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Author Glen Gilbert

Cascadia Chapter
Glen@cascadiagbc.org
cascadiagbc.org
 
Comment
On behalf of the entire Cascadia Region Green Building Council Board of Directors, we respectfully submit the following comments in the interest of strengthening the mission of the US Green Building Council and its constituent chapters. Several issues in the past year have shown us that strong policy and value guidelines are needed to help steer USGBC through difficult issues. Examples including the Trade Associations membership debate, proposed LEED-NC v.2.2 credits for Renewable Materials, and proposals for LEED credits for PVC reduction are all issues that are eliciting strong opinion and differences in conclusions. At a higher, systemic level to the organization, there is a lack of guidance from the USGBC Board in setting policy for USGBC committees and task forces to make decisions in the interest of pubic health and welfare, and the promotion of green buildings with the ultimate goal being a more sustainable, prosperous and equitable world.

Without specific principles and guidelines in place, each Committee or Subcommittee in the USGBC family is adrift in assessing its progress towards overall goals. Certain principles do exist that are worth consideration and quite suitable for adoption. In fact, the USGBC’s own white paper on the implementation of green buildings in the marketplace (1997) concluded that adopting a “Vision of Sustainability” was crucial to the mission and success of the organization. It named the Natural Step as one example of such a vision that would be worth adopting. The time for a fully articulated vision is now.

In the interest of advancing this process the Cascadia Board offers the following observations and recommendations for action:

Point 1
Without guiding principals, such as the Natural Step, Hanover Principles, CERES principles, etc, the USGBC will be constantly searching for policy in determining whether its actions and programs are moving towards a sustainable society. The Cascadia Board will include this item for discussion on our March agenda. Adoption of such guidelines work hand in hand with the LEED programs and the mission of USGBC. Our board will be happy to share with you the results of our process and decisions that arise from our next meeting.

Point 2
The strategy of combining Life Cycle Assessment and Risk Assessment in the PVC credit review, while interesting as an approach, is creating a process that seems to be outside the intent of the original LEED program. Normally, this sort of scientific methodology is adopted from a third party organization. There have been enough dissenting comments questioning the credibility of this approach that it may pose serious problems to USGBC’s own standing in the environmental community. This also affects the credibility of each chapter and the relations they have built with other nonprofits in their region. Cascadia members, who are also members of the USGBC, have expressed concern over the choice of appraisal methods and the conclusions that it has produced in the case of the Draft PVC credit review. We ask that the USGBC Board and the LEED Steering Committee reconsider the policy of creating internal scientific methodology to make decisions and set criteria. Instead, USGBC should explore the underlying fact that this matter is less about technical and scientific issues than it is about core values and principles. Perhaps USGBC should search for an existing reference standard to apply regarding PVC rather than becoming a standards setting organization itself.

Point 3
Although the TSAC Draft PVC and Vinyl Report is open for comment and not yet resolved, the Vinyl Institute has already co-opted the conclusion for their own purposes. They are claiming vindication for their product on their website. We find this premature and unconscionably misleading. The USGBC has the responsibility to demand that the Vinyl Institute cease using this report until it is complete and final. They and other industry trade associations have also joined in a group to co-opt the good name of green building in an organi¢o 8Hí!èÉB¢o  <Ad~ûw€¸íi¢o <<!( èˆHíÉ Cascadia ChapterS~ûwöËd~ûwh¶í¢o & "! Ií@"è)G7ÒP"èxðëP"èÀèëöfield  ø!èˆ"è/Ÿ¯’´ \"è8ë˜"è"è˜;îsubmitterId @"èÐ"è)%è.q¤"èˆêà"èP"èpages ˆ"è(pî)¢o X©Tì"èðë˜"èlinesîa €è€è$OP~ûwöË&d~ûwعí¢o B&<Ad~ûwø¹í
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