December 2011 Member Spotlight: Monica Funston Treadway

Name: Monica Funston Treadway

USGBC-NCC Member Since: 2008 

What's your occupation?

My day job is as a senior Project Manager with Hathaway Dinwiddie. I split my time: about half the time, I’m an internal consultant on sustainable projects and in-house LEED educator, and the other half spend on the Stanford campus working on new construction, interior improvements and historical renovation.

I started at HD in 1999 after a two-year internship with PNM at a power plant in the Four Corners area of New Mexico. In some ways, it was like coming home for me; I’d gone to PNM after completing my Master’s in Structural Engineering at UNM, but my undergraduate degree is a BS in Structural Engineering from Stanford.

My very first project at HD was the James H. Clark Center for the Bio-X project at Stanford. Sir Norman Foster designed it, and it incorporated some revolutionary concepts in shared workspace, structural design, and sustainability. It was a $104-million-dollar project, and my first introduction to sustainability, and I was a newly minted PE straight out of graduate school.

They say that luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity, and I have to think that my experience with the Clark Center project is a great example of that in action. Not many new PE’s get to work on that kind of project, at that kind of scale.

December 2011 Member Spotlight: Judith Sayler

Name: Judith Sayler 

Member Since: 2008 

What's your occupation? 

Sayler has been involved in marketing and business development for the architectural, engineering and construction (A/E/C) industry since 1985. After having graduated with an MS degree in Anthropology (Archaeology specialization) the year before, she says she fell into a position with an architectural firm as an office manager and was surprised that many firms had started hiring people to help with business development efforts. Before there was a pervasive view that A/E/C firms should not advertise and that work would come in the door on its own based on word of mouth, but as competition increased it was unrealistic. Sayler joined the Society for Marketing Professional Services which focuses solely on the A/E/C industry and eventually received her certification as a marketing professional. During her career, in addition to working for architectural firms, she has also worked for structural engineering, civil engineering, construction management and general contracting firms, and currently at Gordon Prill, an architectural, MEP and general contracting firm in Mountain View. She kids all she has left to round out the disciplines is geotechnical/environmental engineering!

How did you get involved in green building?
Again, Sayler says she fell into involvement with green building. Although she had been involved in the past on numerous committees for the AIA, and APWA in the South Bay, she knew nothing about the USGBC until she met Heather Durham several years ago at an AIA tour. Durham invited her to join a group of people who were involved with efforts to start a Silicon Valley branch of the USGBC-NCC. Once the branch was started, Durham served as its first Programs Committee Chair and Sayler has served on the committee ever since. 

Life as a Green School Fellow at Sacramento City Unified School District

Sacramento Unified was among a few districts selected to partner with USGBC in a new initiative to green school districts.

By Farah McDill, USGBC Green Schools Fellow, Sacramento
 

Over the last six months, my life has changed dramatically. Not only did I relocate from Colorado to California, but I was given a position in an organization that I respect, in a school district that I admire, doing a job that I love. In July of 2011, Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD) was one of two school districts in the country to receive a Center for Green Schools UTC Fellow. SCUSD was selected to host a Fellow for three years to help achieve sustainability goals and create change throughout the organization.

Superintendent Jonathan Raymond was introduced to the idea of creating healthy, resource efficient learning environments in November of 2010, while attending the Greening of America’s Schools Summit at the Redford Center in Sundance, Utah with Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson. Armed with the information received at the Summit, Superintendent Raymond began working tirelessly to guide the District toward a more sustainable future. This commitment demonstrated the District’s need for dedicated staff to guide and assist the green efforts. The top-down support across the District is unmatched, and as the Green Schools Fellow it is my job to initiate the grassroots effort with students, teachers and community members.

GreenFinanceSF-Commercial Program Announced

As part of San Francisco's effort to drive environmental and economic innovation, Mayor Ed Lee and SF Environment Director Melanie Nutter recently announced a groundbreaking program to encourage businesses to undertake climate-friendly building improvements and attract significant new capital to pay for them.

The GreenFinanceSF-Commercial program is a Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program designed to give commercial property owners a new form of financing for the installation of energy efficiency, renewable energy, and water conservation improvements.

"The commercial PACE program is the next big step forward in San Francisco's efforts to dramatically reduce energy use and carbon emissions," declared Mayor Lee. "We are excited about the potential to unlock an enormous amount of private investment - from a wide range of sources - and create local construction jobs."

San Francisco's 16,000+ commercial buildings account for half of citywide energy use and 27% of the city's carbon footprint. The program strives to help commercial property owners reduce operating costs, improve occupant health and comfort, enhance building value, and mitigate environmental impact while providing financial institutions a new and secure vehicle to finance projects at attractive rates. A similar program was recently launched in Los Angeles County.

For more information about GreenFinanceSF, including program terms, process, eligible measures, and other resources, visit www.greenfinancesf.org.

Greenbuild 2012: Call for Sub-Committee Volunteers

The Northern California Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council is proud to be the Host Chapter of Greenbuild 2012! The conference theme, @Greenbuild, represents the intersection of technology, building and the global sustainability movement. Greenbuild 2012 will bring together the voices and ideas of the green building community as well as cutting-edge technologies – technologies that are critically important to advancing the green building mission. As the globe’s nexus of technology and success, there is no better place to hold Greenbuild than in San Francisco. This conference is anticipated to be the largest ever, and is expected to bring over 35,000 attendees to the area.

This is an exciting time for green building, and we have a great opportunity to showcase our innovative and forward-thinking region. USGBC-NCC will work with National USGBC staff to put together Greenbuild, and we have been assigned specific tasks that will be executed through volunteer sub-committees. We have assembled a host committee to oversee these various sub-committees, and have appointed two Greenbuild co-chairs for 2012:

USGBC - Northern California Chapter's First Ten Years

Contributed by Sharon Refvem, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, Founding member and past President

In August of 2001 in Tucson Arizona, at the annual, pre-GreenBuild, USGBC National gathering, a call went out for people interested in forming a USGBC Chapter in northern California. A group of about 30 people showed up the next morning to talk about what it would take to begin a chapter, names and contact information were gathered, and the Steering Committee was formed. The Steering Committee met monthly in San Francisco over the next two years to pursue the establishment of the chapter. During that time the Committee grew and shrank, but a core group of about a dozen people provided the continuity and dedication needed to organize and launch the chapter.

The official 501(c)3 paperwork was submitted to the State and USGBC National as the Northern California Chapter moved from organizing group, then provisional chapter, to full Chapter status in 2004. The Northern California Chapter (NCC) name and the Chapter territory, which includes most of northern California south through Monterey County and east to the Nevada border, were then officially recorded.

Thank You GCI General Contractors

USGBC-NCC welcomes back GCI General Contractors as a renewed Silver Chapter sponsor.

“GCI considers green building and LEED to be central to our business strategy, so it’s important for us to partner with and support USGBC-Northern California Chapter. The Chapter’s role and impact is unique - as a convener, educator and policy advocate, USGBC-NCC engages all sectors of the industry, and has contributed enormously to the growth of green building in the Bay Area,” said James Jenkins, President of GCI.

GCI is a San Francisco based commercial contracting and construction management firm that specializes in commercial interior, corporate facility, and building renovation projects throughout the Bay Area and Northern California.

GCI has been an industry leader in promoting green construction practices and guidelines to the commercial real estate sector in San Francisco and the Bay Area. In 2001, GCI became the first commercial contractor to perfect indoor air-quality systems and material recycling programs in spite of the logistical challenges imposed by high-rise buildings and without significant cost increases to their clients.

GCI has completed 24 LEED construction projects to date: 19 are certified and 5 are in review, including one of the first LEED-CI projects in San Francisco in 2003-2004: the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). ClimateWorks Foundation, awarded LEED-CI Platinum in February 2010, is the highest rated LEED-CI project in California under v2.0 and the 3rd highest ever.

GCI has completed approximately 22% of all LEED-CI projects constructed in San Francisco, and almost 70% of their total LEED projects have been certified LEED-CI Gold or higher.

USGBC-NCC Executive Director, Dan Geiger, said, “We highly value GCI General Contractors’ leadership and support. They’ve always been actively involved with USGBC, and help the Chapter in so many ways. Companies like GCI make our work possible - on behalf of the industry and the green building movement, thank you very much!"

For more information about GCI, visit gcigc.com.

USGBC-NCC’s work is made possible by support from visionary firms like GCI General Contractors. Learn more about sponsorship opportunities >>

Advocacy Retreat and New 2012 Leadership –Get Involved!

Contributed by Ashleigh Talberth, Senior Manager, USGBC-NCC

Advocacy Retreat: December 15th

We are pleased to announce the opening of committee member positions in USGBC-NCC’s advocacy committees. This is an incredible opportunity to advance sound green building policy and build grassroots support for green building at the local level.

Now Recruiting 2012 Committee Members (committee descriptions to follow):

• Green Schools Committee
• Sustainable Neighborhoods Committee
• Green Residential Committee
• Sustainable Healthcare Committee

Become a Green Building Advocate at the kick-off Advocacy Retreat on Dec. 15th in San Francisco at 4:30pm:

• Advance USGBC’s mission of green communities for all within this generation
• Bolster personal and professional contacts
• Develop your leadership experience

Retreat attendance is by application only; please submit the application by November 23rd.

Steven Ehrlich's 'Multicultural Modernism'

Presented in collaboration with AIACV, USGBC Capital Branch and UC Davis.

 

Architect Steven Ehrlich spoke to a full, captivated audience at the Visionary event at UC Davis on October 5th about his personal architectural journey. Ehrlich discussed the foundation of his ideas that he acquired from his travels abroad and has developed to define his style of ‘Multicultural Modernism’.

Out of school, Ehrlich became the first Peace Corps volunteer in Marrakech where he saw how culture and architecture were not simply coexisting together, but defined, aligned, and adapted together with their environment. His time in Marrakech taught him how architecture could not only be simple, but beautiful and sustainable. In his presentation, Ehrlich described Marrakech as a place where there is still no central air conditioning; he showed how the city instead has covered streets and continuous housing with courtyards to take advantage of air movement to keep cool. The city landscape has blended the exterior and interior, people and place, as well as local environment and architecture, and is built of connected structures made of local materials. Abroad, he saw how shade structures of fabric and geometric shapes cast beautiful shadows and can be the only decoration needed while being functionally essential.

With these observations Ehrlich became, as he put it, an ‘architectural anthropologist”. He brought back to the U.S. the idea of applying the insights he saw abroad to modern buildings. His buildings are culturally and environmentally connected, and he stressed that a good building cannot be informed by only one or the other. He is also a realist to the modern means and the global opportunities available for both his built and un-built spaces, while remaining respectful of history, environment and place. He imbeds sustainable decisions through passive design, and innovative global technology. With this vision, Steven Ehrlich has designed modern buildings which serve to reinvigorate communities by connecting architecture, culture, people and place with clean lines and great beauty.

For further information, browse Ehrlich’s website where you will find informative write ups and images of his stunning designs.

Hines' 101 California Earns LEED Platinum Certification

Scores #1 out of 7,307 LEED EB Projects Worldwide

 

(SAN FRANCISCO) – The San Francisco office of Hines, the international real estate firm, along with partner NLI Properties West, Inc. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Nippon Life Insurance Company), announced that 101 California has been certified at the Platinum level under the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED® for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance Rating System. With a score of 94 LEED credits, this architectural landmark, designed by Philip Johnson, has earned the highest score ever awarded in the Existing Building (EB) category throughout the world, an extraordinary milestone for a 30-year-old building, for the city of San Francisco and for the state of California.

This announcement was formalized at a festive outdoor ceremony on the building’s plaza during which Rick Fedrizzi, founder, president and CEO of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) will spoke about this achievement and presented 101 California with a plaque commemorating the milestone. Fedrizzi comments, “Green building makes an immediate and measurable impact on the environmental health of the planet and we have an especially large opportunity in the existing building sector. Hines’ certification of 101 California is a remarkable achievement. Their leadership is helping to change the way we build and operate our buildings and serves as a model for others."

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee added, “Congratulations to Hines and NLI Properties West, Inc. for earning LEED Platinum certification at 101 California, and the highest number of LEED points ever awarded to any building in its category. It is in large part due to the strong support of our business leaders that San Francisco is at the forefront of the clean energy economy."

Cal Academy of Sciences Receives Second LEED Platium Rating from USGBC

SAN FRANCISCO (September 27, 2011) — On September 27, 2008, the California Academy of Sciences unveiled the world’s greenest museum — an eco-friendly new home featuring a hilly living roof, recycled denim insulation, and many other green innovations. Three years and more than five million visitors later, the museum celebrates another symbolic color: platinum. The U.S. Green Building Council has presented the Academy with its second LEED Platinum award, making the California Academy of Sciences the world's first "Double Platinum" museum and the world's largest Double Platinum building..

Designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, the Academy building houses an aquarium, planetarium, natural history museum, and world-class research and education programs under one living roof, standing as an embodiment of its 158-year-old mission to explore, explain, and protect the natural world.

"We couldn't be more proud of the Academy for its commitment to high levels of environmental performance, and for setting the example as a leader in the San Francisco green building community and around the world," said San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee. "Their Double Platinum rating is truly a remarkable achievement for our City."

State Advocacy Report

Contributed by Dennis Murphy, USGBC CAC Chair

The USGBC California Advocacy Committee (CAC), representing NCC, the seven other Chapters across the state and thousands of green building professionals, continues to build a public policy presence in Sacramento. We are proud to see our first two sponsored bills and a number of supported legislation becoming law.

The California Legislative calendar wraps up at the end of September. Bills that have traveled through committees and have passed both the Assembly and Senate go to the Governor for either the happiness of his signature or the heartache of one of his memorable veto letters.

Greenbuild 2011: WHAT’S NEXT

Contributed by Dan Geiger, Executive Director, USGBC-NCC & Jessica Uhl, Program Manager, USGBC-NCC

“The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will fix it.”
--Robert Swan: first person ever to have walked to the North and South poles, environmental leader and Greenbuild 2011 closing speaker

 

When 23,000 leaders who believe we can fix the planet come together, it's called Greenbuild 2011.

Greenbuild 2011 in Toronto was an inspiring three days packed with more than 100 education sessions, 900 exhibitors, numerous keynote speakers, networking with fellow green building enthusiasts, and of course, great parties.

What’s NEXT is Breaking Patterns

 

Throughout the week, the “NEXT” conference theme was apparent: education sessions about what’s next in the green building industry - from LEED 2012, smart buildings, LEED automation, apps and “the cloud”, building performance, net zero, public policy and so much more. There was even a little theater in the Master Series - ever wonder what LEED has to do with Shakespeare’s The Tempest? See Senior Vice President of LEED, Scott Horst, on breaking patterns. Also, check out www.gbig.org, USGBC’s new Green Building Information Gateway, to see your city’s statistics on LEED buildings, square footage, accredited professionals and more, and an app exchange market.

At the opening plenary Rick Fedrizzi, USGBC President and CEO, spoke powerfully about a time in the not-so-distant future where green building will be the norm, and the U.S. Green Building Council will have no need to exist. Plenary keynote New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman described the profound economic and environmental challenges the world and the United States face. He challenged companies to change or go out of business; he made the case to put a price on the true cost of carbon, and insisted that green must become ubiquitous.