Q. How did the Green Building Council get its start in Hawai'i?

A. About three years ago, a small group of us recognized that there was this new entity called the U.S. Green Building Council and that they were looking to find representatives in each of the states so that they could provide education forums to get the green building movement out there. We started trying to form the chapter back then. We really knew almost nothing and it has taken three years, but through a small grassroots effort we are now a full chapter as of last January. We've seen phenomenal growth over the last year, where we were eight of us when we started and we're well over 100 now.

Q. What is the organization all about?

A. The U.S. Green Building Council would like to see over a generation green buildings become commonplace in everything we do, and how we live and how we approach every aspect of our lifestyle. We've all seen the (movie) "An Inconvenient Truth" and we all recognize that there is a train wreck currently taking place, and that if we don't address it now, we will give to our children a very different world than we live in now.

Q. What's the definition of a "green building"?

A. A green building is one that does more with less and is also a high-performance building. It is very attuned to how it uses the resources of water and electricity, but it also provides a very healthy environment and it tends to be a much more high-performing and maintenance-free building.

Q. Do you tell a client that you will be designing a building in this way?

A. That's the interesting thing in Hawai'i, and what we try to explain to everyone is to a large extent everyone is building green right now because of the Hawai'i model energy code and some of the environmental site controls, everyone already has to build green. Right now, it's just a matter of what shade of green do you want to get to. Once people recognize they are already in that environment, you can then go through a very comprehensive look of the organization's values, what they're trying to accomplish with the building and point out all the various strategies because there's some 70 different things you can do to make a building green.

Q. Are there buildings here that are totally green?

A. There are eight buildings that are certified under the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED (Leadership and Energy and Environmental Design). That's kind of how our program recognizes buildings that have reached a level of excellence. There are only eight that have been certified. There are 50 or so that are being designed and constructed ... and I'm currently working with a number of other clients who are looking for LEED-certified also. It has definitely over the last nine months become a significant topic in all of our projects.

Q. When you went to architecture school, was there such a concept as a green building?

A. Some of my more seasoned professors always believed that this was just good design and I would tend to agree with that. No, I did not have a specific green design studio, but some of the more well-acclaimed ones who have done wonderful buildings just understood what natural ventilation and daylighting and healthy materials were and how you handled site water and all of these things that we're kind of reacclimating ourselves to. So green design, fundamentally, is just quality design.

Q. What are your responsibilities as chairman of the local chapter?

A. Our primary duty is to educate everyone on what the USGBC is and more so what green building is, what it means from a philosophical standpoint, actual standpoint of achieving it, and give people the fundamental tools so they can go out and be successful. We've provided a number of forums we call "LEED 101," just going and explaining what the USGBC is, what the mandate is, what they hope to achieve in a generation and how you go about it. We go to other state and county agencies that have passed laws to adopt LEED as their building standard. We get a little more in-depth in terms of what does making that commitment mean for an organization like that. There's also a social networking opportunity so people can get around like any other professional organization and talk about issues that are important to them and find others of like mind. The thing that's very invigorating about the Green Building Council is it's not just designers. It's developers, it's contractors, it's building manufacturers, it's vendors, it's Realtors, it's financiers, it's educators. It's just this wonderful wide community that's united under this slogan of we want to make a better tomorrow.

Q. What has been the reaction?

A. Everyone intuitively understands that we have a challenge before us. Wrapping your mind around the science of it can get baffling at times, so we do work on that. But everyone understands that we have a challenge. The reaction is, yes, we know we're doing things that are unsustainable now, but we know that we can change the way we approach things and get to a brighter future.

Q. Have you set any goals?

A. Chapter wide, we have set a goal that by 2030, to have 50 percent of existing and all new buildings be green. If we want to reverse the greenhouse gas accumulation and the global warming issue, the scientists that I have seen have said that would take a big step of reversing or bringing that back. A local goal is we want to be a resource that everyone can come to and get unbiased, green information so the people can make well-informed decisions for their organizations. I have returned to the University of Hawai'i and I'm getting a doctorate and it's based on the philosophy of sustainability. I'm studying an ahupua'a on the Big Island and the current community that has replaced it, and I ran into a Kenyan proverb that I kind of always intuitively knew, but until I read it, it's real common sense. It basically says, "You do not inherit the world from your parents, you're borrowing it from your children." That can seem very simplistic, but if you really let that settle into your whole being, it puts you in a very different place than being just a receiver. You become a servant and a steward for a generation.

Q. How do you balance all of these responsibilities?

A. It all comes down to balance. I work for a wonderful office that's got great core values that basically put a whole bunch of things first before work. We have a great support system here. I have a wonderful wife and four kids that understand, but support me also. Things get dropped here and there, but I'm not one to linger very long anywhere.

Q. You're originally from Arizona, but went to school on Maui. How did that happen?

A. My parents were both from Arizona and they're both educators. When my dad graduated, he was offered two positions: to either go out to the reservation and help the Indians or potentially go to this little town called Lahaina. (When I was) 6 months old, he jumped on a plane and took us all with him and we've never looked back.

Q. Did you want from an early age to become an architect?

A. In high school, I took a number of art and drafting classes. My grandmother was a very forward-thinking woman and asked me to design her "dream house." That kind of sparked this creative aspect of the artistry and engineering that it takes to put together a building. She actually paid me for it. I think she gave me $50, which back then was a decent commission in my book.

Reach Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.