Dimensions - Summer 2013 - 1

spotli g h t on
t h e sta f f

Lidia
Berger,

MEM, LEED Fellow
National Sustainability Director
Establishing strong benchmarks and understanding the
monetary implications of sustainability measures have
been my professional focus. By educating our colleagues,
clients, and the public on how sustainable initiatives can
help save money, improve environmental outcomes, and
positively impact their bottom line, we are helping to elevate
sustainability to the forefront of public policy and corporate
agendas. Now more than ever our clients are taking a hard
look at the bottom line while trying to figure out how
sustainable initiatives can fit into their budgets. With only a
portion of the total investment easily quantifiable, industry
experts are looking for methods to assess sustainability.
One way this is being accomplished is through various
rating systems such as LEED®, Green Globes™, or Envision™.
As a founding member of the U.S. Green Building Council’s
National Capital Region Chapter, I’ve participated in the
development of the LEED for Commercial Interiors rating
system and served on the LEED for Existing Buildings
Core Committee. I am also a member of the Institute for
Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI) Economics Committee,
which was formed to introduce economic indicators

Various environmental concerns and the overall

into Envision, the ISI sustainable infrastructure rating

effect of human activities on climate make it

system. Rating systems are important benchmarks for

critical to focus our approach on metrics that

measuring sustainability, but the process of establishing

go beyond simple economic impact evaluation

such benchmarks is very resource-intensive and requires

and include environmental and social aspects

the system to be customized to a specific building type or

of project decisions. Project outcomes such as

industry sector.

fewer employee sick days, reduced carbon dioxide

As such, there are no perfect systems yet, and there

emissions, or improved resiliency are harder to

will never be a one-size-fits-all approach. There are too

quantify, but key to the decision-making process.

many inherent differences between the needs of diverse

These impacts often go beyond the project’s

building types such as hospitals or correctional facilities

boundaries, affecting external stakeholders and

as well as various infrastructure sectors. One way to

the environment alike.

address these differences is to move away from subjective

I am thrilled to be able to help shape this

discussions about green benefits to quantitative business

process and demonstrate to clients a business case

cases that monetize social and environmental impacts.

approach for making sustainable investments.

Summer 2013

1
http://www.dewberry.com/news/blog/13-06-13/Sustainable_Infrastructure_Crafting_the_Critical_Business_Case
Dimensions - Summer 2013

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