See all forum discussions about Green Commons

Subscribe to new posts about Green Commons Post a new question aboutGreen Commons

Forum discussion

Advocacy Opportunity: Seeking AEC Firm support for White House's ZERO Emissions Building Definition V1

Clark Brockman

Owner

Brockman Climate Strategies

LEEDuser Basic Member

0 thumbs up

December 9, 2023

Greetings to the Green Commons!

Those of you who attended Greenbuild may remember that during one of the keynotes, Ali Zaidi - White House National Climate Advisor, announced that the White House was developing a definition for "Zero Emissions Buildings" (here’s a [LINK] to a related Washington Post article). The draft language for the definition is included for your review at the end of this post in italics.

You will see that the definition is quite broad, short on specifics, and is currently focused on major operational emissions only. Which means it is missing a bunch of things that we know matter a lot to you all. Fear not! The White House is well aware of these concerns, and plans to address them over time, as our industry gets more clarity on the reporting mechanisms for challenging criteria like embodied carbon and refrigerants. The White House and the DOE are consulting with multiple stakeholder groups on the definition, and are planning on evolving the definition over time.

The White House (and/or the DOE) is scheduled to issue an RFI at the end of this week (~12/15) that will be seeking public comment on the definition, and they are hoping for strong industry support.

This is where we come in...

A small group of us Green Commoners (Jean Caroon, Anne Hicks Harney, Luke Leung, Kjell Anderson, Chris Hellstern, and myself) along with Tim Lock of OPAL Architecture and Kira Gould have developed an industry Statement of Support for the definition, and we are hoping that as many of your firms as possible will want to sign on in support!

Logistics:
We will be finalizing and formatting the document on Friday, January 5, 2024, and it will go out for public release sometime on the week of January 8th, so you have just under a month to secure any approvals you need within your firm in order for you to provide us with:

An individual and their title (presumably many of you)
your firm's name and logo
a ball park estimate of how many square feet of design/construction your firm touches each year
a ball park estimate of the gross construction costs for that square footage (if possible)

We ask that you drop this information at the end of the document, as you'll see that a few of us have already done. When we finalize the formatting, we will list all signatory firms in alphabetical order, and we will tabulate the estimated s.f. and construction cost numbers for inclusion in the statement.

Thank you for considering joining this advocacy effort!

Kjell Anderson (LMN)
Clark Brockman (Brockman Climate Strategies)
Jean Caroon (Goody Clancy)
Kira Gould (Kira Gould Connect)
Chris Hellstern (Miller Hull)
Anne Hicks Harney (Long Green Specs)
Luke Leung (SOM)
Tim Lock (OPAL Architecture)

----------------------------------

Draft White House definition for a zero emissions building:

An operational zero emissions building is one that has been verified to be:

Highly energy efficient,
Free of on-site energy emissions from normal building operation energy use, and
Powered solely from renewable energy sources (directly or through market mechanisms).

Criteria Details

An operational zero emissions building is one that has been verified to be:

Highly energy efficient:
The existing building's energy performance places it among the top 25% most efficient similar buildings in the market, based on measured energy use. A verified ENERGY STAR score of 75 or higher or measured energy use intensity (EUI) at least 35% better than median EUI (for buildings ineligible for the ENERGY STAR score) meets these criteria.
The new building's energy use is at least 10% lower than the energy use according to the latest model code.
Free of on-site emissions from normal building operation energy use (not including emergency generator emission, transportation to and from the building, etc., but includes on site only electrical vehicle usage, e.g. forklifts).
The building's direct greenhouse gas emissions from on site energy use equal zero.
Powered solely from clean energy (directly or through market mechanisms):
100% of the building's energy is from renewable sources (which can include any combination of onsite generation and carbon-free electricity with a power purchase that includes retiring renewable electricity certificates to achieve net zero, see page 2)

The National Definition of an operational Zero Energy Emissions Building (Version 1.00) is focused solely on operating emissions. It may be expanded in future versions to include other important criteria, like embodied carbon, as the market develops, e.g. A Zero-emission building

A Zero-emission building is one that has been verified to be:

Highly efficient in both embodied and operational emissions
Free or minimized on-site direct GHG emissions, including refrigerant and other fugitive GHGs
Powered solely from renewable energy sources (directly or through market mechanisms) and use offset as the last resort to achieve net zero emissions

Documentation through ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager

In the future, EPA's ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager will enable existing commercial buildings, including multifamily, to document that they meet the National Definition of a Zero-Emissions Building.

---------------------------------

Post a reply

Sarah Gudeman

Principal | Practice Lead

BranchPattern

LEEDuser Premium Member

6 thumbs up

Sun, 12/10/2023 - 21:25

Thanks Clark & All for organizing and communicating the call to action! We're circling the wagons internally over here and will report back.

Kim Shinn

Executive Principal and Senior Wizard

TLC Engineering Solutions

LEEDuser Premium Member

62 thumbs up

Mon, 12/11/2023 - 20:34

Just want to mention that there is a consensus-approved ANSI standard for "Zero Net Energy and Zero Net Carbon Building Performance" - ASHRAE Standard 228-2022. I know, I know - it's an ASHRAE Standard, so there aren't nearly enough pictures, but it is an ANSI standard, having gone through consensus review and approval.

Monica Chhatwani

Decarbonization Program Leader

DPR Construction

LEEDuser Basic Member

0 thumbs up

Tue, 12/12/2023 - 13:47

Clark & all, Thanks for initiating this! Is there an opportunity to add a stronger recommendation for inclusion of Embodied carbon in the Net Zero definition the near future- maybe replace the "can embrace" with "should/ we recommend?". I'd love to leverage this to advocate for embodied carbon inclusion (as we all know that it's important to get to true zero) and feels like this would be a good opportunity to do that. My comment refers to the below statement as it stands in letter right now:
In the future, the definition can be refined to embrace (Suggestion: should be refined to include Embodied carbon, refrigerants) Scope 3 and other emissions related to real estate as measurement and verification of these emissions becomes more standardized.

Clark Brockman

Owner

Brockman Climate Strategies

LEEDuser Basic Member

0 thumbs up

Tue, 12/12/2023 - 17:51

Thanks Kim - The White House and DOE are already consulting with ASHRAE so we're hoping that they stay coordinated as the definition and the standards evolve.

Clark Brockman

Owner

Brockman Climate Strategies

LEEDuser Basic Member

0 thumbs up

Tue, 12/12/2023 - 17:55

Hi Monica - thanks for the comment. As I noted in my intro for this, the V1 definition does not have everything that everyone wants to see, but it's a beginning. With embodied carbon in particular, I know for a fact that the White House has heard people's concerns and desires, but they want to wait until the industry is more aligned around measurement and reporting, which will begin to be addressed early next year when the ECHO project publishes their V1 reporting standard. Once industry is more aligned around that, we think that the White House will update their definition to include embodied carbon.

Pauline Souza

Partner, Sustainability Director

WRNS Studio

LEEDuser Basic Member

0 thumbs up

Wed, 12/13/2023 - 23:12

Done!

Clark Brockman

Owner

Brockman Climate Strategies

LEEDuser Basic Member

0 thumbs up

Thu, 12/14/2023 - 01:33

[like] Clark Brockman reacted to your message:

Mark Kelly

Associate Principal, Director of Sustainability

BAR Architects

LEEDuser Premium Member

0 thumbs up

Thu, 12/14/2023 - 02:54

Done as well! Thanks for organizing this.

Margaret Montgomery

Principal

NBBJ Architects

LEEDuser Premium Member

34 thumbs up

Sat, 12/16/2023 - 01:42

Done!

Dan Piselli

Director of Sustainability, Senior Associate

FXCollaborative

LEEDuser Basic Member

1 thumbs up

Mon, 12/18/2023 - 19:42

Piled on! Dan Piselli, AIA, LEED AP, CPHD Director of Sustainability, Principal FXCollaborative Architects LLP D +1 646 292 8137 | T +1 212 627 1700

Kristy M. Walson

Practice Lead | Analytics Department Lead

BranchPattern

LEEDuser Premium Member

2 thumbs up

Tue, 12/19/2023 - 18:27

Thanks for coordinating this Clark! I just added BranchPattern to the letter.

Heather DeGrella

Sustainable Design Director, Associate Principal

Opsis Architecture

LEEDuser Premium Member

54 thumbs up

Tue, 12/19/2023 - 20:46

Opsis is added.. thanks! Heather DeGrella AIA, LEED Fellow, Fitwel Ambassador, EAC-PS, | (she / her / hers) Associate Principal | Sustainable Design Director Registered architect in Oregon [cid:opsis_rgb_blue_1c67de12-b325-4318-95e7-0704d8f48949.png] Architecture, Interiors & Planning 920 NW 17th Avenue, Portland, OR 97209 o 503.525.9511 d 503.943.6228 w opsisarch.com

Kjell Anderson

Director of Sustainable Design

LMN Architects

LEEDuser Basic Member

4 thumbs up

Tue, 12/19/2023 - 20:57

I count about 350 million sf so far, not including Payette and SOM that didn’t report total GSF numbers. Not bad! -Kjell F

Clark Brockman

Owner

Brockman Climate Strategies

LEEDuser Basic Member

0 thumbs up

Thu, 12/21/2023 - 19:04

Hi everyone - We're up to 30 firms so far, which is great, but I know that there are a lot more firms represented on the Green Commons, including Contractors and Engineers! So this is just a friendly reminder, before you head out for the holidays, to consider doing what you need to do to get your firm's approval to have you sign and include the firm's logo on this advocacy statement - the more the merrier!
Happy Holidays to all!
Clark

Angi Rivera

Director of Sustainability

Sellen Construction

LEEDuser Premium Member

1 thumbs up

Tue, 12/26/2023 - 15:50

Signed! Thanks so much for elading this effort. Happy Holidays, everyone! Angi

Adam Jennings

Director of Energy & Sustainability

AHA Consulting Engineers

LEEDuser Basic Member

0 thumbs up

Fri, 12/29/2023 - 16:28

Looks great! AHA just signed. Happy Holidays everyone!

Kaitlin Veenstra

Associate Director of Architecture - Sustainability

Ryan Companies US, Inc.

LEEDuser Basic Member

0 thumbs up

Tue, 01/02/2024 - 22:03

Thanks for organizing! I've just signed on behalf of Ryan's A+E group, but am having trouble getting the logo pasted in. Clark, can I send to you in a message and you can insert? -Kaity

Clark Brockman

Owner

Brockman Climate Strategies

LEEDuser Basic Member

0 thumbs up

Tue, 01/02/2024 - 23:45

Hi Kaity, Yes, feel free to send me Ryan's title, email and the logo, and I will drop it in. My email address is: clark@brockmanclimatestrategies.com. Thanks! Clark

Jesse Walton

Associate Principal

Mahlum

LEEDuser Basic Member

6 thumbs up

Wed, 01/03/2024 - 16:59

Exciting to see our Executive Branch acknowledge the need for a national definition on Zero (operational) Emissions to reduce confusion and greenwashing. Any idea when the RFI will be released?

John Hyde

Chapman Construction / Design

LEEDuser Basic Member

0 thumbs up

Wed, 01/03/2024 - 17:47

Thanks all and Happy New Year. Chapman Construction is onboard.

Emily Purcell

Sustainable Design Lead

CannonDesign

LEEDuser Expert

379 thumbs up

Wed, 01/03/2024 - 19:09

Just got a notification about the RFI, it's posted here as well as a feedback form: https://www.energy.gov/eere/buildings/national-definition-zero-emissions-building

Anne Hicks Harney

Founder and Principal

Long Green Specs

LEEDuser Basic Member

0 thumbs up

Wed, 01/03/2024 - 21:37

Thanks to everyone who has signed on to the letter so far. It has been made super clear to all of us that have been working on this issue for the last 6 months, that what will most help the White House with this effort is press - lots of press. Heather Clark, the Director for Building Emissions for the White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy, has made this crystal clear to us. This began as an AIA Strategic Council effort and it resulted in an AIA Press release that went out shortly after the Greenbuild announcement. But we need more press, so the plan is to release this letter of support to multiple press outlets, in an effort to get word out and people talking about it. The hope is that these outlets will pick up the story, and interview Heather to get additional information (subtle hint/nudge BuildingGreen). The full notification, with added info is below: Thank you for your interest in the development of a National Definition for a Zero Emissions Building. DOE’s Building Technologies Office (BTO) has released a Request for Information (RFI) to solicit feedback from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders on part 1 of this draft definition. Responses to this RFI will help to develop a National Definition for a Zero Emissions Building that will serve as a clear market signal and consistent target, backed by measurable data, that is intended to help move the building sector to zero emissions. Please see the full announcement below for additional information.

Part 1 of the draft definition in full is available here: https://www.energy.gov/eere/buildings/national-definition-zero-emissions-building.
Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to https://forms.office.com/g/Y0Ss3UFdL3, no later than 5:00 pm (ET) on February 5, 2024.

Clark Brockman

Owner

Brockman Climate Strategies

LEEDuser Basic Member

0 thumbs up

Fri, 01/05/2024 - 18:56

Hi Everyone - First we'd like to thank everyone who has already signed for participating in this effort - we are up to 58 firms so far, which is great! We're going to keep the document open today for any firms who want to sign on in the remaining hours. (After all, the AEC industry is famous for what we can get done at the last minute!) Also, I want to update you on the Statement.

With so many firms participating, the inclusion of logos has become impracticable, so we won't be including them.
We appreciate the estimates of square footage and dollar volumes that were provided, but given that we have architects, engineers and contractors all signing, some of whom share clients and projects, totalling the number will produce some double counting. so we've shifted to the unspecific, but defensible statement of:
"The signatories of this statement represent numerous Architecture, Engineering and General Contracting firms in the United States that design and construct many millions of square feet of projects annually that represent hundreds of millions in annual real estate investment."
The statement will get released next week, and when it does, we'll post the relvant links back in this thread so that each of your firms can amplify the statement with your firm's social media.

If you haven't signed yet, it's not too late, please join the group! Thanks again for all of each of your efforts and support!

Kjell Anderson (LMN)
Clark Brockman (Brockman Climate Strategies)
Jean Caroon (Goody Clancy)
Kira Gould (Kira Gould Connect)
Chris Hellstern (Miller Hull)
Anne Hicks Harney (Long Green Specs)
Luke Leung (SOM)
Tim Lock (OPAL Architecture)

Kjell Anderson

Director of Sustainable Design

LMN Architects

LEEDuser Basic Member

4 thumbs up

Fri, 01/05/2024 - 19:45

Sounds good, Clark. I think it’d be more accurate for $billions in annual real estate development. With only 2-3M sf a year, our project totals are near a billion construction dollars some years. I’d guess that the larger firms here easily design construction spends in the billions annually. Fro

Christopher Colasanti

Associate Partner

Jaros Baum & Bolles

LEEDuser Basic Member

0 thumbs up

Fri, 01/05/2024 - 20:29

JB&B added!

Clark Brockman

Owner

Brockman Climate Strategies

LEEDuser Basic Member

0 thumbs up

Fri, 01/05/2024 - 21:04

Thanks Kjell, agreed! I have made that change in the statement.

Tamar Warburg

Director of Sustainability

Sasaki Associates

LEEDuser Premium Member

0 thumbs up

Fri, 01/05/2024 - 21:13

Sasaki added! Thanks to all. Tamar – Tamar Warburg Director of Sustainability c: +1 617 835 0690 sasaki.com @SasakiDesign On Fri, Jan 5, 2024 at 3:42 PM Christopher Colasanti < no-reply@buildinggreen.com> wrote:

Z Smith

Principal | Director of Sustainability & Building Performance

Eskew+Dumez+Ripple

LEEDuser Premium Member

4 thumbs up

Fri, 01/05/2024 - 21:34

"You can't get alterations on a coat you haven't bought."
EskewDumezRipple has signed.

Indu Chakravarthy

RMW Architecture and Interiors

LEEDuser Basic Member

0 thumbs up

Sat, 01/06/2024 - 03:32

Could you please keep the doc open over the weekend till Monday? Holidays and vacations have meant slower communications. Thanks! Indu On Fri, Jan 5, 2024, 14:02 Z Smith wrote:

Clark Brockman

Owner

Brockman Climate Strategies

LEEDuser Basic Member

0 thumbs up

Sat, 01/06/2024 - 18:42

Hi Indu - We can keep it open Until Monday morning. Also, it's worth noting, to sign, you now only need to provide the company name, and then the name, title and email address for the person signing. Thanks - Clark

Indu Chakravarthy

RMW Architecture and Interiors

LEEDuser Basic Member

0 thumbs up

Mon, 01/08/2024 - 19:33

Thank you for keeping access open. RMW has signed :)

Clark Brockman

Owner

Brockman Climate Strategies

LEEDuser Basic Member

0 thumbs up

Mon, 01/08/2024 - 21:32

Hi everyone - We got up to 69 Signatories - thanks to all of you! We're now closing the list so that we can finalize the doc and get it posted. I will update you all (here in the Green Commons forum) once it's live so that evryone's firms can amplify the posting in social media. Thanks again! Clark

Anne Hicks Harney

Founder and Principal

Long Green Specs

LEEDuser Basic Member

0 thumbs up

Wed, 01/10/2024 - 15:06

It is now official - The statement went out as a press release this morning (10 January). Here’s the link to the release: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/built-environment-firms-support-national-definition-of-zero-emissions-buildings-302030674.html?tc=eml_cleartime THANK YOU to the organizers (Tim Lock, Anne Hicks Harney, Jean Carroon, Clark Brockman, Kjell Anderson, and Luke Leung) … and to the 69 firms and organizations that signed the statement of support. And Thanks to Kira Gould for all of her help with this, she coordinated the release, and has provided the following: Here are templates for sharing on social media … (you can adapt for IG with “link in bio” language): Longer (for LinkedIn) We at XXXFIRMNAME enthusiastically support the White House’s newly released definition of zero-emissions buildings. Definitions matter -- we have to have shared understanding that enables market confidence. We are proud to be part of this coalition of firms, which together represent billions of dollars of real estate and construction spending annually. Thank you, @Heather T. Clark and @The White House Climate Policy Office, for your leadership. Learn more here: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/built-environment-firms-support-national-definition-of-zero-emissions-buildings-302030674.html?tc=eml_cleartime #ZeroEmissionsBuildings #ClimateActionByDesign (or repost with comment Kira Gould’s post on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/posts/kiragould_built-environment-firms-support-national-activity-7150858323490164736-r_84?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop) Shorter (for X) We at XXXFIRMNAME support the White House’s newly released definition of zero-emissions buildings. Thank you, @Heather T. Clark and the White House Climate Policy Office for your leadership. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/built-environment-firms-support-national-definition-of-zero-emissions-buildings-302030674.html?tc=eml_cleartime #ZeroEmissionsBuildings #ClimateActionByDesign (or repost with comment Kira Gould’s post on X - see @KiraGould)