I am really happy to be a MarketScale contributor and the host of Build for Impact, to have a forum to dialog with and share our lessons with followers and hopefully give inspiration to the people who want to make a difference. As a proponent of lifelong learning, sought‐after green building expert also recognized as the Godfather of Sustainability, Build For Impact, aims to build a platform to allow for collaboration with some of the best minds in the world who focus on green design and sustainability. On the inaugural episode of Build For Impact, I provide followers with an introduction to my Four Pillars for the Green Building World: Sustainability, Resiliency, Materials Transparency, and Wellness within the podcast I go on to explain how we plan to tackle these topics in depth within future episodes.
Translating Vision into Sustainable Action
Published August 31, 2020 – Ramie Vagal, Senior Sustainability Manager at Mohawk Industries, joined Build for Impact host, Daniel Huard, for a discussion on sustainability, equity, material transparency, and wellness. Vagal also serves as a member of the LEED Materials and Resources Technology Advisory Group. “I think any organization should not look at sustainability from just one aspect,” said Vagal. “It should be considered something which is more holistic as well as ingrained into your strategic planning.” Huard and Vagal also discussed the concept of hand printing, which is a wide-reaching approach that spreads sustainability education and awareness to positively impact entire communities by collaborating to minimize impacts and increase restorative efforts. The pair shared recent hand printing examples they were involved with and how the efforts improved the sustainability of the surrounding areas.
Leading Sustainability at Scale
Published August 24, 2020 – There’s no debating the fact that clean air and clean water are essential to human life. But these resources are becoming increasingly scarce, particularly in impoverished areas of the world. As America begins to feel the effects of climate change, people-focused solutions arise, like sustainable building design. Build For Impact, host Huard explores how the sector of sustainable construction has evolved in the last few decades with special guest John Harrison, LEED Fellow and founder of GreenSlate Sustainability. Harrison’s work with companies like REI and Starbucks has been influential in leading the momentum to adopt big change on mass.
Why Equity is a Hidden Component of Resiliency
Published August 17, 2020 – On this episode of Build for Impact, host and LEED architect Daniel Huard is joined by another LEED Fellow and award-winning Architect, Eric Corey Freed. Freed serves as the Senior Vice President, Sustainability for CannonDesign, a global architecture, engineering and design firm aimed at designing to “help organizations improve human life” through Living-Centered Design, which works to “address the complex interdependencies that exist between people, businesses, communities, society and the environment.”
Why Transparency Is One Ingredient In The Formula of Creating Safe Buildings
Published August 11, 2020 – As more and more architects and building designers look to achieve the top levels of LEED Green Building certification, many are looking at the materials and resources going into the construction of the building. Listen to this Build for Impact episode as Eden Brukman, AIA, LEED Fellow, who is the Senior Green Building Coordinator, San Francisco Department of the Environment, is a pioneer in this space following her efforts with the Health Product Declaration Collaborative. Brukman said it’s important to remember the manufacturer of the product certainly knows more about what the product does and what it’s made up of than regulators or advocates do; however, if they’re willing (or required) to share some information, it gives everyone a strong starting point.
Developing Tools for a Sustainability Strategy: Build for Impact
Published August 3, 2020 – On this installment Amy Costello, P.E., of Armstrong Flooring joins to share about her mission as an engineer to support the four pillars of Green Design; Sustainability, Resiliency, Materials Transparency and Wellness. Amy shared further about how her experience with outdoor environmental sustainability informed her view of building sustainability, and how it can’t just be thought of in terms of the structure. “When you build a building, people have to get to the building,” she said while talking about bridging the gap between the building environment and the transportation sector.
Building Growth Through Transparent Engineering with Dennis Berlien of Glumac
Published July 28, 2020 – Build for Impact host and LEED fellow, Daniel A. Huard, spoke with long-time friend, Dennis Berlien, Chief Operating Officer at Glumac. Berlien leads operations that focus on technical and operational best practices for green buildings. Berlien and Huard discussed building techniques and strategies that are tailored to geography as well as minimizing environmental impact. Berlien elaborated on how different locations are prone to particular natural disasters such as wildfires, earthquakes, and flooding, and how buildings can be designed to be resilient to these dangers. He further commented on the progress in building techniques to minimize carbon footprint, reprocess water, and reduce energy consumption.
How to Approach Sustainability in Healthcare Design
Published July 20, 2020 – Architect Jane Rohde, Principal at JSR Associates, with a list of distinguished awards and certifications, joins the show again with a focus on Huard’s Pillars. “With material transparency, there are bigger questions that we don’t have answers to, regarding social responsibility. But the conversations are happening. What’s critical is not to look at it from a single attribute perspective. The better way may be from an exposure and risk perspective,” Rohde stated. Tune in for a great Build for Impact episode!
How to Approach Design with Public Health in Mind
Published July 14, 2020 – The International WELL Building Institute has released its newly-developed WELL Health-Safety Rating building certification. Build for Impact host, LEED fellow, and WELL faculty member, Daniel Huard, addressed this hot topic in the Build for Impact podcast. Huard posed the questions, “Why is this rating important? Why does it matter now?” and takes a deeper dive into this IWBI certification release to address these questions and provide more details around the recently developed health-safety rating.
Finding Interconnectedness in the Pillars of Green Building: Build for Impact
Published June 22, 2020 – Miranda Gardiner, Vice President, Sustainable and Performance Design Manager at HKS, Inc. joins host and as usual, Huard and Gardiner focused in on Huard’s four pillars of green building — Sustainability, Resiliency, Materials Transparency, and wellness. “What strikes me about your pillars is that they’re so interconnected,” Gardiner said. “While they stand alone, and you can look at any one of them … What’s unique about the work that we get to do is finding the interconnectedness of them and finding the things that make sense and cross over.”
Structuring the Future of Green Building: Build for Impact
Published June 15, 2020 – In this episode Verdical Group Founder and Principal Drew Shula and Daniel A. Huard dialoged about their involvement with “Living Buildings,” buildings that harvest energy from renewable resources like the sun and the wind, are constructed from sustainable materials, and serve occupants by providing a healthier environment. The duo also discussed the big annual event that Shula initiated the Net Zero Conference.
Build for Impact – A New Green Building Podcast
Build for Impact’s inaugural episode, I provide followers with an introduction to my Four Pillars for the Green Building World: Sustainability, Resiliency, Materials Transparency, and Wellness within the podcast I go on to explain how we plan to tackle these topics in depth within future episodes.