The New Sustainable Frontier

Jonathan Herz, AIA, LEED AP GSA Office of Governmentwide Policy

The New Sustainable Frontier:Principles of Sustainable Development

Office of Real PropertyU.S. General Services AdministrationOffice of Governmentwide Policy

U.S. General Services Administration

Real Property Sustainable Development Guide (2000)

“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It contains within it two key concepts: the concept of 'needs', in particular the essential needs of the world's poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and, the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment's ability to meet present and future needs.”

“Our Common Future” (1987) The Brundtland Commission



Real Property Sustainable Development Guide (2000)

World Business Council for Sustainable Development (1997)"Sustainable development involves the simultaneous pursuit of economic prosperity, environmental quality and social equity. Companies aiming for sustainability need to perform not against a single, financial bottom line, but against [this] triple bottom line."

EquityEquity EconomyEconomy

EcologyEcology

McDonough Braungart Design Protocol™





Sustainable Development and Society (2004)

Respect Well-being Quality of Life

“Neither we, nor any other people, will ever be respected till we respect ourselves and we will never respect ourselves till we have the means to live respectfully.”

Frederick Douglass, 1881



Life cycle cost-effectiveness

Life Cycle Cost Analysis & Life Cycle Assessment



“The immense mineral resources of some of those Territories ought to be developed as rapidly as possible… It is worthy of your serious consideration whether some extraordinary measures to promote that end can not be adopted...”

Abraham Lincoln, addressing Congress, 1862

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Some history



“The conservation of our natural resources and their proper use constitute the fundamental problem which underlies almost every other problem of our National life... We must show foresight...“As a nation we not only enjoy a wonderful measure of present prosperity but if this prosperity is used aright it is an earnest of future success such as no other nation will have.” - Theodore Roosevelt, 1907

Some more history



“… Our conservation must be not just the classic conservation of protection and development, but a creative conservation of restoration and innovation. Its concern is not with nature alone, but with the total relation between man and the world around him. Its object is not just man's welfare but the dignity of man's spirit.”

Lyndon B. Johnson, 1965

Even more history

“We still think of air as free. But clean air is not free, and neither is clean water. The price tag on pollution control is high. Through our years of past carelessness we incurred a debt to nature, and now that debt is being called.”

Richard Nixon, 1970



“The Congress, recognizing the profound impact of man's activity on the interrelations of all components of the natural environment… [and] the critical importance of restoring and maintaining environmental quality to the overall welfare and development of man, declares that it is the continuing policy of the Federal Government… to create and maintain conditions under which man and nature can exist in productive harmony, and fulfill the social, economic, and other requirements of present and future generations of Americans.”

The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969



National Historic Preservation Act 6

Clean Air Act (CAA) Clean Water Act (CWA) Superfund (CERCLA) Toxic Substances Control Act

(TSCA) Endangered Species Act (ESA) Energy Policy Act From Environmental Health Risks

and Safety Risks EO 13123 EO 12898: Environmental Justice Safe Drinking Water Act EO 13045: Protection of Children Federal Food, Drug, and

Cosmetic Act (FFDCA)

• Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA)

• Pollution Prevention Act (PPA) • Resource Conservation and

Recovery Act (RCRA) • Emergency Planning and

Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA)

• Government Performance and Results Act

• Chief Financial Officers and Accountability for Tax Dollars Acts

• Energy Policy Act of 2005• Davis-Bacon and Related Acts• Fair Labor Standards Act• Javits-Wagner-O’Day (JWOD)

Act

Social and environmental legislation



Cost Benefit Analysis and Circular A-94 — promotes efficient resource allocation through well-informed decision making, provides general guidance for conducting benefit-cost and cost-effectiveness analyses.

Logrolling - The trading of influence or votes among legislators to achieve passage of projects that are of interest to one another.

Economic decision-making



LIFE-CYCLE ASSESSMENT (LCA) - “LCCA should be applied within a life-cycle assessment framework that accounts for both the costs over the asset life and the environmental consequences of investment decisions on upstream (e.g., extraction, production, transportation, and construction), ongoing (e.g., health impacts on tenants and the community), and downstream (e.g., decommissioning and disposal) costs.” GSA Bulletin FMR 2008-B5 – “Real Property Asset Management Guiding Principles”

LIFE CYCLE COST ANALYSIS (LCCA) - “The cost of a capital asset is its full life-cycle cost, including all direct and indirect costs for planning, procurement… operations and maintenance… and disposal.” OMB Circular A-11, Part 7 “Capital Programming Guide”

Economic decision-making: LCCA and LCA



Where are we today?

“Living Planet Report 2008”WWF–World Wide Fund For Nature



Climate ChangeBetween 1970 and 2004, GHG emissions due to human activities increased 70%, increasing water scarcity, ocean warming and acidification, sea level rise, extreme weather, public and ecosystems health, and national security.

Where are we today?

Toxification of the PlanetIn 2007, 253,000 Tons of Persistent Bioaccumulative Toxic chemicals were released, including lead, mercury, PCBs, and dioxins.



• The poorest 2.3 billion (36%) get less than 3%• The richest 1 billion (15.6%) get more than 80% (of which the

U.S. (4.7%) consumes 41%) • The middle 3.1 billion (48.4%) get 17%.

Where are we today?

Natural Resources Depletion The average person uses 5.7

ac of biologically productive land, but only 4.7 ac/person exists. We are consuming both our natural ‘income’ and our ‘natural capital.

Unjust Distribution of Resources



The planet will be here for a long, long, LONG time after we're gone, and it will heal itself, it will cleanse itself, 'cause that's what it does.

The planet has been through a lot worse than us…

The planet isn't going anywhere. WE ARE!

George Carlin



Our world is a closed system



Environmentally Sustainable World 1. Consumption of renewable resources

at a rate below their regeneration rate or carrying capacity,

2. Consumption of non-renewable resources at a rate below that at which they can be replaced by renewable substitutes,

3. Waste generation below the ecosphere’s assimilative capacity, and,

4. Maintaining critical ecosystems that provide essential life support.

Sustainable (adj) - Capable of being carried on for a prolonged duration, or for the foreseeable future.

What does “sustainable” mean?



SUSTAINABLE SCALE •Natural Resources Conservation•Greenhouse Gas Reduction•Pollution PreventionJUST DISTRIBUTION •Wage Rates and Occupational Safety Standards•Use of Mandatory Sources & Socially And Economically Disadvantaged Small Businesses•Environmental Justice EFFICIENT ALLOCATION •Closed-World Cost Benefit, Life Cycle Cost, and Life Cycle Analysis•Closed-World Discounting

What do sustainable operations look like?



Traditional Economics

ECOSYSTEM

ECONOMYRESOURCES

WASTE

The environment is a subset of the economy.



Supply & DemandEquilibrium is found between consumer and producer in the market.


Price

Supply

Demand

Quantity

P*

Q*



Externalities: Unintended consequences of

economic activity. Can be positive or negative Prevent commodities from being

produced at a socially optimal level.

Traditional Economics: Market Failures

The British Government’s “Stern Report” describes Global Warming as “The biggest market failure the world has ever seen.”



Public GoodsGovernment intervention necessary to produce at optimal levels.


“The market cannot tell us how much clean air, clean water, healthy wetland, or healthy forests we should have, or what risk is acceptable when the welfare of future generations is at stake.”

Herman E. Daly and Joshua Farley



Free Rider ProblemPrivate and public incentives not in line.


Tragedy of the CommonsPublic resources become overexploited.



Environmental Economics and Resource Economics Branches of traditional economics Address environmental problems and allocation of natural

resources Use taxation and other market-based policy mechanisms to

correct externalities Seek to improve relationship between market economy and

natural world


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Cost Benefit Analysis: Difficult to price environmental goods and services Impossible to price human lives Successful environmental legislation would not pass CBA test

Traditional Economics: Limitations

Discounting Systematic devaluation of future assets. Based on assumption of economic growth. Appropriate for financial and investment considerations. Is it appropriate to discount natural resources?

Intergenerational costs/benefits? Human lives?




ECOSYSTEM

ECONOMYRESOURCES WASTE

The environment is a subset of the economy.



ECOSYSTEM

ECONOMY

SOCIETY

“Triple Bottom Line” Paradigm

““The concept of a Triple The concept of a Triple Bottom Line in fact turns Bottom Line in fact turns out to be a “Good old-out to be a “Good old-fashioned Single Bottom fashioned Single Bottom Line plus Vague Line plus Vague Commitments to Social Commitments to Social and Environmental and Environmental Concerns.” Concerns.” (Norman and (Norman and MacDonald, 2003) MacDonald, 2003)




Ecological Economics

Goal Economic Growth Ecological and Economic System Sustainability

Timescale Short: 50 years max, usually 1-4 years.

Multi-scale, extending eons into the future.

Conceptions of sustainability



The New Sustainable Paradigm

Ecological EconomicsThe economy exists within the environment as a construct of society

ECONOMY

SOCIETY

ECOSYSTEM



• Sustainable Scale• Just Distribution• Efficient Allocation

Ecological economics

Principles of Ecological Economics



Forecasting

=> Likely development pathway =>Status Quo Outline of a likely future

Vision of a desirable future<= Necessary development

pathway <=Status Quo

Tools: backcasting

Backcasting



Tools: Multi Criteria Analysis

• Expands upon cost-benefit analysis.

• Multi-disciplinary• Uses qualitative as well as

quantitative measuring scales

• Used to resolve problems with multiple values systems and objectives.

• Involves stakeholders directly in decision-making.



The new sustainable frontier

• No “free ride” on ecosystem services

• Everyone is responsible• Measure progress against a future

steady state• Reconsider tools that are not

supporting a closed loop process



Operationalizing Sustainability in the Government

Look for alternatives to consuming natural resources and generating waste

Know what you are buying:

• Who made it?

• What’s in it?

• Where does it go when no longer needed?

Share the government’s vision for sustainability with suppliers, and favor those that support that vision



Executive Order 13514 “Federal Leadership In Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance”

Office of Governmentwide PolicyU.S. General Services Administration

Sustainable Scale• increase energy efficiency• reduce greenhouse gas emissions• conserve and protect water resources• eliminate waste, recycle, and prevent pollution Just Distribution• strengthen the vitality and livability communities• support transportation planning and transportation infrastructure• use locally generated renewable energy; • choose pedestrian friendly sites near existing employment centers, ,

accessible to public transit

Efficient Allocation• consider environmental measures as well as economic and social

benefits and costs in evaluating projects and activities based on lifecycle return on investment



Another World Is Not Possible

Let’s make the one we have: sustainable

Jonathan Herz, AIA, LEED-APGSA Office of Governmentwide PolicyWashington, DC [email protected] www.gsa.gov/sustainabledevelopment

The New Sustainable Frontier:Principles of Sustainable Development

Office of Governmentwide PolicyU.S. General Services Administration

Appendices1. Operating Sustainably –

Case Studies2. Economic Decision-Making –

An Outline of Ecological Economics

3. The State of the World4. The Government Mandate for

Sustainability

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.gsa.gov/sustainabledevelopment