GreenWorld® 2002 and EnvironDesign6®
EnvironDesign6® and GreenWorld™ took place on April 3-5, 2002 at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in downtown Seattle.
EnvironDesign® is an annual national conference committed to bringing sustainable design to the forefront of community thinking. EnvironDesign® asked the IIDA Washington State Chapter to participate in this year’s event by incorporating components from our annual GreenWorld™ symposium.
In addition to the well-established GreenWorld™ Product Exhibit, the IIDA Washington State Chapter also offered a workshop, “Earth-Wise Design: Life Cycle Assessment Realities and Solutions for Sustainable Buildings”, a panel discussion “Defining Certified Wood”, and a site tour to a sustainable managed forest, tree farm, and lumber mill. The conference had many thought provoking speakers and panel discussions, and both the EnvironDesign® Product Learning Center, and the GreenWorld™ Product Exhibit offered valuable information about what manufacturers are doing to improve the sustainability of their products.
Many thanks go out to the members of the GreenWorld™ committee and to our sponsors. Without your hard work and dedication, this event would not have been possible!
GreenWorld™ 2002 Committee:
CALLISON ARCHITECTURE
Elizabeth Follis
Kathleen McCarthy
Stephanie Long
Catherine Barker
DESIGNTEX
Barbara Bushnell
ENVIRONMENTAL INTERIORS
Sandy Campbell
INTERIOR DESIGN INTERNATIONAL
Jenna LaDue
INTERFACE AMERICAS
Tim Katzinski
LEWIS ARCHITECTURE + INTERIOR DESIGN
Kim Parsley
LMN ARCHITECTS
Anna McCune
MILLIKEN
Teri Erickson
MITHUN
Lisa Herriott
NBBJ
Andrea Bartlett
Ree Hamai
Christine Key
Tara Martin
Yachun Peng
SKB ARCHITECTS
Jami Howard
SPACE
Jennifer Demitruk
STIEG DESIGN ASSOCIATES
Cathy Stieg
STUDIO CELADON
Josie Briggs
Spencer DeMille
GreenWorld™ Sponsors
Callison Architecture, Collins & Aikman Floorcoverings, Evergreen Commercial Flooring, Interface, Mithun, NBBJ, Wolf-Gordon, Architectural Directions, Bigelow Commercial, Brandrud, C&S Tile Distributors, Cutter Anderson Architects, Dupont Flooring Systems, Invision Carpet Systems, Karastan Contract/Durkan Commercial, Keilhauer, Knoll, MDC Wallcovering, NW Architects, Shaw Contract, Weinstein Copeland
EARTH WISE DESIGN
Life Cycle Assessment Realities and Solutions for Sustainable Buildings
Wednesday, April 3rd, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Earth Wise Design: Life Cycle Assessment Realities and Solutions for Sustainable Buildings
Coordinated by IIDA Washington State Chapter, GreenWorld™ committee
This all day workshop was attended by more than 70 designers, architects, engineers and manufacturers from throughout the US, and featured leaders in the field of life cycle assessment. Life cycle assessment of processed materials and manufactured products looks at the environmental impact of every step of a product's life: from extraction and processing of raw materials, transportation of materials to the manufacturing site, manufacturing processes, packaging, shipping, use and maintenance, and finally the disposition of the product at the end of its useful life. Nigel Howard from the US Green Building Council, Greg Norris from Sylvatica, and Rita Schenck from the Institute for Environmental Research and Education presented an in-depth discussion of the benefits and challenges inherent in life cycle assessment. It is highly a scientific yet frought with many variables and unknowns. While the European scientific community has integrated life cycle assessment into mainstream manufacturing and policy development, the US is still coming to grips with the complexities of LCA. We learned that while we are not as yet able to ask for and receive consistent LCA data from manufacturers and suppliers on their products, there has been much progress in the past two years to make this a reality, perhaps in the next several years. Until then, using a "life cycle thinking" approach to evaluating the environmental impacts of products, and demanding accurate data from manufacturers about their products are important steps to take.
The introductory session was followed by a presentation by four leaders in the interiors industry: Interface Corporation, Forbo Industries, Design Tex and Herman Miller. Each manufacturer presented their approach to and use of life cycle assessment in the development and production of their products. This was the first time these leaders have come together to share what has commonly been considered proprietary information. Only a few manufacturers, such as Forbo Industries, based in the Netherlands, have made such data public, and it is a trend which the design and scientific communities must encourage.
The third segment of this program was devoted to a demonstration of four different tools that designers can use, which are based on life cycle data. Two tools look at materials analysis, product development and product evaluation: EcoIndicators and BEES. EcoIndicators, presented by Philip White of Orb Analysis of Portland, is embedded in the SimaPro program, a highly technical tool used primarily by industrial designers in the development of products. BEES, on the other hand, was developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology specifically for the use of designers, specifiers and purchasers. Bobbie Lippiat, creator of BEES and BEES Please, provided CD's and Workbooks for the program, and demonstrated how the program can be used to compare the environmental impact of various interior finishes. Completion of the BEES Please project will expand the database and usefullness of this tool significantly, and we should see a BEES 3.0 introduced soon.
The second two tools presented were designed for the development and evaluation of building systems, as opposed to individual products. Greg Norris discussed Athena, which is in an advanced phase of development for use in North America, and Nigel Howard discussed Envest, which is for use in the U.K. only.
The final segment of the program looked at the process of gathering data from manufacturers on their products in order to make an evaluation of their impact on the environment. Until life cycle assessment is consistently available in the industry, we must still rely on this method of evaluation. Nadav Malin, Vice President of BuiltGreen and Editor of the Environment Building News discussed their process for researching and evaluating products for their Green Spec directory of green products. Cathy Stieg, IIDA, from Stieg Design Associates in Seattle, presented ASTM's recently released Standard E-2129, Standard Practice for Data Collection for Sustainability Assessment of Building Products. This standard includes a table of questions to be completed by manufacturers regarding the life cycle impact of the products. It is hoped that a standardized practice will benefit both design and manufacturing communities by providing consistent data for analysis. The Washington State Chapter of IIDA, with the consent of ASTM, reformatted the questionnaire for ease of use, and will have it posted on their website. In addition, the questionnaire was completed by all participating manufacturers in the GreenWorld™ product exhibit, thus promoting the consistency of environmental data.
A great deal of information was packed into this program, making it an extremely rich and valuable educational experience not only for the attendees, but for the presenters as well. It is hoped that this program, or others like it, will be repeated throughout the country.
GREENWORLD™ PANEL DISCUSSION
Defining Certified Wood
Coordinated by IIDA Washington State Chapter, GreenWorld™ committee.
Panel Discussion moderated by: Ross Leventhal, Designer, NBBJ, USGBC Cascadia Chapter Board Member. Panelists include: Jason Grant, Director, Trade & Market Development, Certified Forest Products Council, Kate Heaton, Senior Forestry Specialist, Natural Resource Defense Council, Maureen Frisch, Vice President, Public Affairs of Simpson Investment Company, End User Perspective, TBD.
The panelists will compare and contrast the two major forest certification schemes, US Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI). The two programs will be assessed to aid the design community and consumers in making informed decisions when specifying and purchasing "certified" wood. Topics of discussion will include: market labels, forestry management practices, ecological impact, harvesting methods, tracking a forest product from the forest to its final point of sale, availability and cost of products, and how certified wood fits into LEED certification.
GREENWORLD™ PRODUCT EXHIBIT
In addition to the EnvironDesign® 6 Product Learning Center, the IIDA Washington State Chapter organized a separate exhibit. The intent of the GreenWorld™ Product Exhibit was to heighten awareness of the strides manufacturers are making to address Life Cycle Analysis, sustainable design and materials. Participating vendors were asked to complete the GreenWorld™ 2002 Exhibitor Questionnaire, to explain how their company has addressed the sustainability concerns throughout the life cycles of their product(s). These questions were derived from and were reproduced with permission from Table 1 of E 2129-01 Standard Practice for Data Collection for Sustainability Assessment of Building Products, copyright ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, West Conshohocken, PA 19428. The complete standard E 2129 is available from ASTM, phone: 610-832-9585, fax: 610-832-9555, email: . Website: www.astm.org . You may view the GreenWorld™ version under the topic: GreenWorld™ Exhibit Questionnaire.
After being asked to complete the GreenWorld™ 2002 Exhibitor Questionnaire, the vendors arranged to collaborate with local area designers to create exhibits that describe their environmentally conscious manufacturing process, and the sustainability of the end product. The exhibits were judged by a jury comprised of design peers, and the winners were as follows:
1st Place, DuPont Flooring Systems
2nd Place, Carnegie/Xorel
3rd Place, DesignTex
The following list shows all EnvironDesign®6 sponsors who have completed the questions asked in Table 1 of ASTM E 2129-01 for the GreenWorld™ 2002 Product Exhibit, and the local representation and design teams:
ARMSTRONG WORLD INDUSTRIES, INC.: Local rep.: Timothy Hamilton, Design Team: Josie Briggs and Spencer de Mille of studio celadon
BELLBRIDGE CARPETS: Presented by Built-E, Inc. & The Environmental Home Center, Design Team: Brian Collins Fredrichs, Kyle Gaffney, Jami Howard, Jean-Marc LeRoy, Jon Rader, and Laura Greenameyer of SKB Architects
BENTLEY PRINCE STREET: Local rep.: Anthia Kappos, Design Team: Anna McCune of LMN Architects
CARNEGIE: Local rep.: Kim Gunning with The Gunning Group, Design Team: Stephanie Deshaies, Dave Walsh, and Clark Pickett of DLR Group
DESIGNTEX GROUP: Local rep.: Barbara Bushnell, Design Team: Chad Yoshinobu, Susana Covarrubias, Yukako Horiuchi, and Andres F. Quintero of Gensler
DESIGNWEAVE COMMERCIAL CARPET: Local rep.: Glenn Bode, Design Team: Marci Vinciguerra, Donna Schuman, and Courtney Rosenstein of Weber+Thompson
DUPONT FLOORING SYSTEMS: Local rep.: Kandice Coleman, Design Team: Robert Norwood of NBBJ
ECOTIMBER: Local Contact: Dan Harrington, Design Team: John Wells of Objx
ENDURA WOOD PRODUCTS: Design Team: Kristin Ford, Clayton O’Brien-Smith, Keith Smith, and Todd Bertellotti of GGLO
FORBO: Local rep.: Martha Korslund of ML Korslund Associates, Design Team: Pak Koong, Jill Reid, Lisa Herriott of Mithun
HAG, INC. Local rep.: Richard Schunk with Adaptive Workscapes, Design Team: Sarah Douglas and Christine Sabari of JPC Architects
HAWORTH, INC.: Local rep.: Wiesia Dlugosz, Design Team: Ana Allison, Judy Peterson, Lisa Bolster, and Mitchell Stein of Heery International
INTERFACE, INC.: Local rep.: Tim Katzinski, Design Team: Denise Sico of Callison Architecture and Tara Schneider of NBBJ
KNOLL, INC.: Local rep.: Vicki Rova-Mueller, Design Team: Melissa Peter and Andrea Koshwanez of ZGF
LEES CARPETS: Local reps.: Steve Stein and Greg Whitman
MECHOSHADE SYSTEMS, INC.: Local reps.: Larry & Rita Hartman of Hartman Ltd., Design Team: Lorraine Kitsos of Business Interiors Northwest
MILLIKEN COMMERCIAL CARPET: Local reps.: Joven Yount and Teri Erickson, Design Team: Mary Casey, Cindy Davis, and Mark Taylor of Callison Architecture
MOHAWK INDUSTRIES: Local rep.: Don Messick, Design Team: Gary Cruce, Anne Cunningham, Cara King, and Andrew McCune of NBBJ
SHAW INDUSTRIES, INC.: Local reps.: Laurie Staley and Susan Maxwell, Design Team: Robert Norwood of NBBJ
TIMBERGRASS: Local contact: Marit Saltrones,
Design Team: Kathleen McNeeley of Stock & Associates USG BUILDING SYSTEMS: Local rep.: Scott Finlinson
WATSON FURNITURE GROUP: Local rep.: Andrew Wesner of Kayser & Associates, Design Team: Erin Rindal and Brett Dearing of Bassetti Architects
GREENWORLD™ SITE TOURS
Saturday April 6th, 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Certified Wood Tour
Visit three locations including:
White River Tree Farm, containing 580 acres of contiguous ownership by White River School District, managed by Lusignan Forestry, on a sustained basis to meet certification. Participants will visit young and mature forest types and review the results of recent harvests.
Weyerhaeuser White River Tree Farm, a 90,000 acre managed forest, one of the largest private forests certified to the ISO 140001and Sustainable Forestry Initiative standards. Participants will see sustainable forest management, including new protection measures for salmon habitat and water quality.
Weyerhaeuser White River Lumber Mill, a state-of-the-art sawmill producing softwood dimension lumbers for use throughout the world.
