LEED EBOM as an Agent for Great Change

This month, we are pleased to have Sheri Lucas share her perspective and experience with LEED EBOM.  

Sheri has been charged with introducing sustainable design, construction, operations and maintenance practices into Wells Fargo’s retail banking stores since 2005. With over 12 years experience in retail real estate strategy, this LEED AP loves the win-win game of increasing efficiency while reducing environmental impact. Sheri has a BS in Interdisciplinary Studies from Boston University and is currently studying for the GMAT while juggling her love of hiking, baking, and photography. She can also be found on Twitter and the Wells Fargo Environmental Forum.

EBOM, EBOM, EBOM. I utter this acronym with every other sentence. It seems LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance has become the love of my life. 

Yes, I really do love EBOM. Not because I’m a masochist. No, because EBOM is so much more than prereq’s and points and templates and calculations and performance periods. EBOM is a much-needed agent for greatly changing the way we do business, from floor to ceiling, from input to output. Nearly everything that happens in and around the four walls of every business is covered by EBOM.  

I’m stating the obvious when I point out that EBOM is designed for our existing building stock. And that stock is beyond enormous. According to the EPA, in 2002 there were nearly 4.9 million office buildings in the US alone. Anyone familiar with LEED knows the built environment has significant impact on the natural environment, its occupants, and the communities that surround every building.  

This is what makes EBOM so vital. We can wax poetic about the brand new NC Platinum high rise all we want, but most of our buildings already exist. Most are not optimally performing. They ingest precious resources like it’s going out of style.  

Oh, that’s right, it is going out of style!  

I’m also sorry to say that most of those pre-existing buildings aren’t very pleasant to be in, whether it’s due to bad lighting or lousy air quality.  

So there you have it. EBOM is the most important of all the rating systems. My hope is that more building owners jump on this bandwagon and stat. We have a lot of work to do. 

But there’s more – something I didn’t realize when I first elected to roll EBOM out across a couple thousand buildings. EBOM not only focuses on the physical system and structure, it focuses on our on-going, day-to-day habits, procedures, and events. And even while we’re still compiling our prerequisite submittals, we’re already triggering great changes across our footprint.  

We’re working with our contract management team to secure a recycling component to our waste management contracts. We’re working with our purchasing teams to ensure our supplies are environmentally friendly in a meaningful way. We’re designing an integrative green cleaning policy. We’re measuring our greenhouse gas emissions and aiming for our benchmarks. I could go on and on. 

But what do I mean by “meaningful” environmental-friendliness? Well, the ever-important certification path associated with all the rating systems necessitates a rigorous approach. That third-party nod confirms we’re walking the talk. This is immensely important, especially in consideration of all the hard work that goes into eliciting great change. We want everyone to know we understand the difference between green and greenwash. Meanwhile, there is currently lack of strong national green business certification in the marketplace. There is no widespread independent system for verifying sustainable practices within the four walls. 

Stephanie Rico, from our Environmental Affairs group, recently commented to me, “We have great localized green business programs like San Francisco Green Business, but recognition from one local body isn’t going to resonate in another town across the country. Having a nationally recognized system for verification would be my dream come true.” Well, Stephanie, I have some good news. To my (pleasant) surprise, much of EBOM covers actual business practices. I often find myself telling people it not only addresses the building itself, but everything that goes on inside, as well. And certification of those efforts is indeed on a national scale. 

In seeking to reduce our impact, we looked to EBOM as a way to reduce our buildings’ energy use. What we hadn’t recognized was how effective it would be at greening our daily practices. We’re already seeing great changes. And I’m excited to witness the ongoing expansion of those changes as we continue on this path.