Loyal DJC readers! The Green Building Blog has sadly been offline for a couple days, thanks to a rogue water leak that affected the DJC’s network and servers. So if you notice any quirks (like missing recent posts for example) that is the reason why. I’ll deal with them later but for now, let’s talk about something a little more fun… Greenbuild 2009!

Boston

That’s right I’m in Greenbuild in Boston and the first day of the conference is done. It has been something! First, let me say that organizationally this conference feels miles different from last year’s. Last year, registering took some people hours and me 45 minutes. Today? About 23 seconds. It’s also easy to walk around and doesn’t feel overcrowded. It’s still busy (as evidenced by a 30-minute long-line at the end of the day coat check), but today at least, you didn’t really feel the sheer insanity of thousands of bodies crammed into one space.

This morning, USGBC President and CEO Rick Fedrizzi said, while opening the conference, that 30,000 people are registered to attend. Though at that point the number was only up to 15,000, with 80 countries represented.

Keynote speaker, Desmond Tutu

It was also really easy to get in to hear Archbishop Desmond Tutu. I have never heard Tutu live before, but he is one of the most animated speakers I have ever heard. His talk was punctuated with clapping, wide-eyed expressions and exclamations like “you are one of the craziest countries I have ever known!” It was quite something else. Tutu spoke about a number of topics, from how the world is proud of the U.S. for electing Barack Obama as President to how all the green building representatives are “fantastic people” who are preserving the Earth… but most of the talk hinged on God and the brotherhood between people. Being as Greenbuild is a conference and not a sermon, I heard a number of mixed reviews from people. They seemed either in awe of Tutu and inspired by what he said or turned off by the religious references.

Later in the day, I attended an update on LEED for neighborhood development, which by the way, is currently in its comment period. There are a number of changes in the current version of the certification compared to what it looked like during its pilot, so I would check it out and comment on it if that’s your dig.

I also attended sessions hosted by Leith Sharp, former director of the Harvard Green Campus Initiative. Sharp outlined a number of ways to make sustainability stick in an institution, large company or organization. Distilling it down, she said leadership needs to come from both the top down and the bottom up. Getting that to happen requires grassroots change.

I also received the results of two recent studies - one that looked at whether green building really does pay off, and another that looked at how facility managers are getting buildings energy efficient. More on those later, I’ve got some planning to do for tomorrow!

Oh, and if you’re at Greenbuild, tell me what you think below.

Is a sustainable MBA really necessary? The Network for Business Innovation in Sustainability is asking that question, and hoping you will help them figure out if it is by answering a survey here.

The 17-question survey is meant to gauge local need for sustainability MBA programs. The survey introduction says Antioch University’s Center for Creative Change is considering offering an MBA in Social and Environmental Sustainability beginning in Fall 2009.

Locally, the Bainbridge Graduate Institute has offered an MBA in sustainable business since 2002. The people I know that have attended this program give it rave reviews. Other schools, like the University of Washington and Seattle University, also offer courses in sustainability.

For more on this topic, check out Ideal Bite. It’s an old post, but has some interesting comments on green MBA’s.  Or check out the article “Green Business and Education Prove a Crutch to a Lagging Economy.”

Al Gore, Nobel Peace Prize winner, Academy Award winner, author and oh yeah, former vice president of the U.S.A…. was in town on Friday at a fundraiser for Gov. Chris Gregoire. I was lucky enough to see him speak, along with a room full of Gregoire donors who paid at least $150 for their tickets.

Al Gore spoke in Seattle on Friday

Gore said the U.S. needs to get off foreign oil and onto renewable resources. He said Washington leads the nation and the world in this endeavor. He said we need to re-elect Gregoire. Nothing particularly earth shattering, except for the fact that he was saying it.

Then again, he did describe oil as another sub-prime asset, and said while the current economic conditions are dangerous, there is also opportunity. “It’s the biggest business and jobs opportunity in the history of the world economically.”

And where should those jobs and opportunities be concentrated? WASHINGTON my friends. Gore said he points to Washington as a leader in his lectures, both nationally and globally.

But the oil and coal age won’t end when we run out of oil, Gore said. Instead, it will end when “we come to our senses” and develop energy infrastructure based on solar and wind sources.

It also turns out he has a long relationship with this state and greatly admires it - heck, he’s climbed Mt. Rainier, Christmas shopped here, fished here and is oldskool buddies with Rep. Norm Dicks. In fact, none of this state’s flatterers mean it as much as he does, according to Gore. 

As a speaker, Gore was sporadically funny, connecting with the audience and drawing huge rounds of applause that drowned out his microphoned voice. Then again, the audience wasn’t exactly impartial. It’s also obvious that Gore speaks pretty frequently and he is so comfortable in the post he doesn’t really need to write a speech anymore, he can just talk.

Unfortunately for me, Gore never mentioned green buildings. He mentioned solar and wind energy, but that’s the closest it came to making my heart go pitter-patter. For substantive green building discussions, I guess I’ll have to stick with our local lectures. At least there’s lot’s to choose from!

If you want more information on what he spoke about, the Northwest Progressive Institute Blog has a nice rundown. Xconomy Seattle also has a nice post about what else Gore was doing in our great city here.

Do you think the current economic crisis will affect green buildings? Answer my poll at right, if you haven’t already.

My calendar is going crazy.  But then again, it has to. It’s September.

Around the end of July, my calendar, which might as well have died and jumped off a

September's quite a ride!

September's quite a ride!

cliff somewhere in the end of July, is suddenly inundated with future September events. In fact, August in the environment beat is like being in that little cart climbing a roller coaster knowing that suddenly, out of nowhere, you’ll drop down and the insanity of scheduling will begin.

However it’s better to have too much to do than too little, so I am sharing my calendar with you. If you have not yet felt the insanity of September, here are some events to help welcome you on board:

September 19.

From 6-9 p.m. there’s the Northwest Ecobuilding Guild Green Building Slam. Ten green projects presented in ten minutes each with ten slides.  For more, visit Building Seattle Green. This promises to be pretty cool. I’ve previously written about three of these houses (and been in a fourth!) To read the articles, see Fivedot, Going Green at the Beach, and Cascade Built.

The 19th is also National Parking Day. Get out and around to see parking spaces be turned into parks.

September 23

From 7 to 9:30 a.m., the Seattle Chapter of the Urban Land Institute hosts a follow up to May’s Reality Check. (I wrote about Reality Check here.) The morning event introduces the Quality Growth Alliance, explains what they will do and features Speaker Robert Grow.

From 7 to 11 a.m., Sustainable September hosts a green jobs symposium on the current and future state of green jobs on the Eastside. It’s at the Bellevue Club and features Gov. Chris Gregoire and representatives from McKinstry, Google, Puget Sound Energy etc. More here.

Directly after that from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., I host a panel on changing job roles in the architecture, engineering and construction industry, also at the Bellevue Club. More here.

September 24

The AIA Seattle presents two of its What Makes it Green? award winners - Mosler Lofts and Corvallis CoHousing. It runs from 3 to 5 p.m. More here.

September 25

From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Sustainable September hosts a class on low impact development and sustainable site development at the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties Building. More here.

From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Sustainable September hosts a seminar on green cities, neighborhoods and housing. More here.

The Transformational Lecture Series hosts Patrick Bellew of Atelier Ten at the Downtown Seattle Library from 5 to 7 p.m.

From 6 to 7:30 p.m., Carol Coletta, CEO of CEOs for Cities and host of the radio show Smart City, speaks about “design for livability” at Seattle Town Hall from 6-7:30 p.m. More here.

Setpember 26

AIA Seattle presents Doing Density Right, a summit featuring Carole Coletta, David Dixon of Goody Clancy and Mark Hinshaw.

And honestly, that’s just some of the events. Good lucking choosing!

Looking for a job in Seattle at the forefront of the city’s sustainability push? Do you have lots of experience with sustainable projects? Well, opportunity just came a knockin’. 

Lynn Barker, a mover and shaker in green building politics and policies, pictured at left, is leaving her post as sustainable community planner for the city of Seattle’s Department of Planning and Development’s  green building team. The grape vine says she’s joining ICLEI. What’s a sustainable community? Check it out here.

Do you want the job? Here are some highlights from Barker’s resume to see what kind of qualifications you should have. In 1995, Barker created a sustainable building program for Sellen Construction Co. In 1996, she co-chaired the U.S. Green Building Council’s committee that helped launch LEED. She served on the USGBC board for six years, and co-founded the Cascadia Region Green Building Council. GOOD LUCK APPLICANTS!

Technically though, you’re required to have a bachelor’s degree in urban planning and design, architecture, engineering, construction management, environmental science, economics or a related field. You also need five years experience in project management, planning and research related to urban planning, urban design, or climate protection and green building. It’s preferable for you to have LEED accreditation.

The job pays between $28.92 and $43.38 per hour. The filing close date is June 3, so get on it! To apply, press here. GOOD LUCK!

Of all the things to vandalize in Washington - why choose the lone Douglas fir at Chambers Bay golf course?

The course was otherwise having a good year. In February, the U.S. Golf Association said Chambers Bay would host the 2015 U.S. Open championship and the U.S. Amateur Championship in 2010.  

Throughout 2007, it won awards from Golf Inc., Travel and Leisure Golf Magazine,  Golf Magazine and Golf Week (according to the Chambers Bay Web site).

Its attention to environmental protection had been even been recognized by Audubon International (more on that here). 

Then on April 29, disaster stuck when the symbol of the golf course - an iconic Douglas fir - was attacked overnight. Somebody tried to cut it down with an axe. (more…)

P.S. If you missed them check out some of the most popular posts….

‘Green products not so great says Gehry specifier’

‘Paul Hawkens take on the world - it’s gonna be a brave new one‘

‘Is green building mainstream yet? Ask Vanity Fair’

‘Seriously, you have no opinion on regional green projects?’

Here at the DJC, this blog is going swimmingly. I’m having fun and I hope you are too, but to represent a larger audience, I’m seeking out some more green bloggers.

We’re looking for people that work in the industry in some shape or form and have news and events to contribute. You’d get a nifty little picture on the side of the page and have access to the site to post whatever green building-related events, ideas, or rants you desired (but no pay. This is purely informationally driven). You could post as often (or not) as you chose.

Interested? E-mail me at Katiez@djc.com with a couple ideas of things you’d want to post about. Remember the goal is to share information rather than advertise.

And don’t forget the Super Challenge below about green codes in Seattle. There’s some pretty interesting viewpoints represented in the comment section so far, I’m waiting for more!

To kick this off, we’ll start from far afield, in the Vatican where it was announced earlier this week that not taking care of the environment is a sin.

That’s right. Along with gluttony, lust and greed, you can get in trouble for building an energy-hogging house, throwing away construction debris rather than recycling it, or flying your private plane to the Cannes Film Festival.

To see the new seven deadly sins (14 deadly sins doesn’t have quite the same ring, does it?) visit The New York Times.

The Associated Press says Monsignor Gianfranco Girotti, the head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, was asked by the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano what, in his opinion, are the “new sins.”

He answered that they are violations of human behavior like not taking care of the environment, use of mind altering drugs and genetic experiments.

The Vatican, for one, has photovoltaic panels on its roof, has planted trees and is working to reforest a site in Hungary, according to a February address of the United Nations General Assembly.

In that address, Msgr. Celestino Migliore, representing the Vatican, says, “Sustainable development provides the key to a strategy that harmoniously takes into account the demands of environmental preservation, climate change, economic development and basic human needs.” He also says green markets should be developed and clean technology supported.

So how about it? Is the Vatican overstepping its bounds here, considering its large landowner status? Or is this the only way green building will become mainstream?

Welcome to the Daily Journal of Commerce Green Building Blog! I’m Katie Zemtseff, environmental reporter here at the DJC. It turns out there’s so much going on in the Pacific Northwest related to green building, both in events and news, that there just isn’t enough time to investigate it, cover it, and get it to you, trusty reader. So, we are entering the new age with this, our green building blog. Feel free to post comments, events, or subjects, and I’ll let you know what forums, workshops, trainings and news is popping up, that doesn’t quite make it into the print edition.

This blog is here to focus on green building issues in Seattle, the Pacific Northwest, and anywhere that might interest you. That means it is focused on green building, but will often meander to other related subjects. Welcome!