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While over in the US seeing family, SmartPlanet took the chance to check out what's happening across the pond in the world of green architecture. Surprisingly, we were pretty impressed with the amount of creative innovation going on -- especially considering that Americans, as a whole, consume the most energy on the planet.
The US Green Building Council, a non-profit organisation which began back in 1995, caught our eye because it's making some serious progress in sustainable building standards for both new and old structures.
They're actually part of a network of Green Building Councils worldwide -- the UK launched its own chapter this year to promote the green building movement -- but the US branch is the first to establish a proper rating system with constantly updated standards.
The rating system, called LEED (leadership in energy and environmental design), is simple. Buildings or spaces are assessed on six criteria: site, water, energy, materials, indoor environmental quality and innovation in design. If they accumulate a minimum of credits, they're deemed 'certified'; if they get more, they achieve 'silver,' 'gold' or 'platinum' status, which is the cream of the green crop.
Putting its money where its mouth is, USGBC's headquarters in Washington DC are kitted out with all the latest in green design, headed up by US interior design firm Perkins+Will. We're talking floors made from bamboo and cork, walls made from sawdust, partitions constructed from beams of reclaimed timber and LED lights galore.
We went on a tour of the downtown DC office and were told that it is one of just seven commercial spaces in America to have reached a platinum certification rating. America's pretty big, so we're impressed (they've certified 1,184 commercial buildings since the LEED ratings began in 2000).
Linda Sorrento, who took us round the building and was on the project team when USGBC renovated and moved into the space in 2006, explained the philosophy behind green interior design. "Humans want to be able to explore," she says, describing what's called biophilia -- the human love for nature. "It's restorative and awakens our sense of curiosity." (Which is why depth, texture and hidden nooks and crannies make a space more pleasing physically to be in.)
And as far as offices go, USGBC's space is pretty beautiful, with planters separating desk consoles, big windows for lots of natural light, bright colours on the textured walls and furniture by green designers. We even rested our bum on a chair made from recycled plastic bottles!
They also made sure to reuse as many materials and pieces of furniture as possible from the previous tenant -- a law firm -- and carted the leftover off to non-profits for re-use elsewhere in the city.
We can't wait for the UK chapter to catch up and adopt these LEED standards -- or, indeed, for this whole process to be standardised. As it is, different organisations are trying to push different green standards for building and design, but the USGBC's ratings seem the most rigorous, measuring each criterion by a third-party standard to make sure the thing actually works. Sounds smart to us.
Photo: Prakash Patel
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