Overview and Response to Safety Issues
Robert Price, Executive Director
USGBC Central PA Chapter
Outline
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Introduction to the
Subject
Why LEED?
Perspective – Building
Green
USGBC and LEED
Certification
Just the Facts, Please!
Redefining an Industry
LEED Levels
LEED & Worker Safety
WHY LEED?
 Lower
operating costs and increase asset
value
 Reduce waste sent to landfills – 50 – 90%
costs savings
 Save energy – up to 30%
 Conserve water – 30 – 50% less water
consumption
 Reduce harmful greenhouse gasses – 35%
Sustainability Perspective
 Buildings
account for nearly half (48%) of
all greenhouse gas emissions
More than Transportation (27%) and
More than Industry (25%)
 Buildings account for 76% of all electricity
generated at power plants
 We spend over 90% of our time in a built
environment.
Building Green Should
Matter …to You!
We can create better built environments
and other environments in which to work,
play, live, and learn…
for generations to come!
Green Advantages
 Reduce
human exposure to toxic
materials
 Conserve natural resources
 Minimalize the ecological impact and
materials
 Use renewal energy and materials
 Protect and restore ecosystems
 Positive influence on health and welfare
of people
Green Advantages
 All
this, and green buildings can cost little
or no more to construct than
conventional construction, and cost
much less to maintain over their
lifetime…often producing quick
paybacks.
USGBC COMMUNITY
The vibrant and diverse USGBC community shares a common
goal: everyone learns, works and lives in a green building within
this generation.
An organization is nothing without its community. USGBC attracts
businesses big and small, individuals
young and old, and organizations mission and market driven.
Every day, we are making our way
toward a healthier, more sustainable and prosperous future.
Together.
WHY LEED?
Bottom Line…
Healthier and safer for occupants…
Better for the Environment…
Better for the Economy…
What we call…
WHY LEED?
The
Triple Bottom Line!
Just the Facts…Please:
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Today, there are over 29,000 individual members within 77 Chapters
like the Central PA Chapter. There are also over 12,700 national
members coming from organizations, corporations and institutions.
Even more significant is the fact that almost 191,000 building
professionals across all areas of practice have become LEED
credentialed professionals, and there are over 156,000 LEED
projects, representing over 9.9 billion square feet, now throughout
the world.
I will get more into this LEED thing in a minute but first I want to
impress you with a few more numbers: Each a slide
34,000LEED projects currently registered
14,000 Commercial LEED Certified projects, in 2.4 billion square feet
Over 23,000 attended our annual conference last year in Toronto,
CA, and more are expected this year in San Francisco
Green Schools are springing up everywhere
Higher Education is one of our fastest growing segments
Just the Facts…Please:
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The Federal Government is even getting into the act
As well as State Governments
And local government projects
Their LEED initiatives are also encouraging additional projects
LEED for Homes is gaining ground
Including Affordable Housing (didn’t think that possible, did you)
These are Hugh numbers being racked up
And LEED is now going Global
With an International Roundtable
And it is not just for new construction, with over 8,000 registered and
certified projects already
Green Hotels
Green Retail
Healthcare…just make sense, doesn’t it?
LEED, or Leadership for
Energy and Environmental
Design…
Is redefining the ways in which we think
about the places we live, work, and learn!
Third-party verification that a project was
designed and built using strategies aimed at
achieving high performance in five key
areas of human and environmental health…
LEED Credentials…
LEED and
Worker
Safety
Building standards
and worker safety
has changed
substantially…
Much of the controversy about LEED and
worker safety stems out of a 2009, and a
2012 update of the original study
entitled…”Identification of Safety Risks for
High Performance Sustainable Construction
Projects.”
Does not show LEED
Construction sites as being
less safe!
Some Areas of
Concern:
 Potential for
overexertion
 Time spent near
potential hazards
 Hazards of
“brownfield” sites
 Potential waste
management
problems
Positive Aspects:
 Improvements in
indoor air quality
 Integration of LEED
process better
coordinates safety
 An increased level
of safety
awareness within
the LEED process
Important
Conclusion of
the study
“There is a lot of
research out there
showing that the
decisions made during
design have a great
impact on safety and
health on-site…OSHA
places the burden of
safety on the
contractors. There is a
disconnect there.”
One More Project…
 Owner
- Utah Tech Center, LLC.
 Location – Sandy, Utah
 Size 72,000
 Certified LEED Silver
 Use – instrument rooms, laboratories,
chemical storage, offices,
conference/education spaces, data
center and support spaces.
One More Project…
 It
houses some of the most sophisticated
and technically advanced equipment –
including robotics – to provide extensive
tests and analysis of samples collected
from sites throughout the country
Looking Forward
Best outcome…better understanding of the
LEED process and increased awareness of
worker safety concerns.
Looking Forward
One comment that came out of the
numerous responses to the 2012 study puts
this entire discussion into perspective. It
read…”As soon as a Construction Worker
finds out that he or she is working o a
“Green Project”, they immediately forget all
previous training, become blind, lose their
sense of balance, develop an death wish
and go out of their way to do bad work and
bring harm to others. One major correction,
worthy of note: when construction Workers
sees a Commissioning Agent come on to
the work site, they “Jump”, rather than fall
off the building.”
USGBC Proactive Approaches
 USGBC
and the LEED International
Roundtable have been working with the
National Institute for Occupational Safety
and Health (NIOSH) for the past year to
develop three Minimum Program
Requirements (MPRs) that will address
worker safety globally. These MPRs
reference both US and EU standards
regarding three topic areas:
USGBC Proactive Approaches
 1)
personal protective equipment
 2) emergency routes and exits
 3) on-site education and training.
These proposed MPRs are currently under review for
inclusion in LEED V4 and are undergoing language
changes. This work doesn’t do much to advance
safety in the US since it references current best
practice standards, but for many countries that are
far behind, this is a big leap.
USGBC Proactive Approaches
In addition to the development of the MPR, USGBC
is working with NIOSH to outline strategies that will
help raise awareness of construction and
maintenance worker safety among LEED
audiences.
USGBC Proactive Approaches
This issue is larger than just green buildings, and
we are in the process of identifying other
stakeholders (e.g. designers, developers,
contractors, building managers) that can benefit
from increased awareness and education around
it.
Conclusion
In the face of these
initiatives and discussions,
LEED should not try to
replicate OSHA regulations
and other safety rules.
Worker awareness and
training are the key
ingredients to safety on
LEED and other Green
Building projects.
Thank You!