19A — November 23 - December 6, 2012 — Green Buildings — Mid Atlantic Real Estate Journal
www.marejournal.com
Letter from the Executive Director
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
On behalf of the Board of Directors and Staff of USGBC NJ our thoughts and prayers are with all of you in the wake of the devastation of Sandy as we begin the recovery process and look towards the future. As stated by our National CEO: “At USGBC we’ve been talking a lot about resiliency this year, especially in the context of recovering from natural disasters such as we have just experienced with Sandy. It’s clear it doesn’t matter whether you are a big city or a small town, at the center of the world’s capital with all its infrastructure expertise and first-responder support or in an impoverished country like Haiti, where the storm also left its mark. We all are vulnerable. What gets us through is knowing that we have each other. And together we are working towards a built environment of the future that helps us make decisions that make us stronger and in the face of weather, may help us bounce back faster.”
BOARD OF DIRECTORS CHAIR Anastasia Harrison, AIA, LEED AP Gensler VICE CHAIR Wayne D. DeFeo, LEED AP DeFeo Associates TREASURER Ed Seliga Advanced Solar Products, Inc. SECRETARY RJ Donnelly, LEED AP Donnelly Industries, Inc. PAST CHAIR WilliamAmann, P.E., DCEP, LEEDAP M & E Engineers, Inc DIRECTORS David Cardella Cardella Waste Services Zach Gallagher, P.E., LEED AP NJ Meadowlands Comission Joe Porrovecchio, LEED AP, CRM Carbon-Key, LLC Paul Qvale, LEED AP Hillmann Group Lisa San Filippo, AIA, LEEDAP, BD&C Turner Construction Co. Faith Taylor Wyndham Worldwide Andrew Topinka, CPMR Technical Group Services, Inc Ed Walsh, P.E. The Walsh Company Gregg Woodruff, PP, AICP, LEED AP, BD&C Langan Engineering & Environmental Services, Inc. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Florence Block Alliance Environmental, LLC Bill Gates, LEED AP BD&C Hunt Construction Anthony Marano Marano Group, Inc. Brad Miller, P.E., P.P.
FLORENCE BLOCK
The recent report “Green Building and Climate Resilience” is very timely, and states:
USGBC has been active in addressing climate change since the early days of LEED. These efforts have focused on guiding green building professionals toward reducing the greenhouse gas emissions of a project, thus mitigating the contribution of the project to global climate change. However, world climate change experts such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have indicated that the world will almost certainly experience some degree of climate change no matter how quickly greenhouse gas emissions are reduced. This makes climate adaptation necessary. Because climate change is related to human behaviors, uncertainty remains around the degree of change and types of impact. As green building professionals, we need to understand the probable impacts of climate change on the built environment and to incorporate appropriate adaptation strategies into our practices so that the environments we design, build, and manage today will be suitable for a range of uncertain futures. While climate has always been integrated into the building professions, our codes, standards, and practices typically assume that the future will be similar to the past. Climate change requires that we update these codes, standards, and practices with the best available knowledge. Planning to adapt to the effects of climate change in the built environment involves first understanding how the regional climate is likely to change. Of even greater concern is the significant lack of work focused on connecting climate research with practice. While this report represents a first step towards bridging this gap, building professionals will need significant future guidance to address the sizable climate change challenge. USGBC NJ will continue our work with our National organization and work with our State leaders to effect codes and building practices that will strive to optimize our resiliency in tragic and sobering devastation that our region has just experienced and from which it will take years to recover.
Please visit the following link for more insights from “Green Building and Climate Resilience” http://www.usgbc.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=18538
There are many ways in which you can become involved in this very important work. We will be organizing a Resiliency Committee in the upcoming weeks and welcome you to join us. Additionally our Chapter candidate nominations for the
2013 USGBC NJ Board of Directors slate will be opening this week. Please contact us at: info@usgbcnj.org for more information.
Sincerely,
Florence Block LEED Green Associate Executive Director, USGBC NJ
Chapter Events 12/12/12 – Annual Holiday Party and Meet the Board Candidates, The Olde Mill Inn, 225 Route 202, Basking Ridge, NJ. 6 – 9pm.
20% of net proceeds to be donated to the Red Cross with a USGBC NJ Match.
For details on all USGBC-NJ events, visit www.usgbcnj.org
LEED Green Associate GENERAL COUNSEL Harry E. McLellan, Esq, LEED Green Associate
Number of New Jersey chapter members: Number of USGBC member Companies in NJ: Number of LEED Accredited Professionals in NJ:
1229
275
McLellan & Associates, LLC CHAPTER COORDINATOR Mary Ellen Garrigus Communications & Membership Coordinator Medea Villere ’ www.usgbcnj.org
3173
Number of LEED registered projects in NJ: Number of LEED certified projects in NJ:
424 192
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker