Page 377 - The Engineering Guide to LEED-New Construction Sustainable Construction for Engineers

338 Cha pte r Ei g h t

• Additional information
• Certification

Additional information about the use of GreenFormat can be found at www.
greenformat.com.

Education
Recent research has shown that increased familiarity with the LEED system is one of
the major factors in improving performance and the cost-effectiveness of green
building. The two major components of this are experience with the system and education
about the system. Several universities across the country have set the standard with
green building, making commitments to using the LEED rating system for all new
campus construction. At the University of South Carolina in Columbia, it was shown
that this commitment had a significant positive impact on the familiarity of the various
stakeholders in the area. A study also showed that regions of the state where universities
and colleges had forged ahead with green building initiatives also became pockets of
additional sustainable construction. Both experience and continual education are
important.
The USGBC offers many workshops on the rating system and the various guidances.
In addition, many facilities have been built that are becoming showcases for various
sustainable alternatives. Some examples in South Carolina are the West Quad, Learning
Center, at the University of South Carolina (see Fig. 2.7.3), the Sustainable Interiors
Showcase at Fort Jackson in Columbia, and the Edisto Interpretive Center at Edisto
Beach. The Southface Energy Institute in Atlanta, Georgia, and the Rocky Mountain
Institute in Old Snowmass, Colorado, are both national showcases and offer a range
of educational opportunities. On a federal level, in addition to the resources
previously mentioned from the Department of Defense (DoD) there is the Office of
the Federal Environmental Executive (OFFE) where additional resources have been
collated and also documented in a report entitled The Federal Commitment to Green
Building: Experiences and Expectations (http://www.ofee.gov/sb/fgb_report.html) and
of course the EPA websites for the various environmental concerns, including a website
devoted to green buildings (http://www.epa.gov/greenbuilding/).
As mentioned in Chap. 1, there is also a movement among higher education
presidents and faculty to incorporate sustainability education into the curriculum. It is
particularly important to add sustainability concepts to the tools that engineers use for
future designs and innovations.

References *
Bilec, M., and R. Ries (2007), “Preliminary Study of Green Design and Project Delivery
Methods in the Public Sector,” Journal of Green Building, Spring, 2(2): 151–160.
CSI (2004), The Project Resource Manual—CSI Manual of Practice, 5th ed., Construction
Specifications Institute, Alexandria, VA.
CSI (2006), “Supporting Sustainability with GreenFormat,” The Construction Specifier,
59(12), accessed at http://www.csinet.org/s_csi/docs/13700/13644.pdf, July 26,
2007.

∗ Standards are as previously referenced in Chaps. 2 through 7.