Amari Roskelly, Jacobs Engineering

Amari Roskelly(http://amari-sustainabilityblog.blogspot.com) spoke to our class about the LEED AP Exam and the LEED process, in particular how it works for military installations. Ms. Roskelly holds an MSIS in Sustainability and recently passed the LEED AP Exam.

Ms Roskelly started her lecture by introducing herself, defining sustainability, and listing the 5 basic needs: food, water, shelter (the built environment), clothing, and social interaction. She then spent some time discussing three green building rating systems.

The first and most sought after system is LEED, which came about at the turn of the twenty first century. The certification criteria consist of five categories, and LEED offers four certification levels: certified, silver, gold, and platinum.

Estidama is the newest rating system. Based in Abu Dhabi, while this system also concerns environmental sustainability, it emphasizes the social interaction facet much more than LEED.

Living Building Challenge, which started in 2007 and is based in Portland, is a lesser known system which a very idealistic goal. Instead of making buildings that have a less damaging impact on the environment around them, Living Building actually seeks to construct buildings that actually improve the surrounding environment.

For LEED certification, there are several challenges, especially for military installations. First of all, an organization cannot simply focus on certifying the building; the whole building site must be taken into account. Also, documentation of green features can be troublesome. For example, it cost Ms. Roskelly's team almost 400 man hours to document a 110% efficient rating as part of Fort Collins' LEED certification process. As sustainability coordinator, Ms. Roskelly spends much of her time putting together documentation. She said that she needs to have drawings submitted as early as 60 percent of the way through the design.

After her lecture, Ms. Roskelly answered a few student questions. One student asked what steps one should take to become certified in the sustainability field. Rather than attempting LEED AP certficiation, which actually requires on-the-job experience, she recommended trying to become a green associate. In response to another question, Ms. Roskelly recommended a short documentary about Greensburg, KS and its successful implementation of green practices after a tornado decimated much of the town:

Greensburg, KS Video: