Q&A with David Gottfried
David Gottfried, CEO of Regenerative Ventures, is considered by many to be the godfather of the green building movement. He is the founder of the influential U.S. Green Building Council, best known for its transformative LEED Green Building Rating System, and the World Green Building Council, which serves as the central resource for green building councils that are being developed around the world. He also is a member of SCA Tissue’s recently formed Tork® Hygiene and Environmental Council. Gottfried shares his thoughts on the state of green and on the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo, in which he played a prominent role and at which Al Gore was the keynote speaker. More information on David Gottfried and his involvement in green building as a consultant and speaker is available at www.regenerativeventures.com.
Q: What is the state of the green building movement?
A: We’re seeing the convergence of green with the economy and the world. Green is the essence of value in the world and all industries have jumped in. There’s been a shift in value calculation where for the first time ever we value fresh air, atmosphere, soil that grows food, and water and materials. The natural laws of the world are moving into the value proposition of all industries — building, transportation, products, finance and government.
Q: Given your long involvement and leadership in the movement — more than 25 years — what is your sense of its momentum at this point?
A: I’d say it’s explosive, catalytic, a groundswell and definitely global. It’s the most encouraging bright light in a down global economy. LEED registrations were up 40 percent last year. And according to McGraw Hill, the business of green building has been up about 30 percent per year for the past five years.
Q: Is part of that growth because there is not only environmental value in building green but also bottom line value?
A: I think it’s the essence of value. The economy and building owners are just waking up to it. If you don’t have fresh air, great daylight, thermal comfort, how great is the asset? If it uses a lot of energy and water and it’s hard to get to or move around in, how valuable is the asset? There are a lot of economic studies supporting the value of green building, but we’re just starting. There is a value proposition today but the value tomorrow is even greater. We’re headed toward 8 billion people shortly. You can’t move around any major city in your car. Energy, climate change, ozone hole — those are all real issues for us.
Q: What’s your take on the upcoming United Nations Summit on Climate Change this month in Copenhagen?
A: Copenhagen looks like a missed opportunity. The big countries can’t get it together beforehand. Everyone is already saying not much is going to happen. It’s sad.
Q: What prevents governments from cooperating to address climate change and environmental issues globally?
A: There are two ways to measure progress. One is what you see with the Copenhagen summit and countries trying to reach some global agreement. That’s hard because it gets into politics with established countries versus emerging countries and the issue of social equity. And then there’s the real work of green. I think that the real work is going pretty well. In North America, Europe and even in China, the ground forces are getting at it. They’re creating better standards and codes, green products, green buildings and green building councils and rating systems and stimulus programs supported by education and training. If you map out the world and look at what the countries are doing, it’s pretty exciting.
Q: Some people say China is a hotspot in green technology growth.
A: It is. And they’re doing some good things over there. Despite three new coal plants per week, they have high-energy efficiency requirements the government is working on. I think they’re working on a 50 percent reduction in 10 years and a 65 percent reduction in 20 years. That’s the goal. And they have a new rating system for green buildings that’s two or three years old. It’s called Three Star and it is based on LEED and on England’s BREAM (BRE Environmental Assessment Method). It doesn’t have big uptake yet, but they’re trying. And they are interested in green materials. The city of Beijing has a $50 million match for green building materials. They put that money forward because they care.
Q: Does China have leadership that is committed to green building?
A: I was there at the end of May and beginning of June. I met with the executive vice president of their Ministry of Housing and Urban Rural Construction. He’s great. He’s passionate. He gets it. He has a double Ph.D. and the book he just wrote, which he gave me, is inspiring on how to green cities, how to transform them. He’s studying the world. He has an annual green conference in Beijing every March on green intelligent building.
Q: So you think China is not only moving in the right direction but doing so pretty quickly and aggressively?
A: Yes. And I think they are going to own, as they do already, leadership in solar, wind and green materials. They’ve got money. They’ve got the government behind them. They can move fast. They have the labor and it’s cheaper than here. We’ve been sleeping and now we’re broke. They’re rich and they’re just starting. They are running around the world investing while we’re dealing with two wars.
Q: Based on the recent Greenbuild in Phoenix, would you say the momentum of that annual gathering is growing?
A: This was our eighth Greenbuild and it was our hugest ever with nearly 28,000 people and 1,800 exhibitor booths. It continues to grow every year. To me, the most exciting part this year was the international involvement. We had 7,500 people from 75 countries. The World Building Council, which I founded, now has councils emerging and established in 63 countries. I counted 32 green building councils in attendance at World Council Green Building Day at Greenbuild.
Q: What’s your quick review of Al Gore’s keynote address at Greenbuild?
>A: It was very good. He was passionate, energetic, engaged, inspiring, and he celebrated with us our great work. We’re probably the biggest global force for carbon mitigation in the world and he sees that, which is why he came. (Bill) Clinton came two years ago. In Gore’s world, it’s about electricity and carbon and you want to get at it in buildings. That’s why people like Al Gore come before us at Greenbuild. We are the biggest sandbox for change in the world. That’s an indirect quote from Paul Hawken in his forward to my book and in his latest book, Blessed Unrest.
Q: Speaking of books, what are you working on these days?
A: My last book, Greed to Green, is six years old. I’ll be releasing the sequel next year in time for Greenbuild in Chicago. It’s called Greening My Life. It’s about personal journey and the struggle to green your life. It’s a personal memoir. What is a green life for David Gottfried? How do you define it? How’s he doing? It’s really is about the struggle between human and humane. The biggest reason why we’re not green in the world is that we’re human and that has a duality.
Q: Being human is a problem?
A: Being human means being frail and capable of error. At a deeper level being human is about cultivating nature, about creating civilizations. Part of being human is to not be perfect and to go astray from the divine and from nature. In fact, cultivation of nature and creation of civilization is what humans did that was obliterating the living systems of our own sustenance, which is where we are at. So we’re having a real struggle with our relationship to the earth as humans and we’ve lost the “e” at the end of the word. I call it the “e revolution.” How do we get the “e” back in human and then stay on that path?
Q: Are you optimistic that a reconnect with the natural world will happen?
A: I’m hopeful. You have to get up hopeful. Gandhi said, “Be the hope.” I don’t know what else to do with my remaining time. I’m worried. I’m nervous. But all I know how to do is be hopeful and try. You can be pessimistic. You can party on the Titanic as it sinks or you can try to steer it away from the iceberg. I’m trying to help steer the ship.
Q: Is the world going to get better at addressing these issues?
A: I think we’re having a global awakening and I think the green building movement is part of that. I actually think there is a higher message that the world is waking up to and realizing our impact on the earth. We are steering toward a new frontier and that gives us hope. Can we make it in time as we hit 8 billion people? I don’t know. Can capitalism shift and embrace life-sustaining systems in time versus commerce and profit? And can commerce and profit embrace life-sustaining systems? It remains to be seen. But this is the fight the world faces. I think that if you’re intelligent and you care, there is no other game.