Environmentally-friendly projects

In 1961, John F. Kennedy laid out an almost insane challenge for our technological community. In a fit of Cold War panic, the President declared: "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth." Of course, his challenge - and the implied threat of Soviet aerospace dominance - inspired an accomplishment nothing short of miraculous. It was within that very decade that Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins completed their mission to the moon. Moreover, in a very dramatic way, our country demonstrated what can be accomplished when citizens are galvanized by a shared concern and common vision.

As odd as it may seem, I see a great similarity between those early "space-race" days and our current predicament with respect to the endangered health of our planet. The threat of Soviet spacemen is gone. However, as record-breaking droughts, "Niño" events, tsunamis, melting ice-caps and heat-waves appear with statistically-significant regularity, we are now confronted by the consequences of a battered atmosphere, a compromised ecosystem and a host of depleted resources. Essentially, we are now threatened by the possibility of reaching a cataclysmic environmental tipping point, whereby our planet's living conditions move irreversibly toward a state of complete toxicity.

Of course, in the American space race, only the scientific community within the United States was called upon. In today's crisis, all of the planet's citizens are summoned. However, despite being admittedly late to the cause, I believe the U.S. will eventually make the most meaningful contributions to the fight for our planet's health. It's not that I am overly patriotic or culturally biased. It's just that I am counting on this nation to respond with a kind of "we-broke-it-now-we've-got-to-fix-it" mentality.

So. What does this have to do with real estate development? Well, in my work with Boylan Development, I have glimpsed the kind of paradigm-shifting leaps that our country is capable of in times like these. Just recently, when Boylan made a pledge to design and construct low-impact environmentally-friendly projects, I was introduced to an entirely new industry that seemingly grew up overnight. Indeed, there is now almost an entire new economy centered on the "green building" industry.

I'm sure this sounds a bit dramatic, but let me name just a few of the consultants we are working with as we seek out ways to develop in a kinder, gentler fashion. First, there is our "sustainability consultant". This expert earns a fee for guiding our team through the variety of complex and onerous certification programs that have been designed to administer such efforts. Then, there is our "commissioning agent". This is an engineer hired to perform testing on a variety of building systems in order to confirm that those systems are performing as cleanly and efficiently as designed.

I'm only getting started here. How about the armies of sales representatives who educate the industry on the continuous flow of "green" products developed daily? For example, are you familiar with all of the non-CFC based refrigerants that are now on the market for commercial cooling systems? Likewise, have you boned up on the latest alternatives to pentachlorophenol and creosote for preserving wood? What is the difference between a MERV-13 filter and a HEPA filter? Which "porous" paver systems score well in terms of "stormwater design" and which score well in terms of "recycled materials"? Without these manufacturer representatives, our projects would incorporate only the most basic technologies.

Of course, I haven't even mentioned the experts and professionals who make up the organizations, institutes and trade associations that serve to study and guide policy on "green building". In our case, we are working with two completely different benchmarking organizations on two separate projects. For one, we have applied for LEED certification through the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). For another, we are applying for certification under the "Green Building Standard" program governed by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). In turn, these organizations hire their own consultants in the form of think-tanks, testing agencies and steering committees.

In the end, I guess I am just downright optimistic. I can tell you that when I began my career in design and construction over ten years ago, the green building industry was, at best, nascent and, at worst, virtually non-existent. As with the space race, we find ourselves extraordinarily far along after just one decade. On top of that, our economy has benefited from hundreds of new jobs, companies, products and services that spawn and multiply during any kind of technological revolution.

Of course, it is not time to congratulate ourselves just yet. Not even close. However, I am hopeful that the "hardest" part is almost behind us. The momentum is building now. The economy is embracing this new mission kind of like a giant capitalistic boa constrictor that swallows a giant object whole and then slowly digests it. If the building industry is any indication, our civilization will make the leaps necessary to rebalance the environment, and the economy will eventually thrive in the process.