A moment with ... Thor Peterson, green building specialist

Thor Peterson knows green.

He spent time as the city's residential green-building specialist. Then last year he became research director for the Cascadia Region Green Building Council, a nonprofit that promotes environmentally responsible, healthy buildings.

	Thor Peterson

Peterson learned about the importance of environmental sustainability and green living while growing up in Issaquah. Then, after purchasing a Seattle house, he began implementing green building in his own home.

"When you buy a house, you inherit a legacy of decisions that were made by previous owners and by the original designer," he said. "You need to work with those in a sort of environmental jujitsu."

Among the changes he incorporated in his home: insulation made from recycled blue jean material, wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, and energy-efficient appliances.

Earlier this week we had a conversation with Peterson about his passion.

What is green building?

Green building to me means taking a wide-angle view of the design and the construction and operation of a building. What we try to do is capture a bunch of different beneficial pinpoints or objectives with one single smart design. That means energy efficiency, water conservation, green material selection, and the health, happiness and comfort of the building's occupants. It's also being respectful about how the building is sited when it comes to stormwater management, runoff, and green landscaping. Green building is tying all those things together in one package.

Are more businesses or residential buildings leaning toward green building?

A lot of businesses have moved toward green building because commercial buildings are so energy intensive. Just by switching out lighting to a move efficient lighting pattern can save you thousands of dollars a year. At the homeowner level, what we are finding is that the main drivers are health and efficiency. It's both the pocketbook and the health of the occupants. In King County, about 20 percent of all new residential construction is certified through the Built Green program.

What future impact does building green have and why are people taking this approach?

Depending on which measures you are actually putting into the building, it can make it a tremendous difference. One of the reasons I moved from my city job to the Cascadia Region Green Building Council was because of a program they offer called the Living Building Challenge, which tries to get the environmental footprint of a building down to zero rather than being just less bad. Most green-building programs have a lot of incremental steps, sort of baby steps toward these things, all of which are very important. But I also think it's important to see some substantial movement forward. As to why, that's going to depend on the building owner or the user -- whether it's for increasing the occupants' health or to reduce monthly energy and water bills or to reduce a building's impact on the global climate.

-- Noel Lyn Smith