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EPA and Green Building

EPA and Green Building. Environmental Technology Council Ken Sandler October 7, 2004. Buildings & The Environment. Buildings and development have a huge impact on health and the environment: Over 40% of energy use (including about two-thirds of all electricity use)

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EPA and Green Building

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  1. EPA and Green Building Environmental Technology Council Ken Sandler October 7, 2004

  2. Buildings & The Environment • Buildings and development have a huge impact on health and the environment: • Over 40% of energy use (including about two-thirds of all electricity use) • Nearly 15% of greenhouse gas emissions • Nearly 15% of all freshwater use • Over 37% of all non-industrial waste • About 90% of people’s time is spent indoors, where pollutants may be 2-100 times higher than outdoors.

  3. Defining Green Building • Increasing the efficiency with which buildings and their sites use energy, water, and materials, • and reducing building impacts on human health and the environment, • through better siting, design, construction, operation, maintenance, and removal—the complete building life cycle.

  4. EPA Green Building Programs • Includes: • Energy Star • Indoor Environments • Water Use Efficiency • Greening EPA • Environmentally Preferable Purchasing • Construction & Demolition Debris • Construction Sector • Brownfields • Smart Growth • Heat Islands • Etc.!!

  5. EPA Green Building Workgroup • Founded July 2003 • Mission: EPA leadership on green building based on jointly informing, coordinating & guiding development of EPA policies, programs, partnerships, communications and operations that influence building and development • Intranet site http://intranet.epa.gov/oppt/gbw-intra includes Workgroup Charter, Minutes, etc. • Internet site www.epa.gov/greenbuilding includes links to EPA building programs • Management champion: Bill Sanders, Director, OCHP. Co-chairs, Ken Sandler, OAR & Alison Kinn Bennett, OPPTS

  6. Other Players in Green Building • U.S. Green Building Council and the LEED rating system • Currently over 5000 organizations in USGBC • Nearly 1500 buildings (over 18 million square feet) registered under LEED • Interagency Sustainability Working Group • Working to green Federal buildings and coordinate Federal policies and messages

  7. Sources of Federal Green Building Research • DOE & its labs, e.g. National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL) • NIST Building and Fire Research Lab • USDA Forest Products Lab • ORD, e.g., Indoor Environ. Mgmt. Branch • Natl. Research Council -- Federal Facilities Council

  8. Examples of Green Building Technologies • Green roofs • Energy Star products and buildings • Low-flow water fixtures • Low-VOC products • Permeable pavement • Underfloor air distribution systems • Plastic lumber decking • Photovoltaics

  9. Green Building Technology Needs • Advanced HVAC (heating, ventilation, air-conditioning) systems • Zero-energy buildings • Affordable technologies (e.g., fuel cells) • Systems integration / Smart Buildings • More sustainable building products (non-toxic, bio-based, recyclable, etc.) • More research on health, productivity and economic effects • Better measurement, verification, commissioning • Life-cycle analysis databases, standards & tools

  10. Relevance to the Environmental Technology Council • Green building: • Responds to significant health and environmental impacts, • Represents an economic sector with room for growth and improvement, • Relies on, and demands, innovative technologies and solutions, • Requires coordination across offices and environmental media, • Represents opportunities to work with enthusiastic partners.

  11. Discussion • Questions? • How can the Green Building Workgroup and the Environmental Technology Council help and support each other? • Which green building technology issues seem to represent the best opportunities for ETC involvement? • Next steps?

  12. For More Information Alison Kinn Bennett kinn.alison@epa.gov Tel: 202-564-8859 Fax: 202-564-8899 OPPTS/Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Program Mail code: 7409M Ken Sandler sandler.ken@epa.gov Tel: 202-343-9607 Fax: 202-343-2394 OAR/Indoor Environments Division Mail code: 6609J

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