How executive orders advance green building

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, executive orders were mostly known in their federal context. However, in the past year, executive orders have come under increased scrutiny at the state level. Debates over coronavirus restrictions have made many state legislatures question executive powers. This year, at least five state legislatures have introduced bills meant to restrict the power of the executive order.

For example, In Indiana, a bill passed allowing the legislature to have oversight over declared states of emergency and other fiscal matters. The Kentucky legislature passed four bills restricting the governor’s powers. These restrictions on governors’ powers and stigmas around executive orders draw attention away from the benefits they often provide.

In the first five months of 2021, USGBC’s advocacy and policy team reviewed over 2,000 executive orders. Many of these executive orders do not just limit restaurant capacities and issue mask mandates—they appoint judges, lower flags to half-mast, and most important, institute initiatives and requirements related to green building and climate change. However, future restrictions on executive powers could limit future orders along these lines.

Some recent examples of executive orders advancing green building and climate goals:

https://www.usgbc.org/articles/how-executive-orders-advance-green-building

June 7, 2021September 22, 2021

From investors to regulators, and architects to educators, each of us has a role to play in combating climate change

Every morning, I like to read the “What’s News” section on the front page of the Wall Street Journal to get the day’s main takeaways, and then at night I’ll read through the full stories.

I’m quite interested in economics, technology and finance. After all, money is humanity’s universal language, and its power to influence change is unquestionable. Which is why I’m feeling increasingly optimistic for what’s becoming a growing trend: investments related to climate change mitigation.

Many central banks — the most powerful financial institutions in the world — are writing climate change policy directly into their mandates. Climate-related risks like rising sea levels, increasing wildfires and bigger storms, can interrupt the supply chain, leading to shortages and inflation. As a result, regulators are reaching beyond their traditional focus because now, climate change can directly impact inflation.

What makes this especially interesting to me is the interplay of regulations with markets, driving change through increasing accessibility of technological solutions. For example, take how a combination of batteries and renewable energy is disrupting the natural gas industry. Although less than 1% of America’s electricity market is currently made up of battery storage (compared to 38% of electricity coming from natural gas), batteries charged with wind and solar energy are becoming more and more affordable alleviating the time of day limitations of these energy sources. With prices coming down this combination becomes economically competitive with natural gas. Enabled by federal and private sector research and development over the past decades, this transition was led by states with clean energy policies and expanded by corporate climate commitments to the point where these solutions stand on their own in the market. As the Wall Street Journal notes, “even in Texas, a state with a fiercely competitive power market and no emissions mandates, scarcely any gas plants are under construction, while solar farms and batteries are growing fast.”

This “natural” market growth in clean energy is exciting to see, but is just the beginning of what is needed. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is now confidently saying that if we don’t make investments in renewables, batteries and modernizing the electric grid, then the financial impact will be extraordinary — reaching tens of trillions of dollars in the decades ahead.

https://www.usgbc.org/articles/investors-regulators-and-architects-educators-each-us-has-role-play-combating-climate

June 3, 2021September 22, 2021

The great indoors: Health-centric solutions as America goes back inside

As we emerge from the pandemic, health, equity and green building access will still be crucial opportunities.

As we begin to turn the corner on the pandemic in the U.S., state and local governments are easing restrictions and opening back up. As such, businesses are wondering how their reentry strategies will fare going forward. Will airlines maintain more flexible booking? Will telemedicine keep expanding? Will curbside or delivered meals be a staple of the future? It is a positive sign to be asking these questions, as other nations, unfortunately, still suffer through tragic outbreaks of COVID-19, including my home country of India.

At USGBC, GBCI and Arc, we shifted over a year ago to make clearer than ever our commitment to sustainability, health and wellness, resilience, and equity. “Healthy people in healthy places equals a healthy economy” became our mantra. We knew that business as usual within our organizations had to change. Not just because we could not convene at Greenbuild, but because the community we served suddenly had very different needs. When and how commercial offices would welcome back their people was a major consideration. And this year’s USGBC and GBCI community survey—perhaps expectedly—revealed that the people and organizations we serve want our help and support as it relates to confidence and trust when people reenter the office (or buildings, generally speaking).

In fact, the survey’s top issue ranked by our community for how USGBC and GBCI can help was indoor air quality and the health and well-being of individuals. These factors would not likely have been at the very top of the list before the pandemic—but we were quick to adapt, as needed.

June 1, 2021September 22, 2021

Real estate professionals: Explore health-promoting building strategies

Healthy indoor environments are a necessity in today’s real estate market.

Through its influence on the design, construction and operation of buildings, the real estate industry is well suited to improving public health. Green builders, in particular, are becoming more widely recognized for their contributions to occupant health, as well as for their contributions to climate change mitigation.

Now, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and through the recently released Research Anthology of Health-Promoting Building Strategies, USGBC invites you to learn more about specific design strategies that can significantly improve occupant health.

Real estate professionals might say that a major justification for pursuing LEED certification, or any other approach to green building, has long been to minimize a structure’s operational costs through reductions in energy, water and waste. Less widely investigated is the positive impact that green buildings can have on human health. In each LEED rating system, positive outcomes related to health and wellness are enabled through credits directly related to the construction of healthy indoor environments.

With the new research anthology, real estate professionals can readily access a wide selection of healthy buildings research, articles and strategies to enhance their knowledge on these topics. They can then better identify and understand the sources of indoor pollutants and their potential health effects.

Today, being prepared to effectively justify and implement strategies for health and wellness in our buildings can prove valuable to people employed in all facets of real estate. Demand is growing, and the opportunity to pursue related strategies has never been greater.

https://www.usgbc.org/articles/real-estate-professionals-explore-health-promoting-building-strategies