‘Green’ buildings project outlined

• By AMY WOLD
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Aug 16, 2008 - Page: 5B - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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Twenty minutes.

In a well-designed community, that’s the longest it should take residents to walk, bike or drive to get what they need — from groceries to government services.

The “20-minute living” concept is a mainstay for the Portland, Ore.-based Gerding Edlen Development, a real-estate firm specializing in sustainable mixed-use urban projects.

“The concept has become a cornerstone for all of our recent projects,” Gerding Edlen’s Kellee Jackson told a Baton Rouge audience Friday at the Livable Louisiana Summit on Smart Growth.

This sustainable development approach fits with the firm’s work in developing buildings that use fewer natural resources in both construction and operation.

“It’s not about doing without,” Jackson said. Sustainable development is about taking a new approach to development.

Gerding Edlen has been involved in the development of numerous LEED-certified projects in Portland, she said.

Developed in 2000 by the U.S. Green Building Council, LEED — Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design — certifies that a project has met certain nationally accepted “green” standards.

There are four levels of certification: Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum.

Some of the ways buildings in Portland have met those standards include recycling wastewater, rainwater collection systems and designs that take advantage of natural light, Jackson said.

The difference in upfront costs to get a Silver LEED Certification instead of utilizing regular construction is negligible, she said.

Even if a developer aims for the higher certifications of gold or platinum, those upfront costs are only 0.5 percent to 3 percent higher while long-term cost savings range from 20 to 60 percent, she said.

“LEED design is not about buying a solar panel or putting up a windmill,” said J. Dyke Nelson, a principal with Chenevert Architects in Baton Rouge. Instead, it’s an overall philosophy for designing buildings to be more energy efficient and water efficient and to use materials produced in a sustainable way.