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US Green Building Council SC Chapter, Upstate Branch - 2008 Environmental Stewardship Awards

N E W S R E L E A S E
January 12, 2009
For Immediate Release

The USGBC SC Chapter, Upstate Branch presented its First Annual Environmental Stewardship Awards on December 4 at Hubbell Lighting Headquarters in Greenville. These Awards recognize outstanding individuals and organizations that have shown vision, leadership and commitment to the advancement of green building in the upstate.

The Organizational Environmental Stewardship Award was presented to JM Smith Corporation and the Individual Environmental Stewardship Award was presented to Todd Usher of Addison Homes.

JM Smith Corporation has played an important role in demonstrating the value of green building when it decided to build two LEED certified buildings in Spartanburg.

QS/1, a JM Smith company, challenged McMillan Smith Architects in 2003 to design a facility that represented its commitment to the community, while providing an environmentally responsible, quality work environment. The result is a corporate headquarters built on a redeveloped site in downtown Spartanburg. The six-story; 120,000 SF building was shaped by comprehensive LEED guidelines resulting in an affordable, high-quality, energy-efficient and environmentally sensitive facility, earning a LEED Silver certification, only the 3rd building in the state and first in the Upstate to achieve such a designation.

Integral Solutions Group, also a JM Smith Company chose to redevelop an existing warehouse under the LEED Existing Building certification to support their growing business. Integral Solutions also supports other LEED buildings by providing LEED building controls, automation systems and systems design.

Todd Usher founded Addison Homes, LLC and maintains various green building certifications including: Southface LEED™ For Homes; EarthCraft House™ Technical Advisor for Southface Energy Institute; National Green Building Standard verifier for the NAHB Research Center; and ENERGY STAR® home energy rater.

Usher became an advocate for affordable green housing after meeting with the Atlanta Habitat for Humanity who builds all of its homes to EarthCraft House™ standards. This meeting resulted in a commitment by Greenville Habitat for Humanity to build and certify all of its new homes to EarthCraft standards along with a commitment by the Greenville County Redevelopment Authority to require ENERGY STAR® certification for all new homes. Usher is now working with the Spartanburg Habitat for Humanity to certify their new homes to EarthCraft standards.

As the 2008 president of the Home Builders Association of Greenville, Usher encouraged the association to form a green building task force to identify opportunities to educate and train builders and realtors about green construction.

The US Green Building Council (USGBC) is a non-profit organization working to advance buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable, and healthy places to live and work. Over 3.6 billion SF has been registered with the Council’s nationally accepted LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System™.

The Upstate Branch serves eleven counties (Abbeville, Anderson, Cherokee, Greenville, Greenwood, Laurens, McCormick, Oconee, Pickens, Spartanburg, and Union) and offers monthly meetings, LEED workshops, and tours of LEED certified buildings.

Meetings are held in locations throughout the Upstate and are open to the public. Anyone with an interest in the green building initiative is encouraged to attend. For information on meetings or becoming a member, visit the SC Chapter website at www.usgbcsc.org. Membership includes building owners, real estate developers, facility managers, architects, designers, engineers, general contractors, subcontractors, product and building system manufacturers, government agencies, and nonprofits.

If you have any questions about this press release or the USGBC SC Chapter, Upstate Branch, please contact Dan Gerst at dgerst@charter.net

Dan Gerst
Communications Chair
USGBC SC Chapter, Upstate Branch