Green Building
Vermont's Green Building Movement Gaining Strength
Just a few years ago, the term "green building" held little meaning for people outside this burgeoning movement. If recent examples provide any gauge, Vermont now has a thriving green building sector.
According to the Vermont Green Building Network (VGBN), "green building" is a collection of land-use, building design, and construction strategies that reduce environmental impacts. Investments in green buildings also have the potential to save costs for owners over the lifespan of the building.
Several events and projects around the state illustrate the growth of this sector. In 2004, BSR showcased their first green residence, officially certified under the Vermont Builds Greener system. BSR and Vermont Energy Investment Corporation subsequently used the VBG green building Scorecard at the University of Vermont. Outside Vermont, a group of municipal utilities called the Cape Light Compact chose the VBG Scorecard for construction and other national groups are considering adopting it as well. VSJF provided more than $30,000 to support the development of this system since 2000.
In early February, Efficiency Vermont expanded its Better Buildings by Design conference to include topics related to "innovations & high performance." The event drew over 900 people on a cold and snowy winter day.
Shortly thereafter, VGBN held its annual meeting featuring keynote speaker Senator Vincent Illuzi, a proponent of green building. VGBN began in December 2002 with a handful of practitioners and continues to attract new designers, policy makers, suppliers and others interested in improving construction practices in Vermont.
On May 12-13, 2005, the Vermont Chapter of the Construction Specifications Institute, VGBN and VSJF sponsored two back-to-back events: a daylong Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED®)-New Construction training followed by "Green and Sustainable in Vermont 2005", a conference and trade fair. Both events drew more than 60 designers, architects and suppliers who explored new trends and cultivated new opportunities.
Nadav Malin, vice president of BuildingGreen, Inc. and editor of Environmental Building News in Brattleboro served as co-trainer for the LEED workshop as well as keynote speaker for the conference. Malin's national perspective reinforced the picture that the influence of green building is growing. He noted that since the release of LEED 2.0 in March 2000, over 1,700 project teams have registered their buildings with the hope of receiving official certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. Projects now exist in all states plus the District of Columbia.
Conference organizer and Vermont CSI Program Chair Jonathan Miller has been a long-time advocate for green building. Miller noted a significant increase in green building over the past five years. Said Miller, "Federal, state and local agencies across the US have been adopting, one by one, more holistic green building standards lately. Public agencies are a large driver of construction work, which fuels great interest in the construction service sector."
Many Vermont institutions and businesses, including several Cornerstone Project partners, are "greening up" their projects. Cornerstone began its efforts to connect large institutions with Vermont producers with the support of the Office of Senator Leahy in 2001. Partners such as Middlebury College, the University of Vermont, Vermont Law School, Green Mountain College and the Department of Buildings and General Services have or are currently planning to incorporate green features into their buildings.
For example, VLS gained wide recognition for Oakes Hall, and continued its pioneering work recently with renovations to Debevoise Hall. Middlebury's leadership helped foster development of the state's certified forest products market with its landmark Bicentennial Hall. Both UVM and Green Mountain College in Poultney are considering LEED certification for new construction on their respective campuses. Other businesses such as NRG Systems are also providing leadership. NRG recently opened its remarkable 46,000 square foot LEED-Gold facility in Hinesburg.
These are just a sampling of the activities taking place around Vermont. Clearly there is growing interest in how we build. Increased attention by the public and private sectors provides the opportunity for even greater support for the green building movement, lending hope that more benefits will accrue to Vermont's built and natural landscape.
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