“ I see green building as a market rather than an environmental movement...”
- Christine Ervin

Christine Ervin is a nationally respected leader and spokesperson on market-based strategies for green buildings, clean energy and climate change. She speaks, writes and consults on two of the most promising market trends of our time: greening the built environment and clean energy. She also focuses on how these markets are pivotal to tackling what may be the greatest challenge of our times: climate change.

Ervin was the first President and CEO of the U.S. Green Building Council—home of LEED® and Greenbuild™. She was U.S. Assistant Secretary of Energy overseeing $1 billion in annual investments for clean energy and served as Director of the innovative Oregon Department of Energy.

Today, as President of Christine Ervin/Company, Christine draws upon her diverse experience inside and beyond the Beltway to focus on one goal: accelerating sustainable market transformation. The Ashkin Group recently interviewed Ervin about the future of the U.S. green building movement:

The Ashkin Group: Looking ahead, where do you think the green building movement is going?

Ervin: I see green building as a market rather than an environmental movement per se.  In fact, that’s what makes green building so potent and durable: it’s driven by a host of factors beyond and including environmental—economic, market competitiveness, recruiting employees, health and well-being.

As for the future, the green market has already entered mainstream and is now redefining what high performance means.  McGraw Hill estimated LEED market penetration for the commercial market at two percent in 2004 and forecast 5-10 percent market-share by 2010.  Given the array of new LEED products for different sectors, I predict it will soon reach the upper limit and businesses watching from the sidelines will be scrambling to get into the game. 

 

The Ashkin Group: What will be the major drivers of the green building environmental movement in the short and long terms?

Ervin: In the short term, the sheer diversity of drivers will continue to drive growth.  Four drivers, however, stand out for their increasing weight. 

First, workplace productivity.  We know that 80% of a building’s costs over time are for the people inside—swamping costs to build, operate and maintain the structure.  We also know from an expanding array of research that healthy indoor air, ventilation and daylight can produce meaningful differences in worker well-being and productivity. As competition for a shrinking supply of labor heats up, a superior work environment will become increasingly important in recruiting and retaining top talent. 

Second, economic incentives.  Developers will see an expanding array of economic incentives in the form of expedited permitting, zoning exceptions, tax credits.  But I’m particularly interested in “deep” market signals like the new green building initiative recently launched by Fireman’s Fund.  Not only are they offering reduced premiums for certified buildings, Fireman’s is putting money on the table to help rebuild damaged structures to green standards and to encourage commissioning.  Historically, the insurance industry has been the impetus behind many fire and building codes in order to minimize losses. So this initiative is a good indicator of where the building industry is going. 

Third, energy security.  We have an increasingly fragile and expensive energy infrastructure that is simply not designed for the 21st century. And a dangerous one when you factor in imported oil.  So the trend toward buildings and neighborhoods that are low-energy, zero energy and net energy will only increase. 

And then there is climate change.  In the past 18 months, the debate has shifted from questions over the science to what we’re actually going to do about it and when.  Part of that shift reflects the stunning accumulation of data that emerged in 2005—particularly the acceleration of ice loss at the poles.  Suddenly, there was a heightened sense of urgency.  And as a result, the buildings sector emerged as a prime opportunity.  Not only because of their contribution to emissions—48 percent through energy use and imbedded energy—but because the green building market proves that dramatic reductions are imminently possible and affordable.  

The old argument that cutting emissions puts a serious drag on the economy is simply uninformed.  In fact, it’s backwards.  We’ll pay much more if we delay action further.  And we’ll benefit more by accelerating green building practices here and overseas.  So, look to organizations like the AIA, USGBC and ASHRAE to make climate change a top priority.  And, hopefully, to offer coordinated strategies to support governors and mayors across the country trying to take action. 

 

The Ashkin Group: What should facilities managers look and prepare for as a result of these coming changes? 

Ervin: I cannot over-emphasize the role that facility managers will play as these other drivers heat up. What’s the key difference between a building designed for high performance and one that actually delivers?  More often than not, it’s when facility managers have an opportunity to help inform building design and in their ongoing operation of the facility. That means having the tools and financial support to deliver high performance.  (And to track carbon emissions for trading in what I hope will emerge quickly in a carbon cap and trade market here in the U.S.)

The schools arena is a perfect example of why this matters so much.  Today, we have  epidemic levels of asthma in children.  We also know that healthy indoor air—through proper choice of materials and operations—can reduce such illnesses.  And, at the same time, growing evidence that many of those same factors help boost learning capacity.  Its not that often that building professionals have such a tangible opportunity to enhance the success of the next generation like this.   

 

The Ashkin Group: What do you mean by tools? 

Ervin: Access to rapidly evolving information about high performance products and practices.  Financial software that can help demonstrate the value of green facility management to CFOs and other decision-makers.  Anything that gets the facility manager into decisions that affect the efficiency and effectiveness of ongoing operations.   

 

The Ashkin Group: What do you believe are the biggest barriers to the success of the green building movement?  

Ervin: Most of them all revolve around real and perceived cost issues.  Turner Construction conducted a survey of industry executives in 2004 that showed that most expected a premium ranging from 14 to 20 percent.  But several studies tell a different story.  In fact, the Davis Langdon study of 150 buildings found no statistical difference between green and non-green construction costs.  Besides, many projects just don’t have extra money for their projects—they find ways to work within their budget.  We even have a couple of Platinum buildings today that cost no more than conventional ore very close to it despite being 60 percent more energy efficient. 

I’ve long advocated the notion of giving a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) innovation credit for projects that supply cost and productivity data. That would certainly accelerate the learning process and help us better understand true cost issues.  Besides, if we thought about building performance the same way we did about performance features in the cars we buy, any perceived cost barrier would likely disappear overnight. 

Another barrier is the continued use of first costs to drive investment decisions rather than life cycle costs.  Which is only exacerbated by market prices which don’t attach full costs to different energy supplies.  Just think of the acceleration we’d see if subsidies were eliminated for carbon-based fuels and we actually put those investments in clean energy and green technologies. 

Christine Ervin is President of Christine Ervin/Company. For more information visit www.christineervin.com or email Ervin at: info@christineervin.com. Christine Ervin’s forthcoming book, "Certified Green: How Unlikely Allies are Transforming Markets around the World," examines the recent explosion of voluntary market-based programs to protect the environment.