Gangi joanna.gangi@living-future.org

COPY EDITOR

April Knudsen april.knudsen@living-future.org

DEPARTMENTS

CONTRIBUTORS

Ryan Abbott, Murray Cizon, Joanna Gangi, Jay Kosa, John LaRose, Sara Maudlin, Jason F. McLennan, Eric Moritz, Max Ritcher, Stephen Sandberg, Peter Syrett, Kristen Tolentino

For editorial inquiries, freelance or photography submissions and advertising, contact Joanna Gangi at joanna.gangi@living-future.org. Back issues or reprints, contact trimtab@living-future.org S P R I N G 2 012 , I S S U E 13

Trim Tab is a quarterly publication of the International Living Future Institute, a nonproﬁt, tax-exempt organization. Ofﬁce locations: 721 NW 9th Ave Suite 195, Portland, OR 97209; 410 Occidental Ave South, Seattle, WA 98104; 150-8960 University High St, Burnaby, BC V5A4Y6; 643 S. Lower Road, Palmer, AK 99645.

T R A N S F O R M AT I O N A L D E S I G N BY RYA N A BBOT T

TR ANSFORMATIONAL THOUGHT:

Deep Community Resilience BY JASON MCLENNAN

TR ANSFORMATIONAL DE SIGN:

Up to the Challenge BY RYAN ABBOTT

TR ANSFORMATIONAL ACTION:

Living, Learning, Building and Sharing (one petal at a time) BY KRISTIN TOLENTINO, STEPHEN SANDBERG, AND ERIC MORITZ

TR ANSFORMATIONAL PEOPLE:

Vandana Shiva BY JOANNA GANGI

Spring 2012

contents S P R I N G Q U A R T E R 2 012

T R A N S PA R E N C Y BY PETER SYRET T & MA X RICHTER

FEATURES 48

Transparency: The Digital Cave Art of the 21st Century

T R A N S F O R M AT I O N A L P E O P L E BY JOANNA GANGI

NUTS & BOLTS 88

BY PETER SYRETT & MA X RICHTER

Book Review: This Changes Everything: Occupy Wall Street and the 99% Movement REVIEW BY JOHN L AROSE

Eden Brukman: Living Building Hero BY JASON F. MCLENNAN

Moving Upstream

High-Performance Women: How 3 Women are InďŹ&#x201A;uencing the Built Environment

FWD: Read This

BY SAR A MAUDLIN

Ambasssadors Reaching to the Land Down Under BY JAY KOSA

Portland, Oregon and Living Future 2012 A Perfect Couple BY MURR AY CIZON

trim tab

We proudly present:

Our team took on the challenge to develop and operate a

La Reserva de Santa Fe

living and breathing residential community that would go beyond current sustainability standards, aiming to set new ones. La Reserva de Santa Fe, the natural option for people living in one of the largest and most environmentally compromised cities in the world.

info@reservasantafe.com

Spring 2012

La Reserva de Santa Fe in Mexico City, coming soon.

Steel + Wood It doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get any

greener

Photos Nic Lehoux

Structural Steel Green Facts 93% Recycled Content 98% Recycling Rate Multi-Cycled Minimal Construction Waste Cradle-to-Cradle Easily Adaptable Regionally Manufactured

Seattle City Hall, Gold LEEDTM Certified, IDEAS2 Award Winner

Building a Greener Northwest Using Structural Steel To learn more about gaining the benefits of using sustainable structural steel on your next project contact our Northwest Regional Office at 206.226.7551 or email allbritton@aisc.org.

sustainab

Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s always a solution in steel.

trim tab

In Our World This Is Art Providing Cost Effective Thermal Efficiency for Energy Savings

! Ottawa, ON K1Z 7S8 # $ % &' % ( # $$ '& )))' Spring 2012 * # + - . #

Building the Future

A Promise Delivered Turner is proud to deliver improved environments for building occupants To learn more about Turner and living buildings, please visit turnerconstruction.com/living-buildings trim tab

B Y J A S O N F. M C L E N N A N

DEEP COMMUNITY RESILIENCE Preparing for the coming age, place-by-place

CREATIVE COMMONS IMAGE FROM FLICKR USER NICCOLO UBALDUCCI PHOTOGRAPHER 8

Spring 2012

T RAN S FO RMAT I O N AL T H O U GH T

The hurricane and flooding in New Orleans. The F5 tornado in Joplin, Missouri. The magnitude 6.2 earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand and the devasting earthquake in Haiti. The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The earthquake, tsunami and subsequent nuclear crisis in Northern Japan. Disasters happen and people respond, on both individual and societal levels. In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to the notion of community resilience as the size and number of community disasters has increased globally. We seem increasingly resigned to adapting to disasters rather than avoiding them as their inevitability becomes apparent. The good news is that the dialogue is finally becoming more sophisticated, with a focus on how to prepare in advance for the next crisis and how well our systems might withstand whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s to come rather than simply planning to respond after the fact. The word â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;resilienceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; is an important word in the context of community planning, yet to truly become more resilient we must take a step back and examine the very fabric of our communities, identifying our vulnerabilities both culturally and physically and replacing them with more robust and elegant solutions.

trim tab

CREATIVE COMMONS IMAGE FROM FLICKR USER KANSAS CITY DISTRICT

Natural disasters can completely devastate a community as in this photo of Joplin, Missouri.

UNDERSTANDING OUR FRAGILITY Several realities make our societies inherently less resilient than in the past. Overpopulation literally places more people in harm’s way, particularly in earthquake and flood zones where much of current population growth occurs. With another billion people likely to be added within the next two decades this will become even more of an issue. Increasingly dangerous technologies (nuclear energy and deep-water drilling come to mind) raise the stakes when problems occur. In our insane quest for cheap energy we are greatly increasing the potential for human based natural disasters with riskier technologies and resource extraction. The ways in which we have planned and built our cities (especially in North America) also spreads people out over greater distances, creating geographic and cultural separations as well as highly inefficient, expensive centralized transportation, water and waste systems that make potential disruptions harder to fix and put whole communities at risk. Culturally we have become complacent about governments, corporations and technologies stepping in and taking care of us in tough times. As a result we find ourselves

Spring 2012

more vulnerable – and sometimes helpless in the face of challenges when they do arise. The topic of resilience comes up frequently in discussions and debates surrounding climate change, amongst the people that focus on these issues, but is ignored mostly by the public at large. Most experts agree that the rate of natural disasters will continue to rise as the climate continues to change. Yet suddenly it has become politically dangerous to even discuss climate change and the many threats we face to our well being in the public sphere. Emotional partisanship has replaced scientific rationality for most Americans. For communities that need to think about resilience – and I think every community in the world should be having vigorous civil discourse on this subject, very little is being done. Government, corporate and environmental leaders that are up to speed on these issues all agree that the costs to respond to these catastrophes over and over are simply too high and economically untenable. We can not keep insuring the status quo and rebuilding communities that are ill-prepared for the next disaster down the road. The question remains: how can we

make all of our communities more resilient to inevitable disasters, whether they are natural or man-made? Clearly, the overall topic of resilience is massive. For the purposes of this article, I have chosen to focus on those aspects of community resilience that I believe we are still capable of achieving – provided we are courageous enough to make some serious changes. NEW REALITIES CLASH WITH OLD HABITS Many climate experts now believe that we have already lost the battle against climate change; that it is already too late to reduce emissions in time to avoid significant catastrophic environmental loss around the world. The debate is turning to how we will adapt and thrive in a vastly altered world. Some anticipate the inevitable collapse of civilization as we know it, where warming temperatures and rising seas will flood coastal areas and result in human tragedy on a hitherto unheard of scale. Meanwhile, politicians offer their rhetoric (if anything at all) without offering real solutions. And challenging economic times make minor hardships feel considerably more dire. Even a modest spike in oil prices sends a shock wave throughout the already tense economy, reminding us how dependent we are on fossil fuels. We find it difficult enough to endure price hikes in boom times; when money is tight, the

effects are much farther reaching. In lean economic times, there is a general shift in the balance of optimism and pessimism. People feel less secure and more afraid because there is less to fall back on, both in our personal accounts and in the public coffers. So if disaster were to strike, we feel less confident in society’s ability to support us if we need help. The typical scenario following a large-scale crisis in the first or developed world goes something like this: a critical event occurs, experts from elsewhere swarm in to rescue the victims, money comes from outside sources (such as FEMA, non-profit NGOs, religious groups, insurance companies, etc.), and the affected community attempts to rebuild itself much like it was before. However this pattern makes no sense. When we rebuild exactly what was destroyed, we simply return ourselves to the vulnerability of where we started. Yes, it is what we know, but recreating the past circumstances only places us squarely in the path of future disasters. Will New Orleans ever encounter another hurricane? Will Southwest Missouri endure another tornado? Will Northern Japan continue to be affected by shifts in the earth’s crust? Of course. So why would these communities return to business as usual in the wake of devastation? Why wouldn’t they re-think the way they re-build so that they can be more resilient the next time around?

Western society has become increasingly vulnerable to any disruption.

trim tab

CREATIVE COMMONS IMAGE FROM FLICKR USER DYMIDZIUK.JANUSZ

ISTOCK PHOTO

The age of ‘extreme energy’ puts more people and the ecosystems that support us at risk.

Third world disasters of any nature typically result in massive human suffering, disease and death – and rarely a return to conditions prior to the event. Things just keep getting tougher for those most disadvantaged around the world. When a disaster is large enough to capture the international stage and media attention, money flows in for a period of time when the story is ‘hot’, but then quickly recedes to a trickle within a short period of time. RETHINKING CONCEPTS OF POWER AND STRENGTH I live just across the water from downtown Seattle on Bainbridge Island, a small community where an abundance of trees and a blustery climate combine for relatively frequent power outages. When the lights and heat go out, we patiently wait for outsiders to fix the problem on our behalf. The local power company quickly obliges, but residents have no control over how long we wait before our energy, water and heat is restored. Those of us without generators (which have their own limits) wait in our homes, relying on the candles and blankets we have on hand, until the bulbs miraculously flicker back on. We are not fond of, nor are accustomed to being in dark, unheated houses, but we adapt because we know it is only temporary. We’re lucky on Bainbridge Island; we rarely deal with disruptions that last longer than 24 hours and almost never more than a couple days at worst. Such

Spring 2012

short disruptions almost become enjoyable, romantic breaks from TV, video games and the constant hum of modern life. But every time it does happen, at the back of our minds looms the question – what if it doesn’t come back on? And what if true disaster hits, rendering our centralized systems irreparable and the public emergency response teams unmanned? What would we do if nobody were available to help for extended periods –or at all? Would our community have the capacity to help itself? Have we lost our resilience as a people? Deep down I think we all know the answer. We are perhaps the most individually and culturally helpless society in the world if the complex systems we’ve built to support us go down due to some sort of disaster. In comparison, I often think of the resilience of Amish communities. There, neighbors build structures together, whether they are intended for private or communal use. People learn how to fix the tools they use. They grow their own food. They work in trades that will sustain their families for generations. There is no centralized infrastructure to which all systems are tied – and this is a key understanding that needs to be underscored. The Amish are nothing if not resilient. Let’s define this clearly as it has huge importance. The following page outlines categories of resilience.

Resilience - Infrastructure and Cultural Fabric

Centralized Cultural Fabric a culture where everyone has a practical role in supporting the community, an understanding of that role and a shared knowledge of how to handle nearly any situation.

ISTOCK PHOTO

In the event of a crisis, this culture dictates that all citizens act as one. What is good for the community is good for the individual. They have no need to wait on FEMA to provide them with food and shelter, as they are their own disaster response team.

Decentralized Infrastructure a network of small-scale systems and technologies (mostly passive and easily and cheaply fixed), with built in redundancies across a community, which allows for significant resilience in the face of disaster.

trim tab

ISTOCK PHOTO

Decentralized Cultural Fabric a highly loose cultural fabric where people do not know each other nor have strong bonds between families or neighborhoods and a weak tradition of working together to solve problems. This fabric is filled with individuals who do not know how to adapt well to change, have few useful skills and require outside systems to provide them with the basics of food, water, heat, energy and shelter.

ISTOCK PHOTO

Resilient Societies have a centralized cultural fabric and a decentralized physical infrastructure. Vulnerable societies have a decentralized cultural fabric and centralized infrastructure that supports it.

Centralized Infrastructure a large-scale system that provides services to a great many people over great distances, typically expensive to build and maintain and usually fixable only with inputs from far flung places.

TRUE COMMUNIT Y RESILIENCE

COMMUNIT Y RESILIENCE

CULTURAL RESILIENCE INDIVIDUAL RESILIENCE

INFRASTRUCTURE RESILIENCE

In my book, Zugunruhe, I refer to the growing agitation I see across all pockets of our society as we unconsciously become aware of our vulnerability. People are feeling restless, knowing on some level that something fundamental has to change in our civilization if we are to correct our course toward a way of living that has a chance for long-term prosperity. I believe this unconscious awareness is the first stage for people pursuing individual resilience. More houses are going off the grid, more workers are telecommuting, more people are growing their own food and supporting local agriculture. (For more on the urban farming movement, see my article on “The Urban Agriculture Revolution: Bringing Food into Living Cities” in the Winter 2010 issue of Trim Tab.) This awareness can not spread quickly enough. We need to resist alarmism while keeping in mind the large-scale consequences of our vulnerability. The longer we take to develop resilience as individuals and communities, the farther-reaching the potentially adverse effects. True, deep, sustainable, community resilience should immediately become a central part of the planning paradigm for cities and towns

Spring 2012

across every country. I am not just referring to disaster preparedness - I mean fundamental resilience that begins with the individual and reaches across the community and finally to the community’s infrastructure of support. THE KEY INGREDIENTS OF A RESILIENT COMMUNIT Y

A truly resilient community is based on three distinct elements: a resilient infrastructure, a resilient culture and resilient individuals. Let’s explore the workings of each of these elements in order to understand their contributions to the whole. Infrastructure Resilience. In order for a community to function without all-out failure in the face of disaster, it must have the physical infrastructure to support its citizens in good times and bad. Cities should be appropriately dense and walkable so citizens do not need to rely on cars to get essentials they need and to reach others they need to find. The walking/biking scale should define the planning module of our communities – distances should be measured in hundreds of feet not dozens of miles.

Property should be developed on a relatable scale so that there is a proper human-based relationship between people and the buildings where they live and work and less reliance on elevators and systems that require energy to work 1. Water and waste systems should almost always be gravity fed, and neighborhood scaled – with plenty of redundancy and onsite water storage2. Energy systems too should be decentralized, renewable and as simple as possible. The Living Building Challenge provides an overarching vision for truly resilient communities. For more on the Challenge, please visit the International Living Future Institute at www.livingbuildingchallenge.org.

TO BECOME MORE RESILIENT WITHIN OUR COMMUNITIES, WE MUST RECOMMIT TO THE IDEA OF COMMUNITY.

If every element of the built environment following the principles of the Living Building Challenge, the effects of catastrophe would play out on a dramatically smaller scale. Following a storm or earthquake, fewer people would be without power or water because systems would be site-specific and less vulnerable to widespread damage. Repairs can happen more quickly when systems are simple and can be worked on by a few people without special tools. Affected citizens would not require strangers to swoop in from elsewhere to restore the systems that support their way of life; they would have the ability to address their own property- or neighborhood-specific issues. Connections between infrastructure and users would be tighter and more localized, making citizens and communities inherently more resilient. It would be much more difficult for a disaster of any type to shut down a community that relies on a well-planned decentralized infrastructure. Cultural Resilience. I referred earlier to the independence of Amish communities; a wonderful example of a resilient culture. The Amish know their neighbors, they care for the weak and elderly, they build and fix what they use,

ISTOCK PHOTO

1 I’ve written extensively in previous issues of Trim Tab about many topics that support this larger idea. See “The Tyranny of the Big and the Beauty of the Small: How Scale Determines Sustainability in the Fall 2010 issue, “Our Children’s Cities: The Logic and Beauty of a Child-Centered Civilization” in the Summer 2011 issue, and “Density and Sustainability: A Radical Perspective” in the Spring 2009 issue. 2 See Flushing Outdated Thinking article in the Fall 2009 issue of Trim Tab. Rebuilding a community is an act of community bond making.

trim tab

they grow what they eat. By no means am I trying to paint theirs as a perfect community, but certainly they know how to take care of themselves and one another. There is a strong cultural expectation of shared conditions and solutions. This is true of most traditional communities around the world and certainly was true of all cultures prior to the rise of empires and the focus on specialization.

ISTOCK PHOTO

Unfortunately, the Amish or other traditional ways of life are considered by most North Americans to be peculiar – even abnormal, and always ‘backwards’. Instead, the majority of our communities become less resilient and less connected to place and community over time. As we’ve become more reliant on large-scale systems and technologies to take care of us, our new cultural ‘normal’ is further isolating us; we are becoming dangerously disconnected and hopelessly vulnerable in the coming years. Which is not to say that technology has to disconnect us – its potential to connect us in incredibly powerful ways is just now being demonstrated with social movements such as Occupy and the Arab spring, but even the best technology can’t replace knowing and caring for your neighbor in the flesh.

HEDGE FUND MANAGERS BRING MUCH LESS VALUE THAN A PLUMBER OR A CARPENTER IN A TURBULENT WORLD.

To become more resilient within our communities, we must recommit to the idea of community. We need to interact with our neighbors, check in on those who need extra help, rediscover how to work with tools, and collaborate with one another to get our collective work done. Each of us should be surrounded not by strangers, but by a tight circle of people who are aware of our patterns and available to lend a hand when in need and obviously our cities need to be designed to facilitate such interactions naturally and effectively. Attaining cultural resilience requires softening our sometimes fierce commitment to individualism (or at least recast the definition of what it means), which does not serve us as well in the face of hard times. This begs the question: is the Facebook generation capable of caring as deeply for others as it cares for itself? Can we translate greater virtual connections to stronger literal connections? Individual Resilience. Attaining individual resilience will take more than looking beyond existential soul searching and gazing at our computer screens or doing yoga. It will require a complete shift in the mindset of what makes us valuable members of our communities and our role and responsibility to ourselves and to others around us.

Personal resilience is key to community resilience.

Spring 2012

We have established such a habit of outsourcing everything, that few of us possess even the most basic survival skills. We have divided labor and mechanized systems to a point where most of us know how

ISTOCK PHOTO

Resilience depends on knowing core skills that can sustain us locally... and bring us together as a community.

to do very little that is practical or useful in trying times. When something breaks, we tend to hire a repairperson or, worse, purchase a replacement and simply discard something that was fixable. Interestingly, the most resilient citizens during disasters are typically not the highest paid ‘expert’ members of a community- but are the blue collar individuals that spend their days getting things done with their hands. In the coming world what we value and celebrate may and should change. Hedge fund managers bring much less value than a plumber or a carpenter in a turbulent world. I don’t mean to suggest that every member of every community must be an expert in every subject. But I do believe that we’ve de-valued those skills that are useful in hard times and that everyone should have something to contribute when called upon. We also need an informed and up-to-date ‘reliance network’ in each community that maps the skills and talents of people that are around us – a skills inventory that can be called upon. Social media and smart phones are perfect for organizing this democratically and organi-

trim tab

cally – with communities being able to actively monitor what knowledge is missing and what is available. Perhaps this is a ‘killer app that can save lives. Having this knowledge as well as a community triage plan for people tied to their skills can make a huge difference in times of need. There is a direct connection between knowledge and preparedness. When we know what to do, we tend to remain calm. Just imagine how effectively entire communities could respond to a calamity if they didn’t require outside assistance to get them back on their feet. Individual resilience requires a healthy balance of skills, knowledge and resourcefulness. TAKING THE STEPS TO GET WHERE WE NEED TO GO

Returning our cities, towns and citizens to a place of resilience will take a great deal of effort and foresight that is not currently in our political DNA. Yet I believe the following six actions could get us well on our way: 1. Measure each community’s carrying capacity. We need to know what we are capable of achieving on our own so that we’re prepared for the coming para-

digm shift. Conducting carrying capacity analysis for a community means identifying what local resources exist, what level of population those resources can support, and how the regional climate enhances or restricts the resilience of the place. Phoenix, for example, does not offer sufficient local water to accommodate its current population of nearly 1.5 million people. So it pipes water from the Salt Verde and Colorado Rivers to meet municipal needs. In a crisis that cuts off that supply, what contingency plan is in place to provide water to those citizens? More profoundly, should that many people really live in a place ill-equipped to provide the most basic element of survival? In the modern age, we tend not to develop cities around whether or not local resources are available to support a community. We’ve discarded the wisdom of nomadic tribes, which settled in areas that offered survivability then moved on before resources could be depleted. In the 21st century, we face the inevitable disappearance of several key resources on which our modern societies depend. It’s time to explore and measure just how vulnerable we are, wherever we are, so we might begin a healthy transition to self-sufficiency. 2. Create models of resilient infrastructure. Living buildings, living neighborhoods and living cities are the answer. The more we shift to this paradigm, the less reliant we will be on outside systems. If the structures where we live and work generated their own power, provided their own water, composted their own waste and gave back to their surroundings, operational disruptions would be less catastrophic. Decentralized solutions that operate at the scale of a district or neighborhood – and sometimes at a building scale, provide much greater resiliency than large centralized systems. Every time a new living building takes shape, we show that this approach is possible, affordable and simply more sensible. 3. Learn from the wisdom of others. Expanding our skills and deepening our self-sufficiency will require that we collect and learn from the wisdom of others. There are plenty of our contemporaries with whom we can trade knowledge; there are even more

Spring 2012

who came before us whose expertise is documented. We can learn new things by watching our neighbors, or we can educate ourselves by researching what’s been done in the past. This relates to the easy transmission of ideas. 3Technology enables the quick and ecologically friendly transmission of documents, which allows people to share ideas from across the globe. Developing community based knowledge maps is a great first step. Sharing information with other communities will help us create resilient nations throughout the world. 4. Use the power of education. Community resilience should be discussed at length in the classroom setting. Exposing children to the importance of these ideas will help prepare them to lead future generations into a new era of self-sufficiency. Practical skills should be taught in schools, as should the philosophy of community connectedness. I like to think of this as a modern take on the home economics courses once considered standard for high school students. Once youth culture enthusiastically adopts these ideas, we’re well on our way to engaging in productive resilience discussions. 5. Build strategic reserves. Each community should assess its distinct needs and build strategic reserves to be used in the event of an emergency. We have set aside federal oil reserves, but shouldn’t we provide the same type of back-ups at the state and local levels? This would require an analysis of individual communities’ food supplies, water and energy systems, communications channels, shelter availability, etc. Going through this process would force us to evaluate exactly what our usage rates are and think through how we might respond to various emergency scenarios. The goal here is to build up each community so that it can sustain itself in the face of isolation. 6. Scale systems appropriately. In my opinion, any system that is deemed “too big to fail” is a disaster waiting to happen. Communities require a diversity of systems that are built to site and 3 See “A Revolutionary Reordering of Society: Anticipating Our Heavy-Near, Light-Far Future” in the Fall 2011 issue of Trim Tab.

LIVING CITY DESIGN COMPETITION TEAM CITY MAKES CITY LIVES

Living Cities are by definition Resilient Cities

neighborhood scales. The simpler they are, the more fixable they will be within the community boundary if problems do arise. Think passive; think low-tech. This rule should apply to systems designed to deliver energy, water, food, culture – virtually anything required to keep a community strong and safe. REPLACING PANIC WITH OPTIMISM

I want to be very clear: I am not talking about the type of emergency management that starts and stops with a generator hooked up in one’s garage. I am making an argument for true, deep, sustainable community resilience that can strengthen local economies and improve people’s quality of life. I am promoting connection-building more than fear-mongering. I am attempting to elevate our discussions of disasters to focus more on avoidance than on response. I am recommending proactivity, not reactivity. We will know we’ve been successful in our quest for resilience when there is less of a distinction between normal and emergency procedures. Our present-day cities are no sturdier than a house of cards if a critical

input or two is removed. Once they transform into resilient communities with healthy ecosystems and skilled, responsible residents, they will continue to function well even when systems go down. Disruptions will be inconvenient, but not necessarily catastrophic. One thing that is certain is that significant change to our modern way of life is rapidly approaching. Not acknowledging the vulnerability of our current model leads us down dangerous and delusional paths. Working within a more realistic paradigm that values resilience will allow us to build new, more stable and sustainable communities that will be better prepared to thrive in the face of whatever man or nature throws our way.

JASON F. MCLENNAN is the CEO of the International Living Future Institute. He is the creator of the Living Building Challenge, as well as the author of four books, including his latest: Zugunruhe.

JljkX`eXYc\ Lk`c`kp @e]iXjkilZkli\

Jfclk`fej

NXk\i# NXjk\nXk\i Xe[ <e\i^p N`k_ fm\i .' p\Xij f] \og\i`\eZ\# :FI@O nfibj è gXike\ij_`g n`k_ Zfddle`k`\j XZifjj Efik_ 8d\i`ZX kf [\c`m\i giXZk`ZXc# i\Xc$nfic[ lk`c`kp jfclk`fej k_Xk Xi\ jfZ`Xccp# \emìfed\ekXccp Xe[ ÔeXeZ`Xccp jljkXèXYc\% N\ Zi\Xk\ jX]\# èefmXk`m\# Zfjk$\]ÔZ`\ek# kilcp jljkXèXYc\ jfclk`fej kf Zfdgc\o lk`c`kp è]iXjkilZkli\ gifYc\dj i\hlì\[ ]fi Zfddle`k`\j kf îfn Xe[ k_i`m\% Gc\Xj\ m`j`k lj Xk C`mè^ =lkli\ )'()# DXp )$+ è GfikcXe[# FI%

9l`c[`e^ X Nfic[ f] JljkX`eXYc\ :fddle`k`\j 20

Spring 2012

(%/--%,.,%***' nnn%Zfi`o%Zfd

First Green Roof In The U.S. First LEED速 EB Certified Building 105 LEED Registered & Certified Projects I N T E G R I T Y

L E A D E R S H I P

PA S S I O N

E X C E L L E N C E

trim tab

www.swinerton.com

NASA Sustainability Base Seeking LEED速 Platinum Certification

B Y R YA N A B B O T T

UP TO THE CHALLENGE

Spring 2012

T RAN S FO RMAT I O N AL D E S I GN

Targeting the Living Building Challenge the Jim Pattison Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Building Technologies and Renewable Energy Conservation, at the Penticton, BC campus of Okanagan College, is a lesson in how integrated design, tailored to its region and site, can break new ground in sustainability. Through the strength of an integrated design and construction team and key contributions from school administrators and students, the facility is a model of how innovative thinking can thrive in challenging conditions.

Rooftop and view of mini courtyards and outdoor teaching areas. Photo Credit: Ed White Photographics trim tab

West entrance and welcoming gateway to the campus. Photo Credit: Ed White Photographics

Designing to the rigorous standards of the Living Building ChallengeTM in a region as climatically demanding as Penticton, British Columbia adds a level of difficulty not often experienced by design and construction teams. Early on in the planning process it was clear that the Challenge was a perfect fit: the Centre of Excellence was conceived to provide classroom and workshop learning spaces to support curricula geared to sustainable building and design. What better way to train the next generation of tradespeople than to do it in a building that is itself a teaching tool, a facility that was built using the latest tools and technology of sustainable design? From the outset, the design team, led by CEI Architecture, knew they would be stepping into uncharted territory. At 6z,780 square metres, the Centre of Excellence is one of the largest buildings of its type to pursue the Challenge. Designing and implementing the integrated systems needed to achieve the ambitious targets of the Challenge would require a new way of thinking about how buildings function, from design through years of operation. An integrated design charrette workshop held in June 2009, with over 40 participants, helped the design team produce a workable model for what has ultimately become one of the most innovative and sustainable post-secondary facilities in the world. The significance of this charrette should not be under24

Spring 2012

WHAT BETTER WAY TO TRAIN THE NEXT GENERATION OF TRADESPEOPLE THAN TO DO IT IN A BUILDING THAT IS ITSELF A TEACHING TOOL, A FACILITY THAT WAS BUILT USING THE LATEST TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGY OF SUSTAINABLE DESIGN?

Corridors with exposed HVAC systems. Photo Credit: Ed White Photographics

trim tab

Detail view of brise soleil louver system. Photo Credit: Ed White Photographics

Spring 2012

FINDING VIABLE ALTERNATIVES IN THE LONG TERM REQUIRES A MAJOR RE-THINKING OF HOW THE CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING INDUSTRIES OPERATE.

stated, since it initiated the cooperation and support of a wide variety of stakeholders from the college, including staff, administrators and students, and also illustrated the commitment of the design and construction team to a whole-systems approach. “It was definitely critical to the success of the project,” says Tim McLennan, project partner for CEI Architecture, architects of record for the project. “Without such broad support from so many people it wouldn’t have been possible.” The Centre of Excellence is registered under the Living Building Challenge version 1.0, which requires the building design to consider its environmental impact in six areas: site, energy, materials, water, indoor quality and beauty. The overall goal is to create buildings with no negative impact on the environment and ecosystem in which they are located, either in the design and construction phase or their ongoing use. Every decision made by the design team was framed by the requirements of the Challenge, and each one presented a myriad of interesting obstacles to address, learn from and overcome. MATERIAL MATTERS Early on the design team realized that sourcing materials that would meet the requirements of the Challenge would be a significant obstacle. The Challenge has a long list of prohibited materials, with the

trim tab

intention of eliminating chemicals and substances that have the worst impacts on human health and the local ecosystem. Items on the materials red list include PVC, cadmium, lead, various wood treatments, polyurethane and anything with added formaldehyde. The reality is that many of these materials are commonly used throughout the construction industry; finding viable alternatives in the long term requires a major re-thinking of how the construction and building industries operate. But the Centre has effectively sourced such products, seeking them out across North America. For example, to avoid using PVC, they obtained fiberglass conduit for subsurface electrical ducts from Quebec. The Challenge also emphasizes sourcing materials locally wherever possible, to reduce the carbon impact of transporting heavy materials great distances. For example, dense materials, such as brick and concrete, must be manufactured within 500 km of a project’s site, and the raw materials for their production must be sourced from within 500 km of the point of manufacture. The Centre of Excellence is located in Penticton, BC, a relatively remote part of the continent, far from the manufacturing hubs on the eastern seaboard. Sourcing appropriate materials locally proved to be one of the biggest challenges for the project, but the design team was able to find local companies to meet this need. For example, the recycled rubber flooring used in the gymnasium was supplied by Dinoflex of 27

Accessible rooftop with ventilation chimneys, Solatubes and photovoltaic solar panels. Photo Credit: Ed White Photographics

Salmon Arm, BC; solar-tracking light pipes, an innovative prototype product used to help bring light into deep spaces of the building, were supplied by Sun Central Inc. of Richmond, BC. STRUCTURAL SUPPORT One of the most plentiful local materials, wood, proved very useful to the design team. It has been widely reported that the mountain pine beetle infestation has had a major impact on the lumber industry in the Pacific Northwest, killing trees and damaging over 17 million hectares of forest. Early on in the design process, the decision was made to construct the building with a timber frame, and to use wood from pine beetle-damaged forests as the primary building material, even though it was not certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council, a standard requirement for wood used in LEED buildings. The design team successfully negotiated the issue with the International Living Future InstituteTM to create a series of parameters whereby beetle-kill wood would be an acceptable alternative under the Challenge. This is a significant achievement of the project, with numerous positive environmental implications. Timber-frame building construction has about half the embodied carbon of an equivalent concrete structure. Furthermore, if not used, beetle-kill forests are likely to burn in forest fires, which would release the treesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; sequestered carbon back into the atmosphere. 28

Spring 2012

Aerial of rooftop and view of courtyard framed between the three buildings. Photo Credit: David Vonesch, SkyFire Energy Inc

FINDING VIABLE ALTERNATIVES IN THE LONG TERM REQUIRES A MAJOR RE-THINKING OF HOW THE CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING INDUSTRIES OPERATE.

trim tab

Ventilation chimney illustrating the “stack effect” that naturally draws air through the building, improving airflow.

COLD COMFORT Penticton has a semi-arid climate with cold winters and warm summers, a set of conditions quite different from the more temperate weather nearer to the Pacific Ocean, just 400 kilometres away. With average temperatures of -1.7° C in winter and 20.4° C in summer, the building has a net heating load. To address the Challenge requirement of net zero energy in this challenging climatic context, the design team looked to conserve and capture energy wherever possible, to reduce the amount they needed to create to meet the net zero target. Capturing energy was complicated by the fact that existing buildings on the site prevented an east-west orientation for the new building’s layout, which would have taken advantage of the benefits of solar gain in the winter. The resulting linear layout, with a northsouth axis, is partly driven by the need to provide working spaces within 30 feet of opening windows for daylight, views and natural ventilation. The northsouth axis has blocks of classrooms, labs and offices projecting to the west off the main building spine. 30

Spring 2012

The articulated building form creates semi-public outdoor courtyards, sheltered from prevailing northsouth winds, and protecting windows from wind and dust. This form also allows the building to capture more solar energy in the winter than a simple northsouth layout would allow, and, despite the fact that the articulation increases the area of the external envelope, with a related increase in heat loss, the result is a net benefit to the overall energy equation. SAVING ENERGY To conserve energy, a high performance building envelope was used to contain heat. Since doors are prone to air leakage and poor insulation, the number of external doors was minimized and, where possible, only single-leaf doors were used. All entrance doors have vestibules to reduce air flow and possible leakage. Half of all heat loss through the external envelope happens through the windows. To help offset some of this heat loss, all windows and curtain walling use argon-filled triple glazing. A high efficiency heat recovery system captures heat from the exhausted air to preheat incoming fresh air before it is distributed

Brise soleil louver system reducing glare and overheating in the summer.

Brise soleil louver system permitting solar gain in the winter.

trim tab

Atrium Photo Credit: Ed White Photographics

Gymnasium with composite concrete/glulam wood panels. Photo Credit: Ed White Photographics

to the building in winter and can be used to precondition the air in summer.

The building couldn’t exist anywhere else, and that’s the point. It has been shaped by its context, climate, site and soil; by the curricula it will help teach; and by the strong support and cooperation of the college, its staff and students, and the design and construction team it will help be an example of the future of design.

The fact that Penticton enjoys many hours of sunlight made photovoltaic panels a good fit for creating energy on site. The first phase of the photovoltaic array is 260 kW, which is understood to be the largest in Western Canada for a non-utility organization, and will generate nearly 300 kWh per year. A WALL OF INNOVATION In addition to workshops, classrooms and offices, the Centre of Excellence has a gymnasium. Since radiant heating or cooling couldn’t be contained in its wood floor, another option had to be developed. The design team, led by structural engineer Fast + Epp, came up with an original composite panel solution in which radiant heating is encased in a thin concrete element held between glulam beams. Because of the structural action between the glulam beams and concrete, the thickness of concrete required is only 75 mm. If these were the typical pre-cast concrete, they would be at least twice the thickness. The bottom line is a reduction in the amount of concrete and embodied carbon. ONE OF A KIND The Centre of Excellence is a shining example of what sustainable design needs to be: a custom-tailored solution that makes the most of the natural resources nearby to minimize its impact on the surroundings. 32

Spring 2012

It’s most significant achievement will be to function as an open, accessible and working model of sustainable design and construction. As a teaching tool for the students that walk its halls and workshops, it is hoped that it will inspire future generations to seek out new challenges in sustainable design — and overcome them.

RYAN ABBOTT writes about architecture, design and sustainability. He lives in Vancouver and Paris.

ENERGY STAR RATING

A. E. Stevenson High School LEED EBOM Gold

SMARTLY MANAGED FACILITIES CREATE LONG-RUN BENEFITS

PRE-DESIGN

Cannon Design has organized specialized sustainability services in response to the collective challenge of working with increasingly limited and valuable resources. By working with clients at all stages of the building lifecycle, we uncover new possibilities to create enduring value.

ECONOMIC

DESIGN & VALUE SOCIAL

CONSTRUCTION

ENVIRONMENTAL

REDEVELOPMENT

OPERATIONS

Rand K. Ekman, AIA, LEED-AP BD+C, Director of Sustainability, rekman@cannondesign.com Baltimore / Boston / Buffalo / Chicago / Los Angeles / Mumbai / New York / Phoenix / St. Louis / trimFrancisco tab / Shanghai / Toronto / Vancouver / Victoria / Washington DC / cannondesignblog.com San

LIVING, LEARNING, BUILDING AND SHARING (ONE PETAL AT A TIME) BY KRISTIN TOLENTINO, STEPHEN SANDBERG, AND ERIC MORITZ

Spring 2012

T RAN S FO RMAT I O N AL ACT I O N

01 ACTIVE SYSTEM

02 BEAUTY & SPIRIT

trim tab

IT WAS DETERMINED, THROUGH MANY OF THE INITIAL SCHEMES, THAT THE BUILDING SHOULD TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE EXISTING GRADE TO INCORPORATE THE NATURAL INSULATIVE PROPERTIES OF THE SOIL.

The Tanax (earth) House was the design submission of the Southern Polytechnic State University (www. spsu.edu/architecture) third year architecture class for the 2011 Living Aleutian Home Design Competition. The entry was the result of a focused, semesterlong, lab exercise that integrated the competition requirements, and Living Building ChallengeTM guidelines, into the learning objectives of a required course in the SPSU academic curriculum. The following documentation summarizes the process through which lab assignments were replaced with the competition priorities set forth by the International Living Future InstituteTM. Students found opportunities for learning outside of textbook-based instruction and provide this summation of their work as a resource for educators and students seeking similar results on their campuses. Within the Architectural curriculum of SPSU, the Environmental Technology II lecture course introduces students to the integration of systems, emerging sustainable technologies, and the development of environmentally conscientious designs that are responsive to their surroundings. To achieve the applied learning objectives of this course, Assistant Professor and Environmental Technologies coordinator Ed Akins presented the Living Aleutian Home Design Competition to the class as a format for the lab portion of course instruction. After discussing the competition requirements, the class agreed that this competition would be the perfect opportunity to work on a project that can potentially be recognized both nationally and internationally. There was a real appeal to designing something

Spring 2012

that was going to be more than just a hypothetical course assignment. In the students’ excitement and enthusiasm, they did not realize how much of a challenge this project would soon become, but eagerly set about the tasks of applying lecture content to the completion of tasks. To begin, the entire class was divided into groups (with two to three students each) and asked to create original designs for the competition. After two more sessions of narrowing down ideas and consolidating groups, the class collectively decided on one final design that best expressed their ideas. With the support of their enthusiastic coordinator, they were able come up with a design that had truly proven to be beyond anything they had accomplished in their design studios or that they would have individually accomplished within that time frame. Driven by the local climate, culture, and guidelines given by the Institute, their main design priority was to provide energy efficient protection from the environment, while incorporating traditional home design elements. It was determined, through many of the initial schemes, that the building should take advantage of the existing grade to incorporate the natural insulative properties of the soil. Furthermore, the design incorporated an attached greenhouse, which would serve as a sunspace and give added interior insulation value, while providing an open view to the bay. Because the students’ initial design concept was to burrow the home, they decided to appropriately name their project after the Inuit word tanax (pronounced ta-naa), which comes from the Aleutian word for “earth.”

03 COMPOSTING

04 VEGETATION GREEN ROOF 05

“GIVEN THE SITE CONDITIONS, THE MOST CHALLENGING IMPERATIVE WOULD HAVE TO BE NET-ZERO ENERGY, BECAUSE IT IS THE UNDERLYING THEME OF ALMOST ALL THE IMPERATIVES.” trim tab

06 TANAX HOUSE, SECTION

During the design process, a group of students took the time to interview their peers and get their opinions about the Challenge and the competition entry. This effort raised awareness for the entire class and helped to prioritize the tasks ahead. “Given the site conditions, the most challenging imperative would have to be Net-Zero Energy, because it is the underlying theme of almost all the imperatives,” said Drew Bell, one of the student participants. The collection of water and solar energy and the transportation and provision of materials within the given climatic conditions of Alaska were among the other challenges that students highlighted as major design opportunities within the project. The research process the students went through to develop the shape of their building was very beneficial toward fabricating a sustainable design solution. Another student, Jessika Nelson, stated that “with regard to cost and construction, the most challenging guideline to achieve was finding products that did not use harmful substances within the specified distances from Atka.”

Spring 2012

For many of the students, this lab was their first exposure to the goals set forth by the Challenge and the consideration of real-world constraints on design development. Utilizing case study projects and systems research, they were able to investigate how contemporary and vernacular ecological building designs implemented energy efficient design techniques. The project also supported the lecture portion of the class because it provided goals, case studies, and real world application of the concepts discussed in the course material. “The competition integrated well with our Environmental Technology lecture course because we learned about passive solar, zero energy, water control, and many other aspects that tie in directly with this project. This is beneficial because we are not just learning from a text but applying what we have learned into a project,” said students Tyler Vernon and CJ Chang. Essentially, the class operated in specialty groups throughout the semester. Commonly used among real

FOR MANY OF THE STUDENTS, THIS LAB WAS THEIR FIRST EXPOSURE TO THE GOALS SET FORTH BY THE CHALLENGE AND THE CONSIDERATION OF REAL-WORLD CONSTRAINTS ON DESIGN DEVELOPMENT.

world collaborative design, this working structure r equired students to rely upon each other to accomplish their design objectives and integrate them with the work of their classmates. Performing tasks in smaller groups as experts on their assigned subjects proved to be beneficial and allowed many students with the opportunity to gain leadership skills. The class group structure was organized as follows: r Living Building Challenge Experts r Review all design developments for adherence and opportunities based upon the imperatives list r File Managers r File organization and review; r proof-reading all documents; and, r file size management and requirements management

r Narrative r Work closely with design group and construction cost group to clearly define the approach and features of the design and to capture their data into a concise narrative of scope and operations r Construction Cost Analysis r Provide side by side comparison with conventional construction r Systems Diagrams r Research and conduct energy modelling of the proposed design and recommend changes that will benefit performance within the goals of the Challenge; r provide in depth calculations for water and energy; and r produce annotated diagrams r Design Drawings r Provide necessary drawings and renderings for the completion of the project

trim tab

FOR STUDENT AWARENESS OF THEIR ABILITY TO SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE FOSSIL FUEL CONSUMPTION OF BUILDINGS, THROUGH DESIGN, WAS DRAMATICALLY INCREASED DURING THE SEMESTER AND MANY FELT MORE EMPOWERED TO INTEGRATE THESE IDEAS BEYOND THE ASSIGNED COMPETITION. The teams were asked to report on their progress and to “cross-pollinate” with other groups so that work was not replicated and lessons learned were shared within each associated discipline. Throughout this project, the students learned that working collaboratively on a single project required clear communication, scheduling, motivation and discipline. As challenging as the project was, they realized that when all the goals were achieved and when everyone pulled their own weight, the detail and precision that they accomplished in the design was indeed very rewarding. They felt that they had a very strong entry into the competition and were all very proud of what they achieved during the semester. This project, although not selected as a winner for the competition, was a great opportunity for the students to have a realistic experience of what architectural practice will bring after graduation and of what will be required of them in response to growing environmental concerns.

Spring 2012

Understanding the effort and details that go into a full competition entry versus what they typically present for studio projects was definitely a humbling and educational experience, but one that was accomplished with enthusiasm and resulted in unexpected learning opportunities. Student awareness of their ability to significantly reduce fossil fuel consumption of buildings, through design, was dramatically increased during the semester and many felt more empowered to integrate these ideas beyond the assigned competition. When asked whether they would incorporate the Challenge in their future designs outside of this course assignment, the students all positively answered yes. As evidence, the students submitted the Tanax House to Green Prints 2012 (www.greenprints.org), a local conference sponsored by the South Face Energy Institute. They were selected as one of only a few projects to be honoured with presentation at the conference. Overall, it was found that the application of lecture topics to this competition raised awareness of student participants regarding their role in creating work that will be “educationally and environmentally beneficial to our society.” One student, Inga Schroder, summarized the experience by stating that “the Challenge guidelines pick up important features, which should be included in every design to help the environment.” It is this level of awareness that clearly supports the integration of practice into academic curriculum and, in doing so, contributes to the preparedness of our students to become leaders in the responsible evolution of our built environment. STUDENT TEAM FACULTY: Ed Akins - Team Leader / Course Instructor (Architecture) / Article Dr. Hussein Abaza - Consultant / Energy calculations (Construction Management) LBC EXPERTS: Drew Bell, Jessi Pickelsimer, Marvin Toure, Sonya Tejada, Stanley Jacques

07 NET-ZERO WATER

FILE MANAGERS / NARRATIVE: Kristin Tolentino, Stephen Sandberg, Eric Moritz, Andres Valencia, Yen Nguyen, Vicky Chavez CONSTRUCTION COSTS: Jessika Nelson, Garrett Womble, Tyler Vernon, Patricija Pericic, Johnathan Greenage SYSTEMS: Agnes Dang, Inga Schrรถder, CJ Chang, Andrienne Francis DESIGN DOCUMENTS: Brad Wicka, Dan Deckert, Enrique Sanchez, Stephen Cook, Neal Pratt

trim tab

From left: Professor Ed Akins, Jonathan Greenage, Andrienne Francis, Marvin Toure, Patricija Pericic, Kristin Tolentino, Tyler Vernon, Drew Bell, Inga Shroeder, CJ Chang, Stephen Sandberg, Jessika Nelson, Stephen Cook, Yen Nguyen, Dan Deckert, Vicky Chavez, Sonya Tejada, Brad Wicka (from left, above) Stanley Jacques, Neal Pratt, Andres Valencia, Agnes Dang, Jessi Pickelsimer, Eric Moritz

BY JOANNA GANGI

Vandana Shiva

WORLD-RENOWNED ENVIRONMENTAL LEADER AND THINKER

Vandana Shiva is a philosopher, an environmental activist, a physicist, an organic farmer, a eco-feminist and, of all things, a hero. A hero can mean a multitude of things to many different people. To me it is someone that challenges the status quo in order to make positive change - someone that empowers women to lead in a world dominated by men at the various economic, social and cultural systems that at times disadvantage women- someone that fights to reshape the world. 42

Spring 2012

Dr. Shiva has dedicated much of her life to the organic food movement and how it relates to protecting nature and the fundamental rights of all people - all people no matter their socio-economic status or gender. In her book, Staying Alive, she focuses on the “feminine principle” and the belief that men, women and nature are all inclusive. The ever-present societal gender gap and subsequent women’s movement is something Vandana Shiva has been fighting to fix. She believes that the environmental movement and women’s movement are related and need to be viewed together in order to successfully achieve the paradigm shift that is so desperately needed. Originally trained as a physicist that focused on the “hidden variables and non-locality in quantum theory” she transitioned to become an environmental activist. By virtue of her activism, Vandana Shiva has helped preserve the native seed stock through her organization Navdanya, promote organic farming and advocate for fair trade. She has tackled topics like corporate led globalization, fought for intellectual property rights and biodiversity, and has helped bring gender equality to the fore. She is a strong, valiant and honorable woman that is truly an exceptional example of a leader and hero. There are many things that the sustainable design and build community can learn from Dr. Vandana Shiva. We are very pleased that she agreed to talk to Trim Tab and hope our readers enjoy the following interview.

trim tab

T RAN S FO RMAT I O N AL P E O P L E

“CELEBRATE YOUR DIVERSITY AND TURN YOUR EXCLUSION INTO AN ADVANTAGE TO CREATE A MORE CARING, JUST AND PEACEFUL WORLD.”

TT: Among many accolades, Time Magazine has called you an environmental hero and Forbes Magazine identified you as one of the top seven most powerful women on the globe. How do you effectively balance humility with the notoriety so that you can sustain your motivation to make a difference? VS: Humility comes from the recognition that I am a very small piece of a very large universe and a very large community of change. For me it is vital to maintain equanimity. For every reward, there are also attacks. For example PR people for Monsanto and the Biotech industry gave me a BULLSHIT award at Rio+20 in Johannesburg “For making the world starve with organic food.” I received it with thanks, and said what was bullshit for him was cowdung for me, and it would make very good compost. TT: You founded an international movement called Diverse Women for Diversity and have been involved in international gender issues specifically relating to organic farming. What is your message to women and other minority groups that are fighting for equality? VS: My message to women and other excluded groups is celebrate your diversity, and turn your exclusion into an advantage to create a more caring and just and peaceful world. Because it is exclusion from a culture of greed, inequality and violence. TT: In your book Staying Alive you write about the feminine principle. Can you explain this principle to our readers?

“SMALL SCALE FARMING IS THE ONLY KIND OF FARMING WITH A FUTURE.” VS: The feminine principle in Indian philosophy is the creative energy of the Universe, called Shakti. Nature or Prakriti is her expression. The feminine principle pervades through all life, including men and women. Gandhi, in his daily prayer , used to say “make me more womanly.” We can all learn a little from Gandhi. TT: You were in Seattle in 1999 for the W.T.O. meeting and are actively involved in the fight against globalization. Do you see a place for small-scale farming in our future? VS: Small scale farming is the only kind of farming with a future. It produces more food, more nutritious and better quality food. It also protects the natural capital of soil, biodiversity and water. So it is an answer to the ecological crisis and the economic crisis. TT: How can the green building industry help fortify a healthy future for food, improve the food supply and contribute to the stabilization of agriculture? VS: The green building industry can help in food security by planning food into settlements-through ‘foodsheds’, urban gardens, rooftop gardens, school gardens and community gardens. It can and should also stop the land grab for urban sprawl. TT: Can you talk about Navdanya, the organization that you founded, and the “saving of seed” message? Why is the preservation of seed stock so important?? VS: I started Navdanya 25 years ago to save seeds. Navdanya means nine seeds. It also means the new gift. For us the new gift is the gift of life, of freedom, of hope. The seed is the first link in the food chain. Today the seed is being colonized through patents and genetic engineering. Seed diversity is disappearing. Farmers freedom to save seed is disappearing. We must save seeds so we can have both our bread and our freedom.

Spring 2012

TT: There are many people on this earth that do not have access to clean drinking water, organic, safe produce and, more importantly, basic food necessities to feed themselves and sustain their families. What are the fundamental elements necessary for addressing the escalating world food crisis? VS: Hunger is the result of a wasteful system of industrial food production, which uses 10 units if input to produce 1 unit of food. Farmers get into debt and are displaced. Speculation on food as a commodity is also taking food beyond people’s reach.The fundamental elements to addressing the food crisis is to shift from industrial modes of production to ecological systems. As our study Health per Acre shows, biodiverse ecological systems produce more food and nutrition per acre. We also must stop speculation on food commodities. Food must be given its rightful place as the basis of nourishment and sustenance of life. TT: With consumers faced with excessive profit-driven marketing, globalization, and other various forms of commercialism surrounding food, how does the public become educated about the dangers, the sources, and quality of their food? How can we make the availability of knowledge become a right to everyone? VS: The most important way to know what you are eating and how it was grown is to create local food systems. We also have a right to know what we are eating. That is why I joined the Right2Know March to the White House calling for a labeling of genetically modified foods in order to help fight for this right.

JOANNA GANGI is empowered by the fantastic beauty of nature residing in Seattle where she works at the International Living Future Institute as the Managing Editor of Trim Tab magazine.

DESIGN EFFICIENCY INTO YOUR NEXT PROJECT You can earn cash incentives from Energy Trust of Oregon for holding an early design charrette, developing a whole-building energy model or commissioning your newly constructed or renovated building. We know it takes more than the latest technology to build an efficient building. That’s why, in addition to helping pay for energy-efficient equipment and systems, we can offer professional support incentives to help offset the costs of services you need to design and construct for maximum performance.

To learn more, visit www.energytrust.org or call 1.866.368.7878. Serving customers of Portland General Electric, Paciﬁc Power, NW Natural and Cascade Natural Gas.

Setting a new standard in green.

Soon, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens’ revolutionary Center for Sustainable Landscapes (CSL) will emerge as one of the greenest buildings on Earth. An inspiring achievement for the Pittsburgh region and beyond, this state-of-the-art facility was designed to meet or exceed the world’s highest sustainable building and landscape standards, generating all of its own renewable energy; capturing, treating and reusing all water on site; and restoring the integrity of the surrounding environments. The CSL will attract nature enthusiasts, but it will also be a shining example for the national and international green movement. To learn more, visit phipps.conservatory.org or youtube.com/phippsconservatory.

trim tab

Tickets are selling at a record pace. Get yours today!

Spring 2012

Opening Night Keynote

Thursday Morning Plenary

Friday Morning Plenary

Vandana Shiva

Jason F. McLennan

Carol Sanford

World-Renowned Environmental Leader and Thinker

CEO of Cascadia Green Building Council and International Living Future Institute

Author. Speaker. Consultant

Check out the pre-conference tours for a great way to explore and learn about some of the most innovative, enthusiastic, and committed individuals and organizations in Portland.

More Tour Info

There are also amazing pre and post-conference workshop opportunities. These shoulder events are a fantastic way to further your expertise and expand your knowledge base.

More Workshop Info

BY PE TER SYRE T T & MA X RICHTER

Spring 2012

trim tab

As a society, our primary habitat is now the spaces inside buildings. The indoor environmental quality of our buildings has had a substantial impact on human health.

Through the internet, there is an almost limitless amount of information available to us. Some interesting; the composition of Jupiter’s Callisto moon is equal parts of rocky material and frozen water with other frozen substances such as ammonia, some trivial; the world’s largest pancake was 15.01m in diameter. Ironically, in this era of information abundance, there is still one very important opaque topic that the building industry is trying to tackle –the composition of building products. We know a lot about building materials, everything from flame spread rates to slip coefficients, but we often don’t know the most fundamental fact about them - what they are made of. Canadians and Americans spend the majority of our lives indoors. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Health Canada (HC), North Americans spend 90%1 of their time indoors; this equates to 69 years out of the typical American’s 77 year life expectancy. As a society, our primary habitat is now the spaces inside buildings. The indoor environmental quality of our buildings has had a substantial impact on human health. The EPA has found concentrations of indoor pollutants at levels two to five times higher than typical outdoor levels.2 Headaches, dizziness, fatigue, respiratory ailments, heart disease, and cancer have all been linked to indoor air pollution. There are many sources of indoor pollution: cleaning supplies, pet dander, and mold; but often the materials used to make buildings are the root of the problem. Currently there is a movement to improve indoor environmental quality of our buildings but there are massive knowledge gaps that will prevent us from evaluating many of the materials we use which is a major hurdle in this movement.

Spring 2012

While the EPA and other regulatory agencies diligently point out the potential health impacts of the indoor environment, they have very limited power to regulate the chemicals in building products. In fact the chemicals used in building products are governed under the misleadingly named Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA). Despite its name as a law TSCA does not categorize chemical toxicity; rather it is an inventory used only to control the manufacture and importation of chemicals. With notable exceptions, substances in the United States that are regulated under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act are not evaluated for their health impacts. Since the enactment of the TSCA in 1976 the EPA has registered more than 82,000 new chemicals for use (chemicals before 1976 are grandfathered), and identified 16,000 of them as chemicals of concern, but have tested only 250 and restricted a mere five. In Canada, there are approximately 23,000 chemicals that are currently in or have been in use that have not been fully examined for their potential health impacts.3 Compounding the fact that we don’t understand the health effects of most of the chemicals we use is the reality that, unlike food products, there is no regulatory framework that requires manufacturers to disclose the ingredients in their products. Without regulatory pressure, building product manufacturers have little incentive to disclose the chemical composition of their products. Often the only information available about a product’s composition is from the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) or patents. MSDS formats vary; they rarely disclose all the

VanDusen Botanical Garden Visitor Centre Entrance (photo by Nic Lehoux)

trim tab

LEFT: Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability Modern Green Auditorium (photo by Martin Tessler) BELOW: CIRS Atrium (photo by Martin Tessler)

Spring 2012

Some manufacturers knew exactly what substances were in their products, but they refused to share the information claiming that these substances makes their product better and their companies more competitive. ingredients of a product, but they do sometimes list critical substances. The information is given in reference to workplace protocols for safe handling. Patents, for obvious proprietary reasons, are oblique documents like the MSDS that are not intended to be used as a means to understand the ingredients in a product. Even manufacturers that are committed to declaring what is in their products have trouble determining what they are buying. Manufacturers are consumers too. They purchase raw materials, components, and ingredients from suppliers and they often don’t know the composition of what they are purchasing. Testing every raw material to determine its ingredients is not simple and can be prohibitively expensive and operationally infeasible. Instead of testing, a manufacturer can perform a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA). This is a cradle-to-grave evaluation of a product’s ecological footprint and ideally includes material composition and health impacts. The cost of performing an LCA can be high as it grows with the complexity of a product. An LCA for a complex composite product, such as carpet tile, requires tracking down and documenting each component. The expense of this effort is compounded by the reality of competitive purchasing. Manufacturers often buy the same raw material from different suppliers in the course of a year. This is particularly true for polymer-based products as manufacturers may buy precursor chemicals from multiple sources. In some cases, especially electrical and mechanical equipment, a single LCA is not possible for some end products, which are often assemblages of multiple components from different manufacturers. During the design and construction of

trim tab

both the VanDusen Botanical Garden Visitor Centre and The Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability (CIRS), some manufacturers could not disclose what is in their products because they couldn’t get all of the information from their suppliers. Conversely, some manufacturers knew exactly what substances were in their products, but they refused to share the information claiming that these substances makes their product better and their companies more competitive. To protect this competitive advantage, manufacturers wrap their product’s composition in secrecy and the end-user is prevented from knowing the ingredients in a product. It is important to note that ingredient secrecy is not true in all industries. Coca Cola has listed its ingredients since 1913 and has managed to keep their competitive advantage having become the world largest beverage company.4 Trade secrets are also a means to avoid public scrutiny on substances of concern. This concern can be based on social justice, environmental, or health reasons. A group of substances that is cloaked in secrecy and that touches on all three areas of concern is flame retardants. Flame retardants have been added to building products for several decades to reduce fire-related injury and property damage. Paradoxically, there is growing evidence that many flame retardants may have other harmful impacts. For example, the flame retardant Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) is added to many rigid and foamed-in-place polystyrene and polyurethane building insulation products to improve their flame spread and smoke development ratings. The inevitable degradation of materials containing flame retardants results in the formation

RIGHT: Transparency Label on CS Specialties product â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Food products are required to carry labels that declare their ingredients. Very few buildings carry the same label. (courtesy of Perkins+Will) BELOW: Flame retardants page, taken from Perkins+Will transparency website http://transparency. perkinswill.com/ (courtesy of Perkins+Will)

Spring 2012

The growing awareness of the detrimental health and environmental impacts of some substances has begun to accelerate the pace of change as the marketplace itself evolves towards a transparent model.

of dust and small particulates that may be ingested or inhaled. HBCD has been identified as a persistent, bio-accumulative and toxic substance by the US EPA5 and its use is restricted by the European Union.6 For HBCD in particular, the EPA found in 2010 that people are exposed to HBCD in household dust, breast milk, sewage sludge and from wildlife. In the North American arctic, HBCD is now “ubiquitous”7 and has been found in the food web, which directly impacts the indigenous people of the region. The disposal of materials containing flame retardants like HBCD in landfills poses another potential health threat because the substances may contaminate ground and surface waters.8 When queried about their product’s composition, insulation manufacturers would agree that that their products contained halogenated flame retardants, but they would not disclose which flame retardant they used. Historically, as a society, we are slow to address health problems posed by substances like HBCD. A Greek physician in 200 BCE first observed that lead was detrimental to human health; yet lead wasn’t banned from household paint in the U.S. until 1971. Through the persistent queries of the architecture team and the general contractor on VanDusen, we determined that most sprinkler valves and wire jacketing still contain

trim tab

small amounts of lead. The growing awareness of the detrimental health and environmental impacts of some substances has begun to accelerate the pace of change as the marketplace itself evolves towards a transparent model. Enlightened manufacturers are leading the way on content disclosure. Last year at Greenbuild, Construction Specialties9 and InterfaceFlor10 unveiled the composition of one product in each of their lines. This uncoordinated effort by building product manufacturers represents the beginning of a commitment to transparency. Greenbuild 2011 was the first time consumers united in an effort to bring forth transparency in the building product industry. The Health Product Declaration (HPD) was announced by Materials Research Collaborative, a joint initiative of Healthy Building Network and BuildingGreen, Inc. The HPD was created by a voluntary association of building designers, specifiers, contractors, owners and end-users who are seeking greater transparency in the building product marketplace. The goal of the HPD is to empower consumers to make informed decisions when choosing building materials while allowing manufacturers an opportunity to utilize a single standardized format to disclose the contents of their products. The effort has quickly gained support as twenty-six manufactur-

Spring 2012

CIRS office space (photo by Martin Tessler) trim tab

ers are currently enrolled in the pilot program and over 40 companies and organizations have endorsed the HPD open standard. The future prospects for success in achieving transparency and disclosure of the ingredients in building materials are mixed. Last year, the latest efforts to reform and update the TSCA failed. Since 2010, the EPA has also been working with chemical manufacturing companies to make public the identities of chemicals in health and safety studies that had previously been confidential. Legislation is also being enacted on a local level. These efforts are targeted towards specific substances of concern, such as the recently proposed Alaskan State Senate bill that prohibits any products that contain the flame retardants pentaBDE, octaBDE, or a combination of pentaBDE and octaBDE.11 The transparency of building materials will continue to be the challenge within the Living Building Challenge without widespread demand from the end-users for the information. With virtually no regulatory oversight and content disclosure emerging slowly, the challenge is with the consumer to find safer and healthier building products. Here are four basic steps to find healthy building products and to help bring about market transformation: 1. Demand Transparency. Ask the manufacturer directly what is in their product. Most manufacturers have a technical support department to help answer questions - don’t hesitate to call them and ask hard questions. Encourage your organization to endorse the Health Product Declaration Open Standard (http://www.hpdworkinggroup.org/).

Spring 2012

2. Seek out impartial sources - the best information about the potential health issues associated with building products comes from objective research from independent sources. Ask your company or organization to subscribe to the Pharos Project (http://www.pharosproject.net) so that you can learn more about the materials you specify or buy. Let the sales and technical representatives of building materials companies know that you’d like them to release their information to the Pharos. Pharos was an invaluable tool in the design of CIRS and the VanDusen. 3. “Trust, but verify” Take extra time to double-check all information. The relationship between material composition and human health is complex and often nuanced. Work to get information directly from the technical experts at the company making the product. They can provide the most accurate information and they have the responsibility to properly represent their product. Companies may purchase components of their products from any suppliers. Use Pharos to dig deeper to learn more about the full life-cycle of a product. 4. Apply the Precautionary Principle - if building materials contain substances that are suspected of causing harm to human health or the environment, in the absence of scientific consensus, seek an alternative that it is not harmful. If all consumers followed these four steps the manufacturers would respond with Transparency. Manufacturers would become the biggest proponents of Transparency. Consumer demand would drive change – just like it always does.

VanDusen entrance (photo by Nic Lehoux)

trim tab

PETER SYRETT’S experience in sustainability has made him one of the firm’s leading experts in green design. Peter heads the sustainability efforts in Perkins+Will’s New York office as well as being the northeast region leader of Perkins+Will’s Sustainable Advisory Services. He guides teams towards a deeper understanding of sustainability, one that looks beyond green rating frameworks such as LEED, towards a paradigm of creating healthy and thriving ecological systems.. Peter led the effort in 2009 to develop the Precautionary List, the architectural industry’s first major list of substances to avoid using in building design and recently he also led Perkins+Will’s the new expanded Transparency Website, which includes additional material health databases and research.

Sources 1. EPA Website, http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/insidestory.html and Health Canada Website http:// www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/air/in/poll/index-eng. php, accessed March 20122 2. EPA Website, IBID

MAX RICHTER is an architect in Perkins+ Will’s Vancouver ofﬁce. He worked on both CIRS and VanDusen to help the teams navigate the Living Building Challenge and better understand the health impacts of building materials. He regularly speaks and writes about sustainable design and healthy materials. Max recently co-authored an article on integrating academic research into the architectural design process.

6. http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction. do?reference=IP/11/196 7. De Wit, Cythnia; Herzke, Dort; Vorkamp, Katrin. “Brominated flame retardants in the Arctic environment--trends and new candidates”. Science of the Total Environment, 2010. http://www.mendeley.com/research/brominated-flame-retardantsin-the-arctic-environment-trends-and-new-candidates/, Accessed march 2012

3. http://www.ec.gc.ca/lcpe-cepa/default. asp?lang=En&n=5F213FA8-1&wsdoc=1695F8D05CC4-EDA1-AF63-6F23A94064DD . Since 1999, 8. For more information about this flame retardant, the Government of Canada been categorizing the please see our public database: http://transpar23,000 chemicals and applying controls to protect ency.perkinswill.com/FlameRetardantsDisplay. human environmental health. This action led to cshtml?fr=16 the restriction on the use of Bisphenol A after it was declared a toxic substance. http://www.ec.gc. 9. CS Website, http://transparency.c-sgroup.com/, ca/lcpe-cepa/default.asp?lang=En&n=0DA2924Daccessed March 2012 1&wsdoc=4ABEFFC8-5BEC-B57A-F4BF10. Interfaceflor Website, http://www.interfaceflor. 11069545E434 4 com/default.aspx?Section=2&Sub=3&Ter=3, ac4. Coke Cola website, http://www.thecoca-colacomcessed March 2012 pany.com, accessed March 2012. 11. Akaction website, http://www.akaction.org/Publi5. http://www.epa.gov/oppt/existingchemicals/ cations/State_Legislation/CSSB_27_Preventing_ pubs/actionplans/hbcd.html Toxic_Exposures_bill.pdf , accessed March 2012

Spring 2012

MAY 2-4, 2012 PORTLAND, OR

LIVING FUTURE

THERE ARE AMAZING WORKSHOPS AND TOURS PLANNED BEFORE AND AFTER THE LIVING FUTURE UNCONFERENCE.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 2 ACTIVITIES - How to Create an EcoDistrict Pilot Workshop - Understanding the Living Building Challenge Workshop - Zugunruhe Mastery Guide Workshop - Oxfam America Workshop - The Collins Companies Tour - Small House Tour - Living Building Challenge Main Street Charette - OregonBEST Laboratories Tour - Port of Portland Headquarters Living Machine Tour - Bud Clark Commons Tour - Understanding the Role of City Green Space - Edith Green Wendell Wyatt Federal Building Tour - Case Study: Facebookâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Prineville Datacenter

SATURDAY, MAY 5 ACTIVITIES - Backyard Biomimicry Workshop - Disc Golf and Casual Round

More Info + Registration

trim tab

B Y J A S O N F. M C L E N N A N

EDEN BRUKMAN: A LIVING BUILDING HERO Eden Brukman is a hero for the Living Building Challenge and a hero for the planet.

Spring 2012

The Living Building Challenge is having a significant impact on the direction and speed of the green building movement. Projects are now emerging across the US and Canada in increasing numbers, including multiple projects in the same city in many cases. There are now projects in over a dozen countries and a growing international movement is underway, further spreading the principles and strategies of this leadership program. With the world’s first certified Living Buildings completed in 2010, the idea of restorative buildings has clearly moved from theory to reality. Each project creates a wide series of positive ripples in its community – reshaping ‘the possible’ for architects, engineers, builders, manufacturers and developers. Yet when the program was launched in 2006 its uptake was far from certain. The idea of the living building had been around since the mid-nineties when Bob Berkebile and I began to talk about the initial concepts. It was great in theory – but was it realistic? Was it achievable? Would people pay for it and do the incredibly hard work required – all while waiting over 12 months after completion to see if it was even achieved? We had our doubters. But Eden Brukman was never one of them. When Eden first learned of the Living Building Challenge shortly after the program was launched she was a young architect helping lead the sustainability efforts for an important Portland-based firm and was already volunteering with Cascadia in support of the program. In the Spring of 2007, we launched our very first Living Future conference. That was also the start of something big – a new forum for the leading edge thinkers and practitioners to gather and compare notes. Our message resonated deeply with Eden, and just a very short while later she was working on our team – helping to build the very first infrastructure elements for the Living Building Challenge. Her impact was immediate and profound. I could tell you that she worked hard – the volume of her work was equal to several average employees. I could tell you that she worked smart – her enormous intellectual contributions helped introduce rigor and discipline

to my more freewheeling style. I could tell you that she brought passion – her artistry manifested itself in wonderfully unique presentations and programs, including Living Building Leader and the ever-growing Ambassador Network. I could tell you a lot of things about Eden, but they wouldn’t ever be able to summarize the deep and holistic impact that Eden had on the program. And so, what I will tell you is this: Eden Brukman is a hero for the Living Building Challenge and a hero for the planet. I’m a big fan of the notion of heroes. There are more of them around us than we know or recognize, yet most go unsung. As the founder of the Challenge I get most of the attention, but many times it was Eden’s brilliance that pushed us into new territories and to new levels of success, not me. She devoted 5 years and countless hours in support of a powerful vision of community transformation, and she embodied that vision with her knowledge and passion.

I want our whole community to know the debt of gratitude we owe her for her spirit and dedication. At the end of May, after 5 years of dedicated service and an amazing body of work, Eden will be stepping down as Vice-President of the International Living Future Institute. Our highly skilled team is ready for a smooth transition primarily because of the systems she put in place, but we will miss her daily presence and strength. The good news is that Eden is merely moving to the next chapter of her career. She will continue to work toward a Living Future filled with Living Building Challenge projects, but out in the private sector (and she’ll be helping us from time to time as a consultant). We are thrilled by the possibilities that await her and the green building movement, because whatever she applies herself to next will be significant and impactful. Eden’s contribution to the transformation we need is remarkable. And I’d like to encourage all our readers, approaching 30,000 people around the world, to join me in thanking Eden for what she’s done to inspire us and support the movement toward the future we seek.

Eden, my good friend – You are a Hero to us all!

trim tab

BY S A R A M AUDLIN

HIGHPERFORMANCE WOMEN HOW 3 WOMEN ARE INFLUENCING THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT

Spring 2012

Passion, leadership and dedication—the three women of SERA Architecture’s Sustainability Resources Group (SuRG) have all these attributes in abundance. Lisa Petterson, Kate Turpin and Priya Premchandran are pioneers of sustainable design who work and live in Portland, OR. Along with the rest of the SuRG team they’ve been instrumental in the completion of over 30 LEED®-certified buildings and have incorporated sustainability design principles and strategies into over one hundred building projects. Though their work keeps them busy, they found a few moments to share what it’s like to be trailblazers in what has traditionally been a male-dominated field, what they consider the most important issues facing sustainable design today and how their work is reshaping the built environment in the Pacific Northwest and around the world. trim tab

Practical sustainable solutions call for the best collective and collaborative thinking. As a result, we’re seeing the industry shifting to an inclusive community of men and women with diverse backgrounds, skill sets and career disciplines. Lisa Petterson

Sara Maudlin: Lisa, you are an Associate Principal at SERA, and you manage SuRG. Why was the group created? Lisa Petterson: SuRG was created to build upon SERA’s knowledge base and successes in sustainability and to better position the firm for environmental challenges in the future. SERA approaches sustainable design and planning as a basic responsibility; SuRG was a natural outgrowth of that commitment. We provide in-house sustainable design expertise, research and development, sustainability consulting services, and policy engagement to all project teams within the office. Priya, Kate and I are all full-time staff of SuRG. We work on many projects throughout the office, but touch them all through SuRG. In addition, SuRG has its own set of projects and services, largely centered around consulting and advising on regional policies and green building issues, and green building related research studies. SM: How does your group work? LP: We have nine core team members who are assigned to a project based on its specific needs; however, because the skill sets and areas of expertise of SuRG staff are diverse, multiple members of SuRG may touch a single project. For example, I may be the Lighting Designer, with Priya coordinating the LEED process and serving as an expert resource on materials selection, and Kate advising on energy efficiency, indoor air quality and thermal comfort. Typically one of us will be the lead for any given project that SuRG touches. We work together closely, discussing key 66

Spring 2012

project challenges and issues and brainstorming as a team on how to resolve them. SM: Historically, your career field has been dominated by men. What is it like as a woman working in this field? Do you think that as women you bring different skill sets or viewpoints to your work? Priya Premchandran: Practical sustainable solutions call for the best collective and collaborative thinking. As a result, we’re seeing the industry shifting to an inclusive community of men and women with diverse backgrounds, skill sets and career disciplines. Our own office is a great example of this shifting trend. Of the 113 SERA employees, 37 percent are women and 30 percent of senior leadership positions are held by women. Kate Turpin: Women at SERA are also bringing a lot of non-traditional skills [for women] to the table. For example, our staff includes a licensed engineer, landscape architect, lighting designer, multiple interior designers and urban planners. It’s important to have strong role models within the industry who are examples, and not exceptions, to inspire younger women professionals through their work and contributions. As a woman working in this industry, I feel fortunate to have exciting opportunities to contribute to the ongoing work that is leading to better buildings and a sustainable future. LP: Kate and Priya bring an incredible dedication and passion for their work. I believe it is this passion that makes them so very successful. In my mind, gender

Priya Premchandran

plays a role in this success. Women are trained early to be nurturers, to build consensus rather than promote competition. This skill toward inclusion helps the entire design team focus their unique passions for sustainability to the project. SM: The Northwest is known for its progressiveness and commitment to sustainability. Do you see advantages to working in Oregon and the Northwest? LP: In Oregon and in Portland, we are fortunate to have a community that takes great pride in, and stewardship of, our natural environment. We have local policies that push the boundaries of building performance and create standards that help to achieve higher goals. PP: We also have incentives and programs that facilitate integration of sustainability, and reward buildings that are pursuing beyond the minimum required standards. For example, we work with Energy Trust of Oregon to take advantage of their technical and financial assistance for energy efficiency and renewable energy investments. KT: In addition, in Portland we have a design and construction community that collaborates and shares lessons learned, helping to both strengthen and propel sustainability efforts. Priya and I are both volunteer leaders for the Portland Branch of Cascadia Green Building Council and Lisa is a frequent contributor. So we all benefit from and actively participate in that groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s local promotion of broad interdisciplinary collaboration towards sustainable transformation of the built environment. trim tab

Kate Turpin

SM: What are two or three of the most important high-performance green building issues today? How is your group helping to address or resolve them? LP: Data-driven design is a big issue. Rules of thumb and estimated energy use and performance metrics are, in the best of cases, only estimates. Using these estimates, we are often over-designing our buildings with safety factors and redundant systems that cost more in construction and in operation and maintenance. To better analyze and understand the performance of high-performance building systems, our group has created its own software tools that help with early analysis and provide valuable information for design teams. KT: Another major issue is improving the performance of existing buildings to reduce energy consumption. Over 80 percent of the building stock is existing, and therein lies the majority of opportunities to improve efficiency over the next several decades. Many of these existing buildings have old equipment, aging infrastructure, and inadequate operations resources. And yet there is a great deal of embodied energy and resources in those structures. I believe improving efficiency through retrofitting and renovation measures is a feasible and low-cost approach to reducing energy use and overall greenhouse gas emissions. This is also where an organization like Energy Trust is positively impacting our state. Their incentives and technical assistance help make ambitious energy-efficiency goals more approachable and affordable. At 67

We visualize LEED as a tool to benchmark and communicate the various strategies being implemented to achieve the sustainability goals as the project progresses.

SERA, we have been addressing this issue using our existing building analytical tools to identify opportunities for performance and efficiency improvements. PP: The last issue I would call out is occupant behavior. This is one of the frequent causes of deviation of measured building energy use from predicted energy use, especially since occupant behavior is uncertain. SERA is working on a study to understand this issue further and help inform our future projects SM: Priya, you coordinate and manage the LEED process for your group. What about LEED do you find the most compelling and the most challenging? PP: LEED has played a significant role in creating the positive changes we see in our buildings today. It’s also opened the doors to even more ambitious frameworks, like the Living Building Challenge. As a whole, the industry is moving forward and we are building better buildings. That is promising. The limiting nature of the LEED process is challenging and can constrain the integrated design process on large, complex projects with high performance goals. We visualize LEED as a tool to benchmark and communicate the various strategies being implemented to achieve the sustainability goals as the project progresses. This approach encourages the team to think beyond the LEED scorecard and find design solutions that are unique to the project. SM: Lisa, you lead the Living Building efforts for the integrated design team working on the Oregon Sustainability Center, which if it moves forward, could be the world’s first mixed-use office building to meet the Living Building Challenge. How has this project influenced your work? 68

Spring 2012

LP: The Oregon Sustainability Center and its sister projects, Edith Green Wendell Wyatt (EGWW) and Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT), have profoundly influenced our work at SERA. The need to design to a specific metric was first proposed for the ODOT renovation project as a part of Oregon’s SEED (State Energy Efficient Design) process. This metric-based design approach was greatly expanded in the detailed analysis effort the SuRG team undertook for EGWW. The need for data-driven design was further magnified in the design of the Oregon Sustainability Center and has been pivotal in our creating a different design process for it. The absolute metric of the Living Building Challenge raised the bar and pushed the team to think differently. Working closely with SERA’s partner architect, GBD, the lead mechanical firm, Interface Engineering, and the energy analyst, PAE Engineers, and others, we are constantly modeling truly integrated design behavior. We’re taking what we’re learning from this experience to our other projects and to the wider green building community. SM: Kate, you volunteered to serve on the Oregon Reach Code Advisory Committee to the Oregon Building Codes Division (BCD), and you also participated in the technical sub-committee that provided recommendations for energy efficiency. Can you speak about your work on this committee and if you think the Reach Code is a step towards changing Oregon, and also the world? KT: I do see the Reach Code’s potential for positive change in Oregon. It is an example of Oregon’s continued leadership in energy efficiency, and it could play a critical role in moving Oregon towards the stated

trim tab

legislative goal of net-zero energy emissions buildings by 2030. This is the state’s first Reach Code—and one of the first “stretch” or “reach” codes in the nation—and it is intended to provide a voluntary code compliance pathway that is above minimum energy code. The improvements included are likely places that BCD will look for mandatory code improvements in the next code cycle. In this way, the Reach Code could serve as an indicator to the marketplace of where the next code cycle is going. The intent is that, over time, more owners and builders will design ahead of current code in order to get ahead in the market, especially if financial incentive programs align with Reach Code adoption. In the process, mandatory code compliance will be easier as new and improving codes will not be a surprise to the market, and energy efficiency across the state will improve. I find this potential for change and progress in energy efficiency to be very exciting and inspiring – and am proud to have been a part of the process. SM: As you know, the theme of this year’s Living Future Conference is “Women Reshaping the World.” Do you feel that you’re reshaping the world, and if so, how? LP: The sustainability movement is blessed with numerous talented and articulate leaders, who are reshaping and scaling the conversation around sustainability beyond their local community; however, until now sustainability has been predominated by issues surrounding protection and restoration of the environment. This can be seen in our built environment, where the focus has been mostly on what is right for the environment and remained neutral to the context of people and society. Women are reshaping this dialogue by being engaged as social change agents and by using the skills that I believe are innate to all women—namely, connecting with an environment and transforming it to make it our own. By becoming 70

Spring 2012

more visible and participating, women will not only expand their role within the community, but also bring social issues to the forefront and integrate social equity and responsibility back into the sustainability equation while designing buildings. In other words, no matter how energy efficient and high performing the building is, if it is not a livable and workable space then it just a building. SARA MAUDLIN is a Senior Copywriter at PECI, an energy efﬁciency solutions company in Portland, Oregon. Through sustained market and customer engagement, the company helps individuals and businesses use less energy and save money.

INTERNATIONAL LIVING FUTURE INSTITUTE: RESEARCH AND TECHNICAL CONSULTING Tools and Resources to Transform our Future

Our research advances the adoption and understanding of the Living Building Challenge and other high performance policies, programs and standards throughout North America and beyond. Contact us to learn more and how we can help your organization envision a living future.

Beyond green. Beyond sustainable.

Regenerative Design Creating whole, healthy communities that integrate the built and natural world. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not just good for the earth. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s good for business.

800.220.0919

biohabitats.com

conser vation planning + ecological restoration + regenerative design trim tab

We thank our industry partners for their support in envisioning a living future. AN ANGE N GE E L SP S P ON N S ORS ORS OR

TRAN TR ANSF AN SFOR SF OR R MA MATI T VE TI E S PO PONS NSOR NS ORS OR S

B U I L D E R S

VS VI SII ON O AR ARY Y S PO P O NSOR PONS N S OR NS RS

7 72

Spring Spr ing 2012 ing 2012

E N TE EN ENTE TERP R RI RP RISI S ING NG S PO PONS O NS S OR ORS

Buro Bur o Happ appold old

S PO P O NS PONS S OR ORS S Access Consulting, PC AECOM Coughlin Porter Lundeen Epsten Group GGLO Integrated Design Associates Kath Williams + Associates KMD Architects

Lord Aeck & Sargent Architecture Mithun NBBJ Neil Kelly Company Neil Kelly Cabinets OHSU Olson Kundig Architects

Opsis Architecture Oregon BEST Oregon Electric Group PECI Pinnacle Exhibits Portland General Electric THA Architecture WSP Flack + Kurtz

S PO O NS S OR ORS Ankrom Moisan Associated Architects Berger Partnership BNIM Architects BrN Engineering CDi Engineers CEI Architecture Central Recycling Services City of Portland The Collins Companies David Evans and Associates DLR Group Doubletree Hotel Portland Dykeman Architects ECI/Hyer Architecture & Interiors GBL Architects

Group Mackenzie Haworth Inc. HOK Inﬁnity Images Integrus Architecture Johnson Braund Inc. kpb Architects KPFF Consulting Engineers Lane Powell LLP LMN Architects Lutron Electronics Magnusson Klemencic Associates McCool Carlson Green MCW Consultants Metro

New Buildings Institute O’Brien & Company Organically Grown Company Otak Inc. PACE Engineers Portland Business Alliance R&H Construction RAFN Company Redside Development Schuchart Corp. Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt Tube Art Group Unico Properties United Fund Advisors Yost Grube Hall

City of Oregon City Crave Catering EcoShuttle Environmental Training & Consulting Friends of Outdoor School Green Team Spirit Mahlum

MeetGreen REACH Community Development Regional Arts + Culture Council Sokol Blosser Winery Sustainable Twin Ports Swenson Say Faget Tonkon Torp LLP Tualatin Valley Water District Willamette Print & Blueprint

COMM CO M MUN MM UNIT UN IT ITY T Y PA PART RT T NE N RS 9Wood, Inc Abundant Harvest Artemis Foods Associated General Contractors of Alaska Blue Marble Media The Bike Gallery City of Lake Oswego

trim tri rim tab tab a

73 3

A Leader in

Sustainability

UniverCity on Burnaby Mountain, the compact, mixed-use, transit-oriented community adjacent to Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia, models best practices in sustainable community building.

Strictest Green Building Standards in the World: The Living Building Challenge™ The UniverCity Childcare Centre, opening this spring, aims to be Canada’s ﬁrst . The centre Living Building certiﬁed by the International Living Future Institute™ will produce more energy than it consumes and recycle or collect more water than it uses. Built and operated using non-toxic materials, sourced as locally as possible, it has a net-zero ecological footprint. All with no cost premium to conventional childcare centres being built in the region.

We’re proud, at UniverCity, to be building a community that people want – one that

Comprehensive Green Building Bylaw – Raising the Bar for North America Innovative legislation requires new development to meet high environmental performance standards. For example, all new construction at UniverCity must outperform the national standards for energy by a minimum of 30-45% and water by 40%, as well as meeting other rigorous standards for landscape, air quality, and local materials.

is affordable, enduring and, Award-Winning Stormwater Water Management especially, one that has a light environmental footprint.

UniverCity’s stormwater management system is designed to mimic nature by returning nearly 100% of stormwater to the environment instead of conventional drainage pipes and ditches, protecting downstream aquatic life.

Connect with us to learn more about UniverCity: www.univercity.ca

@univercity_SFU

UniverCity

B Y J AY K O S A

AMBASSADORS TAKE ACTION The Living Building Challenge is something much more than a certification program. The Challenge is a movement, a call to action rooted in the belief that a global shift toward environmentally restorative practices starts with the deepening of relationships at the community level. Inspired by this notion, local groups known as Living Building Challenge Collaboratives are growing in towns and cities around the world. While the endeavors pursued by Collaboratives vary â&#x20AC;&#x201D;advocacy, community service, project incubation, education and outreach are just a fewâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the ultimate goals are the same: strengthen connections, share expertise, and dissolve local barriers to the creation of truly vibrant and sustainable communities.

Spring 2012

T RAN S FO RMAT I O N AL ACT I O N

San Diego Engaging Local Projects and Identifying Regional Challenges The Living Building Challenge Collaborative in San Diego, California formed in the summer of 2011 with the primary goal of providing education and community outreach about the Living Building Challenge framework and its application to local sites across all Typologies. In its first several gatherings, the Collaborative also examined the principles of the Challenge within the context of San Diego area’s climate and geography. It didn’t take long for the group to realize that for local projects to achieve Living Building Challenge certification, strategies for achieving the Imperatives Water Petal would require special focus. When buzz around the Living Building Challenge piqued the curiosity of officials with San Diego’s iconic Balboa Park, local architect and member of the Collaborative Robert Thiele seized the opportunity to share his insight. He encouraged the city to envision improvements to the park’s water management through the lenses of the Challenge’s Water Petal Imperatives as they apply to Landscape + Infrastructure Typology projects. By asking provocative questions, and engaging nearby building and infrastructure projects, the Collaborative is actively contributing to the sustainable future of its community, while creating stronger relationships in the process. trim tab

Sydney, Australia Encouraging National Interest and Inspiring Projects Across the Pacific Ocean, a newly formed Collaborative in the Sydney Basin is leading a growing community of Living Building Challenge Ambassadors in Australia. After Jason McLennan toured Australia in November 2011, a group of green building professionals were inspired to spread the word about the Challenge as a tool for guiding truly sustainable design and construction. Mary Casey, the volunteer facilitator of the Sydney Collaborative, and her fellow volunteers have been hard at work recruiting local organizations and universities to support education efforts, while also reaching out to local building projects about the prospect of joining a handful of Australian projects already pursuing certification through the Living Building Challenge. Inspired by the Living Aleutian Home Competition, the Collaborative is also in the process of developing a competition brief for a similar affordable housing design competition in Australia. The Collaborative is also working with fellow Volunteer Ambassador Warren Overton to identify facilitators to form Collaboratives in additional capital cities, including Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.

Exchanging Place-based Solutions While Living Building Challenge Collaboratives are focused on removing local obstacles to sustainable design in their own buildings, parks, and neighborhoods, they are also creating blueprints for communities with similar characteristics. For instance, Robert Thiele observed that, despite being on different continents, the cities of San Diego and Sydney have comparable climates. A long history of drought conditions in Australia resulted in the widespread adoption of rainwater collection policies and practices in recent years. Robert noted that insights regarding these practices may prove invaluable as water security concerns mount in Southern California. In addition to environmental considerations, Collaboratives are also eager to exchange strategies for addressing shared regulatory, economic, and cultural barriers. Moving Forward In recent months, local proponents of the Living Building Challenge have established new Collaboratives in Portland, Oregon; British Columbiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Vancouver Metro Area; Madison, Wisconsin; the Minneapolis â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Saint Paul region; New York City and Washington DC. A number of others cities arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t far behind and a dozen other Collaboratives are beginning to pop up . As this Ambassador Network continues to grow, each Collaborative formed, each thought provoked and each site restored contributes to the blossoming of a global movement rooted in local relationships. What will your local Collaborative achieve?

JAY KOSA is the Community Coordina-

tor for the International Living Future Institute. He supports the Living Building Challenge program, as well as the ILFI Ambassador Network.

Spring 2012

THA: Integrating design excellence and sustainability for over 25 years

visit us at thaarchitecture.com

Net Zero Energy Building Certiﬁcation is a new program operated by the International Living Future Institute using the structure of the Living Building Challenge – the world’s most rigorous and progressive green building program. Certiﬁcation is simple, cost effective and critical for integrity and transparency. For more information visit www.living-future.org/netzero

trim tab

B Y M U R R AY C I ZO N

PORTLAND, OREGON AND LIVING FUTURE 2012 – A PERFECT COUPLE

MAY 2-4, 2012 PORTLAND, OR

Spring 2012

Travel Portland

About 20 years ago, when Portland, Oregon began in earnest to (un)intentionally transform itself from the Hippest City on the West Coast to the Hippest City Anywhere, former American President George H.W. Bush’s visit to town was met by some of the most vigorous and violent domestic protests of his presidency. The stopover so unnerved the President that Portland was dubbed “Little Beirut” by members of his staff. trim tab

Travel Portland

It speaks volumes about my adopted hometown (been here 18 years, practically an era of geologic time in comparison with many of my neighbors) that the less-than-flattering nickname bestowed upon it was enthusiastically embraced by the left-of-center activist community. Which is another way of saying, it’s practically on the city limits signs.1

then a city whose name was decided upon 161 years ago as the result of a coin toss2 is an apt choice indeed.

Frankly, could there be a more appropriate place to celebrate the sixth annual Living Future unConference? Seattle, WA and Vancouver, BC are, to be frank, worldclass cities. They have financial districts, for pete’s sake! How on Earth can this little burgh with its steadfast Urban Growth Boundary, intentionally provincial feel, kitsch/cool reputation and self-deprecatory sense of humor hope to compete? It can’t. Never has, and doesn’t seem to care, either. If Living Future is a reflection of our “industry’s” greatest hopes and wildest dreams,

Which isn’t to say that it’s been all roses and sunbreaks since that fateful 50/50 wager. Portland, like most of the American Pacific Northwest, faces community challenges in regard to socio-economic and ethnic/cultural diversity that no amount of lip service or civic initiatives will “solve” in their entirety. And that is also a compelling reason as to why Living Future 2012 and Portland make such a great couple – this year’s unConference theme is “Women Reshaping the World” and this idea (first espoused in the pages of Women in Green: Voices of Sustainable Design, Ecotone Publishing 2007 and further in this quarterly) runs through the Living Future 2012 program in a fashion that is simultaneously inherent and provokingly conspicuous. From the open-

1 Like most things Portland, this piece will occasionally stray into hyperbolic

2 Yes, there was a 50% chance you’d be attending Living Future 2012 in Boston,

territory, and like most hyperbole, there’s a strong element of truth to all of it.

Oregon.

Spring 2012

ing night keynote presentation by world-renowned eco-feminist Vandana Shiva to the education session track “Women in Green,” the conversation will be direct and unapologetic, but it will also never devolve into blame/shame scenarios. We’re talking about our future, after all.

said, “Oh, awesome. You know I’ve been doing that for a few years already, right?” It’s not that we’re a tough-toimpress crowd, but when you live in a place where the new Niketown is certified LEED Platinum, only the truly, outrageously sustainable will cause more than a knowing smile and pat on the hand. To wit:

This is yet another good reason why we’re doing this in Portland. How many other traditionally workingclass communities in the United States have seen their economic industry lose viability (in this case, timber) and – misstep or two notwithstanding – proactively find the fiscal solution in…wait for it…urban planning? Beginning with the creation of Waterfront Park, TriMet (the metro area’s public transit system) and the urban growth boundary, as well as the abandonment of the Mt. Hood Freeway and continuing to this day, Portland’s livability has played a significant role in making this Rust Belt’s doppelganger – a metro area with no industry that is experiencing a boom across scales. When you hear about the 10%+ unemployment rate, just remember – it’s hard to measure such things when a significant percentage of your population is a self-employed member of the creative class. “Where young people go to retire,” my foot.

Green Spaces

Travel Portland

There are over 200 parks and dedicated green spaces within the city limits. This includes Forest Park, which is the largest wilderness park (within city limits) in the country, covering more than 5,000 acres and Mt. Tabor – one of the few extinct volcanoes (again, within city limits) in the U.S. Additionally, the breathtaking Columbia River Gorge begins at the easternmost reaches of the metro area and is a popular half-day destination for pretty much everyone, eventually. Be sure to check out the aforementioned “Understanding the Role of City Green Space” guided

You can experience a bit of this first hand, even unintentionally (enjoy the walkable city core, where blocks top out at ~200’), at Living Future. Some of the pre-conference tours and activities address these things head on (OregonBEST Laboratories Tour, Understanding the Role of City Green Space Hike, the 2012 Government Confluence, held at the Oregon Zoo) where others speak to the communication and collaboration across scales that foster progress and growth (Bud Clark Commons Tour, Small Homes Tour). And, of course, you can see it all in action just by being in Portland for three exciting, exhausting and intensely rewarding days. — SUSTAINABLE PORTLAND – ALMOST A REDUNDANCY

When curbside composting was introduced citywide in early 2012, the residents of Portland – that prickly, empowered bunch of gadflies and agitators – collectively

trim tab

Travel Portland

hike of Washington Park as one of the activities before the unConference. Too busy before Living Future? The “Disc Golf Clinic & Casual Round” in Pier Park is a perfect way to wind down from the Living Future buzz. The city from two (or three, or one) wheels Sporting the nation’s largest percentage of bicycle commuters, 300+ miles of bikeways, and every imaginable cycle-centric activity and festival to do at one time or another throughout the year, sometimes it feels like the folks who don’t own a bike are the outliers. Check out one of the numerous bike rental shops if you’d like to explore the City of Roses the way the locals do. Food, glorious food When opening day at the Farmer’s Market attracts crowds of more than 10,000, you know you’re not only in a gourmand’s dream, but you’re also amongst ten thousand shoppers who understand the “buy direct” dictum. It’s unusual in Portland not to see a list of purveyors and source farms on a menu. Even

Spring 2012

the regional fast food chain, Burgerville, is hip to the seasonal thing. And all Living Future attendees will have the opportunity to experience the Portland food cart phenomenon first hand! Booze, glorious booze Before hipsters, fixed-gear bicycles, Portlandia and even Elliott Smith, Portland was known as “Brewvana.” Old standbys like Widmer Bros. continue to produce innovative, if not downright quaffable, beers, and upstarts like Hopworks Urban Brewery (100% organic, aggressively attuned to energy and wastewater use, cycling friendly as all get out – check out their keg-cycle) keep everyone on their toes. Figuratively speaking, of course. What a better way to experience this then by taking part in the “Microbrewery Bicycle Tour” (one of the many funConference activities). No three-eyed fish here! Once the bane of pretty much all life’s well-being, the Willamette River is now clean enough to host an inner tube “river float” each summer, with participants

numbering in the thousands. Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park demonstrates what can happen when the almighty automobile plays second fiddle to community space and accessible city cores. Walk across the Hawthorne or Steel Bridges and connect to the Vera Katz Esplanade, offering unsurpassable views of downtown, unique works of art, historical markers and (especially in early May) gaggles of Canada goose families. Be sure to scope out the in-progress, (as-yetunnamed) new Willamette bridge on the southernmost end of the path. The structure will afford public transit, cyclists and pedestrians a new way across town, and private cars wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be allowed! Speaking of transit

to go. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s amazing examples of all of the above pretty much everywhere in the outrageously sustainable Portland.

MURRAY CIZON is the Education & Training Coordinator for the International Living Future Institute. Texan by birth, Oregonian by choice.

Travel Portland

Do yourself a favor, pick up a TriMet day pass (or give your friendly bus driver a fiver) and ask a local where

trim tab

“Glumac is an impressive company of talented engineers who constantly work on innovative projects with passion and intelligence. I have always appreciated their approach to finding the best high-performance solutions that simply work well. This book explores many key ideas, principles and projects that can teach engineers and architects alike.” — JASON F. MCLENNAN CEO, INTERNATIONAL LIVING FUTURE INSTITUTE

Ecological Engineer – Glumac BY DAVID MACAULAY Entering the second decade of the 21st Century, it is clear that the successful advancement of sustainable design offers a powerful means for transforming the built environment. The visionary design practitioners at Glumac are playing a pivotal role – charting new territory with innovative strategies for air, water, light, comfort and energy that continue to push the boundaries of green architecture. Ecotone’s newest book, Ecological Engineer – Glumac offers a comprehensive look at numerous iconic high performance buildings, processes and personalities behind the success of one of North America’s leading MEP sustainable design firms.

ECOtone publishing company

Spring 2012

Soft Cover, 336 pages, Full Color, List: $49.95 USD/CAD ecotonedesign.com

BECOME A CASCADIA MEMBER! Stand with the bioregionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading green building thinkers and practioners. Make an investment in your green building community and join Cascadia today.

At WSP Flack + Kurtz, our mission is to ensure that today's built environment preserves the natural environment in which we live.

DID D YOU U KNOW W Built Ecology is a specialty group that works exclusively with WSP F+K engineers to provide our clients with

deep green architecture. Built Ecologyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s focus is on:

â&#x20AC;˘ 50% of membership dollars directly support your local branch* â&#x20AC;˘ Receive discounts on all Cascadia events, including Living Future â&#x20AC;˘ Earn up to 14 LEED CE hours, at no extra charge

Energy and Carbon Indoor Environmental Quality Water and Wastewater Systems

new york

san francisco

boston washington dc

houston

las vegas

â&#x20AC;˘ 100% of your membership contribution is tax deductible in the US

*Branches will receive 50% of net revenue from all annually renewable memberships. Lifetime memberships are not included in this policy.

Designing today for a better tomorrow SEATTLE | SAN FRANCISCO

mithun.com

trim tab

BY JOHN L AROSE

Book Review:

THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING: OCCUPY WALL STREET AND THE 99% MOVEMENT Book Edited by Sarah Van Gelder of YES! Magazine I happened to be in New York visiting friends and family this past September in the days following the first official Occupy Wall Street march and encampment at Zuccotti Park. With some time to kill on a weekday morning, I headed downtown to lower Manhattan to stop by the encampment and see firsthand what the buzz was about. Having only heard conflicting media reports and speculation about what the fledgling movement stood for (or didn’t stand for) and what its course of action might be, I wasn’t sure what to expect. When I arrived at the park, there were several hundred “permanent” residents, and what seemed like another hundred or so visitors in various stages of involvement, either surveying from the perimeter (like me) or interacting with the Occupiers. The mood was surprisingly mellow, interspersed with sudden bursts of upbeat percussion and song from the square. I stayed for a portion of that afternoon’s General Assembly and witnessed the horizontal activism and the people’s microphone in action. The whole of my visit, which encompassed only a few hours, was both interesting and inspiring, and it left me wondering whether I was witnessing one moment of a brief social experiment or the unfolding of a profound political movement. Sixth months later and with the promise of spring’s new beginnings just ahead, it seems a good time to reflect on the phenomenon’s humble beginnings and rapid ascent, and revisit the core issues the movement is battling. This Changes Everything: Occupy Wall 88

Spring 2012

Street and the 99% Movement, edited by Sarah van Gelder of YES! magazine, is an insightful collection that combines first-hand accounts from those on the Occupy Wall Street frontline with smartly-written essays and interviews from YES! staff and contributors. Compiled and published in about a month, This Changes Everything is a quick and easy read at just 84 pages. Full disclaimer: the book is entirely supportive of Occupy Wall Street and its goals – so much so that all profits go to supporting the movement. This of course will come as no surprise to anyone familiar with YES!, one of the leading voices in the transition to a Main Street economy. (For more, see YES! founder David Korten’s endorsement of Occupy Wall Street here: http://www.yesmagazine.org/blogs/ david-korten/in-solidarity-with-occupywallstreet) Part One of the book offers an insider’s look at the formative stages of the Occupy Wall Street movement, with first-hand accounts from Occupy organizers recapping how specific aspects of protests evolved. Taking cues from similar protests in Europe and the Middle East, Occupiers established policies on nonviolence and inclusion and instituted affinity groups, or spokes-councils, to facilitate direct action and ensure logistical (like sanitation and security) were tended to. Perhaps the most notable of Part One’s chapters is “Enacting the Impossible: Making Decisions by Consensus.” As anthropologist, activist and Occupy Wall Street un-leader David Graeber describes, somewhat

remarkably, “the movement successfully instituted consensus-based democracy in its mass assemblies.” Basically, the process states that any one participant in the assembly had the power to veto a decision being put forth. At first, it seems like this method might be a barrier to getting things done, something for which outsiders have criticized the movement. After all, it’s not difficult to imagine any kind of meeting, be it at work, at home, or at a revolution, dragging on for hours if every one had the right of way to derail any proposed course of action. However, as Graeber reports, the process worked. “That participants know they can instantly stop a deliberation dead in its tracks if they feel it a matter of principle, not only means they do it rarely, it also means that a compromise on minor political points becomes easier.” And isn’t that how democracy should actually function? Parts Two and Three are vital for building the case for support. YES! staff and other prominent contributors provide different perspectives on the core issues Occupy Wall Street hopes to address, namely unchecked corporate power, growing inequality and the political indifference toward both. YES! readers will recognize the excerpt from Brooke Jarvis’s interview with British epidemiologist Richard Wilkins, first published on yesmagazine.org in March 2010. Wilkins convincingly describes how economic inequality contributes to societal ills – quite literally. His studies show that unequal societies have higher rates of crime, infant mortality, homicides, mental illness and a host of other public health concerns. Elsewhere in Parts Two and Three, contributions from David Korten, Ralph Nader and others dig deeper into the problems, offer micro- and macro-level solutions, and steadily bolster the argument that the status quo needs to change. And as any good rallying cry should, Sarah van Gelder concludes the book with ten things the reader can do to support the Occupy movement, including suggestions for those interested in direct action, and those who would rather participate behind the front lines. This Changes Everything is a great companion for understanding the early stages of the Occupy movement and grappling with the myriad political and economic conditions that gave rise to the protests. Though many aspects of the movement have evolved in the short time since the book’s November publication, This Changes Everything never claims to be the trim tab

definitive historical account of Occupy. Nor does the book attempt to classify Occupy’s structure, categorize its demands or package it into a convenient sound byte. Instead, This Changes Everything acknowledges that much of the movement’s validity and growth is attributed to its decentralized and diverse nature, all the while providing a succinct account of how Occupy Wall Street, even in its youth, has already impacted political discourse and influenced thousands of people around the country and the world.

JOHN LAROSE is the Development Coordinator for the International Living Future Institute.

46=05. <7:;9,(4 URINE-POWERED RESTAURANT POPS UP IN MELBOURNE Yes, we said ‘urine-powered’. At the Greenhouse restaurant, urine is harvested to create power. Some may say ‘gross’, we say ‘innovative.’ Who knows, this may be the future of restaurants?

STADI STADIUM T UM SEATS TURNED INTO TRANSIT STOPS – RECLAIMING MATERIALS A AT ITS BEST. Organizations in Indianapolis have partnered to rescue and re-use 10,000+ stadium seats from the old Bush Stadium. Originally slated for the landfill, these seats are being repurposed as IndyGo bus stop seating. Read more about this project and how to get involved.

MAKING PROGRESS? Do you have a lead on cutting-edge green building progress in the region? Contact joanna-gangi@living-future.org and put “Moving Upstream News Lead” in the subject line.

Spring 2012

BC INTRODUCES ENERGY AND WATER W WA ATER EFFICIENCY C ACT Improved Standards. Streamlined Enforcement. Better Energy Performance. All things that the Energy and Water Efficiency Act (Bill 32) will help create in northwestern Canada.

FIRST TWO PROJECTS CERTIFIED UNDER NET ZERO ENERGY BUILDING CERTIFICATION Two T Tw o projects, both existing building retrofits, have completed the first full set of third-party audits for Net Zero Energy Building Certification from the International Living Future Institute.

Customized support for

IN-HOUSE WORKSHOPS

Designed for your needs, delivered to your ofﬁce.

CHARRETTE FACILITATION

The Early Bird Gets The Worm.

DESIGN DEVELOPMENT GUIDANCE

Measure Twice, Cut Once.

WHAT IS IT? Customized training is available as an optional service for organizations and project teams to ensure that everyone has a shared fundamental understanding of the Living Building Challenge or particular Petal area. HOW DOES IT WORK? Whether there is a speciﬁc area of interest or a desire for a private presentation of an established curriculum, the Institute can bring the education to you. The most common workshop requested is a full-day introduction to Living Building Challenge that also includes discussion of contextual information such as development patterns and density, and regulatory, ﬁnancial, behavioral and technological barriers and incentives.

WHAT IS IT? To steer teams toward innovative yet feasible solutions for their Living Building Challenge projects, the Institute offers an optional service to lead the kick-off meeting or “charrette” and help deﬁne fundamental, strategic goals. HOW DOES IT WORK? The charrette should take place at the beginning of a project when the potential to explore is at its fullest. The one-day meeting format focuses on fostering an interactive dialogue that allows participants to consider each area of impact. The two- or three-day format allows time for a deeper examination of promising ideas. The Institute designs the agenda, facilitates the session, and provides a follow-up summary.

WHAT IS IT? This optional service is intended to improve a project’s potential to comply with the Living Building Challenge requirements at a point in the design process where adjustments are still possible. HOW DOES IT WORK? The Institute spends a day with the team to learn how the project accounts for each Imperative of the Living Building Challenge (an option for a virtual meeting is also available). Following a review of the project documents, we will issue a report outlining our guidance for the team to improve their ability to succeed. It is possible to receive feedback on the Imperatives within a single Petal, select Petals, or all seven Petals of the Living Building Challenge.

HOW DO I GET STARTED? For more information on fees and scheduling, email: certiﬁcation@livingbuildingchallenge.org

Living Building ChallengeSM is a philosophy, advocacy tool, and certiﬁcation program that addresses development at all scales. It is comprised of seven performance areas: Site, Water, Energy, Health, Materials, Equity, and Beauty. At the International Living Future Institute, we believe that a compelling vision is a fundamental retirement of reconciling humanity’s relationship with the natural world.

www.livingbuildingchallenge.org

trim tab

Are you inspired by the Living Building Challenge? Do you want to transform your community? You’re not alone. Discover your local Living Building Challenge Collaborative and engage in innovative, place-based discussions. A Collaborative is a community-based, in-person group of Living Building Challenge ambassadors that meets regularly to share ideas and experiences. Your activities create the local conditions that support development of Living Buildings, Sites and Communities. Collaboratives are open to all, and they thrive on a diverse range of perspectives. đƫ

Check the Ambassador Network Map to find a Collaborative near you, and connect with fellow ambassadors through your local Collaborative’s Facebook page.

đƫ

If you don’t see a Collaborative in your area, we hope you’ll be inspired to form one. Sign up online to receive the training and support to successfully facilitate your local group.

WE ARE ALL AMBASSADORS. livingbuildingchallenge.org/ambassador

Spring 2012

FWD: READ THIS! CLICK

WATER IS LIFE

Watch this cool video, produced by DBB, about a campaign in New York City designed for the recent World Water Day 2012.

CLICK

EDIBLE FOREST IN SEATTLE

Seattle is planning to build the nations first food forest. A seven-acre plot of land in the Beacon Hill neighborhood will be planted with hundreds of different kinds of edibles: walnut and chestnut trees; blueberry and raspberry bushes; and more. All of the yummy edibles will be available to anyone to pick.

CLICK

A MAP APP FOR CRISIS

A new app, invented my one of the world’s leading women in technology and developed for when crises strikes, is intended to make it easy for a community to easily upload information to an interactive map

CLICK

BICYCLING B ICYCLING EQUALS NET E QUALS A N ET SOCIAL GAIN

That’s right, one mile on a bike is a $.42 economic gain to society, one mile driving is a $.20 loss. So who wouldn’t want to bike more? Read more about this astonishing fact from a report published in Copenhagen (the bicycle-friendliest place on the planet).

CLICK

SOCIAL NETWORKING FOR NEIGHBORHOOD IMPROVEMENT

Neighborland – an online idea-sharing network is trying to build support for existing ecosystems by building a tool that is easy for neighbors, community groups and city planners to share ideas. Read more about this innovative tool.

FWD: READ THIS! If you have something that should be included here please send it to us at trimtab@living-future.org.

trim tab

SPONSORSHIP BECOME AN INDUSTRY PARTNER

PARTNER WITH US AND… đƫ Join a network of the most influential green building thinkers and practitioners đƫ Announce yourself as an industry leader đƫ Support locally relevant and globally inspired training, lectures, programs and standards

To learn more about sponsorship opportunities, please contact Sarah Costello via email at sarah.costello@living-future.org or by phone at 503.228.5533.

Building the Future

A Promise Delivered Turner is proud to deliver improved environments for building occupants To learn more about Turner and living buildings, please visit turnerconstruction.com/living-buildings

FORWARD TO FRIENDS:

LIKE WHAT YOU SEE? Forward this to a friend and have them sign up for Trim Tab. ADVERTISE:

WANT TO REACH NEARLY 25,000 LEADING PRACTITIONERS? Contact us to advertise in the next issue!