Skip to main content

Some basic terms

So, the first thing you should know. Is technically I'm not a complete laywoman. As you learned from my previous post I have spent all of my undergraduate career studying the 'Green Design' Stuff.
There are tons of certification processes and awards just within the United States, but one of the most widely accepted and used is the LEED Certification Process with the United States Green Building Council (USGBC).

LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. It is a point system, where you earn a credit for every determined area (for example" Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, and Material and Resources are categories of points). For more information and resources regarding the LEED process and USGBC's various projects, visit their site at:
www.usgbc.org


One of my responsibilities as Sustainability Intern will be to earn my LEED Accredited Professional certificate, because although I have had a bunch of experience with LEED projects throughout, I have not yet learned the nitty-gritty of the certification process. I will also be assigning all of the Project team members their particular point responsibilities. For example, our Civil Engineer will need to provide documentation that we have had a Phase I EPA-approved Site Survey. (Thank goodness that's not me!)

With the current building design, we will earn LEED Platinum Certification within LEED version 3- LEED 2009 for Schools. We estimate that we will get at least 98 of the 110 possible points for this particular program- which may even be a new record!

But the School has already earned LEED certifications for all of their separate campus buildings. The School began asking themselves, "How can we take it to the next level?"- Enter: The Living Building Challenge
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Covid, baby

Working in the sustainability field has been turned on its head during the Coronavirus pandemic. I went on a short hiatus to become a Mom (Elliott was born in March of 2020 only a few days before lockdown in NJ), and when I resurfaced, our approach needed to be different, here are some examples: Typically, the balance between ample fresh air within a building and energy use would result in driving the building toward lower energy use. Now, the ability to increase the outdoor air is desirable and is carrying more importance as a design consideration. We almost always pursued green cleaning operations and maintenance plans with our projects, however the Green Seal certified (or other healthy for people) cleaning products do not disinfect to the level desired for Covid- forcing teams to decide between abandoning their healthy cleaning policies and safety. Everything is packaged and sealed, and wrapped again. Cafes stopped allowing refillable coffee cups, towns that had plastic ba...
Post a Comment
Read more

It's Christmas Eve and you still haven't finished gift shopping?

Let me guess, it's Christmas Eve and you still have gifts to give? Boy oh boy do I have good news for you! What do you get for that special someone who has everything? The gift of giving! And here are some of my favorite charities I think you should consider this holiday season (or for Valentine's Day, Birthdays, Anniversaries!) 1) Oxfam- Oxfam  working to right the wrongs of poverty, hunger, and injustice. As one of 17 members of the international Oxfam confederation, we work with people in more than 90 countries to create lasting solutions. Oxfam saves lives, develops long-term solutions to poverty, and campaigns for social change. Whether it's providing a packet of seeds for a farmer in a poor area ($12) or a meal for a school aged child ($35), or supporting a women entrepreneur so she can get her business off the ground ($100). It's a one stop shop to provide meaningful gifts that will matter to each person you gift them to! On top of which, a donation g...
Post a Comment
Read more

Download of my Plastic Free July 2018

Hello peers! Yes, I realize this is super late- but better than never! This year, I participated in Plastic Free July  with about a dozen people from my former office. I made a pledge to do my best to reduce the amount of single-use plastics I used throughout the entire month. July snuck up on me, but I made a few immediate changes : Get a bigger purse- It may feel like you're saving space to have a compact bag where nothing else fits, but having a larger purse allowed me to refuse a plastic bag and place things directly in my handbag like: fruit, convenience store groceries, etc. Carry a reusable tote-You'd be surprised how many times people use a plastic bag because they forgot their bags at home. Best way to avoid that? Carry one in your now larger purse, leave a couple in the car, an one in your work desk- voila! You've always remembered now! Carry a reusable straw- I am very excited about my Final Straw (image below) that I ordered- but they won't be f...
Post a Comment
Read more