In participating in the "AV in LEED" session at the InfoComm Leadership conference this week (Bethesda, MD), I wanted to pass on a few points that we covered in this session as well as a few resources and links to get the industry (and anyone else interested) started in this process. Scott Walker did a very good post on what it takes to get LEED certified. I can appreciate this as I too am in the process of tackling this. Boy, is it a lot of memorization.
I really appreciated the amount of response that was received to the presentation on Thursday as it shows the industry as there is something here that needs to happen. We have an opportunity to make a difference as technology consultants to our clients (both end users and architects) in both environmental contributions as well as energy savings to the client firm and I am excited to be involved in getting this moving. At some point, InfoComm will be establishing a Special Interest Group to help facilitate getting all of us wanting to be involved collaborating together but in the interim, this blog will act as a messenger board where people can post ideas, comments, etc.
There was also discussion of tying multiple organizations together to help cross industry involvement. On the IT side, Europe is making great strides in data center energy reductions. This is being carried over here by use of energy efficient IT components. As InfoComm is working together to bridge the IT gap and help spur on convergence, this will tie in to us as well (collaborating to bring the two conferences together next year in Las Vegas). The International Facility Managers Association (IFMA) is also featuring a Green Pavilion at their annual conference (New Orleans - late October). It was discussed that InfoComm have a member staffed booth at the show just to get in the door with the facility mangers to promote hour technology will be getting involved.
We will also be talking to the USGBC to try and get on the council for the next LEED guide to help get AV technology better defined in relevant categories. This would help architects in their efforts to gain points towards higher LEED goals. The ICAT Council of InfoComm has discussed looking into this. Other avenues to try and fit LEED points into this is for manufacturer compliance with either Energy Star, RoHS, and/or ISO9001:2000. If we can establish this as a criteria, projects would start requiring this for implementation. If projects start requiring this, more manufacturers will get the process started to comply. It is a domino effect and the environment will be the primary recipient of the benefits. We talked also about looking into manufacturers possibly having a recycling plan for older materials to help the sustainability efforts. The "InfoComm Shines" program might also be able to utilize some of the older items being replaced with newer, more compliant equipment allowing non-profit firms gain technology - also part of sustainability...
Right now, this is an exciting time as people are coming up with so many good ideas to explore. Please contribute as it will take all of us to make this change in consciousness.
A few links for research...
• USGBC & LEED www.usgbc.org
• Green Technology www.green-technology.org
• ASHRAE www.ashrae.org
• California Green Solutions www.CaliforniaGreenSolutions.com
• International Facility Managers Assoc (IFMA) www.ifma.org
- Green Roadmap http://www.ifma.org/prod_briefs/2006/jul/07_13a.cfm
• IFMA World Workplace Conference http://www.worldworkplace.org/attendees/expo_zone.cfm
• EPA – Energy Star www.energystar.com
• Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) www.rohs.gov.uk
You can also check with certain manufacturers as some are already on board with this effort... Obviously Draper as Jim is part of this blog.
Thanks,
Michael Dannenberg, Senior Consultant
Vantage Technology Consulting Group