tories about global warming,climate change, energyconservation, and watershortages fill the headlinesand airwaves of our media

outlets. But is this concern a deepeningrealization that will lead to change, or isit a fad destined to be the flavor of themonth for wealthy music, TV and filmstars that have the green to go green andlive an ecologically correct lifestyle?

First, let’s take a couple of steps backand look at some basic informationabout the green movement and greenbuilding standards, including what is

LEEDs?. According to the U.S. GreenBuilding Council’s (USGBC)

web page,

the Leadership in Energy andEnvironmental Design (LEED) GreenBuilding Rating System is the nationallyaccepted benchmark for the design,construction, and operation of highperformance green buildings.

The LEED System

The LEED system is a voluntarybuilding certification program thatdefines green buildings, which are moreenvironmentally responsible, healthier,and more profitable structures. LEEDwas created to establish a commonstandard of measurement for whatconstitutes a “green” building. LEEDserves as a design guideline for greenbuilding and offers third party validationof a building’s green features.

LEED evaluates buildings in the fol-lowing areas: Sustainable Sites,

Water Efficiency, Energy &A t m o s p h e r e ,

Materials

& Resources and Indoor EnvironmentalQuality. Within these credit areas, pointsare available and depending on thenumber of points a project earnsdetermines the level of certification thebuilding will be awarded. There are fourprogressive levels of certification:Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum.

LEED provides a roadmap formeasuring and documenting success forevery building type and phase of abuilding lifecycle. Specific LEED programsinclude:

• New Commercial Construction and Major Renovation projects

• Existing Building Operations and Maintenance

• Commercial Interiors projects• Core and Shell Development projects• Homes• Neighborhood Development• Guidelines for Multiple Buildings

and On-Campus Building Projects• LEED for Schools• LEED for Retail• USGBC is also developing

SWill Green Go Ma

A number of items relating to ways to go green at home are displayed, Including lowflow shower heads and faucet attachments, a spray nozzle for outdoor watering andan educational Kid’s Guide to Green Building printed by the Dowling Company.

by Tom Blackburn-Rodriguez

Mainstream?LEED for Healthcare, and LEED for Labs.

The U.S. Green Building Council

The USGBC consists of more than10,000 organizations from every sectorof the building industry united by thecommon purpose of transforming the

building marketplace to sustain-ability. The organization

has 75 regional chapters to foster greenbuilding resources, education and lead-ership opportunities in each of theircommunities. James L. Stone, Group 70International Inc., heads up the Hawaiichapter of the USGBC. The chapter canbe reached by calling 808-441-2106, orvia e-mail at jstone@group70int.com.

The USGBC was founded in 1993.Since that time, it has focused on working

with the constructionindustry to seek

the creation

of high-performance green building. Inthe past five years, USGBC’s member-ship has quadrupled and over 1 billionsquare feet of building space areinvolved with the LEED program. Theannual U.S. market in green buildingproducts and services was over $7billion in 2005 and is expected toincrease to $12 billion in 2007.

Is green going mainstream? In amulti-trillion dollar economy the pictureis mixed, but the movement seems tobe heading that way. Green may not bedeeply in the middle of the stream yet,but its feet are wet and it has left theshoreline and entered the water.

FACT: The energy bill put forward byDemocrats in the U.S. House ofRepresentatives moves away fromsubsidies for oil and gas industries,raises energy efficiency standards forappliances and lighting, and offers newincentives to build green buildings.

FACT: The rebuilding and renovationof 8,000 homes at the Army’s SchofieldBarracks and other Oahu locations willinclude solar panels on all of the 5,400new homes to be built as part of theproject. Also to be installed on half ofthe homes will be photovoltaic panelsthat convert solar energy intoelectricity.

FACT: In 2005, Washingtonbecame the first state in the U.S. toenact green building legislation.According to the law, all majorpublic agency facilities with afloor area exceeding 5,000square feet, including statefunded school buildings,are required to meet orexceed LEED standards inconstruction or renovation.

real estate maui style 21

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FACT: the U.S. Conference of Mayors(USCM), which represents more than1,100 mayors, unanimously supported agreen schools resolution at its recentlyconcluded 75th annual meeting in LosAngeles. The resolution urges Congressto provide funding of K-12 green schooldemonstration projects as well as supportnew research funding to better under-stand the environmental, economic andhealth benefits of green schools.

On Maui, companies such asAlexander & Baldwin, DowlingCompany, Maui Land & Pineapple, andFrampton & Ward at Olowalu Town,have all moved to incorporate greendesign elements into their proposedprojects. Olowalu Town hired the notedplanner Andres Duany, considered bymany to be the father of the NewUrbanism design movement, to advisethem on their small town project andensure that the latest green technology isapplied to sustainable energy consumption,containment and use of water run-off,sewage and waste water treatment, buildingmaterials, appliances, site placement, con-struction, and construction waste.

Both A&B and ML&P havebrought in the firm of Dover Kohl toguide their community planning anddevelopment plans for Pululehua inwest Maui and upcountry at Haliimaile.Each of those projects is centeredaround the concept of a walkable com-munity that reduces the carbon foot-print of homeowners and renters by,among other things, reducing the needto drive in order to meet daily needs.Instead, small stores and also parks andcivic facilities are no more than a five-minute walk from home.

State and County Action

At the state level much has beenmade recently of the 2050 Sustainabilityproject. A draft of the 2050 vision statementfor Hawai’i states that, “In 2050 we havealso embraced and achieved island self-sufficiency. The energy we use is clean,renewable and produced in Hawaii.Most of the food we consume is grownlocally. We minimize waste by recyclingand waste-to-energy processes. We area strong and healthy community with

access to affordable housing, transporta-tion and healthcare.” To achieve thatvision it seems likely that the applicationof green building standards will be apart of the development future inHawai’i.

Add to that a new mayor for MauiCounty—Charmaine Tavares—who hasmade energy conservation, efficiencyand sustainability key goals of herAdministration, and it is easy to see thatthe dialogue over green building couldbecome front and center as county energypolicy is made and potential green codechanges are considered for newconstruction projects and housingdevelopments.

Carbon-neutral Buildings by 2030

According to the internationallyrecognized architect Ed Mazria there iscurrently approximately 300 billionsquare feet of U.S. building stock.Between now and 2030, 52 billionsquare feet will be demolished, 150billion square feet will be remodeled,and there will be 150 billion square feet

Maui Style ❘ LivingMaui

22 real estate maui style

Solar Energy

of new construction. Inhis view, how all of thatwork is done will becritical to the survival ofthe planet.

Mazria contends thatbuildings, when viewedas a sector of the econ-omy, are responsible forhalf of the green housegases emitted world-wide. In January 2006he l aunched h i s“Architecture 2030” web-site where he explainedthe link between build-ings and global warmingand calls for all buildingsto be carbon-neutral bythe year 2030. Mazriathinks this goal can beattained by designingmore energy-efficientbuildings and by speci-fying materials that havelow embodied energyand are made with cleanenergy sources.

In a February 2006interview with DeborahSnoonian in GreenSource,the magazine of sustain-able design, Mazria was

asked if his goal was realistic usingcurrent technologies.

“Absolutely,” he replied to the inter-viewer. “You can reach the 50 percentreduction right away by making siting,fenestration, and orientation of build-ings work with the local environment,so that buildings take advantage of pas-sive heating and cooling and naturallighting. That's just smart design.”

He went on to point out thatapproximately 15 percent of all energyin houses is used for domestic hot waterand that solar hot water heating hasbeen available for 30 years. Using solarhot water heating would reduce residentialconsumption in many areas of thecountry by about 15 percent overnight.Another example Mazria pointed to inthe interview was a 1980s study by theDepartment of Energy of a demonstra-tion project at the Mount Airy Libraryin North Carolina. The object was todetermine the size of the reductions inenergy consumption that could beobtained through building design.According to Mazria, the project achieved

an 80 percent drop in energy con-sumption using natural lighting, pas-sive heating and cooling concepts, andsimple conservation strategies. “Therewere no special energy systems or tech-nologies or materials involved. Thesewere all just design solutions,” he said.

Jennifer Stites, Green DevelopmentManager for the Dowling Company,thinks the biggest challenge to theexpansion of green building standardson Maui is the learning curb for con-tractors and developers. Speaking of herown experience in the greening of theDowling administrative offices inWailuku, the first commercial buildingon Maui to receive LEEDs certification,she said, “I think for us the challengewas going through it the first time andgetting up to speed, including ourconsultants.”

According to Stites, the use of greenbuilding standards only adds 3-4 percentin total project costs. Design decisionsmade in front –instead of as the buildingis being done–can help control costs.

Growing Consumer Acceptance

While it is one thing for famousarchitects, urban planners, and advocatesto establish a vision for a green future, itwill be the marketplace that makes theultimate decision. To put it simply, willpeople buy it? There are signs that the

public is coming to that position asenergy costs increase, global warmingconcerns continue to grow, and home-buyers seek more community and tradi-tional interaction in response to suburbansprawl and the resulting traffic increaseon ever-more crowded highways.

An advertisement in the July 1 issueof the Maui News by the builder D RHORTON-Schuler Homes, proudlyproclaims, “We’re Built Green!” and carriesthe symbol of the Hawaii Built Greentrademark. Among the green elements inthe development are solar hot waterheating, R-11 & R-19 wall and ceilinginsulation, and pre-wired rooms forceiling fans, exterior hardiplank cement-fiber siding, and dual pane windows forthermal and acoustical insulation. Allappliances have the Energy Star label,indicating their higher level of energyefficiency as compared to non-EnergyStar appliances. Prices for the homesstart in the high $500,000’s (fee simple)and include 3, 4 & 5 bedroom singlefamily homes.

In 2006, an Energy Pulse surveyreleased by the Shelton Group foundthat energy costs are now at a level thathas led a majority of Americans to saythey have changed their energy habits.The survey reported that 70 percent ofAmericans say that energy costs rosefrom 10 percent to 50 percent in the lastyear and 63 percent say they have made

real estate maui style 23

LEED Green Building standards evaluate water efficiency as one of the standards for greencertification. Here, recycled water is used for irrigation, reducing the impact on limitedwater resources.

24 real estate maui style

changes due to increasing costs.The report also said that 42 percent

of Americans are more aware of “renewableenergy” and able to identify at least onetype of such energy. The similar numberin 2005 was 20 percent. Eighty-eightpercent of those surveyed said theyconsider energy conservation to beimportant to very important.

The 2006 National Association ofRealtors (NAR) Profile of Buyers andSellers found that the typical homebuyerwas 41 years old. Among first timehomebuyers the median age was 32. Forrepeat buyers the most important reasonfor their purchase was a desire for alarger home, with neighborhood qualitybeing the most important factor inselecting a location. The typical buyerpurchased a home that was slightlymore than 1,800 square feet in size.These are still traditional reasons forbuying a home, and green building stan-dards were not yet a significant decidingpurchase factor in the United States.However, with 45.2 million people aged42-49 waiting in the wings as potentialhomebuyers, it may be that a significantnumber of these individuals, convincedof the need to adjust to new environ-mental realities, will expect their homesto be green, just as an earlier gen-eration came to expect a two-car

garage as household income grewand the automobile became a partof American life.

Green building standards are aboutmore than energy efficiency, but thatmay be the entry point for many home-owners. On Maui it is estimated that $1out of every $3 of the typical electric isspent to heat water. Due to our highelectricity bills that cost can be reducedby 30 percent with the installation of a

solar water heater. Over 20 years it isestimated that solar water heating is 40percent less expensive than a gas heaterand 75 percent cheaper than an electricwater heater. If you can save $50 amonth out of a $150 electric bill thesavings are obvious and can become aneconomic incentive to go green and savemoney while doing it.

Recently, Bob McNamara, of theNational Association of Realtors Centerfor Smart Growth Research andEducation, visited Maui and presentedinformation on a new training programdesigned to acquaint Realtors with thebackground and language of SmartGrowth, including green building. Hereported that evidence of public supportfor smart growth alternatives includesthe following:

• In the 2000 elections, voters considered209 ballot initiatives nationwide toprotect open space, manage developmentand otherwise implement smart growthpolicies. More than 83 percent of thesemeasures were approved.

• A 2004 American Community Surveysponsored by the National Associationof Realtors and Smart Growth Americafound that given a choice between 2types of communities, 60% of prospectivehomebuyers chose a neighborhood that

Maui Style ❘ LivingMaui

The Hope Chapel in Kihei uses photovoltaic lighting for its parking lot and other area ofthe newly built complex. The lighting is powered by photovoltaic cells that transform sun-light into electricity.

Compact fluorescent light bulbs are growing in popularity. They use 66 percent less energythan a standard incandescent bulb and last 10 times longer.

real estate maui style 25

offered a shorter commute, sidewalks,and amenities like shops, restaurants,schools and public transportation withinwalking distance—over a sprawling com-munity with larger lots, limited optionsfor walking and a longer commute.

• The Center for Transportation Excellencereported that in state and local electionsin 2004, over 75% of state and localinitiatives to expand transportation ledto voter approval. The successful initiativesraised $1 billion in funds, including suchprojects as bus service in Colorado tolight rail in Houston to bridges, railroadsand bike/pedestrian trails in Maine.

McNamara noted that the biggestopportunity for smart growth is thatpeople seem to want it. He also referredto a study showing that new-urbanismstyle planned communities had twicethe rate of sales prices appreciation thancomparably sized developments builtunder conventional suburban zoning,and a report by the Urban Land Instituteand PriceWaterhouseCoopers thatidentified smart growth types of devel-opments as sound real estate investments.

Developing the Green BuildingMarket

It is consumers who will decide thefuture of green building design anddevelopment standards. Provide themwith cost savings, well built homes, andeducation about the larger issuesinvolved and the green building move-ment may succeed and continue toinfluence our growth patterns andresource utilization rates for the better.

However, only the top one percentof households by income cannot carrythe green building movement forward inthe United States or abroad. For theeffort to succeed it must continue to shiftfrom multi-million dollar homes, condosand designer office buildings to typicalcommercial properties and housingdevelopments that are available to thelarger mass market of home buyers andrenters. The ability to make that movewill be the ultimate factor in determiningif green will truly go mainstream—and inthe process move from being a cause tobecoming the new conventional wisdom.REMS

Bamboo Flooring

Low Flow Faucets Low Flow Shower Heads

Low Flow Toilets

Sustainable Design

Buildings oriented to take advantage of passive heating and natural lighting