I’m a LEED accredited professional and not ashamed to say it was a strategic career move. In 2010, transitioning from space planning and furniture design to the architecture industry took some thoughtful updating of my qualifications – including a LEED AP certification.

Fast forward to 2013 and I’m so fortunate to be working at emersion DESIGN- the first LEED Platinum Certified A/E firm in the WORLD. talk about intimidating. I’m now surrounded by environmental geniuses (or as I like to call them “gods of sustainability”). Our office administrator knew more about sustainable design than I did on day one.

I’ve since gained sustainable design experience, worked on LEED certified projects, earned my stripes, and can proudly call myself a LEED Professional, BUT what I’ve lacked is a wholehearted acceptance of the green movement.

All that changed when Chad Edwards, president of Green Umbrella, and emersion DESIGN principal  asked me to volunteer at the 2^nd Annual Green Umbrella Sustainability Summit held at the Crossroads Community Church. Green Umbrella is a non-profit organization working to improve the economic vitality and quality of life in the region around Cincinnati by maximizing the collective impact of individuals and organizations dedicated to environmental sustainability.

I was blown away by the event; the room was filled with speakers selflessly dedicated to preserving our natural gifts. The statistic red flags they shared demonstrated how we are depositing massive amounts of trash, depleting our land, filling the air with toxins, neglecting to support our local economies, and turning a blind eye in the process. The good news – the inspiring news – came from what this group and it’s volunteers are doing to reverse the damage. The action team’s goals include reducing total energy consumption in the built environment by 15%, increasing the acreage of high quality green space by 8%, doubling the amount of fruits and vegetables sourced and consumed locally, reducing waste disposed by the residential and commercial sectors by 33% with an overall goal of zero waste, and measurably protect, enhance, and celebrate all streams, rivers, and other water sources.

I realize now that my accreditation has to mean more than gainful employment or even good design. It has to contribute to the greater good. I’ve signed up to participate on the Green Umbrella’s Waste Reduction Team. Members as well as representatives of Member Organizations are invited to participate in this and other action teams as well! I’m headed under the Green Umbrella.

>> more photos from the 2nd Annual Sustainability Summit

>> find out more about The Green Umbrella

In the concluding lecture for the Cincinnati Preservation Association’s Modernism Symposium, Paul Goldberger discussed preserving Early Modern architecture. Mr. Goldberger expressed delight over the local efforts to save and restore the Rauh House and concern over soon to be lost gems, such as Williams and Tsien’s American Folk Art Museum.

During his closing remarks, the Pulitzer Prize winning author and architecture critic  stated, “If we are truly acting as preservationists, then we will respond with the creativity that we see here.”-  referencing the newly renovated Art Academy building, entitled the Longworth Wing. Aaron Betsky applauded architect Jim Cheng during the symposium, which became the first public forum to be held in the Longworth Wing library.

The event was well attended, with over 50 preservation-minded stakeholders present. It was a rich experience to listen to this honored orator in this intimate setting as the sun set, causing the mood to slowly shift and build. We are thankful that the Cincinnati Preservation Association selected a brand new space in an historic wrapper for the event -simultaneously recognizing the importance of current, modern architecture and historic icons of past generations.

>> see what else is happening at the Cincinnati Preservation Association

by Krista Paas Nicholas

I attended a wonderful and inspiring presentation on the Cincinnati Zoo and their green initiative projects at the Ohio Hospital Association Conference on Energy and Sustainability . I made sure to attend because the Zoo has become a real leader in sustainability. Mark Fisher, senior director of facilities, told us the story of how he helped the Zoo change their approach to facilities management, how he became passionate about saving money, and how the culture at the Zoo has started to embrace sustainability… all because of a leak.

Before Mark joined the Zoo, he was a construction manager for Turner construction. He was completely shocked when he had to pay his 1st water bill in 2006 for the Zoo of approximately $70,000!  This was something that he knew he had to change. He started by creating a benchmark for water usage and found the Zoo had used 220 million gallons of water in 2005.  He then focused the facilities and maintenance crews on doggedly fixing all the leaks, upgrading systems, and installing low flow fixtures, as well as focusing staff on better conservation of water in daily tasks.  Their major discovery during all of these investigations and updates was a wet “landscape” feature that turned out to be a supply pipe that had seared over 50 years ago. By the end of 2012, the Zoo has reduced water usage to 74 million gallons.  However, they have not stopped there!  They have taken on water aggressively; the Zoo is 33% off the storm water grid as of 2011 and their goal is to have its 60 acres 100% off the storm water grid in the near future.  Through a grant with metropolitan sewer district, the Zoo has been able to create several large retention basins and install 30,00 square feet of pervious paving.  In addition, they have created large rain gardens, installed green roofs and are pushing new construction towards LEED Platinum certification.  At the same time, the Zoo is aggressively implementing energy savings, creating 20% of their energy on site through solar, wind, geothermal and biomass production.

Upon hearing this story I was surprised when I thought about how similar the Zoo was to many hospitals – i.e. large, long established, non-profit institutions, aging infrastructure and buildings, long-term and veteran employees, “continuous”  construction/ renovation to meet best practices, the needs of technology and needs of visitors, and a large influx of visitors. The Zoo’s  needs and strategies (below) could directly translate to a healthcare institution:

• Recognize that saving the world and saving money can be done at the same time.
• Start small, but set aggressive cost saving goals; become a local leader.
• Look for local utility companies and governments for grant money, reduced fees through forward contracts, programs and tax credits available to non-profits. The Cincinnati Zoo has a $1.4 million grant from the Metropolitan Sewer District for their 17 acre storm water retention project.
• Create a replenish fund. Document your bench line. Get leadership buy-in that the money saved from implementing the last project, goes into a fund to do additional energy saving and sustainable projects.
• Step back and look at everyday operations, they way things have always been done, and challenge the status quo. Redefine the roles and responsibilities to include cost saving initiatives.
• Create buy-in and advocacy from your employees and leaders.  Mark was able to upgrade a department’s lighting and water and at the same time, address the department’s long standing repair requests.  He used the upgrades to create good will and support for future projects.
• Make the green/ sustainability committee multi-disciplinary across the institution. include c-suite, nurse practitioners, marketing, housekeeping and maintenance.
• Tie the sustainable and energy saving projects to the community benefit/ outreach group, HR or staff wellness programs. The Zoo has a cell phone recycle bins at all entries.
• Partner with companies that are committed to sustainability.  SSA, the Zoo’s food and retail company, uses all recycled materials for their visitor servery and is enrolled in the TerraCycle Program that recycles, up-cycles, and composts.
• Think big.  The Zoo inherited a local farm.  The Zoo developed the farm to  provide food for their animals and it will eventually provide 100% certified organic, local food for their cafe.  They lease the farm to green b.e.a.n. delivery who provide food to locals, as well as donated food to those in need.  The waste generated at the Zoo fertilizes the soil.

The Cincinnati Zoo’s passion and mission of conservation is very similar to the healthcare industry’s mission to “do no harm, heal and promote wellness.”

>> Learn about the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden’s Green Initiative

by Nikki Kelley

The celebration of Earth Day started 43 years ago and is now celebrated by a billion people, according to Wikipedia. This post is not about Earth Day itself, it’s about all the other days where we choose to make small decisions that are better for us as human kind and for the planet.

Sustainability, Green, LEED, energy star, these are words that have become part of the general public’s daily vocabulary. We have grown into a much more conscious country. My mom has been a huge influence on me; I don’t ever remember a time when my mom didn’t use cloth shopping bags. Some twenty years ago it was harder to find reusable grocery bags; she bought a small handful and used them every week while often getting strange looks from the store baggers. She still has those first cloth bags… Her lifelong habit inspired me several years ago to find a way to recycle the now commmon plastic bags. I knit them up into a beach bag that is not nearly as functional as the canvas ones.

Beyond bags there are organizations such as Green Umbrella that is a local “alliance of organizations in the Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana tri-state region working to preserve the region’s greenspace.” This non-profit has the vision to that “our region (be) recognized as one of the top 10 most sustainable metro areas in the U.S. by 2020.” The Green Umbrella is hosting a Sustainability Summit May 3rd. Go to www.greenumbrella.org for more information.

Every year I venture down to Sawyer Point with my family for the Earth Day Celebration. This year was a fantastic time thanks to great weather and a well organized event. To see more photos of this year’s event, check out the Cincinnati Earth Day Celebration’s Facebook page.

By real interest today is to be inspired by you. What you are doing (big or small) today that is sustainable. Head over to our Facebook page to share your thoughts.

My introduction to the Living Building Challenge was a full day workshop in Portland, Oregon prior to the Living Future unConference.  The workshop was led by Eden Brukman, co-author of the original Living Building Challenge standard introduced to the green building community at USGBC’s Greenbuild in 2006.  She explained each Imperative of the Challenge addressing in detail the environmental harm of our current practices and the restorative principles guiding the Challenge.  To be certified under the Challenge, projects must meet a series of ambitious performance requirements, called Imperatives, including net zero energy, waste and water, over a minimum of 12 months of continuous occupancy.

I absorbed the philosophy of the program and became intrigued by the critical importance of the restorative approach.  As building professionals, we spend most of our time determining how our buildings can do less harm.  We design our buildings to perform better than code minimum buildings.  This is a noble pursuit; however, in the end our buildings are still damaging the environment placing a greater burden on future generations.  We can do better than this.  We can create buildings that not only ‘do no harm’, but give something back to the environment in which they live.  I left the workshop feeling a renewed energy for my work.  As a new mother, it felt incredibly empowering to see how the nurturing aspects of my family life were not just compatible but essential for the work that lies ahead of me in the building industry.  The status quo, even if it is better than what we were doing 10 years ago, is just not good enough.

The following day, the unConference began with a morning keynote by Jason McClennan, the founder and creator of the Living Building Challenge.  Jason addressed the subject of the conference, Women Reshaping the World, by telling the stories of women who have made a great impact in his life as well as women who have broken ground in the environmental movement.  He explained the critical importance of women’s participation and activism in the green building movement as collaborators and nurturers.  He even spoke specifically about mothers, essentially saying ‘We need you in this movement.’  I was blown away.  Here I was at a conference about the building industry, and we were discussing the critical importance of women’s contributions because of our unique perspective and talents.   I felt an acceptance and validation that I had never felt before.  What a brave and important discussion to be having.

And now, it’s time for the challenging work ahead.

I encourage everyone to learn more about the Living Building Challenge.

On April 17^th, a full day Understanding the Living Building Challenge Workshop will be held in Cincinnati at Emanuel Community Center next to Washington Park.
>> register Early rates end on April 3^rd

The evening prior on April 16^th, a Living Building Challenge Forum will be held at the beautiful Memorial Hall in Cincinnati.  There will be panel discussions with individuals who have been involved with LBC projects.
>> register 

>> download the Living Building Challenge Standard

 

by Mark Stedtefeld

Coming this Wednesday is the annual CSI’s CONSTRUCT Cincinnati 2013 held at the Sharonville Convention Center. This event is a great resource for everyone in a firm. It allows professionals to meet with various manufactures, building owners, facility managers, and building industry professionals. You will learn about new building products, exchange ideas and build relationships.

The event has four educational opportunities being offered. You can earn up to 3 CEUs for continuing education. They are as follows:

1.  Environmental Stewardship: The Green City Plan and City Incentives for Sustainable Buildings
2.  What’s Working in Storm Water Management: Local projects featuring Green Roofs and Bio retention
3.  Designing to Earn Energy Star (DEES)
4.  LEED for Existing Buildings: Trends and Developments

The last one has Shawn Hesse of emersion DESIGN participating.This trade show is FREE, the workshops have a fee. There will be food, beverages, door prizes, including a grand prize drawing. The trade show runs from 1PM until 7PM at the Sharonville Convention Center.

Please go to the Cincinnati Chapter of CSI or AIA for more information.

I hope to see you there.

Business Courier

2013 Green Business winner: emersion DESIGN

In April 2010, emersion DESIGN developed an innovative, two-year energy-efficiency program known as Energy Design Solutions to provide education and outreach to architects, engineers, developers, facilities managers and owners of commercial buildings. The goal of the program was to reduce energy consumption throughout Ohio.

To reach the target audience, Shawn Hesse, an architect and sustainability expert at emersion DESIGN, and Ben Biada, a project manager and mechanical engineer with Advanced Engineering Consultants, conducted educational workshops based on energy design guides from ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers). These guides are part of an ongoing series that provide …