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Hi 

I'm new to the ASTC list serve but thought I'd give you my two cents on this subject. I've 
been immersed in the LEED process as I study for the Accredited Professional Exam and 
have perspective shaped by my architecture background.

On a basic Level LEED is a way to quantifiably measure a building's performance in 
relation to the criteria set out by the USGBC. Buildings are LEED certified but not 
products, materials or people. This is not to say LEED has no bearing on exhibits. There 
are ways that exhibits can contribute towards points and the credit intents are a great 
way to inform a sustainable strategy for exhibits. 

One thing that often gets confused is that materials can contribute towards a credit but 
they are not in and of themselves certified. This might seem nit picky but it actually 
brings up an important aspect of LEED. The system evaluates the entire project based on 
a set of criteria that is a bit complex and often times contradictory. This complexity 
within their system is necessary and good.

As soon as you try to say something like "plyboo is a green material" things get 
complicated. It is a rapidly renewable resource but it also comes from China so it 
requires a great deal of energy to ship. At almost every turn you can find more questions 
than answers when trying to find something that is unequivocally "green". Instead of 
focusing on absolutes, LEED established a clear intent for each credit and then the sum of 
the credits gives an indication of the overall performance with regard to the environment. 
For instance LEED has a credit for using rapidly renewable resources for 2.5% of all the 
construction materials (plyboo applies here) and it also has a credit for using regional 
materials for 10% of construction materials. 

As the conversation about what make an exhibit "green" evolves, I hope it will broaden 
beyond material choices and focus overall sustainable strategies. As Jeff raised in his 
post, there are so many ways to look at this issue. Focusing on the entire life cycle of an 
exhibit will give you a different set of criteria (and thus end result) than if you were 
focused on carbon footprint. How do we establish this criteria and then what does it say 
about us? What are we willing to overlook, what tradeoffs are we willing to make?

So far the discussion has focused on the built object, but there is also the content of an 
environmentally focused exhibit to think about and how to engage the visitor in these 
issues. The social space of the museum could also offer unique ways for visitors to 
experience the aggregated impact of their decisions and sense community that can come 
from acting collectively.


oh and my choices for countertops typically *marketed* as green are:
	sustainably forested wood (if it is an appropriate application)
	Colorlith (recycled pulp in concrete) 
	Recycled glass (if you can afford it)

-Scott

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