Looking for a chance to learn more about "green building?" How it can help lower energy bills while also cooling global warming? One of the nation’s leading advocates of sustainable design will be in town next week. Matt Peterson, president and CEO of Global Green USA, is coming to Baltimore Nov. 13 to speak to the Baltimore chapter of the American Institute of Architects. "I’m excited to come out and speak there," Peterson said by telephone recently from Global Green’s headquarters in Santa Monica, California. He said he intends to deliver "the message that we’ve been pushing for over a decade -- that sustainable design, green building is a critical solution to proventing and adapting to global warming."
Founded in 1993, Global Green is dedicated to stemming global warming, creating green cities and buildings and eliminating nuclear weapons. Living in Los Angeles, Peterson gets to rub shoulders with a lot of celebrities – Hollywood stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Edward Norton sit on Global Green’s board -- but the environmental projects they're involved in are no act.
The group has partnered with actor Brad Pitt, for instance, on an effort to help rebuild New Orleans from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The group sponsored a design competition to build a "zero-energy" affordable housing deveopment in the Holy Cross neighborhood of the lower 9th Ward, which was virtually obliterated by floodwaters. Construction began last May, and the first home is expected to becompleted in December, Peterson said.
Global Green is especially committed to providing housing to low-income families, Peterson said, because they are most affected by high housing costs and unhealthy environmental conditions. "I’d say it’s where it’s needed most," he said of green building technology."Often low-income families have energy costs second only to rent on their bills, often greater than health-care costs."
In addition to its efforts to encourage green affordable housing, Peterson’s Global Green also is working with the Los Angeles school district to build 24 healthier, more environmentally friendly schools. "Kids learn 20 to 22 percent better in healthy, high-performance classrooms," he said. Many of the schools built in recent years, though, provide very little daylight and fresh air.
"I think green building is proving out," Peterson said, predicting that "we’re at the beginning of a huge upswing in adoption of green building standards." People are demonstrating greater interest, he said, as are businesses that see the marketing benefits of having green workplaces. The key, Peterson said, is to be sure that what’s billed as green really is – with independent verification. "Even building LEED silver buildings everywhere isn’t going to solve the climate crisis," he said, referring to the nationally known green building rating system known as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. "But it’s a big contribution to it, given 40 percent of energy uses overall go into buildings."
Speaking on a day when wildfires seemed to be consuming much of southern California, Peterson said he’s "mostly excited and hopeful" about the future, "but definitely with a sense of urgency. "I think it’s definitely time to be bold," he concluded.
Source: BaltimoreSun.com