Build for Impact

In talking about the pillars of green building, it's possible to look to the past and future. Ancient cities show signs of sustainability, resilience, and wellness. Many of these components are common sense, and their reintroduction is changing how the world builds. Talking about the pillars, host Daniel Huard welcomed architect, Blake Jackson.Jackson is the Sustainability Design Lead at Stantec. He's also an adjunct professor at Boston College and Roger Williams University. Additionally, he's also a LEED-WELL faculty member and an advocate and speaker on the subject.The conversation started with sustainability, with Jackson noting he wasn't educated on it during his architecture studies. “I'm trying to remedy. Before, it was something architects didn't think they controlled,” he added.LEED was the catalyst for reshaping the sustainability conversation. “We're reintroducing common sense into building as modern practitioners,” Jackson said.With sustainability also comes the need for resiliency of projects. “We're in the business of bandaging, handling things brick by brick, but it's encouraging to see more cities taking it on. We've lost the ability to think at scale on resiliency in this country,” Jackson commented.They two also discussed transparency and its evolution. Manufacturers are now much clearer on information about supplies. Jackson also credits the fact that “the green community is open.” Thus, sharing ideas with colleagues helps the greater good.The wellness component was also forgotten in the 20th-century. “Our ancestors did this way back to the Romans that were using winds to understand ventilation. Now the wellness component is tangible in building, ergonomics, fresh air, natural light,” Jackson said.

Built for Impact provides a new angle on the relationship between humans and the Earth—the spiritual one. Host Daniel Huard spoke with Tim Yearington, an indigenous educator and tribal leader. Yearington's ancestral name is “Grey Thunderbird.”Yearington offered feedback on Huard's four pillars: sustainability, resiliency, transparency, and wellbeing. On sustainability, Yearington noted it's a human-made concept since the Earth sustained for some time without human intervention. “There's plenty of evidence of what we're doing collectively to the plant, and it's not sustainable. Extracting resources to make money is a destructive force.”Shifting to resiliency, which overlaps with sustainability, Yearington shared, “Our ancestors were more resilient. Going back to nature will teach us what it means. What you want doesn't make you resilient, what you need does.”Sustainability and resiliency both require transparency, which Yearington believes is just being honest as well as open-minded and -hearted. The last pillar is wellbeing, and all four share equal space in the same circle. “It's all connected and related. While we can use the resources of the planet, we breached the code with take, take, take,” Yearington said. Everything that happens in the world by humans has an impact. Learning to live in harmony and appreciate the Earth could help achieve balance amongst the four pillars.

Environmental champion, Anthony Guerrero, is both a Board Chair for the International Living Future Institute as well as the Chief Real Estate and Sustainability Officer at Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)—an organization of more than three million members and online activists with the expertise of some 700 scientists, lawyers and policy advocates across the globe to ensure the rights of all people to the air, the water and the wild. Leading the development of sustainability strategies for NDRC's core operations, Guerrero focuses on the triple bottom line—social equity, sustaining the environment and financial viability—putting in to practice the principles of the Living Building Challenge to revamp the internal operations of NRDC and to demonstrate transformation in Operations Management. Build for Impact, a Green Building podcast by MarketScale, is a platform that allows for collaboration with some of the best minds in the world who focus on green design and sustainability, then incorporating these ideas into building projects to help lessen their environmental impact, ensuring a cleaner future for the next generation. And on this episode of Build for Impact, Guerrero joins host Daniel A. Huard, LEED Fellow and the Godfather of Sustainability. They discuss the catalyst that peaked Guerrero's interest in the environmental movement and a career that centers around building sustainability, projects that he has led to reduce our carbon footprint, the issues of climate versus social justice, the Living Building Challenge, implementing rigorous Materials Petal Certification to offset the adverse effects that building materials have on humans, other species, our planet and its resources, the industry's responsibility, and more. Attaining, at the time, the highest-rated LEED Platinum V2 build-out for both their New York and DC offices, when NDRC began the process for their Chicago office, Guerrero was caught off guard by concerns from his own team. “Our staff—who are very immersed in these issues of toxins in our materials and in our everyday products—they would ask me about the materials we were bringing into our spaces, and I realized that the rigors that we were doing to adhere to the LEED-scorecard were not as rigorous as the expectations of our staff. So I kept looking for a better way to ensure that we didn't have any of the toxins that we were advocating against in our DC material selection, in our process at all,” remarked Guerrero. “During our build-out in Chicago, Eileen Quigley (NDRC Sustainability Manager) brought up the Living Building Challenge Petal Certification for materials. We found that it was rigorous—far and above what we were doing before. We realized it was going to be extremely hard, but it paid off. We did that work and didn't have a single concern from our staff. We had evolved to be actually more rigorous and more aggressive in our vetting of materials.”Listen To Previous Episodes of Build for Impact Right Here!

Sustainability is a topic that is becoming more and more a part of our daily conversations at home and in the workplace. Daniel Huard, Host, Build for Impact, spoke with Jeremy Sigmon who is an independent consultant working on sustainable and resilient buildings, infrastructure and cities, about some key topics trending in the sustainability space at the moment. Sigmon is an accomplished professional in green buildings, resilient cities, and the circular economy. A circular economy is an economic system that works towards eliminating waste and the continual use of resources. Signmon feels that transparency is paramount in being able to make a transition towards a circular economy happen. “The core tenet is about getting the right information into the right decision makers' hands, so that more informed decisions can be made...But the transparency equation, you know could very much encompass things well beyond materials. Being able to actually translate information about whether it's environmental impact, or social impact, or potential for resilience and durability,” Sigmon said.He believes that all of these attributes ultimately create an opportunity for a decision maker to make a more informed decision about which material, product, or company is the right one to invest in. He thinks that one of the things that those thinking about transparency have always had to contend with, is knowing at what point there is too much information being shared and what information actually has value.

The realm of green building has evolved dramatically in the past 20 years. While sustainability has been a term that dates back further, it wasn't so long ago that green design wasn't mainstream, more of an afterthought. To discuss this evolution and its impact on the four pillars of green building, host Daniel Huard welcomed Katie Weeks, a sustainable design expert. She currently serves as the Manager Director, Communications and Development at the Institute for Market Transformation (IMT).Huard met Weeks when she was the editor of Ecostructure Magazine, a publication of Hanley Wood. In her years at Hanley Wood, she was able to be a part of and start dialogues around green building. Her position at IMT is now more hands-on. So, what's the evolution she's seen? “In the past, when people spoke about sustainable design, it was standalone, a silo. Now it's mainstream, and green design is just good design,” she remarked.Huard and Weeks then touched on the other pillars of green design, resiliency, transparency, and wellness. “Resiliency is about more than can a building survive a natural disaster. It's about is the space flexible for a longer life span. Future-proofing a building is more than just the technology aspect. How will a building's role evolve in supporting the community?” Wells said.Transparency in green building is also critical. Sharing information and knowledge benefits has a greater collective impact. IMT is working with local governments on building performance programs. “With building benchmarking data not publicly available in many jurisdictions, we can understand how that space is actually performing,” Weeks added.Finally, wellness is a top priority, and the pandemic has changed that discussion. “We're having conversations with architects, designers, and engineers about what makes a healthy space. Not just for those using it but for all of the community,” Weeks noted.Listen To Previous Episodes of Build for Impact Right Here!

Wellness matters. Yoga sessions and meditation are great, but wellness can expand far past fitness and self-care routines. How we work affects our wellness greatly.Daniel Huard, Host, Build For Impact, spoke with Jeff Allen, Founder and CEO, The Well Learning Library, who knows a thing or two about wellness and leadership. Through highly engaging education, building occupant surveys, and data analytics, The WELL Learning Library provides building occupants with the knowledge and skills to optimize their health and well-being, while also providing building and organizational stakeholders with insights to improve their workplace strategies and building design and operations.Listen To Previous Episodes of Build for Impact Right Here!

Listen To Previous Episodes of Build for Impact Right Here!

As more and more architects and building designers look to achieve the top levels of LEED Green Building certification, many are looking at the materials and resources going into the construction of the building.That can be a barrier, with manufacturers not always wanting to share information about their products, whether it be for fear of a competitor gaining proprietary information or for other reasons.Eden Brukman, Senior Green Building Coordinator, San Francisco Department of the Environment, is a pioneer in the space after her work with the Health Product Declaration Collaborative. Brukman said it's important to remember the manufacturer of the product certainly knows more about what the product does and what it's made up of than regulators or advocates do; however, if they're willing (or required through a declare certification) to share some information, it gives everyone a strong starting point.“Transparency really is that first step. It's not the be-all, end-all for the reformulation of the product necessarily but at least it provides some information and some indication of where we are,” Brukman said. “Whether that is for that first-tier supplier or for that manufacturer or the consumer, it provides information. Once you have that information you have a place to go from there, a way to determine where are our priorities? Where can we make changes? What is most critical for us for change?“At the end of the day, the goal isn't necessarily transparency. It's a product that is safe.”Because of work from people like Brukman, there are more weapons in the arsenal of architects as they look to gather the necessary information and for manufacturers who can point to certifications they've achieved. Yet, that still isn't the final step of the process but rather one element that can help things along.“Keep in mind, these are tools. They're not end-points,” she said. “They're ways to help communicate a message, a need, an understanding, a mutual communication path. I feel like often times these tools can get misunderstood or misused.”

We were joined by Amy Costello, P.E., of Armstrong Flooring to talk about her mission as an engineer to support the four pillars of impact; Sustainability, Resiliency, Efficiency, and Wellness. Prior to working with Armstrong, Amy managed the Air, Noise and Energy Section of the Virginia Department of Transportation, where she found strategies for minimizing impact on air quality through roadway design. Amy talked about how that experience with outdoor environmental sustainability informed her view of building sustainability, and how it can't just be thought of in terms of the structure. “When you build a building, people have to get to the building,” she said while talking about bridging the gap between the building environment and the transportation sector. According to Amy, Armstrong Flooring is particularly dedicated to resiliency. Their flooring is made to have a long lifespan, which is in contrast, she said, to modern society's focus on the short term impact of things. “We shouldn't be a throw-away society,” Amy said. Daniel then talked about new Canadian legislation that will mandate building teams to articulate long-term durability in structures when submitting design documents.Amy talked about how Armstrong Flooring is taking big steps to increase effiency, including a pledge to reduce manufacturing energy, water, and waste by 25% over the 2014 baseline by 2024. “The commercial market always wants to focus on the certifications and that type of thing, but to me it's so important what's actually occurring in your manufacturing plants,” said Amy. On the topic of wellness, Amy and Daniel spoke about how greater transparency from manufacturers is leading to greater understanding amongst the public and moving things in a positive direction. “It's hard to argue with wellness,” said Amy.

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Building has long been a part of the human experience. It's been a critical aspect in the evolution of life. Now construction and design are more than just about how it looks and how it works. The new horizon is focusing on sustainability, resilience, and material transparency. To lend expertise on the subject, architect Jane Rohde, Principal at JSR Associates, with a list of distinguished awards and certifications, joins Hthe show. Sustainability is a buzzword in architecture, but what does it really mean right now? Rohde shared, “Sustainability isn't a single attribute. It's integrated together. Being in healthcare, I see this more prominently, the unintended consequences of not looking at performance.”Alongside sustainability comes resiliency, which describes the ability of a building to prevent and recover from damage. “Resiliency now really ties into emergency preparedness. Looking at nursing homes hit hard by COVID or how hospitals on the Texas coast prepared for Hurricane Harvey. If design intention and operation intention are considered together, it's a much better outcome,” Rohde commented. Another critical subject is material transparency. To be fully transparent is difficult for manufacturers and supply chains. It's not just what the product is; it's where it's from and the conditions of that area. “With material transparency, there are bigger questions that we don't have answers to, regarding social responsibility. But the conversations are happening. What's critical is not to look at it from a single attribute perspective. The better way may be from an exposure and risk perspective,” Rohde stated.

Tune in to listen to Daniel Huard discuss the evidence-based, third party verified, and newly released WELL Health-Safety Rating!

On this episode of Build for Impact, host and LEED architect Daniel A. Huard was joined by Miranda Gardiner, Vice President, Sustainable and Performance Design Manager at HKS, Inc.As usual, Huard and Gardiner focused in on Huard's four pillars of green building — sustainability, resiliency, transparency of materials, and wellness.“What strikes me about your pillars is that they're so interconnected,” Gardiner said. “While they stand alone, and you can look at any one of them … What's unique about the work that we get to do is finding the interconnectedness of them and finding the things that make sense and cross over.”As the conversation turned to mentors and educating the industry on how best to approach these interconnected pillars of green building, Gardiner outlined the core aspects of mentorship relationships she's found most beneficial in her own career.“When people ask me about who I mentor or who is in a mentor relationship with me, I tell them that the best mentoring relationships I've had are with people where it's been a give and take,” she said. “I act as a mentor, and they act as my mentor, whether they're 10 years younger than me or 20 years older than me.”Huard and Gardiner also touched on advancing the conversation surrounding green building and finding ways to help the conversation around sustainability resonate with everyone undertaking a new project or renovation, adopting an attitude of making room for everyone under the “umbrella” of sustainability, and more.

On this episode of Build for Impact, host and LEED architect Daniel A. Huard was joined by Verdical Group Founder and Principal Drew Shula.Verdical Group is a Los Angeles-based green building consulting firm specializing in certification project management, net zero, commissioning, energy modeling and program management, and Shula joined Build for Impact to further the show's mission of providing inspiring conversations around the trends in sustainable building.In particular, the duo touched on “living buildings,” or buildings that harvest the energy they consume from renewable resources like the sun and the wind, are constructed from sustainable materials, and serve occupants by providing a healthier environment.These buildings, and Verdical Group's mission, support the cornerstones of green building – sustainability, resiliency, transparency of materials, and wellness.Shula and Huard used this episode of Build for Impact to dive into:September's Net Zero Conference, which will go virtual for the first time in 2020.Scaling the idea of net zero buildings, which aim for net zero energy, water, waste, transit and carbon.How net zero efforts fit into the overall picture of sustainability and green building.

A proponent of lifelong learning, Daniel A. Huard is a sought‐after green building expert also recognized as the Godfather of sustainability. Huard is launching Build For Impact, aiming to build a platform to allow for collaboration with some of the best minds in the world who focus on green design and sustainability.On the inaugural episode of Build For Impact, LEED architect Huard provides us with his four pillars for the green building world: sustainability, transparency, wellness and resiliency, explaining how he plans to tackle these topics in depth in future episodes.Upcoming guests include:James Connely, Vice President of Product and Stategic Growth, International Living Future InstituteEric Corey Freed, Director of Sustainability, CannonDesignElizabeth Heider, Chief Sustainability Officer, Skanska USA Inc.Huard will be analyzing research from top institutions, such as Harvard, and explain to listeners how they can incorporate those ideas into projects to help lessen the impact of building on the environment and leave a cleaner future for the next generation.