Seeing Green

There were a record number of attendees and exhibitors at the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in Chicago this year. Encouraging, I’d say, that the energy around green building is still going strong especially since it’s been a challenging year for green building press.

The major industry news event this year has been the allegations against U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) regarding misrepresentations of the performance of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) certified buildings. But even before the USGBC story made headlines, it seemed the whole year was filled with articles and bloggers generally grumbling about LEED buildings not performing any better (or worse in some cases) than a non-LEED or non-green building. Despite the negative media views, this year’s Greenbuild showed no sign of decreased excitement from years past.  I saw a lot of energy as well as a desire from everyone there – attendees, exhibitors and media – to ensure that the concept of sustainable design and green building are here to stay.   

But not without some improvements of course…

The new version of LEED just went out for public comment and among other modifications and additions it included proposals for a more integrated design process as well as more stringent commissioning and measurement requirements.  The FTC has also proposed an overhaul on its “Green Guides” to help companies avoid making misleading environmental claims about their products.

There’s no argument that buildings use an incredible amount of energy, water and other valuable resources. We need to make sure that we are all taking the idea of sustainability seriously, so that we keep the momentum going strong.

This was a big year for green building news. I’d love to hear from you about what news made the biggest impact on you and what you are doing to help keep the momentum going.

Best,

Lisa