LEED is successful because USGBC engages the full spectrum of the building industry in the consensus-based development process. Our volunteer member committees are the heart of that process. What are some of the challenges and rewards of leading a volunteer committee?
Scot: Because of the intelligence, credentials and quality of the people we work with there are many strong opinions and agendas. The volunteers come from a wide array of backgrounds and areas of expertise. We have to navigate through these strengths to find ways to move forward that everyone supports. But the opportunity to work with so many people that care about our environment means that the challenges are overwhelmed by rewards. One of the greatest rewards in the last few months has been integrating the vast array of personalities and positions with the strong and highly competent staff at USGBC. Nevertheless, the true rewards are personal: giving and serving without reservation is the best way to find meaning in my work and joy in my life. This is especially true since LEED provides guidance for positive action in a world that often seems overwhelmed by fear.
Joel: The reward is the people—the volunteers on the committees are the best. They are smart, dedicated, unafraid to take on huge challenges. They are also collaborative, good people—even when we disagree, which we do, it's with respect and affection. We all recognize that we have common goals and that creates a strong bond. The challenges? The main one is the other side of the rewards—the people are so good that it's easy to expect too much and to ask for too much of their time. Scot and I have to try to manage the workload (with staff, of course) so that we don't overload the volunteers. They rarely push back and say "enough!" so we have to try to be responsible for that.
What are your objectives for the LSC from an organizational perspective? What are your objectives for LEED?
Joel: Scot and I are trying to give the LSC the opportunity to really "steer" LEED—in the past, the LSC has been too reactive. The LSC should be thinking about LEED's future, looking at what's working and what needs improvement, touching base with users and potential users, understanding the actual benefits of LEED, and thinking about how our impact can be improved. We are also working to integrate the LSC with the other parts of the USGBC, such as the staff and Board, so that we can be more effective.
Scot: There are two central elements to the success of LEED. One is that it be accessible enough for hard working professionals and owners to want to get involved. The other is that it makes enough of an environmental impact to warrant going through the process. Balancing these elements is the crux of our success or failure.
When LEED works well, it assists in finding innovative ways to make better buildings. I went to music conservatory and like to apply a musical metaphor: LEED is the hard work you do in the practice room to learn technique, like learning scales on the piano. Certification is a way for a third party to say your technique is solid. But music is what a performer creates with technique; you can’t have music without technique but technique alone doesn't create music. LEED doesn't make better buildings; it's the architects, engineers, designers, product manufacturers and community stakeholders who make better buildings. LEED helps them head in the right direction.
My objective for LEED is maintaining the balance of improved environmental performance and increased accessibility so that good designers can use it to create great music. This means making the system more elegant and improving its ability to inspire environmental, social, and economic benefits that lead us in directions of knowledge and truth A knowledge that inspires us to seek real answers to complex questions that go beyond our conventional wisdom, beyond technique into singing with joy for the beauty of the earth.
What's the future for LEED?
Joel: My vision for LEED is that it will become one of a suite of instruments that are successfully moving sustainable, regenerative design into every project, into the management of every building, and into the planning of every community. We need to assess and recognize where LEED is most effective and figure out what additional tools are needed. My hope for green building is what we are all here for -- a transformation of society to one that sustains, restores, and creates health, welfare and joy for the planet and all its inhabitants.
In your wildest dreams, what is the future for green building?
Scot: My wildest dream is that LEED becomes obsolete. This can occur as we learn to build and grow in ways that take account for more than individual projects--when we build and grow with a sense of giving and service that includes concern for our shared circumstances so we build for the entire community including the air we breathe, the water we drink, people who have nothing and eco systems that are at our mercy. This can only happen when our building is a representation of our human potential. The decisions are human, not technological. Our potential lies in our ability to give and serve a common good. Indeed, it lies in our ability to improve our daily work. This is where LEED provides value -- in the potential for a better world through our daily decisions. The plaque shows discipline. History determines success. Hope and desire for real answers are our sharpest tools.
So what will it take to get there?
Scot: It will take hope. It will take hard work. It will take removing fear from the equation. It will require delving in to the complexity of artificial and natural systems to learn where they can relate and interact. It will take going further than our beliefs and our strongly held opinions. This is not a utopian vision--it is more than possible. Once we all learn the technique we can all make music. In the meantime, in words of the great poet T.S. Eliot “For us there is only the trying….the rest is not our business.” |
