The Tyson Living Center at Washington University in St. Louis that is aiming to meet the Living Building Challenge is on the news.

Watch the video!

Clark County recently passed a Sustainable Communities ordinance that spells out a pilot program for Living Buildings and allows for departures from code requirements where they present barriers to Living Building Challenge projects. 

Learn more ...

The International Living Building Institute, in partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, invites the world’s most talented and daring designers, planners, artists and animators to create a new global vision: a breathtaking, compelling model for the future of civilization. All entries must comply explicitly with all 20 Imperatives of the Living Building Challenge™ 2.0.

Students are highly encouraged to participate.

Prizes totaling over $125,000 available along with extensive media coverage. 

www.ilbi.org/livingcity

Click here for flyer

Click here for more information on this exciting opportunity.

Click here to read the current issue of Trim Tab.

Seattle Regulatory Pathways to Net Zero Water

Cascadia is working collaboratively across regulatory agencies to identify obstacles within the current code system and to establish policies and pathways for projects that are pursing net zero water strategies. The Seattle Regulatory Pathways to Net Zero Water report provides an overview of the regulatory framework as well as future opportunities and recommendations for removing obstacles to support net zero water projects within the City. While this project is specific to the City of Seattle, it serves as a model for other jurisdictions around Washington State and beyond. This report was funded through the City of Seattle Department of Planning and Development.

Congratulations to the winners!

One team from each category (Emerging Professional and Student) was eligible for the awards.  The first place winners in each category will move on to the USGBC national judging phase.  

Emerging Professional Winners:

Project 'Creating Communities' from Portland, OR. 

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Second Place
Project 'FLOW' from Seattle, WA.

Congratulations Nick Ladd and Jessie Quan.

Third Place
Project 'Raised Shotgun Residence' from Seattle, Wa.

Congratulations Mark Haizlip and Greg Squires.

Student Winners:

Project 'The Five-Season House' from Seattle, WA.

Project 'Ariel Home' from Vancouver, BC.

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Third Place
Project 'The Refresh Home' from Vancouver, BC.

Congratulations Janet Hazlett, Teresa Amiama, Jillian Danis, Adam Robertson and Kendra Bannister.

See the Prizes

Joel Sisolak, Cascadia's Advocacy and Outreach Director, recently sent an email to our members regarding the ongoing process around the MRc7 Leed Credit. Read the note below and learn how to remain engaged around this important issue.

Dear Friends,

Earlier in the year, Cascadia Green Building Council members and supporters were asked to comment on draft #3 of the “Certified Wood” credit, or MRc7, of the USGBC LEED system.  We published and widely distributed a guidance document to help our members understand the high stakes of this process and encourage active engagement in pushing for truly exemplary forestry.

Today, Cascadia members and supporters are strongly urged to continue to participate in the ongoing process around the MRc7 LEED credit.  Sustainable forestry is a key aspect of green building, and the most visible green building benchmarking system, LEED, should promote the highest existing standard for forestry and forest products. 

Cascadia strongly urges you to re-read the guidance document linked above, then:

Prepare to vote. If you are a USGBC member, you must opt in to the consensus body by Wednesday July 21st to be eligible to vote on the final proposed benchmark and MRc7 credit revision. If you already opted in during the 3rd Comment Period, you do not need to do so again.

Monitor the final stages of this process closely. If the ballot proposal fails to adequately protect our forests and forest communities, USGBC members have the ability to vote down the proposed changes to LEED. Cascadia will contact you to make our actual voting recommendation known once a final USGBC ballot becomes public (now anticipated in August 2010). 

Thanks for your commitment to sustainable forestry.

Yours,

Joel Sisolak
Advocacy and Outreach Director

PS:  You can learn more about Cascadia’s commitment to sustainable forestry by visiting our website.

The Living Building Challenge was selected as a finalist from over 200 entries.  The Buckminster Fuller Challenge is an annual competition that supports the development and implementation of a strategy that has significant potential to solve humanity’s most pressing problems.

Click here to see a video of all the finalists.

At Living Future 2010, Cascadia CEO Jason McLennan announced some exciting new developments at Cascadia, including a name change, a new mission statement, and a honed strategic vision!

Use the link below to learn about these changes and what they mean for Cascadia and the green building community as a whole.

Click here to read the full press release.

The Cascadia Fellowship is awarded annually to individuals who
have made significant contributions to the green building movement either regionally or
nationally, and are recognized leaders within the greater green design community. The
Fellows embody Cascadia’s conviction that individuals and organizations can lead a
transformation of the built environment by acting as a lever and a catalyst for change.

The 2010 Cascadia Fellowship recipients were announced at Living Future on May 7 in Seattle. 

CONGRATULATIONS to the recipients!

Click here to view the 2010 Fellows

The third draft of the USGBC forest certification benchmark and associated documents are now available for public comment.

Click here to view Cascadia's Guidance Document on the USGBC Forest Benchmark.

Here's how to get involved:
1)    If you are a representative of a USGBC member organization, we urge you to “opt in” to the consensus body that will eventually vote on this (DEADLINE MARCH 24).  To do so, follow this link:
https://www.usgbc.org/Login.aspx?REFERRER=%2fDisplayPage.aspx%3fCMSPageID=2070

2)    Pass this information on - encourage others to “opt in”

3)    Review the guidance and suggested language in Cascadia's Guidance document

4)    Submit comments to the USGBC (DEADLINE MARCH 14). To submit comments, follow this link:
http://www.usgbc.org/LEED/LEEDDrafts/RatingSystemVersions.aspx?CMSPageID=1458

Living Building Challenge has swept North America. There are now more than sixty registered projects from coast to coast pursuing certification under this rigorous performance standard and interest continues to rise. In response to frequent requests for introductory presentations, we have decided to hit the road and create an opportunity to share the tenets of the program with advanced practitioners in the United States and Canada.

Learn more about the Road Show!

Seattle Magazine's Most Influential People of the Year are an eclectic group—a guru of the mobile food scene, two guys with the Midas touch, a transportation visionary, and more.  Dubbed the Green Giant, Jason McLennan made the list!

Click here to read the article.

There are significant changes coming to the LEEP AP program.  This info page is intended to help answer commonly asked questions. 

The LEED AP exams will be changing in January 2010, and there will be a new tiered system of LEED APs.  The Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI) will be taking over the administration of the LEED AP system.  

Individuals who want to take the current LEED exam and become a LEED AP before these changes take place should note the below deadlines, read these FAQ's (see 2nd item on the page) and note that the LEED NC and CI workshops offered in the fall will be your last chance to take these trainings. 

• October 23rd, 2009. This will be the last date to book your LEED exam (either LEED NC or LEED CI). To do so, book your exam on the the CaGBC website.

• December 31st, 2009. This is the last date in which you can write  the LEED Canada NC exam or the LEED Canada CI exam. On January 1st, 2010 these exams will no longer be available in Canada.  Even if you are taking an exam before this deadline, it must be scheduled before October 23rd, as noted above.

LEED DISCOUNTS

LEED RESOURCES

- For Canadians studying to take the exam before Dec. 31, 2009.

LEED Study Groups - Connect with others looking for study groups.  Post your group, or post that you're looking for a study group.

Green Skyline will showcase some of the most innovative and progressive green buildings throughout BC.  Come learn how we can reduce our impact on the natural world enormously by changing the way we build and occupy buildings.  You'll learn about green features and systems, the costs and benefits of building green, and how you can incorporate sustainable features into your home or project.

Choose which city you would like to tour!

Background:

As of July 2009, BC has 45 LEED certified buildings, which is more per capita than any other province in Canada. BC is leading in other ways as well. The provincial government has also committed BC to having its operations "carbon neutral" by 2010; having all new public buildings minimum LEED Gold or equivalent and achieving Greenhouse Gas reductions for the province of 33 per cent below 2007 levels by 2020. However, since last year's Green Skyline tours, Ontario has passed BC in terms of absolute numbers of projects, with 61 LEED projects, which certainly shows the need for greater public and industry understanding of the benefits of these buildings. This year's Vancouver tours are offered as either bike tours or walking tours.

  Thank you to our Sponsors!

Bioregional Leader Level

Green Advocate Level

This years' tour is presented in partnership with the Gaining Ground Conference, happening October 20-22.
For more information: www.gaininggroundsummit.com

The King County Green Building Grants application period is open now through August 31, 2009. King County Green Building Grants provide up to $35,000 per project to assist projects targeting LEED Gold or Platinum certification. 

Grants are awarded competitively to projects within King County, but outside Seattle city limits, for commercial, institutional and multi-family building projects that seek Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold or Platinum certification. Grant awards are up to $25,000 for LEED Gold and up to $35,000 for LEED Platinum. Priority consideration is given to non-profit organizations and to projects incorporating Low-Impact Development (LID) strategies.

Green Building Grants have been awarded to 12 projects since the program inception in 2006. Several local governments, businesses and organizations have received funding ranging from $20,000 to $25,000 per project and totaling $130,000. Among the grant recipients are the cities of Auburn, Kenmore and Shoreline, the Technology Access Foundation (TAF), Google, the YWCA of Seattle-King County, the Highline Historical Society, and CAC Real Estate Management.

The grants provide added incentive for organizations to increase the environmental performance in their buildings, which can provide long-term savings in the form of lower energy costs, healthier indoor environments, and lower water usage. Grants also helps offset premiums sometimes associated with green building, and encourage a wider range of business to build green projects.

Grant award projects serve as demonstrations of high performance, replicable green buildings for the region, and highlight those organizations that are making significant contributions to local communities, the local economy and the environment. For example, the City of Kenmore received a $25,000 grant for construction of a new City Hall, which will seek LEED-Gold certification.

"From the start of the City Hall project, the City Council has made sustainability a priority – not only for the long term environmental benefits and healthy workplace, but also as a statement about the community's values," said Nancy Ousley, Assistant City Manager with the City of Kenmore. “Maximizing the use of recycled-content materials and adding photovoltaic panels will further decrease the project’s environmental footprint.”

King County is a national leader among government agencies both for its commitment to sustainable design and operations in all capital projects, and for providing incentives to other agencies and the private sector. Green Building Grants are one aspect of a nationally recognized commitment to green building. King County has more green buildings than any other county in the United States, including 11 LEED registered buildings and 5 LEED certified buildings in the County portfolio.

Through the GreenTools program, King County provides technical assistance and training to public agencies and individual projects seeking LEED certification. The GreenTools Team can help project owners with technical assistance and training, grants, and resources to help find locally-produced, high quality sustainable building materials.

2009 King County Green Building Grants application materials are available at the GreenTools Web site, www.greentools.us, and will be accepted until August 31, 2009. For more information, contact Ric Cochrane at 206-263-6037 or ric.cochrane@kingcounty.gov.

We are happy to announce that Cascadia Region Green Building Council is launching the beta version of its Cascadia Communities Coalition wiki. This website allows municipal sustainability staff, state and provincial sustainability policy advisors, social and environmental sustainability policy advocates and educators, to share information much more quickly and in a more compressed and focused way than email, listserves or other modes of communication. We heard it from you! You wanted a quicker, easier way to share information.

The Cascadia Communities Coalition Wiki

• Stay up to date with sustainable activities in the Cascadia region and beyond. For example, check out the pages for some of North America's most progressive cities: Vancouver, BC; Seattle, WA; Portland, OR; North Vancouver, BC; Chicago, Boston, San Francisco or New York.
• Find LEED Study Group in your area. These forums are now available on the Cascadia Communities Coalition wiki, making it easy for study groups to self-organize. If you are studying to become a LEED® AP and would like to study or network with others in your area (in the US or Canada) doing the same, please click here to find or organize a study group in your area. 
• Compare information according to type, jurisdiction, or geographical location. So start by looking at pages like: Green Building or see Municipal Green Building Policy, International Green Building Policy, or the related areas of Affordable and Workforce Housing, Clean Tech, Climate and Energy Toolkits, Energy Case Studies or International Climate Policy.

• Be inspired! Edit pages, add new pages and content! If you decide to do more than edit existing content, then just read: "So you want to be a wiki author" first! If you run into any troubles, don't hesitate to email Karen and she can direct you to the answer asap.
• Browse subject categories according to your area of interest or specialization. Check out pages like: Local Food Systems, Arts and Culture, or Water and Stormwater. You will notice that some categories are almost completely empty, waiting for your knowledge and enthusiasm.
  
• Embed news stories, videos, pictures, documents, maps and links. Learn how, in "So you want to be a wiki author" 

Please note that this is an apolitical space for sharing information. Also, expect your entries to be changed and edited: do not expect literary permanence as this is a collaboration.

How To Be A Beta Tester

1. Go to: http://wiki.cascadiagbc.org and click “create an account”.  This is a spam-protection feature, and will allow Cascadia staff, interns and volunteers to ensure that the wiki content remains neutral, professional, and appropriate.
2. Next, try to edit or add content. Don’t be afraid - mistakes can be fixed.
3. Contact us if you would like some training; Karen will gather a list of people interested in a webinar if it is of interest.
4. Please fill out this survey. For those of you who don’t have time to do this after your initial survey of the wiki, we will be contacting you at the end of June to get your feedback.

New analysis helps explain the value of green commercial buildings

Click here to download the study

Report will help bridge the communication gap between green building and financial communities

(June 23, 2009) Portland, OR – Green building may be booming, especially in the Northwest, but the claims made for high-performance buildings have been slow to gain traction in the financial community. Appraisers, lenders, investors and brokers have found it difficult to confirm the value of high-performance green features and related savings. A new study of office buildings in Seattle, Portland and Vancouver, BC by the Cascadia Region Green Building Council, the Vancouver Valuation Accord and Cushman & Wakefield identifies how high-performance green features and systems can increase the value of commercial buildings. The report outlines how value was achieved and how sustainable attributes impact costs, savings, investment income, and capital value. It is a tool to help bridge the gap in understanding between the green building and financial communities.
The value proposition for each of the three buildings is as follows:

• 200 Market Place in Portland, OR (LEED-EB) – This property leads by example with its green retrofit. It has competitive rents and higher levels of occupancy than its non-green competitors. The building also has declining operating expenditures after certification.

• Alley24 East in Seattle, WA (LEED-CS) – This building had a comparatively quick absorption period, attracted and retained high quality tenants, achieved competitive rents, and now has higher-than-average levels of occupancy.

• Vancouver Centre in Vancouver, BC – This project achieved a 19% Return on Investment from undertaking an energy-efficient retrofit, as well as the potential for higher rates of return through the use of a different lease structure.

“This research makes much-needed progress in explaining how sustainable building attributes affect value,” says Brandon Smith, Chief Operating Officer of the Cascadia Region Green Building Council. “The design and construction communities will benefit from a better understanding of how value is determined and achieved by green strategies, so they can communicate more effectively with owners and developers. The financial sector will benefit from understanding how to increase asset value through more sustainable approaches.”

Click here to download the study

This investigative study is part of a larger northwest regional effort conducted by a coalition of nonprofit, private sector and local government organizations. There is an associated report on the residential sector that documents the superior market performance of third-party certified homes over non-green homes. That report is available on the Earth Advantage website.

Contact:
Brandon Smith, Cascadia Region Green Building Council
Email / 503-758-8562