"The environmental movement today often looks at single solutions instead of global solutions or multiple systems. We've got to start looking at the whole picture."

A Bigger Picture of Sustainability

The desk of Anthony Bernheim, FAIA, LEED AP, is covered with material samples: carpet, wall coverings, ceiling tiles. The pieces form a patch quilt of colors and textures—each stamped with the approval of a third party green material certifying agency.

The samples are props in a lecture he often gives on the limitations of single-attribute rating systems. Anthony, who recently joined AECOM Design as Sustainability Principal, points to a flooring sample. "The rating of this one shows that it's good in terms of recycled content," he says. "But it doesn't tell you anything about indoor air quality. People often think, 'Oh, it's got a green label, it must be good, but the certifications only speak to a single attribute.'"

Anthony sees the lack of a comprehensive materials certification system as a microcosm of a bigger challenge for the sustainability movement: the need for big-picture, whole-systems thinking.

In over 25 years of specializing in integrated building practices—as a planner, architect, and consultant—Anthony has been a pioneer in expanding the definition of sustainability. In 2004, he was honored with the AIA California Council's 2004 Nathaniel Owings Award "in recognition of a lifetime of service, commitment, and advocacy for the principles of sustainable design and preserving the earth's natural resources." Now Anthony is bringing this experience to AECOM project teams.

Understanding metrics
A member of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Board of Director's Executive Committee and current Treasurer, Anthony knows building standards and their limitations well. The USGBC developed the internationally recognized Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) green building rating system. "LEED is a consensus based checklist that was developed to spur industry change and provide a metric for green buildings," he says. "It's done incredibly well at bringing about market transformation and has set the bar for green building standards. The LEED accredited professional certification provides good training to introduce people to sustainability concepts. But ultimately, LEED is a metric and should be used as one of the tools toward achieving an integrated sustainable project with minimal environmental impact."

There's no substitute for practical experience and the need to view projects in context—to understand the issues at play in a given site and how they are interrelated with the surrounding environment, says Anthony. Developing site plans, understanding local climate and ecological conditions, and collaborating with our clients on their sustainability goals are keys to design excellence. Designers must look beyond the confines of the building—for instance, to an adjacent freeway, where high concentrations of greenhouse gasses, ozone and diesel gasses will negatively impact the health of building occupants. While operable windows might be a benefit for many buildings, they may not be the best solution for good air quality in some situations. Integrated building practices should be utilized from the outset, and the project should be evaluated with the LEED green building rating system. Ultimately, integrated building practices will lead to highly efficient projects that might be called "living" and "regenerative" buildings.

From materials to communities
Anthony stresses the need for good design practice followed by metrics rather than informed by metrics. "Our experience with green building is teaching us a lot about building performance," he says, "and there is much more to be learned."

Consider an energy-efficient building made from green, sustainable materials—but situated far from public transit. The building's operational energy savings are undermined by the greenhouse gas emissions produced from the occupants' commutes.

"To really address sustainability, we need to move beyond single-attribute material ratings and stand-alone buildings," says Anthony. "We need to create sustainable communities."

Positioned to influence
Delivering the broad vision that Anthony advocates requires an integrated understanding of the layers and connections at play in a system. This is what brought Anthony to AECOM.  

"The environmental movement today often looks at single solutions instead of global solutions or multiple systems. We've got to start looking at the whole picture."

Aligning diverse expertise—on environment, water, energy, design, planning, transportation and engineering—opens the door to integrated solutions, to a green infrastructure that supports sustainable, desirable places.  It also encourages the building professionals to collaborate and fully participate in the final high-performance design, construction and operational solutions.

"It's too easy to grasp at solutions when we don't understand the rest of the issue," says Anthony. "In the case of buildings, it's not just the design of the building or the materials used, but the operation, how you maintain it, the post-occupancy issues. AECOM brings expertise in all these phases and the opportunity and knowledge to address the issues over time."

Eco-charrettes
As Sustainability Principal, Anthony will work with leaders and practitioners, and alongside his sustainability colleague Claire Bonham-Carter, LEED AP, Director of Sustainable Development for EDAW AECOM. The goal is to bring our planning, design + development resources together in coordinated fashion, working towards common objectives and drawing on specialists around the world.

Anthony's approach to projects begins with thoroughly understanding the client's needs and concerns—and the specifics of a site. "You have to understand all the parameters before you can design," Anthony says. He advocates an integrated design process, with collaborative, interdisciplinary teams working together from the very beginning of a project. By connecting design, engineering and environmental expertise in what he calls eco-charrettes, teams have a more comprehensive perspective and can agree on priorities and approaches.

"If you agree on issues in the first two weeks, you don't have to go back and redesign," says Anthony.

Global influence
For decades, Anthony has been at the forefront of creating and sustaining better environments. In the 1980s he wrote a seminal report on the health impacts of vinyl asbestos tile. This product is not longer manufactured. In the 1990s he was the architect's project manager and the sustainable building practices leader for the new San Francisco Main Library, one of the first major public projects in the U.S. to have the indoor materials tested for chemical emissions. His recent work for the State of California relating indoor chemical concentrations to building occupant health has changed the way manufacturers make products and how third-party certifiers evaluate building products for good indoor air quality.

Anthony has organized a forum on "Building Material Indoor Air Quality Certifications: Single and Multiple Attributes" for the upcoming Healthy Buildings 2009 conference in Syracuse in September. He will chair the forum (and represent the architecture and design community), which will include representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a materials testing laboratory, a material life-cycle assessment company, and a materials manufacturer. The forum will explore multiple rating systems, what they do and don't do, and make recommendations to the architecture and design community accordingly. "We need to bring to the design-professional world a simple way to understand how sustainable a material is," he says, "in the context of its contribution to and impact on the local and global environment."

Planning for environmental and human health is to everyone's advantage. "As architects and planners we don't want to design buildings or cities that make people sick," he says. "Thinking through the environmental issues helps clients negotiate public meetings and process; it creates a healthy environment for the people who live in cities/communities and work in the buildings; it reduces sick days and improves productivity for employers."

"Ultimately, good design is sustainable design," he says.

After 30 years in small firms, Anthony is excited by the prospect ahead—and a platform with an opportunity to influence a healthy and sustainable landscape on a global scale. "This is a great opportunity to shape the future," he says. "The promise is real."

Erik Miller