Green Public Art

Art and Sustainability: Breaking Through the Walls at the LA Green Festival

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Green Public Art Consultancy will participate in a panel discussion, with Los Angeles aerosol artist ManOne and Justin Yoffe, Executive Director of Arts:Earth Partnership, about how artists can make green choices in their own art practice at Los Angeles’ Green Festival on Sunday, October 30 at 4:30pm.

Green Festival, the nation’s largest and most trusted green living event comes to Los Angeles October 29-30, 2011. This unique experience celebrates positive solutions working in our communities. Festivities include presentations by more than 125 renowned authors and visionaries, DIY workshops, cutting-edge films, enriching kid’s activities, organic beer and wine, delicious organic vegan and vegetarian cuisine, music and art and an amazing marketplace of hundreds of green local and national businesses and organizations.

 

Rebecca Ansert, founder of Green Public Art, is an art consultant who specializes in artist solicitation, artist selection, and public art project management for both private and public agencies. She is a graduate of the master’s degree program in Public Art Studies at the University of Southern California and has a unique interest in how art can demonstrate green processes or utilize green design theories and techniques in LEED certified buildings.

Green Public Art is a Los Angeles-based consultancy that was founded in 2009 in an effort to advance the conversation of public art’s role in green building. The consultancy specializes in public art project development and management, artist solicitation and selection, creative community involvement and knowledge of LEED building requirements. Green Public Art also works with emerging and mid-career studio artists to demystify the public art process. The consultancy acts as a resource for artists to receive one-on-one consultation before, during, and after applying for a public art project.
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OFF THE GRID: Recharging Public Art + Design

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OFF THE GRID: Recharging Public Art + Design, a full-day symposium hosted by the City of Austin’s Art in Public Places Program, will feature an intimate look at existing and future public art and design in the Seaholm District, a former industrial section of southwest downtown Austin that is undergoing a transformation into a vibrant urban neighborhood. A uniquely Austin adaptive reuse project, the Seaholm District serves as a model for sustainable urban revitalization nationwide. Panel speakers include Jana McCann, McCann Adams Studio; Greg Kiloh, Economic Growth and Redevelopment Services Office, City of Austin; and John Rosato, Southwest Strategies Group.

In addition to the Seaholm District presentation, the symposium will feature:

  • Interactive building game and presentation by Alex Gilliam of Public Workshop
  • Exploration of sustainable materials in public art with Rebecca Ansert of Green Public Art
  • Panel discussion about the integration of art in urban agriculture with Randy Jewart, Austin Green Art; Jake Stewart, Sustainable Urban Agriculture, City of Austin; and Jessie Temple, Festival Beach Community Garden
  • Networking opportunities with breakfast and lunch provided by Ecstatic Cuisine
  • Resource materials from event presenters and information on upcoming AIPP opportunities

The symposium will take place from 9:00 am – 3:30 pm on Saturday, October 8, 2011 at the decommissioned Seaholm Power Plant located at the terminus of West Street at 3rd Street. Check-in and breakfast begin at 8:30 am. REGISTER BY OCTOBER 5 at www.cvent.com/d/fcqjff. SPACE IS LIMITED! Admission is $20 (includes breakfast and lunch). Parking is available in the surrounding neighborhood. Be sure to wear comfortable clothes and shoes.

The Art in Public Places Program is partnering with the Solid Waste Services Department and the Austin Convention Center to make this a zero waste event. Participants are encouraged to bring reusable water bottles, coffee mugs, silverware and dishware to aid in reducing waste. Please note that there will not be facilities to clean reusable items on site.

AFTERWARDS: The symposium will be followed by an interactive workshop sponsored by the Downtown Austin Alliance and conducted by Alex Gilliam of Public Workshop and Austin AIA members. The Old Bakery Block Idea-a-Thon will be held in and around the Old Bakery Building on the west side of Congress Avenue, between 10th and 11th streets from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Symposium attendees are encouraged to participate. For more information, visit: www.aiaaustin.org/event/old-bakery-block-idea-thon.

NOTE: Both the symposium and the Idea-a-Thon are held in conjunction with Austin x Design, a month-long community celebration of design in Austin. To find more events, visit: www.austinbydesign.org or www.facebook.com/AustinbyDesign.

Questions? Contact Carrie Brown, Art in Public Places Coordinator, at 512-974-9310 or carrie.brown@austintexas.gov. Visit AIPP at www.austintexas.gov/aipp.

 

Rebecca Ansert, founder of Green Public Art, is an art consultant who specializes in artist solicitation, artist selection, and public art project management for both private and public agencies. She is a graduate of the master’s degree program in Public Art Studies at the University of Southern California and has a unique interest in how art can demonstrate green processes or utilize green design theories and techniques in LEED certified buildings.

Green Public Art is a Los Angeles-based consultancy that was founded in 2009 in an effort to advance the conversation of public art’s role in green building. The consultancy specializes in public art project development and management, artist solicitation and selection, creative community involvement and knowledge of LEED building requirements. Green Public Art also works with emerging and mid-career studio artists to demystify the public art process. The consultancy acts as a resource for artists to receive one-on-one consultation before, during, and after applying for a public art project.
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Public Art + Green Technology: Perspective from an Urban Sustainability Graduate Student

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Green Public Art’s Intern, Jessica Kimmel is our guest blogger for this post. Below are her thoughts on art and green technology.

As an intern for Green Public Art, I have been in the process of researching new materials for artists to make their works be more environmentally responsible.

Art can act as a function for people’s imagination. It’s difficult to envision what the future could or will look like. As a society, we are currently thrusting our environmental missteps into the limelight everyday and immediate recovery does not seem imminent; but art has the potential to positively inspire people without the discouraging and overwhelming undertones.  All progressive green inspired projects take on an artistic form in one way or another.  Organic light emitting devices, a new emerging technology,  have been an exciting topic for researchers; offering new advances for displays and screen. OLEDs are composed of organic materials [made from a variety of phosphorescent elements including iridium, platinum, and iron] in pressed in layers. With a connection to an electrical source the OLED produces a light energy. See how OLEDs work.

The benefits of OLEDs is a brighter, crisper, display on a more durable and lighter electronic devices that consumes less power so batteries last longer and your energy bill gets lower. It also has a thinner and more flexible quality so it can be more purposeful. OLEDS potentially could be the future of all displays, screens, and much more, however there are difficulties. These devices do not handle water very well and as these are still a new technology, the costs of production are expensive.

There are many different types each with a different purpose: passive-matrix [better for small screens such as cell phones and MP3 players], active-matrix [best for large screen televisions, computer monitors and even billboards], transparent [allows light to pass through both directions even when on], top-emitting [can be reflective or opaque and also used in large displays], foldable [durability and flexibility makes this great in cell phones], and white OLEDs [with better colors and a brighter projection]. There are color options in OLED lighting as well; the color of the light emitted is determined by the components in the different layers.

Here are a few examples of how (OLED) can inspire people in different communities. When this light and display technology is made affordable and efficiently it could potentially replace all other forms of light because of it being brighter and utilizing less materials allowing it to be smaller and eventually cheaper for all forms of light: televisions, billboards, signs, electronic communications, cell phones, computers, appliances, and light bulbs. Because OLEDs can be made in large sheets, they can replace fluorescent lights that are currently used in homes and buildings and their use could potentially reduce energy costs for lighting.

Artists whom are making the strides to be more environmentally friendly could incorporate OLEDs in many different types of work: installations, sculptures, murals, photography, earthworks, video, graphic, and standardized fixtures including street lights, gates, and benches.

An OLED can be integrated as a direct component of a piece and it can also be used in the presentation of the artworks.  These devices can be artistically utilized to illuminate public spaces including parks and walkways, outdoor works of art, and also as the light source in an art piece.  By using solar power to charge and power the OLEDs, the environmental impact is minimal. Because this medium is flexible and be malleable it can be constructed in many forms, leaving many opportunities open to harness this new technology. Below you see some pieces that have encompassed the use of light and/ or digital media as a significant role.

Jason Bruges "Mimosa"

Both, Jason Bruges “Mimosa” and “You Fade to Art” by rAndom International have employed OLEDs for Philips Lumiblade.

Bruges is internationally renowned for his work with green technology. Mimosa, commissioned for Milan in 2010, is an interactive artwork displaying behavior that mimics responsive plant systems.The piece was inspired by the Mimosa family of plants, which change kinetically to suit their environmental conditions. The studio has used the slim form of individual OLEDs to create delicate “light petals”, forming flowers, which open and close in response to visitors.

rAndom International "You Fade to Art"

rAndom International’s projects emphasize the interaction between the audience and the inanimate object. In their work “You Fade to Art” the team designed a large wall of multiple mirrors to interactively follow the viewer’s body movements with light. The work was exhibited at the International Design Museum, Munich in 2010.

The works of Jason Krugman embody the use of light and sometimes video and I think that his work ultimately could use OLEDs, making his illuminated figurative sculptures brighter, malleable, and even interactive with the public.

And, think of Chicago’s Millennium Park where artist Jaume Plensa created a gorgeous glass block tower titled “The Crown Fountain” with flowing water, fountains, and flickering images of a thousand Chicago natives. Now imagine that same project replacing the glass and projection machines with OLEDs and solar energy – not only is the image brighter but it is more crisp and now energy efficient.

Organic Light Emitting Devices used in public art pieces could make art more educational, interactive, and astonishing. They should be considered in the future of artistic expression.

About the blogger: Jessica Kimmel is a master’s degree student in Urban Sustainability at Antioch University Los Angeles. Through her internship at Green Public Art Consultancy and ecoartspace, Jessica’s hope is to encourage environmental discourse in the local community and solidify artists as relevant stakeholders in the green movement.

 

Rebecca Ansert, founder of Green Public Art, is an art consultant who specializes in artist solicitation, artist selection, and public art project management for both private and public agencies. She is a graduate of the master’s degree program in Public Art Studies at the University of Southern California and has a unique interest in how art can demonstrate green processes or utilize green design theories and techniques in LEED certified buildings.

Green Public Art is a Los Angeles-based consultancy that was founded in 2009 in an effort to advance the conversation of public art’s role in green building. The consultancy specializes in public art project development and management, artist solicitation and selection, creative community involvement and knowledge of LEED building requirements. Green Public Art also works with emerging and mid-career studio artists to demystify the public art process. The consultancy acts as a resource for artists to receive one-on-one consultation before, during, and after applying for a public art project.
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Flashback to 1957

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In 1957 the Eames Office was commissioned by the Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa) to design a product to “show off the potential of its lightweight materials.” The team designed a playful solar energy toy which they called the Do-Nothing Machine (1957) featuring whirligigs, pinwheels and kinetic parts simply engineered to spark the viewer’s imagination.  Charles and Ray Eames were American designers who worked in and made major contributions to modern architecture, industrial and graphic design, furniture, art and film.

Thanks to my summer issue of DWELL I was reminded of this brilliant project!

 

Rebecca Ansert, founder of Green Public Art, is an art consultant who specializes in artist solicitation, artist selection, and public art project management for both private and public agencies. She is a graduate of the master’s degree program in Public Art Studies at the University of Southern California and has a unique interest in how art can demonstrate green processes or utilize green design theories and techniques in LEED certified buildings.

Green Public Art is a Los Angeles-based consultancy that was founded in 2009 in an effort to advance the conversation of public art’s role in green building. The consultancy specializes in public art project development and management, artist solicitation and selection, creative community involvement and knowledge of LEED building requirements. Green Public Art also works with emerging and mid-career studio artists to demystify the public art process. The consultancy acts as a resource for artists to receive one-on-one consultation before, during, and after applying for a public art project.
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H20: The Art of Conservation – Artist Talks

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H20: The Art of Conservation

Evenings in the Garden – Artist Talks begin on Wednesday, July 27, 2011 from 5:00-7:00pm

Register by email info@thegarden.org or call 619-660-0614

Participating artists include:

Christopher Puzio

Bociek & Bociek

Benjamin Lavender

Terri Hughes-Oelrich

Dia Bassett

Artists will discuss their inspiration, materials they chose to use and give the audience a deeper insight to their individual art practice.

 

 

Rebecca Ansert, founder of Green Public Art, is an art consultant who specializes in artist solicitation, artist selection, and public art project management for both private and public agencies. She is a graduate of the master’s degree program in Public Art Studies at the University of Southern California and has a unique interest in how art can demonstrate green processes or utilize green design theories and techniques in LEED certified buildings.

Green Public Art is a Los Angeles-based consultancy that was founded in 2009 in an effort to advance the conversation of public art’s role in green building. The consultancy specializes in public art project development and management, artist solicitation and selection, creative community involvement and knowledge of LEED building requirements. Green Public Art also works with emerging and mid-career studio artists to demystify the public art process. The consultancy acts as a resource for artists to receive one-on-one consultation before, during, and after applying for a public art project.
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PUBLIC ART and LEED – Innovation & Design

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continued from … PUBLIC ART and LEED – Materials & Resources and Indoor Environmental Quality

INNOVATION & DESIGN

The purpose of this LEED category is to recognize projects for innovative building features and sustainable building knowledge. Projects are allowed 5 ID points. I personally have found it challenging to convince my building PMs to use one of their ID credit points for art…its not to say that it cannot be done but usually these points are spoken for pretty quickly.

Ways to achieve ID points include:

  • Artist is a LEED-accredited professional
  • In my opinion, Educational Outreach is the easiest ID point available to any project. Basically you need to do two of the following three:
  1. make the building actively instructional – signs, displays, kiosks, etc.
  2. provide promotional materials – brochures, web sites, etc.
  3. develop an outreach plan – tours, presentations, web site, etc.
  • ID Credits are awarded for exceptional performance such as doubling the credit requirements and/or achieving the next incremental percentage threshold.
  • Credits can also be achieved for comprehensive strategies which demonstrate quantifiable environmental benefits.
  • I highly suggest reading through the ID Credit Catalog as a brainstorming exercise to see what other project have achieved.

To go back to the beginning of the PUBLIC ART and LEED conversation go here: Green Building: Where Does The Art Fit In?

ARTIST GENERATED CHECKLISTS

Chrysalis Arts Public Art Sustainability Assessment Toolkit – The Public Art Sustainability Assessment (PASA) is a set of guidelines and an assessment method being developed by Chrysalis Arts, an artist-led public art company in the UK. PASA is intended as a tool for use at any point during the development, creation, maintenance and decommissioning of a public art project.

Arts:Earth Partnership – is an official green certification for cultural facilities, art galleries, performing arts companies and individual artists. The Los Angeles based program, founded in 2006, is forming a coalition of certified artists and facilities committed to achieving environmental sustainability.

PROJECTS OF INTEREST

concept proposal for Land Art Generator Initiative (LAGI)

Climate Clock – The Climate Clock is a unique educational public art project sponsored by the City of San Jose and San Jose State University. The project challenges artists to conceptualize a 100-year public art project to help measure climate change, make the process more visible, and engage and inspire the community to personally explore and modify their individual carbon footprints. The realization of the Climate Clock landmark will be the result of combined resources from partnering organizations and private philanthropy. To date, SJSU and the City of San José have contributed more than $150,000 toward the incubation of the Climate Clock concept.

Land Art Generator Initiative (LAGI) – In 2010 the Land Art Generator Initiative, which is based in Dubai, challenged artists, architects, engineers and the like to design public art installations to continuously distribute clean energy into the electrical grid, with each having the potential to provide power to thousands of homes.

 

Rebecca Ansert, founder of Green Public Art, is an art consultant who specializes in artist solicitation, artist selection, and public art project management for both private and public agencies. She is a graduate of the master’s degree program in Public Art Studies at the University of Southern California and has a unique interest in how art can demonstrate green processes or utilize green design theories and techniques in LEED certified buildings.

Green Public Art is a Los Angeles-based consultancy that was founded in 2009 in an effort to advance the conversation of public art’s role in green building. The consultancy specializes in public art project development and management, artist solicitation and selection, creative community involvement and knowledge of LEED building requirements. Green Public Art also works with emerging and mid-career studio artists to demystify the public art process. The consultancy acts as a resource for artists to receive one-on-one consultation before, during, and after applying for a public art project.
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PUBLIC ART and LEED – Materials & Resources and Indoor Environmental Quality

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continued from… PUBLIC ART and LEED – Energy & Atmosphere

MATERIALS & RESOURCES

Recycled Content – should be self explanatory. Use post-industrial or post-consumer recycled materials

Regional Materials –means all materials used in a project are sources within 500 miles of project site

rendering of Erwin Timmers recycled glass artwork

Construction Waste Management – To earn a credit in Construction Waste Management the project must Divert construction waste from landfills towards recycling or reuse.

rendering of Didier Hess' Orit Haj

Example: The artist, Erwin Timmers, dug through the site demolition to remove glass for this 30 feet long by 9 feet high artwork. The recycled glass was then melted down and recast into the new colorful forms.

Example: Didier Hess’ Orit Haj will incorporate rammed earth from excavation of interpretive center, stainless steel rod, concrete and concrete fiberboard scraps from building construction.

Rapidly Renewable Materials – are natural materials that regenerate in less than 10 years, like bamboo, straw, cork, natural linoleum products (such as Marmoleum), wool, wheatboard, and strawboard.

Certified Wood – And you can use wood if it is a Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified wood product.

INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

Low-Emitting materials – If artwork will be indoors the material must have Low or no VOC (volatile organic compound) content.

And projects should enhance the Daylight & Views

The conversation continues here: PUBLIC ART and LEED – Innovation & Design

 

Rebecca Ansert, founder of Green Public Art, is an art consultant who specializes in artist solicitation, artist selection, and public art project management for both private and public agencies. She is a graduate of the master’s degree program in Public Art Studies at the University of Southern California and has a unique interest in how art can demonstrate green processes or utilize green design theories and techniques in LEED certified buildings.

Green Public Art is a Los Angeles-based consultancy that was founded in 2009 in an effort to advance the conversation of public art’s role in green building. The consultancy specializes in public art project development and management, artist solicitation and selection, creative community involvement and knowledge of LEED building requirements. Green Public Art also works with emerging and mid-career studio artists to demystify the public art process. The consultancy acts as a resource for artists to receive one-on-one consultation before, during, and after applying for a public art project.
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PUBLIC ART and LEED – Energy & Atmosphere

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continued from… PUBLIC ART and LEED – Sustainable Sites and Water Efficiency

ENERGY & ATMOSPHERE

Decker Yeadon

Refrigerant Management – is a great opportunity for glass curtains. Points will be awarded if the project does not increase and/or reduces a building heat load.

False Creek Energy Centre

Example: Architectural material technologists, Decker Yeadon, have developed a material that regulates a building’s climate by automatically responding to environmental conditions, without need of people, or energy intensive machinery. Watch the video to get a real sense of how revolutionary their Homeostatic Facade Systemcould be for building design.

On-site renewable energy – must always be used if artwork needs to be powered

Example: In Vancouver, at the False Creek Energy Centre, public art is activated by the operations of the facility, which produces domestic hot water and space heating for the adjacent community. At the top of each stack is a LED light fixture which changes color from blue – orange – red relative to the heat output of the plant.

piezoelectric walkway

Example: PIEZOELECTRIC WALKWAYS is a power technology which uses pressure generated by people walking to produce electricity. Toulouse, France is now using the technology to generate enough electricity to run streetlights.

Green Power – to earn credits in the Green Power category projects must use renewable energy and make it visible and traceable. By definition green power produces no manmade greenhouse gas emissions and can be solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, biomass and hydroelectric

Mags Harries & Lajos Heder's SunFlower: An Electric Garden

Example: Mags Harries & Lajos Hedder’s SunFlower, An Electric Garden is a public art project in Austin, Texas feeds about 15 KW of electricity into the grid for credit, which funds the maintenance and operating costs for the project.

The conversation continues here: PUBLIC ART and LEED – Materials & Resources and Indoor Environmental Quality

Rebecca Ansert, founder of Green Public Art, is an art consultant who specializes in artist solicitation, artist selection, and public art project management for both private and public agencies. She is a graduate of the master’s degree program in Public Art Studies at the University of Southern California and has a unique interest in how art can demonstrate green processes or utilize green design theories and techniques in LEED certified buildings.

Green Public Art is a Los Angeles-based consultancy that was founded in 2009 in an effort to advance the conversation of public art’s role in green building. The consultancy specializes in public art project development and management, artist solicitation and selection, creative community involvement and knowledge of LEED building requirements. Green Public Art also works with emerging and mid-career studio artists to demystify the public art process. The consultancy acts as a resource for artists to receive one-on-one consultation before, during, and after applying for a public art project.
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PUBLIC ART and LEED – Sustainable Sites & Water Efficiency

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continued from the conversation… Green Building: Where Does The Art Fit In?

Within a standard new construction LEED checklist there are several entry points where I believe public art could have a contributing role to the final tally of certification points and the following should be viewed as place to START. I am sure there are many more possibilities.

SUSTAINABLE SITES

Gitta Gschwendtner's Animal Wall. Photo: Safle

Site Development – Points are available for restoring or protecting native habitats & maximizing or creating better open space

Example: Gitta Gschwendtner‘s Animal Wall is part of a 50 meter long wall, running along the edge of a new residential development. The approach taken for this artwork is to assist wildlife in the area and encourage further habitation. The Artist’s design for the ’Animal Wall’ matches the number of new homes with about 1,000 nest boxes made from custom woodcrete cladding for different bird and bat species, integrated into the fabric of the wall that separates the development from the adjacent public riverside walk.

Jackie Brookner's Urban Rain

Stormwater Design – Points are available if the project converts impervious surfaces to pervious surfaces to mitigate contribution of stormwater runoff

Example: Jackie Brookner’s, Urban Rain project aerates the stormwater runoff as it drops into the rock basin below, where it is detained and filtered before flowing into a bioswale.  The second component is a translucent rock filter that allows the infiltration processes that usually happen underground to be visible.

Heat Island effect – Points are achieved if the project reduces urban heat island effect on the roof or non-roof surfaces

Example: Molly Dillworth’s, Cool Water, Hot Island installation served as an artistic relief to the heat island effect, acting somewhat like a white roof, reflecting heat instead of absorbing it.

Light Pollution Reduction – Simple – The project must not contribute to light pollution

WATER EFFICIENCY

Water Efficient Landscaping – If you are going to build a project out of natural materials use Indigenous plants and Xeriscaping to mitigate water in landscaping to earn Water Efficient Landscaping points.

Innovative Wastewater Technologies –points are available for projects that Use non-toilet wastewater or run-off water in an innovative way.

The conversation continues here: PUBLIC ART and LEED – Energy & Atmosphere

Rebecca Ansert, founder of Green Public Art, is an art consultant who specializes in artist solicitation, artist selection, and public art project management for both private and public agencies. She is a graduate of the master’s degree program in Public Art Studies at the University of Southern California and has a unique interest in how art can demonstrate green processes or utilize green design theories and techniques in LEED certified buildings.

Green Public Art is a Los Angeles-based consultancy that was founded in 2009 in an effort to advance the conversation of public art’s role in green building. The consultancy specializes in public art project development and management, artist solicitation and selection, creative community involvement and knowledge of LEED building requirements. Green Public Art also works with emerging and mid-career studio artists to demystify the public art process. The consultancy acts as a resource for artists to receive one-on-one consultation before, during, and after applying for a public art project.
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Green Building: Where Does The Art Fit In?

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On May 4, 2011, Rebecca Ansert, Founder & Principal of Green Public Art co-presented an American for the Arts webinar Going Green: How to Align Public with Green Building and Infrastructure with

The premise of the webinar was this: Increasingly, various levels of government are demanding that new and retrofitted public buildings and urban infrastructure meet green standards. Through case studies and policy examples we will cover fundamental approaches for integrating art that makes green technologies visible into the design and construction of green buildings, as well as public infrastructure. Participants will learn key language that describes approaches to public art that showcases green building and infrastructure technologies such as stormwater capture and energy production and how these kinds of public art can be integrated into existing and new ordinances and modifications to comprehensive plans. Productive strategies for the artist selection process, as well as green building standards materials resources and maintenance will also be covered.

The following was my ten-minute contribution to the conversation which included the examination of a LEED certification checklist, where I believe public art can play a role. I hope this will enable others to continue to advance the conversation of public art in green building in their own organizations.

I believe that the public art community has a great opportunity to take a critical and creative approach to finding sustainable strategies to incorporate into our built environment. We need a green public art movement that can set a course to increase the aesthetic appeal of new construction and city planning; to encourage projects to take a holistic approach; and encourage artists to take an active role in creating works which demonstrate green processes, and utilize green design, materials and techniques in green building projects.

THREE LEADING GREEN BUILDING CERTIFICATION PROGRAMS

BREEAM (Building Research Establishment’s Environmental Assessment Method)was launched in 1990. It is a performance based assessment method and certification program for new building`s. The primary aim of BREEAM is to mitigate the life cycle impacts of new buildings on the environment in a robust and cost effective manner. There are ten categories for award points in this program

The Living Building Challenge is a program of the International Living Building Institute that was launched in 2006. It is an independent non-profit organization. The underlying principle of the Living Building Challenge is that all development projects should use nature as the ultimate measurement stick for performance. There are a total of twenty checkpoints in the Living Building Challenge and they are organized into seven categories. The major difference of this program is that certification is based on actual performance instead of modeled outcomes like LEED and BREEAM. Projects must be fully operational for at least twelve consecutive months prior to certification.

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Enviromental Design) was launched in 1998 by the United States Green Building Council, or USGBC. I will focus most of my discussion on this certification program primarily because it is widely being accepted by municipalities as the green building certification of choice.

VS. TABLE

This table enables you to view each program’s certification criteria side-by-side. Notice the high amount of overlap. For instance, every certification program awards points for water efficiency and renewable energy sources. A couple of certification criteria unique to their respectful programs are BREEAM’s Management category and the Living Building Challenge’s Equity category.  It is also interesting that the Living Building Challenge is the only certification program that awards points specifically for aesthetics in their Beauty category.

The conversation continues here… PUBLIC ART and LEED – Sustainable Sites and Water Efficiency

 

Rebecca Ansert, founder of Green Public Art, is an art consultant who specializes in artist solicitation, artist selection, and public art project management for both private and public agencies. She is a graduate of the master’s degree program in Public Art Studies at the University of Southern California and has a unique interest in how art can demonstrate green processes or utilize green design theories and techniques in LEED certified buildings.

Green Public Art is a Los Angeles-based consultancy that was founded in 2009 in an effort to advance the conversation of public art’s role in green building. The consultancy specializes in public art project development and management, artist solicitation and selection, creative community involvement and knowledge of LEED building requirements. Green Public Art also works with emerging and mid-career studio artists to demystify the public art process. The consultancy acts as a resource for artists to receive one-on-one consultation before, during, and after applying for a public art project.

Go to Green Public Art