At any trade show, it’s usually worth it to barge in to a random event, feel awkward for a moment in exchange for a free drink and a chance to encounter new perspectives. So after a long day of seminars at Greenbuild, I found myself making small talk among a group of well dressed facilities managers involved in the LEED for Existing Buildings side of things. This is actually a very important part of the sustainability equation, since the operational energy of a commercial building will surpass the embodied energy used to make that building a few years after the building opens.

I have two pounds of sunchokes in my refrigerator and I'm scared of them.

Oh, I'm sure they will be delicious but the cleaning of them puts fear in my heart. Perhaps, like many things in life, if I just had a stiff drink before facing them with vegetable scrub brush in hand, it would go a lot easier.

Each November the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) holds its national conference and expo, known as Greenbuild, in a different city. The USGBC is the source for LEED certifications, a method for quantifying sustainability in buildings that has arguably transformed the building industry over the last 12 years. This past year in Phoenix, 27,000 fanatics and their suitors convened to share ideas, fears, successes and failures, working towards a greener, more sustainable built environment.

Dear EcoDaddyo Readers:

I’ll start where I left off in journalism class many years ago...

Who: Brett Frauenglass, husband, father, architect, LEED accredited professional, ski instructor and EcoDaddyo reader.
What: Blogging on the built environment for my friend Tim Fowler’s EcoDaddyo blog.
When: I hope about twice a month, but I also hope this gets easier with practice!
Where: Right here, right now. And for lack of a better option, most of my posts will be found under the Home and Office category, though buildings go far beyond those two realms.