More exhibitors claim booth space at the U.S. Green Building Council’s Greenbuild Conference & Expo every year, and more architects, builders, developers, planners, and real estate pros attend each year. This year’s conference, held last week in Chicago, was no different. Registration lines were packed every day but Friday, and many seminar rooms were filled past seating capacity. USGBC calculated attendance at 22,835. It’s a clear indication of green building’s increasing importance in both commercial and residential markets.
According to the USGBC, nearly 8,000 people attended Wednesday’s opening plenary session keynoted by former President Bill Clinton, in which Clinton announced partnerships aimed at improving the energy efficiency of millions of square feet of public and private buildings throughout the country. The Clinton Climate Initiative, launched in August 2006, will work with the City of Chicago, GE Real Estate, the USGBC, and the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment to retrofit buildings, including schools and universities, with green technologies to help mitigate climate change.
USGBC planned to officially launch its LEED for Homes certification program at the conference, after nearly two years of pilot testing that ended this spring, but the organization has pushed back the launch until the end of November so it can incorporate into the final rating system all the member comments from the balloting that took place at Greenbuild.
In case you missed them, here are some other USGBC and partner announcements made at the conference:
A National Green Building Research Agenda also was announced by the USGBC’s Research Committee at Greenbuild, to show the breadth of research necessary in the industry to aid the transition to a sustainable built environment. The Research Agenda will focus on the applied research most needed by green builders for the design, engineering, construction, and development of communities. The USGBC will spend $1 million on green building research.
The city of Seattle, USGBC, and 20 other city, state, federal, non-profit, and utility partners have developed “The Green Playbook for Green Buildings and Neighborhoods.” This web-based resource ( www.greenplaybook.org) is designed to provide strategies, tips, and tools for cities and counties to use in their efforts to mitigate climate change through green building, green neighborhoods, and development of sustainable infrastructure.
A $1 million donation from United Technologies Corp. allowed the USGBC to launch www.Greenbuild365.org, a Web site intended to provide global online access to green building education. The Web site will offer free and fee-based courses about green building technologies and innovations and practical training to prepare pros to successfully apply LEED certification to building design, construction, and operation. Greenbuild365.org will begin fulfilling its purpose by providing access to video of Greenbuild conference speakers, including former President Clinton’s address, as well as attendee blogs, polling tools, and other information.
USGBC and the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Nov. 7 at Greenbuild to provide an open exchange of information regarding green or sustainable building and maintenance practices during the entire facility lifecycle. The MOU offers members of each organization the opportunity to collaborate in developing practices and procedures to achieve sustainability in construction, according to CSI’s executive director, Walt Marlowe. The two organizations will collaborate using their continuing education networks and training programs to provide ways for building product manufacturers and designers to remain current on LEED requirements.
Also at the conference, USGBC relaunched its Web site, www.usgbc.org, with a cleaner and more user-friendly design for the building community that makes accessing LEED project credit templates easier, provides easier access to online reference guides, more resources for members and chapters, and other resources. The launch of a new Web site geared toward educating consumers and providing tools and resources to home buyers and homeowners interested in greening their homes also was announced: www.thegreenhomeguide.org. It also offers details on the LEED for Homes program.
