Architect Bill Mammen is Park City’s newest LEED Accredited Professional. The classification is given by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), an organization that gives third-party oversight to construction going for “green.”

Mammen joins the ranks of about a half-dozen other professionals in Park City with the certification. He specializes in residential architecture, and the USGBC just this year introduced criteria for evaluating residences.

According to the organization’s website, the “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System encourages and accelerates global adoption of sustainable green building and development practices through the creation and implementation of universally understood and accepted tools and performance criteria.”

The testing process to become accredited is both difficult and expensive. Mammen’s motivation was rooted in both his commitment to changing the construction industry and a belief that it will be required within the next decade or two.

“The whole concept is to promote a change in culture,” he said.

Hans Cerny, director of architecture for the Jack Johnson Company, said his office has three people with the certification and more studying for it. His company pays for the test and provides any other necessary resources.

They do this not only because they believe in sustainable building but because clients ask for it.

“It’s becoming increasingly important in the industry, and we want to market that,” he said. “People are going to be asking for sustainable-design experts. If can’t say you can do that, you will probably be out of the game in the future.”

Mammen and Cerny talk with conviction to describe this trend because they both see it as a kind of revolution in the building industry.

“Most architects are in agreement that the construction industry must change to conserve more materials and be more ‘green,'” Mammen explained.

Both men support LEED accreditation because they like the USGBC’s standards, but they also agree that all kinds of sustainable practices should be supported and will likely become standard in the future.

Mammen, who has been focusing on sustainable designs for 30 years, was reluctant to jump on the “green building” bandwagon. There are numerous ways unscrupulous companies can market a product as “green” when it’s really no better for the environment or homeowner, he said.

Third-party reviews, like those done by the USGBC, help prevent designers, contractors and homeowners from being duped, he said.

One thing Mammen likes about the USGBC is that it advocates changes in building codes. Ashley Patterson, owner of the Green Building Center on Iron Horse Drive, said codes are the best way to prioritize sustainability while eliminating the additional costs of a third-party reviewer.

Mammen said he became interested in these issues during the 1970s energy crisis. People keep forgetting what that was like as soon as gasoline returns to around $1 per gallon, he said. Although prices are low again now, he thinks another energy crisis is inevitable in the future.

Like many others in town, he believes Park City is an ideal location to set a good example.

“As a community, it’s so livable. Work and restaurants are all walkable. Homes and businesses are all in tight packages. That’s how more neighborhoods need to be designed,” he said.

Patterson said LEED provides a great checklist builders can follow. Sometimes it might make more financial sense to follow the checklist and skip the third-party review. The savings could be put toward more energy-efficient appliances or photovoltaic cells.

Mammen said he’s not so much an advocate for LEED as he is an advocate for greater sensitivity toward the environment. But having LEED certification is increasing the value of buildings as more people become conscious of the benefits of sustainable building. The certification is a kind of guarantee that proper materials and procedures were used.

While many professionals are involved with the construction of an office building or home, the architects are the “team leaders,” Mammen said. That’s why he’d like to see more in Park City pursue LEED accreditation.

Sustainability is the “wave of future,” Patterson said. State and county governments, as well as energy companies, are already offering incentives to to those who make energy-saving moves.

While occasionally more expensive on the front end, sustainable building always saves money in the long run. It’s healthier, economical and good for the earth. Builders who plan to be in business for another 20 or 30 years better be ready to jump on the “bandwagon,” Mammen said.