BETC in Peril

Below is a call to arms by Glenn Montgomery, executive director of the Oregon Solar Energy Industries Association (OSEIA). He urges all of us to contact our state legislators and forcefully lobby for continuation of strong public investment in the Business Energy Tax Credit (BETC) and Residential Energy Tax Credit (RETC). The programs are in peril of being drastically reduced and effectively terminated.

BETC has enabled Oregon’s “green economy” to flourish. The tax credit—worth up to 35 percent of the incremental costs of the systems or equipment that are beyond standard practice—has incentivized an impressive range of renewable resource and energy conservation projects. These projects have been good for the economy, good for the environment, and good for the health of Oregon communities.

The proposed reductions on the table risk turning back the clock and erasing the gains made by Oregon’s still nascent private investment in sustainability. The penurious cutbacks would be a radical change in course leading to disastrous results. Read on:

I am typically not an alarmist, but we have a crisis on our hands for both renewable energy and conservation projects in Oregon. Though still work in progress, the co-chairs' state budget for the 2011-13 biennium includes $10 million for ALL tax credit programs, and word has it that it breaks down as follows:

• Biomass collector credit: $4 million
• Film & Video: $3 milllion
• Business Energy Tax Credit (renewables & conservation, not manufacturing): $2 million
• Residential Energy Tax Credit (renewables & conservation): $1 million

To put this into perspective:

• BETC for renewables alone (2009-11 biennium): $300 million
• BETC for renewables and conservation (2011-13 biennium): $2 million
• RETC expenditures ('09 and '10): $34 million (solar accounted for $7 million last year alone)
• RETC budget (2011-13 biennium): $1 million

Given the current budget proposal, the RETC will be gone by July of this year, and we'll have nothing for the next 23 months. The BETC faces the same fate—one project could account for the proposed allocation. How will ODOE even begin to pick winners and losers?

The potential impact on both businesses and residents is staggering. It's unconscionable, in my mind, to effectively shut down public support for renewable energy production and conservation across the state at a time when our economy is in recovery and extremely fragile. Adding insult to injury, the Film & Video program budget, though small in relative terms, has been doubled in the current budget. Does our leadership care more about attracting non-local companies to the state for 60 days to make a few movies than it does the residents and businesses that work, pay taxes, and support their local economies year-round?

The time to act is NOW! Make your voice heard. There are several things that come to mind:

• Join us for the solar rally scheduled Wednesday June 1, 2011 at 11:30 on the Capitol steps (we'll also be in the Galleria all day)
• Contact your state legislators by writing a letter and following up with a phone call
• Contact the Governor's office, share your story, and express your dismay that leadership is turning its back on Oregon's green economy
• Keep current by following OSEIA on Twitter and "Liking" our Facebook page
• Join OSEIA! Your financial support and personal engagement creates a stronger voice for the solar industry in Oregon.

I will have a sample letter available on OSEIA's website in the next day, so feel free to use it as a guide in telling your story. In addition, I'll provide further details on the rally that is a little more than one week away. You can become a "Friend" on the Go Solar Oregon Facebook page by clicking here.

Please forward this note to your network of colleagues and friends.

Thank you for your support!

My best,

Glenn Montgomery, OSEIA Executive Director

Design|Spring at Ninkasi

Mark your calendars for Thursday, May 26: It’s finally here, the next beer:30 for Design|Spring! This edition will be an educational experience, not just a social. Project architect (and AIA-SWO President-Elect) Kurt Albrecht, AIA will lead a tour of Ninkasi Brewery, a 2010 AIA-SWO People’s Choice Award winner. A Ninkasi representative will also be on hand to answer any brewing questions you might have as well.

If the weather is nice everybody can hang out on Ninkasi's patio and enjoy the weather. If it rains, people can still hang out on the patio and enjoy their beer.

The tour will begin at 6:30, but feel free to show up earlier to hoist a pint or two to keep your strength up.

• Date/Time: Thursday, May 26 at 6:30 PM
• Location: Ninkasi Brewery 272 Van Buren Street, Eugene

Design|Spring is a group of peers dedicated to fostering continued professional development amongst its membership. It serves as a bridge between the completion of professional education and full membership and participation with the various design and construction-related organizations (such as AIA, ASLA, ASID, and CSI). The group also functions as an interdisciplinary forum for the exchange of ideas and experiences among all emerging design professionals in Eugene.

My Green Palette

My Green Palette is a green-themed online architecture & design info center produced for Pratt & Lambert Paints. In addition to featuring links to the company’s green products, the website is an information center where architects can showcase their green projects and get the latest green news from industry leaders.

Representatives for the social marketing company WOMfire persuaded me to join the stable of “influencers” that regularly contributes to the Green Blog found on the My Green Palette site. WOMfire helps brands capitalize on the millions of conversations and word-of-mouth opinions posted online. It created My Green Palette for Pratt & Lambert because P & L wanted to increase its profile within the online community and simultaneously burnish its green luster.

I was apprehensive at first about writing posts for an overtly commercial enterprise. Would my contributions be viewed by readers as an endorsement of Pratt & Lambert’s products? Would some think of me as beholden to P & L?

The folks at WOMfire reassured me the contents of my posts would be completely my own. I would be under no obligation to promote Pratt & Lambert Paints. Their only stipulation was that the subject matter of my posts be of interest to the intended audience: sustainability-minded architects and interior designers.

The upshot is you’ll now find me both here on SW Oregon Architect and at Green Blog. I’ve committed to writing about a post a month for Green Blog. Check out my premiere appearance, which is a repost of my LEED-ership Beyond the Tipping Point piece.

I’m going green and branching out in the architectural blogosphere!

LEED-ership Beyond the Tipping Point

Like most architects, I try to stay informed about significant trends that affect our profession. Even so, I’ve been astonished by how quickly sustainability has become a watchword for the construction industry. Seemingly overnight, a quixotic pursuit by a small community of dedicated environmentalists has become a societal imperative. It’s as if we have passed a “tipping point.” More people than ever before understand that truly being sustainable—meeting society’s present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own—is a responsibility we all share.

In a previous post for Green Blog, Penny Bonda commented how “mainstream” the green building industry has become. Specifically, she reported about the U.S. Green Building Council and the media-savvy branding of its primary product, the Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design (LEED) green building rating system. There’s no doubt that my profession, the building trades, manufacturers, and developers have taken notice: The up-to-the-minute count of LEED-certified projects is 20,278 buildings totaling 1,348,939,491 square feet. The USGBC reports that billions of more square feet of construction are in the pipeline. My home state, Oregon, ranks among the highest for LEED-certified commercial and institutional green buildings per capita. The number of USGBC member companies across North America now exceeds16,000. There are also more than 157,000 LEED professional credential holders.

I’m not yet one of these LEED accredited professionals. Should I pursue LEED accreditation or status as a LEED Green Associate? Yes. Accreditation is validation of one’s breadth of knowledge and expertise about the fundamental principles of sustainable design. Just as structures that are LEED certified are virtually synonymous with green buildings, LEED accreditation has become de rigueur for design professionals who want to declare their green pedigree. My 13-employee firm is a USGBC member; three of my colleagues are LEED-accredited. We’re pursuing LEED certification for several current projects.

The science of climate change has become unassailable, so a cognitive hurdle is largely behind us. On the flip side, hurdles to even greater acceptance of sustainability principles do remain: global warming deniers illogically persist, factions within the green movement are divided, and “green fatigue” is mounting. Some bemoan the costs of the LEED certification processes (failing to recognize the probability of significant returns on their investment generated by savings in operational costs).

Penny Bonda cited one of her favorite LEED-isms, which is that LEED is a triumph of good over perfect. Solutions shaped by complex systems and codification are always compromises, and LEED is no exception. For instance, I believe the rating system fails to adequately take into account locally specific environmental conditions. Moreover, I think the Green Building Certification Institute too readily grants LEED status to bloated, wasteful projects that are superficially “green.” Is the massive CityCenter project in Las Vegas (the least sustainable city in America) really deserving of LEED Gold certification?

What will it take for the USGBC to capitalize on the construction industry’s increased awareness and aspiration toward sustainability to further advance its suite of LEED rating systems? How can we make the most of this opportunity to reform the construction paradigm? The USGBC and the structure of its certification program only provide a framework. In demand are new visionaries for a sustainable future. What we need is a coupling of LEED-ership with leadership.

Leadership will be crucial to the issue of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Ed Mazria and his Architecture 2030 organization point out that buildings are responsible for almost half (48%) of all greenhouse gas emissions annually. According to Mazria, immediate action in the building sector is necessary if we are to avoid truly catastrophic climate change. Global heating caused by greenhouse gas emissions will undoubtedly be looked at in retrospect as the single most important issue of the 21st century. If we do not successfully deal with the manmade causes of climate change, all other issues—the economy, wars, health care, education, ecosystem health—will be even more challenging or nearly moot.

Leadership will also be vital to developing strategies for adapting to climate change. These plans would address water shortages, agricultural challenges, energy conservation, and security. Mitigation alone will not be enough; we must prepare for the changes to come.

If you’re an architect and have not already adopted sustainability as a fundamental precept of your work, do so now. Don’t wait to act. The tipping point has passed. This is our time. Exhibit the leadership necessary to advance the changes that will secure a livable future for generations to come. Reducing the environmental impact of buildings may be the single most important contribution architects can make. The actions of a few can impact the lives of so many.

LEED accreditation does not supplant the credentialing and broader suite of education and skills required to achieve professional status as an architect. Then again, accreditation would endow me with greater authority on matters related to sustainable design. I should take the leap. I want to be a leader and make a difference through the projects I work on. If becoming a LEED-AP enhances my prospects in this regard, the expense, time, and effort will have been worth it.

StructureOregon 2011

Chris Knowles, Assistant Professor in the College of Forestry at Oregon State University, brought to my attention the upcoming StructureOregon 2011 conference, which will be held at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland on June 1. The conference’s focus is the utilization of local wood products in sustainable design. It will feature an impressive lineup of speakers that will address a wide range of topics including advanced wood framing technologies, the properties and applications of native Oregon wood species, and barriers to using wood in sustainable design.

StructureOregon 2011 is an opportunity for the design community to:

• Better understand how to communicate with wood products companies
• Learn about the challenges and opportunities for designing with local wood products
• Become familiar with local wood products sources
• Be in the know about innovative new wood products
• Be alerted to current and future trends for wood use

Conversely, the conference will offer participants from the forest products industry the occasion to:

• Discover new markets for wood products
• Become better equipped to communicate with designers
• Spend the day with design professionals responsible for selecting and specifying wood products and systems

The all-day conference is a production of Oregon State University Conference Services. The event’s sponsors include OSU, the Oregon Wood Innovation Center, Business Oregon, Umpqua Training & Employment, the Oregon Consortium & Oregon Workforce Alliance, and Worksource Oregon.

You can acquire 5 CEU/CLUs by attending a full slate of educational sessions. The conference will include a vendor show featuring locally sourced and manufactured wood products.

If you want to learn more about how a key industry and engine for Oregon’s economy is evolving toward a sustainable future, don’t miss StructureOregon 2011!

What: StructureOregon 2011

When: June 1, 2011

Where: Oregon Convention Center, 777 NE MLK, Jr. Boulevard, Portland, OR 97232

Click here to register for the conference online.
Early Registration: Regular Registrants: $150, Students: $75, Exhibitors: $200

Registration rates will increase on May 16, 2011 for Regular Registrants only

Late Registration: Regular Registrants: $195, Students: $75, Exhibitors: $200

Attendees have an option to register on-site. Regular registrants have an increased fee for on-site registration

On-Site Registration: Regular Registrants: $225, Students: $75, Exhibitors: $200