Big News

All of us here at Build2Sustain are working hard to create a destination for the green building community to come and discuss the issues that matter most to them, in pursuit of best building practices that can be used throughout the industry.

We are a few steps closer to our goal this week with some big announcements.

Our White Paper

We are thrilled to announce the release of our first white paper, titled It's Time to Jump Into Sustainability. Please head here to download the paper. "Jump" is our succinct argument for why it makes sense for all commericial real estate owners as well as the small businesses that comprise the lion's share of the U.S. economy to make the leap and invest in sustainable renovations and retrofits for the spaces they own or are engaged in long-term lease. 

There are endless reasons why green building makes sense for the environment, and for the well being of our planet and it's people. However, that's not the argument we make in our paper. For us going green must bring not only sustainable energy solutions, but sustainable proft and real ROI. This paper outlines the case for sustainable retrofit and renovation with an eye toward what a business person is looking to achieve. We hope all of you take the time to read it and let us know what you think. Speaking of letting us know what you think....

Build2Sustain.com/discuss

Build2Sustain is committed to becoming a place where green building professionals share ideas and concepts in pursuit of better building practices. We believe  best practices can more quickly emerge when professionals share their ideas and experiences. That's why we've launched our discuss page. A corner of our site where readers can comment on subjects we raise, or raise their own topics. We look forward to growing this conversation and creating a vibrant community of big-thinking designers and building pros.

More!

We've got a few more exciting rabbits to pull out of our hat throughout the week. Thanks for being a part of Build2Sustain. We look forward to building a community with you.

Balancing the Board

We lean on our advisory board so much to shape our strategy going forward. Our first stepping stone to our pilot project is publishing a white paper (due out in December) The Business Case for Sustainable Renovation what I love about our board is the diverse personalities and philosophies serve as natural counterweights and help us craft our market strategy.

In one corner we have Chris Hill, who's business-case practicality consistently reminds me that the people who will ultimately write the checks for our renovations usually think with their wallets first and we need to make a strong ROI case to them for why this makes sense.

In the other corner, there's Sara Sweeney, a green building veteran who believes deeply in our responsibility to the planet and our implicit need to make our building stock sustainable for the good of all. Her greenwash radar is turned on high at all times and she consistently reminds us that if we don't accomplish real effieciency gains in our projects and truly help the planet then none of this really matters.

Somewhere between these two intellectual heavyweights is Yahya Henry, I call him silent but deadly on our conference calls because he sits back and listens, and might not say anything for 15 or 20 minutes. Then after I've gone on some monologue about what I think about this and that, he will ask a singular incisive question I hadn't thought about that might challenge me to rethink the entire way I go about things.

Then there's Rich Cartlidge, who's energy for this field of work and infectious desire to solve the legal problems Green Building will cause make him a deeply valued asset on our team.

These calls and emails are of enormous value to me both personally and professionally and while I make the call out to be a heavyweight bout, our discussions are always intelligent and thought provoking without being dirisive, yet another reason I'm so appreciative to my board for all the work they do.

What's Up at B2S

Getting some emails wondering what Build2Sustain is up too and so I thought I'd share here. There are two major initiatives that we'll be kicking off this week. One of which I'd like to talk about now.

Build2Sustain is in the process of drafting a white paper, which will outline our thesis for what a sustainable commericial renovation would be. The goal of this white paper is two-fold. First, we want to establish an intellectual beach head and a thought leadership piece that will give potential clients and partners a framework to understand sustainability when it comes to existing buildings. The second, is to provide the thesis which is to be tested in our pilot project. The white paper is to outline is terms neither too general nor too specific, how Build2Sustain approaches a renovation, always with the client in mind and always with cost control at the forefront. The outline for this document will be presented to the advisory board by the end of the week and we will begin to the process of researching and preparing the document in the coming weeks. There is no firm publish-by date, though the goal is to have this done by December. When appropriate, pieces of primary and secondary research will appear here on the blog for review by the larger community.

In other news prepare to be introduced to the advisory board of B2S. I'm thrilled to have each and every one of these folks on board to help foster this concept, company and project from something floating around our heads, to something that make a difference in the real world. Over the course of the week we'll be introducing the larger design/build community to these wonderful and brilliant folks.

Do you have something to contribute? Are you a green building consultant, designer or engineer? Don't hesitate to get in touch with us here at B2S. We'd love to hear from you.