Here’s a string of notes from the speakers:

Muscoe Martin, M2 Architecture;

Carbon footprint is only one measurement of sustainability, don’t forget water usage.

What does your building weigh? Less stuff is lighter and more sustainable. BT, a typical house weighs 50-60 lb./sq. ft.

Ihab Elzeyadi, Ph.D, Univ. of Oregon:

People are the missing element in the LEED measurement matrix.

The Pantheon is the ultimate sustainable building. (think about it)

The U of Oregon studied people and how they responded to a new LEED building. They found the following; Individual control is very important; 85% without controls, had electric space heaters; occupants can be very tolerant of their environment if they take pride in their “green” building. (It’s the “buy in” factor); Green buildings can be agents of change; interactive websites are the best way to learn about building performance (the audience was college students). But the point is that public access to building performance is important.

Rick Mattila, Genzyme Corp., Director of Environmental Systems, spoke about their new LEED Platinum office building in Cambridge, Mass. $140 million, 350,000 sq. ft. 12 stories. (This building has it all) Again, they performed detailed analysis of building performance, as perceived by the occupants, as well as numerical performance measurements. (BTW Genzyme has a virtual tour on their website www.genzyme.com)  Using conservative increased employee performance measurements, the company gains $5 million each year. And that’s just the improved employee performance, not the energy savings. (This building is on the cover of the book that we just purchased, Sustainable Design)

Here are some photos from the afternoon  outings to  Macy’s  (the former Marshall Fields) and  Northwestern University.

Macy’s in Chicago

NorthWestern University

See you  all Monday (except Tenaya)

Rio Rancho has an agressive “GreenClean” program as well as an “Energy Plan” that includes teaching environmental awareness throughout the 12 grade levels.

Poquoson, Virgina (near Chesapeake Bay) built a 3-5 grade level school that is over the top green. CEFPI award winner, amongst others. $194 per sq. ft. 48 LEED credits; ground source heat pump had a 5 year payback.

CCI Green Schools Program (Bill Clinton) provides financing for green schools.

Second session today was the “eco-charrette” by a group (more later) for a site on Cal Poly. I had no idea going in, really. Sadly the CSU system did not sanction this charrette and they presented their findings on the same day that CSU awarded the job to a completely separate (non-involved) architectural firm. In other words, this was a renegade, unapproved design charrette that had no real effect on the outcome, unless the new design team choses to use this information. Anyway, it was useless.

Then we went to the Field Museum during a mid-day break. Very cool natural history museum. (see photo) Sue the Dinosaur

Then it wa back to the Conference for the tour of a Chicago Green School. Hard to say what the value of this school was. It was brick and concrete block. Very hard interiors. (see photo)Albany Park School

Riding the bus is a great way to make friends. More on this in the mini-lecture.

Later dudes and dudettes.

Both Clinton and Fedrizzi mentioned the importance of green schools. They have a new website just for schools at buildgreenschools.org. And there’s also a new website for learning about LEED at  greenbuild365.org. Check it out. On of the great analogies that he made is that we need to be more decentralized like cell phones. No more dependence on big power plants. We need to grow our own energy like with co-gen plants on-site.
Later I heard Thomas Mayne from Morphosis speak. He’s a bit arrogant, but he can afford to be. There was more but I’ve got to get up early and go to a LEED for Schools workshop.

Later.

Let’s see Tuesday morning was still pre-conference so we went to Millennium Park and walked the “Magnificent Mile”. The Mag. mile was a letdown for me. It was very cold walking and so what, they’re expensive stores like Nieman Markus. Big deal. It’s still cold out there. Millennium Park on the other hand, is very cool. The single coolest thing was a huge chrome blob, called “the Bean” by the locals. See why.The Bean ; The Bean 2

Then I finally checked in at the Conference. This was USGBC Members day with speakers talking about issues that relate to USGBC programs. LEED for Schools is being pushed big. Also, Jason McLennan talked about the “Living Building Challenge” which essentially challenges the green building community to go all the way to a “living building” that actually improves the environment. Go to www.cascadiagbc.org for more information.

First, I’m technically on vacation. And just to clear up any confusion, this part is on my credit card. Day 2 was supposed to be about Museums. First we hit the Chicago Art Institute and then we went to the Adler Planetarium. Yes, neither are museums, but close enough. The Natural History Museum has the largest complete Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton in the world, but we ran out of gas before we got there.

We did make it to the Chicago Architectural Foundation Office on Michigan Ave. They have this really huge model of Chicago. Check it out.

Here are some images of the CAI. It’s the most confusing interior I have ever seen. I am particularly drawn to the Impressionists, but there’s lots of really famous paintings.

Then we went to the Adler Planetarium. Nice new addition to a really old building. After we sat down in the auditorium, we learned that it’s the oldest in the U.S. (great). The coffee shop had a stunning view back to the Chicago Skyline.

And then to end the day, we had dinner at Gino’s East Pizza. Deep dish pizza! Not exactly on Weight Watchers, but hey, this is a vacation.

Second part of the day was spent in Oak Park. We did the self guided audio tour of the neighborhood (Now done with iPods) and the FLW Home/Office tour. Last time Debra and I were here in February with snow. This time it was a brisk fall day, completely different look to the neighborhood. (Another photo below) Frank may have been a bastard, but he was on to something before everyone else got it.

More later.

Maybe I’ll try to upload a picture. Ok, here goes.