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A Look Back to IDID V:
Stepping Up to the 2030 Challenge
Plymouth State University, July 17-18

See what attendees thought!

Review:
The fifth Integrated Design/Integrated Development (IDID) Conference on July 17-18 was another great success for the Environmental Guild and its IDID programming partners! Herewith is a summary of the key points covered over the two days.

PSU President Sara Jayne Steen opened the Conference by welcoming participants and outlining the commitment PSU is making to the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment.

• PSU has agreed to:
  (1) reduce and eventually eliminate or neutralize greenhouse gas emissions; and
  (2) accelerate the research and educational efforts of higher education to equip society to do the same.
• The University has pledged to eliminate campus greenhouse gas emissions over time, by: (1) completing an emissions inventory within one year;
  (2) within two years, setting a target date and interim milestones for becoming climate neutral;
  (3) taking immediate steps chosen from a list of short-term actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions;
  (4) integrating sustainability into the curriculum and as part of the educational experience; and
  (5) making the action plan, inventory and progress reports publicly available.

Dr. Steen has also created the President's Commission on Environmental Sustainability, to be headed by William Crangle, former Vice President for Financial Affairs. His financial background clearly illustrates a conference finding of the connection between rising energy costs and the cost effectiveness of reducing energy use.

In opening the education sessions, Kate Hartnett introduced three key numbers and one acronym as the framework for what we now know about buildings:

350 — The most important number on Earth — and the red line for human beings. Scientists working with the Nobel prize winning Intergovermental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), including NASA's James Hansen, tell us that we must rapidly lower the level of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere from the high 300's to below 350, "if we wish to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed." (See www.350.org)

2030 — Stepping up to the 2030 Challenge of all new buildings and major renovations reducing energy use (and carbon emissions) by 50% immediately, and progressing to carbon neutral by 2030. (See www.architecture2030.org and description of Ed Mazria's keynote below.)

59% — About half of total US energy consumption/greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings — and of that, 40% is used to heat, light, cool, heat water, or through pumps and motors). BUT that's about 59% in New Hampshire, because we have relatively little industry.

DSM or Demand Side Management — almost all existing buildings have the potential to reduce energy use by 30-60% with relatively simple and low cost practices — energy audits, passive solar/daylighting, air sealing, insulation, upgrades to efficient appliances and controls, etc.

On Thursday night, keynote speaker Ed Mazria FAIA of Architecture 2030, delivered a presentation on "Life is Good, " or "how we don't need oil, coal, or nuclear. " Ed Mazria wrote the Passive Solar Energy Book in 1979. Over the past 30 years, he has come to understand the need and opportunities to stop using fossil fuel inputs for building operations, and to become carbon neutral by 2030 (the "2030 Challenge"). He showed us aerial photos of the extent of a one meter (3+ ft) rise in sea level associated with melting ice, on coastal communities throughout the US, including New Hampshire.

Mazria outlined the reality of "peak oil," demonstrating how we cannot use coal (a fossil fuel) to meet future energy needs (because of its carbon content); how insignificant a source coastal drilling would be; and how expensive nuclear power is. So, what to do?

He believes the solutions for buildings are relatively inexpensive and low tech — reduce energy use, then meet minimized needs through renewables and carbon credits.

The Architecture 2030 Challenge has been endorsed by a long and growing list: American Institute of Architects, US Conference of Mayors, US Green Building Council, ASHRAE, US Environmental Protection Agency, National Wildlife Federation, International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), American Solar Energy Society, etc. As of January 2008, the Architecture 2030 Challenge energy use reduction targets are required for all new and renovated Federal buildings.

On Friday morning, Leith Sharp of the Harvard Green Campus Initiative talked about lessons learned during her ten years creating a cost effective system for upgrading the energy performance of Harvard's existing and new buildings and grounds. She started as the sole person at the Green Campus Initiative, and now more than 25 people manage multiple and far-reaching projects. She shared her thoughts as a "change agent": that people can be invigorated by change, as long as the instability and risk are reduced. She has been successful with Harvard Green Campus because of her insistence on getting good data and measuring building performance, fostering a spirit of learning, and encouraging a cycle of continuous improvement.
She cited Stanhope's Roadmap for Integrated Design and Bob Charette's Life Cycle Cost Analysis as excellent resources. She identified a current challenge of how to value the units of energy saved by reducing high building operating costs inherited by existing "silo-ization" in the building sector, including the split between first costs and operating costs.

Other sessions covered:
State scale — Other sessions covered: State scale: Lorraine Merrill, Communities and Consequences and NH Commissioner of Agriculture, Donald Sienkiewicz of Home Builders and Remodelers of NH, Anne Stephenson of Clean Air/Cool Planet, Dick Henry of The Jordan Institute, and Ben Frost of NH Housing Finance Authority discussed the need for age and price diverse housing. They explored how new construction and renovations might step up to the 2030 Challenge of high performance, moving to carbon neutral, which is essential to true affordability. Ben Frost also energetically served as moderator, and summary speaker.

Ken Colburn briefly outlined current climate science, and described consistent findings by many states that investments in energy efficiency result in net energy cost savings (of $43.4 billion nationally, with a 2 to 1 cost benefit ratio), as well as new employment opportunities. He believes that stepping up to the 2030 Challenge could be a path to economic development, global competitiveness, and job growth.

Director of PSU's Center for the Environment Patrick Bourgeron described his perspective as an ecologist working in New Hampshire finding pragmatic environmental solutions that promote healthy urbanization, climate, and people.

Community scale: Municipal stories from Portsmouth (process to become New Hampshire's first eco-municipality), Epping (new local energy efficiency ordinance now attracting high quality businesses), and Plymouth (A grassroots organization that helps people "reduce energy use, then produce it locally.")

Tours:
Thursday also featured walking tours highlighting the benefit of downtown living where natural, built, and social infrastructures successfully mix, pedestrians and traffic each have their place, and town and campus landscapes intertwine.

Community/Site scale: Durham's Mill Plaza AIA150 Community partnership, using a collaborative design process to meet local, AIA150, and LEED criteria for high performance development. " Site scale: tours of Langdon Woods, a US Green Building Council LEED Gold dormitory, and the recently renovated gem Mary Lyon Hall.

Individual projects:
Carter Scott described his progress toward meeting 2030 goals in residential new construction. In a series of four "virtual tours" on Friday afternoon, presenters brought their work to the audience: Patrick Miller's family quest to measure and reduce energy use; Chris Williams' experience in the design process and local craftsmen's part in building Tin Mountain Conservation Center; Paul Leveille on early energy model results for the new US Forest Service facility in Campton; and Hillary Harris and Randall Walter AIA on the Bensonwood/MIT collaboration to design their phase 2 Net Zero Energy House in Unity, Maine.

Landscaping/Grounds: Marilyn Wyzga described the benefits of using practices for integrated landscaping from a new book Following Nature' Lead. Steve Kahl linked requirements of the new Comprehensive Shoreland Protection Act and shoreland plantings to benefits in water quality and reduced energy use. Chris Williams and Carol Jowdy each provided beautiful slides of using native and local plantings to enhance buildings and communities.

Room and Board:
Participants had the opportunity to stay in LEED Gold certified Langdon Woods dormitory. The IDID Committee worked with Sodexo to create a menu that was delicious, locally grown, in season, and healthy, and that minimized waste and trash. Sodexho staff described their corporate commitment to those principles after lunch on Friday.

Next steps:
From the information gathered at the IDID5 Stepping up to the 2030 Challenge Conference, we have developed some goals:

• Work with relevant organizations and interested communities to step up to 2030 Challenge
• make it a habit to continually improve practices to get to carbon neutral;
• Work with media to create effective messages that encourage reduced energy use by individuals, workplaces, and communities;
• Get trained experts out there to do energy audits, renovations, retrofits, new building performance audits/commissioning.
  

Nearly 150 people attended the IDID Conference over the two days, coming from Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont. Participants included: architects, engineers, landscape architects, environmental consultants, planners, land development consultants, energy consultants, commissioning agents, bankers, educators and students, realtors, construction managers and contractors, builders, landscape contractors, water quality experts, and representatives of community development finance groups, non-profit groups, and nurseries.

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