Living LEED Edition No.2: Water, Water everywhere or is it?!

This is a guide for LEED accredited professionals and eco-conscious individuals on how to apply the LEED credit scorecard to their personal lives.

This edition is a topic of much discussion: Water Reduction. We are all criminals in our over usage of water. Me, I am just as guilty. It's a cold early Spring day as I write this. I really enjoy a long hot shower. Who doesn't?! But how do you check and balance this is the heart of this discussion.

LEED across the various disciplines dictates our projects reduce its water usage by at least 20%. When you score higher percentages, for instance 30, 35 or 40, you get more credit points. We know how to achieve this: by metering, timed water usage, low to no flow toilets and more. As you know these formulas are based on men and women using toilet rooms "X" times a day. Come on LEED, let's get real! Not use the mean average! If you drink multiple cups of coffee a day, are you really holding it in and going about 3 times a day. I highly doubt it! In my interpretation, the credit is a minimum of what we should be doing on the job.

At home there is little chance of us ripping out our old faucets and installing new proximity sensor faucets. Usually we install a low flow toilet. Yet how many people have really installed aerators on their sink and shower faucets. I dare say many people love a pulsating water massage! Which is a water hog. No pun intended! So how do we get water usage reduced at home when we can or cannot replace fixtures? The answer is a major culture shift in our habits. One we have to practice no just at home but at work.

Get your water bills for the past year and create log of how much you use. Notice any variations. These could be time of year, a vacation or maybe you forgo showers at home for the ones at the gym! My lifestyle is already blissfully spartan even with 2 dogs. And these boys drink a lot of water. Yet my bill never goes above the minimum. I know by reviewing my bills and watching my water habits, I've drastically reduced my water consumption. By how much? I wish I could know. But when the city only charges you baseline, then you have nothing it to compare to.  

The keys to home Water Reduction and Consumption are simple: Reduce and Re-use. If there are children in the house it will be a challenge but one the kids will probably have fun doing. For us adults, it's changing our mindset. I've composed a list of things to help shift our Water Hog mentality. Many most of you will know. This list won't be pretty but neither is waste or wasting water. Clean water might not be an issue here in New England but I am waiting for the dam to break in Drought cultures in Texas and California. For your friends out there, this blog will help! So tighten those valves and let's get to reducing!

• Reduce your hand washing time. PERIOD!
• Wash your hands in a sink of water and not let the water run. Or put all your cups and bowls that need rinsing and wash your hands over them and let the grey water soak the dirty dishes.
• Transfer that water or rinsing water to a potted indoor or outdoor plant. This is especially effective come summer. I rarely fill a bucket with water to water my patio garden of a dozen or so plants.
• Fill up a bucket by keeping one with you in the shower. So that it catches the 'waste' water.
• Install aereators!
• Install a Flow Control valve on your shower head. While living in Europe, you learn to get wet, shut off the water, soap up, turn it back on to rinse the soap off. This would often lead to a cold shock but with a flow control, you will have the water temperature where you last had it.
• Rinse all fruit and vegetables into a bucket and use the water for plants or, ahem, flushing No.1!
• Icky dog or cat water, the plants love it!
• Buy water saving/energy star dishwashers, horizontal axis washing machines. Only wash full loads!
• Install rain barrels!
• Plant indigenous and drought tolerant plants.

We've all got to Conserve! I need to take shorter hot showers. You and your family have to ween yourself of letting the water run forgetting that is is wasted down the drain. By conserving, we are helping to preserve our water resources and save money. 

We've all got to Reduce usage!

We all have to Re-use too!

LEED for buildings doesn't take into account the cultural factors. Living LEED does. I bet you can reduce far more than you think. The added benefit is more money in your wallet. So grab that glass and have a tall glass of filtered water, bottled is not the answer. Your tap is!

Steve is a Holistic Design Professional at a large Boston-area design firm. The opinions expressed by member bloggers are their own and not necessarily those of the USGBC Massachusetts Chapter. We welcome contributions from all Members. If you would like to write for the blog, use the Contact us tab to drop us a line.

Institutionalizing Ignorance

Ignorance: state of being ignorant, lack of knowledge , education, or awareness.

I felt that I needed to get that definition in place right our front, before I start throwing bombs. My first few posts have been on items that have been rather mundane such as, groundskeeping and maintenance plans.  However, over the last couple of weeks several things have come to my attention that both angered me and made my wonder about the long term viability of the sustainability movement.

The children are the future

The first thing that got may attention was a concerted effort to pollute the minds of school children by requiring, under force of law, the teaching of climate denial in schools. Oklahoma, Colorado, and Arizona are all debating bills that refer to global warming as a "theory" that is "controversial" and riddled with scientific weaknesses. This, despite the fact the National Academy of Sciences, as well as major national academies of science around the world and every other authoritative body of scientists active in climate research have stated that the science is unequivocal: the world is warming and its primary cause is human activity.  The veracity of climate change is unshaken despite the fact that this spring has been ice bound and last winter was virtually snow less. These variations are explainable.  The trend line of the data has been verified, despite the claims of climate change deniers.

These bills are being advanced under the canard that students need a "balanced" perspective " to develop critical thinking skills they need in order to become intelligent, productive and scientifically informed citizens." (These efforts have been crafted and honed over decades, if you want to learn more, an excellent PBS documentary is here.) This is the latest approach to arguing for an idea you can't possibly support with evidence - the false equivalency.  The powerful interests behind climate denial are well aware that the vast weight of evidence is against them so they propose that , for the sake of balance and fairness, both sides need to be considered equally.  This is bunk.  This is the same argument that was made between creationism and evolution.  One side has the vast weight of the generations greatest subject matter experts all reaching some form of accord, the other has....nothing. The best support that they muster is a selective interpretation of the data.  Sure they can point to a scientist or two - often not even a climate scientist - to support their position.  The tobacco industry would occasionally find a scientist who did not believe that smoking damaged your health, it did not mean that those scientists opinions should receive the same weight as the avalanche of opposing colleagues. 

While these laws seem laughable on their face, this is not something to be trivialized. While the above referenced law is up for debate in 3 states, it has been raised in 10.  The forces that propose these laws are very very well organized and heavily subsidized.  They are also expert at influencing the political process to gain a built in, legislatively mandated, advantage.  Kudo's for them.  If you care about something, you need to fight for it.  I fear that the pro-sustainability constituents may not be up for the fight.  Examples of their efforts include efforts to prevent the disclosure of fracking fluids, efforts to blockade renewable energy, and even developing a "Global Warming Curriculum for K-12 Classrooms." 

Now, we get to the part that worries me.  

Pests, Poison, & People

Managing a landscape with or without pesticides is a difficult decision.  What’s so difficult you may ask? Pesticides are created to kill things. They are an inherently dangerous product. This should be an easy decision.  However, the pests they seek to eliminate also bring a danger. There's a reason one of the Four Riders of the Apocalypse was pestilence.  After immersing myself, at the request of a client, in the study of this subject and trying to separate the science from the emotion, I find that the subject is, as in most things, far more nuanced than I initially believed.

I, like most people, initially approached the subject from the aforementioned position that pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides are designed to kill things and therefore must be bad for the environment and bad for human health. I also assumed that organic products, being ‘natural’ would be better. When you are asked to counsel a client on their landscape management plan, you will probably find that it's not quite so simple.

Compartmentalization and LEED for Homes

LEED for Homes Certification has two paths: Low-rise and Mid-rise. In addition to having some different 'optional point' credits, the two certification paths have some key differences in Prerequisites (the pass/fail items). One of these differences, which I will discuss in this post, is EQp12.1 - Compartmentalization of Units.

Compartmentalization is an air sealing practice that focuses on limiting air movement between dwelling units within a building. Historically, the exterior boundary has been the primary plane for reduction in building air leakage. More recently, air leakage across unit boundaries has been targeted for more than energy savings. Where air can travel, sounds, smells, heat, cold and rodents can, too. The goal of the compartmentalization requirement in LEED for Homes Mid-rise is to reduce movement of all of these things. Many of us have probably experienced an apartment where neighbors share more than just the common stairwell.

Figure 1

Figure 1 demonstrates the intent of compartmentalization. Solid lines in this image represent walls that have been sealed to act as continuous air barriers, dotted lines indicate walls that have not been sealed. The floor plan to the left represents a building in which only the exterior boundary has been sealed, while the floor plan to the right represents a building that has been compartmentalized, or sealed to prevent air movement between units.

Now, you may be thinking, how hard can it be? The entire unit gets gypsum on the walls and the ceiling, the windows and doors are sealed, where can the air come from? Well, let me tell you something: air is sneaky.

It finds its way anywhere that it can - whether through a light fixture, electrical outlet, duct chase or behind baseboard. If you don't seal it, it will come, and meeting the LEED for Homes Mid-rise prerequisite doesn't happen by accident.

Figure 2

Figure 2 is a cross-section of a multifamily building in which we are looking at one unit which is bounded on all sides by other units. The orange dotted line represents the interior gypsum on the walls and ceiling and the floor. The red arrows indicate the paths for air leakage. Air leakage can be found coming through electrical penetrations such as wall outlets and ceiling fixtures. It can also enter the unit through penetrations made by ductwork and unsealed framing in spaces between unit ceilings and subfloors above.

In my experience, residential units that have not had a compartmentalization goal are typically measured at twice or more the allowable leakage level for LEED for Homes Mid-rise. Working with a LEED Green Rater from framing, to insulation, to finish, and focusing on compartmentalization has shown to be an effective way to help projects meet their air leakage requirements.

Living LEED® Edition No. 1: LEED isn’t just for buildings anymore. It’s for you and me!

This is a guide for LEED® accredited professionals and eco-conscious individuals on how to apply the LEED® credit scorecard to their personal lives.

Why should only buildings benefit from the LEED® requirements? If we as eco-conscious professionals follow the LEED® guidelines so that our projects can hit silver, gold or even platinum, then why not apply those guidelines to our everyday lives? By applying the scorecard to our daily life, we demonstrate that LEED® is not just limited to buildings but it is for everyone. It shows that we not only talk the talk but walk the walk.

My posts will be part personal journey, part advice column, part standard by which we all live by. Living LEED® is for everyone, not just about me writing my personal reflections or giving advice, it is about you and your journey to your own personal silver, gold, platinum or higher! With this column, I declare a new standard, the EVERGREEN standard. Let’s be like the Evergreen Trees who in their long fruitful lives give us more than they take. So let us give back to the environment more than what we take from it.

For reference: the posts will follow LEED® for EB and NC but to get to EVERGREEN level we will incorporate the other LEED® disciplines as Homes and CI whose credits cross pollinate. The choice of including LEED® for Homes is practical because it is where we spend much of our lives; in and around the home.

I call out to all my LEED® professionals and eco-conscious colleagues to contribute to credits that you have personally achieved and I will incorporate them here. I will try to write in each edition credits in the order they appear. This new Evergreen level doesn’t come with a prescribed checklist. It uses the LEED® checklist as a reference to achieve a level greater than before.

Our first attempt at EVERGREEN standard is to achieve credits in the section Sustainable Sites.

In the current version of EB and CI you get a point for having a LEED® certified building. If you are living in a LEED® Certified building or Home, you are ahead of the curve. My townhome is not LEED® certified.

The best that I can do is go for Energy Star. Everyone needs to go here and learn as much as they can. If you can, register your existing or new home and get it up to Energy Star standards.

Not ready for Energy Star? Then consider Mass Save®. Here you can begin the journey to energy savings and dollar savings! Mass Save is chock full of rebate programs that will send you in an Evergreen direction!


There are many more components to Sustainable Sites. In the next few posts, I will try to incorporate the credits that directly affect us as people, or can be used in conjunction with people. Without infringing on USGBC or Energy Star copyrights, we will reflect on the credits and checklists that inspire an Evergreen Level of standard we can all live by.  

Steve is a Holistic Design Professional at a large Boston-area design firm. 

We welcome contributions from all Members. If you would like to write for the blog, use the Contact us tab to drop us a line.

Free Money For Green Groundskeeping

Its always difficult getting folks to break out of their routine and embrace a better way of doing things.  This is even more true when you propose a more environmentally sound way of doing things.  The innovation may be a bit easier to adopt if it came with such benefits as lower costs, less maintenance, a better user experience, and, demonstrable environmental benefits.

The opportunity is sweetened further if it comes with some free money.

This is exactly the case with switching from gas powered outdoor maintenance equipment to propane power and it can be done now with significant grants to offset the initial costs. These grants are available from  the Propane Education and Research Council. They provide for up to $500 to convert a gas powered commercial mower to propane and up to  a $1,000 rebate for the purchase of new propane powered mower.  More info can be found here. 

Why would somebody want to do this? After all you are just swapping one fossil fuel for another?  That is true, but anyone pursuing LEED-EBOM will be putting together a forward looking landscape maintenance plan. This is also important under a SITES certification.  LEED v4 specifically offers credits for site management plans that adopt gasoline free and low emission landscaping.  Finally it just makes sense from a fiscal and a sustainability perspective.

Reducing costs
All groundskeepers whether on a commercial campus or a public park/school are concerned about ever shrinking budgets.  Converting to propane based equipment can help.  The cost per gallon equivalent is between 30% and 50% less because, unlike gasoline, it is easier to negotiate a contract price for a full year.  Secondly, the maintenance interval for propane equipment is much longer - many people see oil changes move from every 25 hours to every 100 hours. Thirdly, The equipment lifespan is frequently increased.  Commercial mowers typically need to be rebuilt or replaced at about 2,500 hours.  Propane powered equipment can see a 50% improvement due to cleaner oil and pistons.  Finally, the loss of fuel due to theft and spillage is virtually eliminated.

Reducing environmental impact
Spillage of gasoline is an often overlooked environmental problem. The EPA estimates that 17 million gallons of gasoline are spilled annually when fueling landscaping equipment. The lack of spilled fuel is just one of many environmental benefits.  According to the EPA, about 5% of ALL air pollution is generated by lawn care equipment. Propane powered equipment can help with this problem.  Propane yields more than a 25% reduction in green house gasses versus gasoline. It reduces carbon monoxide emissions by  greater 60% and it generates fewer ground level ozone precursors and fine particulates than conventional gasoline powered equipment.  Conversion kits are certified by both the EPA and the very strict California Air Resources Board (CARB).   Most jurisdictions even allow for the use of propane powered equipment during ozone action days when ground level ozone concentrations force the shut down of gasoline powered small engines.

Similar performance to gasoline
A question often asked is, "The benefits are obvious, but how does it perform?".  The market itself is beginning to answer that question. Many major landscaping outfits, particularly in the south and west where they are often subject to ozone action shutdowns, are switching to propane.  They claim that they have the same power with all the benefits. Operators like it because it can be quieter and they are exposed to less fumes.   One issue that I have uncovered is that propane is somewhat less energy dense than gasoline. This results in the range of a tank of propane being equal to about 3/4 of that of a comparable gasoline tank.  The issue of fuel transfer can also be an issue.  Large operators will benefit from an on site tank filling infrastructure, but this is a large upfront expense.  These costs can often be offset by grants and rebates, these are worth pursuing.  Smaller operations can have a  dedicated tank exchange installed, similar to those seen at supermarkets or hardware stores. 

One advantage to investing in a propane filling station is that it allows for the future expansion into vehicles.  I have driven propane and natural gas vehicles and have found them to be identical in performance to gasoline.  Having a fueling station would allow for large vehicles to be converted to  propane.  The lack of a wide array of fueling stations limits a vehicles use, but operating out of a central location, equipped with a fueling station, makes sense.

A reasonable alternative
Of course, electric powered equipment would be the best choice. They could be powered via alternative means and would emit next to nothing in hazardous air pollutants.  There are several viable electric options available for smaller pieces of equipment (blowers, trimmer, saws etc,) but electric still does not have the range or power needed for larger pieces of machinery.  Propane, however, can power smaller engines, such as blowers,  as well as  the larger ones.  One of the best solutions I have seen is a solar array that powers a battery recharging station with interchangeable batteries for the smaller pieces of equipment and propane for the higher power equipment.  This could be a bridge solution that is enhanced by the prospect of free money.

Kevin Dufour is an Environmental Scientist with Viridis Advisors. He collaborates with Tom Irwin  on creating greener greenscapes.