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Thanks, Chuck.

I confess I have not spoken with any interior designers with LEED  
certification experience; I'd welcome that conversation.
My research, personally, concerned seeking certification for a  
particular exhibit project.  All three of the architects I consulted  
advised more pragmatic avenues for building "certifiably" greener  
exhibits.

There's a lot of chatter about LEED, but there are a lot of tools to  
use out there!

Ultimately, sustainable design is about principles, such as energy  
efficiency, and positive social impact; commitment to these  
principles; and staying always open and always learning.  It's being  
interested in where things come from and where things go when they  
leave our hands.  It's being reverent of fuel and electricity!  It's  
not about checklists and whether or not an exhibit is officially  
certifiable, but the attitude and the considerations that bring the  
exhibit into existence.  I am convinced sustainable design is a  
morality issue more than a policy issue and therefore shifts shape  
depending on the tape measure you use.

Are LEED-mandated exhibits in our future?  Maybe.  Would  
certification be good?  It's the sort of thing that helps clients  
make choices, and gives designers one more thing to be neurotic  
about, but the motivation for sustainability has to come from  
someplace deeper.

On that note,
Happy Earth Hour, everyone!
www.earthhour.org

--Jason



On Mar 29, 2008, at 2:42 PM, Chuck Howarth wrote:

> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology  
> Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related  
> institutions.
> ********************************************************************** 
> *******
>
> LEED standards actually are directly relevant to exhibit design.   
> There are  six separate types of LEED certification governing  
> different types of projects.  LEED NC covers new construction, but  
> there are also LEED EB for retrofits of existing buildings, LEED-CI  
> for commercial interiors, and three others.  All are based on  
> earning points for various sustainable practices—the certification  
> is not prescriptive, but rather offers the design team multiple  
> avenues to earn points.  One category for earning points is choice  
> of materials, which includes re-use of salvaged materials, recycled  
> content, use of regional materials (reduces need for  
> transportation), use of rapidly renewable materials, and use of  
> certified woods.   There are other categories that cover energy  
> use, indoor air quality, water conservation, design innovation, and  
> more.  Many, though not all, of these standards are directly  
> applicable to exhibit design, and if the exhibits are being created  
> in coordination with new construction or major renovation, it is  
> possible to earn points through exhibit choices that can be applied  
> to the overall project goals for LEED.  But at the end of the day,  
> LEED isn't about earning points but rather about encouraging  
> sustainable practice, so it certainly makes sense to apply the  
> standards even for stand-alone exhibits that don't directly qualify  
> for certification.
>
> Chuck Howarth
>
> Gyroscope has moved!  Please note our new address:
> Gyroscope, Inc.
> 283 Fourth Street, Suite 201
> Oakland, CA  94607
> [log in to unmask]
> 510-986-0111
>
>

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