Bermuda's surveyors were given an insight into environmentally friendly and energy efficient buildings of the future at the Bermuda branch of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors interactive panel discussion held on Wednesday night.

The meeting, which was hosted at the Anglican Cathedral Hall in Hamilton, comprised a panel of Geoff Parker, chief executive officer of Purvis Projects, who talked about Victoria Place, a mixed use project he is working on in Victoria Street, which is in the process of obtaining Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) accreditation, and Julia Van Beelen, an architect for the HSBC building on Front Street.

Chris Nash, engineering manager of Bermuda Air Conditioning, which does the HVAC systems for the HSBC Harbourview project, and Caroline Seganski, senior interior designer at Entasis with North American LEED Design and Construction, completed the panel.

The session kicked-off with Mr. Parker explaining what LEED is all about as a Green Building Rating System that is a voluntary, consensus-based national standard for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings.

He said it was created to:

• Define a 'green building' by establishing a common standard of measurement.

• Promote integrated, whole-building design practices.

• Recognise Environmental leadership in the building industry.

• Stimulate green competition.

• Raise consumer awareness of green building benefits.

• Transform the building market.

Mr. Parker said that LEED standards are currently available or under development for new commercial and major renovation projects, existing building operations, commercial interiors projects, core and shell projects, homes and neighbourhood developments, and work by providing a complete framework for assessing building performance and meeting sustainable goals.

Based on well-founded scientific standards, LEED emphasises 'state-of-the-art' strategies for sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality, he added.

The whole LEED system is based on a points allocation for almost every aspect of the project and are accumulated for a basic certified, silver, gold and platinum level, Mr. Parker said.

For example, sustainable sites would be awarded points for factors such as construction activity pollution prevention, site selection, stormwater design and light pollution reduction, while water efficiency might include innovative wastewater technologies and water use reduction, and energy and atmosphere could extend to on-site renewable energy and green power.

Points are also given out for a checklist of materials and resources, indoor environmental quality and the innovation and design process.

"Because of what we do with LEED buildings, it gives a recognition to environmental leadership in the community," said Mr. Parker.

"Any project that comes across your desk can be made green and sustainability is the main reason why Purvis got involved in this project at Victoria Place.

"It was simply about being responsible from the beginning because resources are disappearing around the world and we just can't keep taking away, we have to give something back - it is the 21st century and we have to think outside the box."

Ms. Van Beelen went on to talk about how she first got involved in designing LEED buildings and how everyone can play their part in rolling them out across Bermuda.

"I think owners interested in sustainable design can identify with a point system for a project's sustainable practice.

"When I came back to Bermuda in 1999, things were pretty backwards in terms of sustainable design, but I figured, it is important to me as an architect for me to be environmentally responsible and try to do my bit.

"We are open to have anybody come on board with it and it is just about sharing information really.

"When I did the HSBC building, the bank decided to do it to LEED accreditation because it is part of what they do all the way down through the company in terms of their product sourcing as a company."

Ms. Seganski then spoke of how easy the LEED building requirements are to follow and implement, giving examples of some of the buildings she had previously worked on.

She talked about the use of recycled materials and the cost savings and environmental benefits they can bring, providing natural lighting as opposed to using artificial light sources and reducing the use of volatile organic compounds (VOC) to the advantage of the people moving into the building.

"It is a very easy process - it could be reducing the size of the building to reduce the cost of rent for both the owner and tenant and the cost of power and other services," she said.

"But, pretty much the best benefit is the low VOC and better air quality and it is really an education process to get the staff to maintain the materials they have.

"Low VOCs reduce employee absenteeism by 15 percent and improves overall health and well being."

Other topics touched on during the evening included the application of LEED to all sizes of building, whether they be big or small, the importance of recycling materials from demolished old buildings and a Bermuda template for the LEED process.