These days, commercial real estate conferences and industry gatherings boast a healthy representation of breakout sessions, products and services promoting environmental responsibility and the latest in green building trends…and that’s a good thing. But, talking about going green and actually taking steps to transform a building are quite different.

This is the third article delineating emerging sustainable regulations as defined in the fourth edition public draft of the Standard 189.1P Standard for the Design of High-Performance Green Buildings.  The first two articles, illustrated in previous U.S. Green Building Council North Texas Chapter digital magazine editions, described elements from energy and sustainable sites. This brief overview article concentrates upon information as it relates to the materials, resources, and indoor environment air quality portions of the regulation.

Early team collaboration can yield landscape concepts that maximize site assets and minimize costs while harvesting LEED points.   It’s the old “form follows function” recipe which can be revised to include “form follows energy” to match site use with specific site conditions, such as using parking medians to collect and treat surface water runoff.   However, incorporating a few LEED site points does not always consistently equate to a true ecologically balanced ‘green’ site unless a broader more comprehensive complimentary approach is utilized.  Depending on the actual credits pursued, some LEED project sites, although sustainably much better than their non-LEED counterparts, may not be very green after construction completion, especially if existing vegetation is stripped and topsoil is compacted. Even a small clump of trees contributes to the ecosystem and should be spared the blade whenever possible and practical.  As green industry professionals, we are encouraged to think beyond obtaining specific LEED points and adhere to a more wide-ranging philosophy of environmental protection and restoration.   Scraping a site may save dollars on the front end, but may not be the most cost sensitive approach in the long run when new plantings fail to grow due to poor soil conditions as a result of the construction activity.

As introduced in the August Edition of the North Texas Chapter digital magazine, the fourth edition public draft of the Standard 189.1P Standard for the Design of High-Performance Green Buildings was released in September anticipating a publish date in January 2010.  The standard is a joint partnership between the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), and the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) that is designed to significantly move forward sustainable concepts and construction by providing a code-enforceable standard for green buildings that may be adopted by jurisdictions, agencies, clients, rating systems, and regulatory entities.