LEEDing the way
Developer Jaylene Moseley sets the standard for environmentally friendly buildings
By Ellen Snortland 01/11/2007
Wouldn't it be great if buildings were intentionally built or remodeled to be environmentally friendly? What exactly is an environmentally sustainable architectural structure? How can we inspire others to embrace responsible real estate development? Why should we ask ourselves these questions?
The answers to these questions are very much on the mind of Jaylene Moseley, a commercial real estate developer who has focused her life's work on Northwest Pasadena and Altadena. Moseley is a friend of mine, but that certainly doesn't cloud my objectivity regarding the importance of her accomplishments and vision. Indeed, the US Green Building Council has awarded a Gold Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating to Moseley's green redevelopment project at 45 Eureka St. in Pasadena — the first Gold LEED designation in Pasadena.
Moseley modestly deflects personal praise and passes it on to her team. She's grateful for the leadership that Pasadena as a city has shown in raising development standards above state requirements. But Moseley is a warrior for the environment who walks her talk, talk that is important for the future. It's her leadership that helps raise awareness and spark urgency in making “green” building normal, not novel.
The Eureka Street project itself was a conversion of a building that was formerly used for light industry into a state-of-the-art, LEED-certified office and classroom facility. When I walked into an “open house” event held there on Nov. 11, I was immediately struck by how Moseley's team also included young people; our guides to the building — designated docents for the day — ranged from a fifth-grader to high school students. These kids were completely conversant in discussing the ways that a structure can be built to be a win-win project: good for the planet and good for people. Details of the building, too numerous to list here, ranged from drought-resistant landscaping to showers for employees who bike to work.
Moseley believes that we need to show young people how to create projects and engage them in the process. “When we involve the next generation, they see firsthand that creating environmentally sound buildings is not someone else's job and will make sure it happens,” she said. “They have an attitude that ‘of course' we need to be responsible for the environment.”
I asked her which question she hears the most when she encourages others to go “green.” She said, “They almost always ask, ‘How much more will it cost?' But I think the real question is this: Why wouldn't we want to develop buildings that are healthy for the occupants; that don't have a negative impact on air quality; that don't use precious resources in a wasteful way?”
Experts have finally realized that buildings can literally make people sick. Folks with allergies or asthma suffer when materials trigger physical reactions. On a more macro level, buildings contribute to making the planet sick by being wasteful with water and energy as well as spewing pollution. I think we need to really nail down the actual costs of NOT building green.
The cost of a building includes more than just construction. Operational savings down the line make up for slightly larger costs upfront (speaking of which, see page 8 for more on the city's new Environmental Advisory Commission). For instance, if management factors in savings of thousands of dollars in energy bills, that offsets the initial cost of solar paneling.
The other question Moseley hears a lot is, “Won't the building be ugly if it's green?” How peculiar that so many people connect “ugly” with ecologically conscious projects.
The resistance to “going green” then boils down to concerns about cost, aesthetics and, finally, the hassle involved with change. “Change is challenging and everyone on this project had a learning curve that they had to confront. Citizens Bank, the lender, exhibited financing leadership by understanding that this was a change in how they usually do things,” Moseley said, explaining that ordinarily construction is rigid and hierarchical. But for the Eureka Street project, engineer/architect Hernando Miranda made himself available to everyone so he could teach them how to comply with LEED standards.
Now Moseley's team is experienced with those standards, and green experience begets more green projects.
Moseley is a visionary right in line with the seventh goal of the eight Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations: Ensure environmental sustainability.
How fortunate we are to have a global leader who is local, out in front asking the right questions and supplying sustainable answers.
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