Building An Emerald City | Ruby Slippers Optional

July 27, 2010

Building an emerald city doesn’t take a Wizard but it does take a few vital cues from the Lion, Tin Man and Scarecrow, as I learned from our dynamic panelists, at our July ELUG*, not the least of which are courage, passion and knowledge.

Lucia Athens, Sustainable Futures Strategist at CollinsWoerman Architects, nationally recognized speaker, and author of Building An Emerald City, a guide to creating green building policies and programs, provided a insightful nine-point checklist that serve as her “guiding principles” and paraphrased by me as follows:

1. Create a sense of urgency (waiting is not an option – we need to do this now)
2. Make sure you are walking the talk (first before judging others)
3. Charm the skeptics (understand your adversary’s point-of-view)
4. Stop building crap and design enduring spaces and places for people
5. Question current conventions and don’t fear breaking rules
6. Consider bold quirky ideas as they may hold the key to a solution
7. Take action or “do something” even if you can’t do it all
8. Make friends with chaos and allow uncertainty to have its place in your plans
9. Dance at the revolution and remember to celebrate small victories along the way

Along with Lucia’s skills, courage, curiosity and passion, she partnered with several other eco-visionaries in the Puget Sound region who helped pave the “green” brick road that led to Seattle’s branding as the most sustainable city in the United States by the National Resource Council. Designing a greener city also requires trust in teamwork and a commitment to the long view.

Another regional eco-hero is Patti Southard, Green Tools Program Manager of King County, who provided an additional perspective given her experience in working with light- to deep-green cities that constitute the region. While many acknowledge the ideal of working in a private/public partnership, Patti walks this talk as a resource to other cities, counties, companies and organizations all looking for some “magic” from Glenda, the good witch, that will illuminate methods for doing the right (green) thing. She is instrumental in the County’s execution of LEED and Built Green initiatives, Eco-Cool Remodel Tool as well as King County Sustainable Cities. Another key to an Emerald City, is her collaboration with regional utilities (such as Seattle City Light and Puget Sound Energy) that among other efficiency programs create commercial and residential incentives to drive business and consumer changes in energy usage and consumption behavior.

Trying to influence environmentally driven behavior on the Eastside is Liz Stead, Planning Manager, Green Team Co-director from the City of Bellevue. Liz has a background in private sector design and development and is a newer member of the public sector. Liz informed us that an outcome of the City’s Strategic Plan includes the 2008 Environmental Stewardship Initiative, which proposes creating a sustainability taskforce, LEED training initiatives and new guidelines for greener building and development. The City is not hiding behind the Wizard of Oz’s booth but is working together with other Eastside Green Teams who are leading in sustainability programming and community engagement. The City is eager to continue its progress and is requesting that their constituents help identify the priorities within a green agenda.

The complexity of creating more sustainable development was clearly articulated by our panel however, that should not and has not kept us from moving forward towards this goal. From the questions posed by our design / build audience to the panelists, you hear the domino effect, as you can’t introduce one new building type, construction method, energy source or product without triggering a series of intended and unintended consequences that challenge municipal codes, policy, staffing, training, inspections and resource allocation.

Due to the knowledge and systems thinking required, it would be a significant benefit to any jurisdiction to collaborate with neighboring municipalities that are leading the way in building better buildings, vibrant communities and more sustainable cities. This looks more like a continuous and integrated process where codes and policy need to be broad enough for their own evolution as they are not a destination at the end of the “yellow brick road” in and of themselves. Engagement and support by industry and community in the public process can expedite getting us all closer to an Emerald City – no ruby slippers required! –-alex

*Eastside LEED Users Group, Education and Uutreach, Cascadia Green Building Council

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