USGBC

This book changed my life! I’ve aged 14 years and my IQ has dropped 27 points. It’s a bitch. Essentially a code document, this should only be referenced, not read (it should be “used” in the parlance of my friend Sean)…but, of course, we have to for this insane exam. The exciting content inside is well-conveyed by the photo on the book’s cover. Here we see some plump, middle-aged Realtor Association president in suit and tie with the US Capitol in the background. You just know strangulation via red tape awaits. One could imagine a velvet painting version as the ultimate cult icon for technocrats.

Admittedly it’s written and organized well, with the exception of a peculiar, typo-riddled paragraph on page 167 where they m ust haveexp erienced earthqu aketrem ors. Otherwise it has a boring consistency that was somewhat refreshing after recently trudging through nine Kaplan study guides for the ARE. Coming in at a whopping 422 pages, this still somehow manages to elide one of the four topic areas of the exam called “Implement LEED Process.” But that’s ok – you should utilize the strategy of answering all options that outline how much money you have to pay USGCB and forgoing any options that mention USGBC customer support. That put me at 80%. It’s all very Inside-the-Beltway after all.

More importantly, if you think reading this book will teach you something about sustainable design, then you would be mistaken. This is simply about checklist-architecture: Bicycle storage – one point. Reusing 75% of a building - one point. Never having to read this crap again – priceless.… (mere)

featuring:
Ray Anderson, Chief Executive Officer, Interface, Inc., Janine Benyus, Biologist & Author, Biomimicry, Paul Hawken, Entrepreneur & Author, Ecology of Commerce, Natural Capitalism, with introductory remarks by S. Richard Fedrizzi, President, CEO and Founding Chairman, USGBC.
(from USGBC: http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=300)
"The green building movement is still talking about the morning of November 9, 2005, when three of the movement’s most inspirational leaders came together for Greenbuild’s opening plenary session. In a joint address, Ray Anderson, Janine Benyus and Paul Hawken shared their unique and powerful visions for a sustainable future, creating one of the most memorable moments in Greenbuild’s—and USGBC’s—history. Strategies for Sustaining the Sustainable Building Movement recaptures this seminal moment, which many attendees considered the highlight of the conference.

Available from USGBC: http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=300… (mere)

Available from USGBC: http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=174

LEED-CI v2.0 Reference Guide
The LEED-CI Reference Guide is a users manual that navigates a project from registration through successful certification of a high-performance green interior. It is written specifically to give power for making sustainable choices to tenants and designers, who do not always have control over whole building operations. The LEED-CI Reference Guide includes detailed information, resources and standards for the credits covered in the LEED for Commercial Interiors Rating System Version 2.0. For each credit, the LEED-CI Reference Guide provides the following information:

* Overview and points per credit
* Documentation requirements
* Summary of reference standard (where applicable)
* Environmental importance
* Recommended design strategies and technologies
* Potential design synergies and trade-offs
* Economics (where available)
* Calculation methods and formulas
* Resources and definitions… (mere)