Green building grows despite economic climate (Charlotte)

Daria Milburn is the first executive director hired by the Charlotte regional chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council. The group had been led by volunteers, and her hiring reflects the growing importance of sustainability in the construction and retrofitting of buildings.

She’s new to the post, but not Charlotte nor environmental causes. The former vice president for environmental affairs at Wachovia Corp. oversaw the bank’s efforts to promote clean air in the region, among other duties. She was chosen from a pool of 96 candidates, some submitting résumés from as far as Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Her biggest influence? Her father, who taught her to take short showers to save water, and to opt for a snake instead of chemicals when fixing a clogged drain.

Milburn recently spoke to the Charlotte Business Journal about sustainability and the role the building council is playing in advancing the agenda. Following are edited excerpts from that conversation:

Do you think the concept of green has been played out or misused?

It’s not that there’s anything wrong with the word, but I think it’s a very confusing concept. Unfortunately, there’s no industry standard for what green means, which has left it open to some loose interpretation. This has led to great skepticism when the word is used, accompanied by a negative connotation of radicalism or frivolity.

I prefer to use words like conservation, sustainable, efficient, healthy. They’re much easier for people to relate to, and it’s hard to put a negative spin on wanting a more sustainable, efficient and healthy environment — built and natural — for our communities.

A recent report detailed unexpectedly high electricity use at ImaginOn, Charlotte’s first building to win certification from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program. What does that say about the effectiveness of the program?

It’s crucial for owners and operators to understand how their buildings are performing. Energy performance is not always an indicator of the effectiveness of LEED so much as an indicator of whether a building’s systems are being operated effectively and as intended at the time of design.

Read the full interview in the Charlotte Business Journal.