{"id":107,"date":"2014-03-05T12:15:17","date_gmt":"2014-03-05T17:15:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?p=107"},"modified":"2014-03-05T12:15:17","modified_gmt":"2014-03-05T17:15:17","slug":"lets-not-try-so-that-we-dont-succeed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?p=107","title":{"rendered":"Let’s Not Try So That We Don’t Succeed"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two frustrating items came across my desk this morning. \u00a0The first is an attempt by two Ohio state senators (both Republicans) to pass a law (SRC25) prohibiting the use of LEED in all Ohio state buildings, including schools. \u00a0This despite the fact that Ohio already has 100+ LEED school buildings that are saving \u00a0tax payers tens of thousands of dollars on energy bills every year. \u00a0What’s the rationale for the new bill? \u00a0You can read the full text here<\/a>, but essentially it claims that LEED v4 “fails to conform to recognized voluntary standard development procedures.”<\/p>\n

Why is LEED, the largest and most successful green program in the world, being singled out? \u00a0This is really just a smokescreen for an attempt to protect certain industries and manufacturers from divulging the contents of their building materials, which is new under LEED v4. \u00a0The reason favoring disclosure is simple. \u00a0Some building materials have chemical components that seep out of the product and into the indoor environment, a process called off-gassing. \u00a0Without disclosure from manufacturers the architects and owners have no way of knowing what chemicals workers, students, patients, etc. are being exposed to. \u00a0With disclosure they can make better choices that minimize any possible effects on building occupants. \u00a0Some manufacturers have been very pro-active about reformulating their products to limit or eliminate off-gassing. \u00a0Apparently some have decided that ignorance (on the part of architects, owners, and occupants) is bliss (for the manufacturer).<\/p>\n

The second news item concerns an amendment to a bill working its way through the U.S. Senate. \u00a0The Energy Savings and Industrial Competitive Act<\/a> (ESICA), if passed, would be the first new energy efficiency related legislation passed in seven years. \u00a0The problem? \u00a0The “All-Of-The-Above Federal Building Energy Conservation Act of 2013\u201d failed to pass last year, but is now part of ESICA. \u00a0 It calls for the repeal of Section 433 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA), which mandates that the federal government eliminate fossil fuel-generated energy from new and renovated federal buildings by 2030. In other words, it would repeal the government\u2019s commitment to the 2030 Challenge<\/a> for carbon reduction. \u00a0 The AIAs response can be found here<\/a>. \u00a0Other organizations opposing the amendment include Architecture 2030 and the Natural Resources Defense Council.<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, the sponsors of the amendment are from states where fossil fuel production is a major industry. \u00a0It’s true that the U.S has enormous reserves of coal, oil, and natural gas that can<\/em> supply our energy needs for many years to come. \u00a0It’s also true that we’re changing the global environment by burning these fuels. \u00a0We can<\/em> decide to wait until our reserves are used up before we entertain making a change. \u00a0However, in doing so, we are also deciding to allow Germany, Japan, South Korea, China etc. to develop the technologies that will power the future. \u00a0Alternatively, we can decide to lead the energy revolution by developing the technologies, and the markets for them, here at home. \u00a0Contact your senator<\/a> and let him\/her know which path you’d prefer to take.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two frustrating items came across my desk this morning. \u00a0The first is an attempt by two Ohio state senators (both Republicans) to pass a law (SRC25) prohibiting the use of LEED in all Ohio state buildings, including schools. \u00a0This despite the fact that Ohio already has 100+ LEED school buildings that are saving \u00a0tax payers … Continue reading Let’s Not Try So That We Don’t Succeed<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5,4],"tags":[38,36,35,37],"class_list":["post-107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-codes","category-sustainability","tag-federal-government","tag-fossil-fuels","tag-leed","tag-ohio"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4gZSw-1J","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":172,"url":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?p=172","url_meta":{"origin":107,"position":0},"title":"First, The Bad Climate News","author":"Jason Livingston","date":"June 24, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"There\u2019s more climate change news this week, some of it good and which I\u2019ll get to in a few days.\u00a0 First, though, the bad news.\u00a0 According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) May 2014 was the hottest May ever recorded, and we have records dating back as far\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Lighting Profession"","block_context":{"text":"Lighting Profession","link":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?cat=19"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/designinglight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/201405temps.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/designinglight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/201405temps.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/designinglight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/201405temps.gif?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/designinglight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/201405temps.gif?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":151,"url":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?p=151","url_meta":{"origin":107,"position":1},"title":"Some Thoughts on Climate Change","author":"Jason Livingston","date":"May 21, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The climate related news lately has been pretty bleak.\u00a0 The news includes: Separate studies by NASA and the University of Washington both find that the Western Antarctic ice sheet is collapsing into the sea.\u00a0 At this point the melting is unstoppable and could raise global sea levels by 4 feet.\u00a0\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sustainability"","block_context":{"text":"Sustainability","link":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?cat=4"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/designinglight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/LEED-certified-over-time.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/designinglight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/LEED-certified-over-time.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/designinglight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/LEED-certified-over-time.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":778,"url":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?p=778","url_meta":{"origin":107,"position":2},"title":"Who’s Afraid of TM-30?","author":"Jason Livingston","date":"October 23, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"As the Co-Chair of the IES Color Committee, I have seen too many statements that full-scale adoption of TM-30 is too difficult and will create confusion in the market.\u00a0 Often, these assertions come from major manufacturers who want to control market disruption, not be disrupted.\u00a0 In my professional lifetime there\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Color"","block_context":{"text":"Color","link":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1619,"url":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?p=1619","url_meta":{"origin":107,"position":3},"title":"DOE Issues Preliminary Determination on ASHRAE 90.1-2019","author":"Jason Livingston","date":"May 10, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"DOE determines ASHRAE 90.1-2019 improves energy efficiency.","rel":"","context":"In "Codes"","block_context":{"text":"Codes","link":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?cat=5"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":619,"url":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?p=619","url_meta":{"origin":107,"position":4},"title":"San Francisco adopts law requiring solar panels on all new buildings","author":"Jason Livingston","date":"April 21, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"San Francisco\u00a0has this week passed landmark legislation requiring all new buildings under 10 storeys in height to be fitted with rooftop solar panels. The city\u2019s San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously passed the new rule on Tuesday, making the metropolis the largest in the US to mandate solar installations on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Codes"","block_context":{"text":"Codes","link":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?cat=5"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":231,"url":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?p=231","url_meta":{"origin":107,"position":5},"title":"DOE Updates Energy Conservation Requirements","author":"Jason Livingston","date":"October 16, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"On September 26, 2014 the U.S. Department of Energy\u00a0issued a determination that ANSI\/ASHRAE\/IES Standard 90.1-2013 would achieve greater energy efficiency in buildings subject to the code than the 2010 version. \u00a0The DOE analyses determined that the energy savings would be: 8.7% energy cost savings 8.5% source energy savings 7.6% site\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Codes"","block_context":{"text":"Codes","link":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?cat=5"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=107"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":108,"href":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107\/revisions\/108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}