This year, the Chapter Steering Committee (CSC) said goodbye to four long-serving members: Kathy Zarsky, Paul Poirier, Amy Wortman and Alessandra Carreon. The CSC is an integrated group of chapter community leaders who provide USGBC with relevant expertise, stakeholder perspectives, market intelligence, best practices and vision. The CSC works towards our collective vision by strengthening and empowering USGBC’s chapter community. “Chapter issues are about growing their communities, keeping...

“It is not true that people stop pursuing dreams because they grow old, they grow old because they stop pursuing dreams." Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1927- present, Colombian/global literary phenomenon/Nobel Prize winner) When I began to prepare last month for my speech at the Colombia Green Building Council’s Urban Sustainability in Action conference, I realized that I was pretty ignorant about Colombia. I knew that the author of “One Hundred Years of Solitude” and the...

This is a transformational time for the U.S. Green Building Council as we celebrate USGBC’s 20th anniversary and the anticipated launch of LEED v4. Take part in shaping USGBC’s strategic direction and nominate yourself for the 2014 Board of Directors. Learn more. The self-nomination period will be open from July 1-30, 2013. Hear from members of our board to learn more about being on the USGBC Board of Directors. There are six open seats on the Board to fill by member election. The...

Miss Patti stood on the porch of the administration building for the small charter school. For nearly 20 years she had worked hard to bring environmental education to the children in west central Florida, and this ten building school was one large step in that mission. Every day 200 children attend classes taught by passionate instructors in old ranch-home style buildings at Learning Gate Community School. It had taken a lot of hard work and dedication, but the students, parents, and staff were...

Join us in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from Nov. 20-22 for USGBC's 2013 Greenbuild International Conference and Expo. Register today! Greenbuild is the world's largest conference and expo dedicated to green building. Thousands of building professionals from all over the world come together at Greenbuild for three days of outstanding education sessions, renowned speakers, a vast expo floor, green building tours, special seminars and networking events. We are Greenbuild Nation. P.S. I’d love...

Washington, D.C. — (June 5, 2013) — In an effort to accelerate sustainable development around the world, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), creators of the LEED green building program, announced today a new campaign offering free LEED certification to the first projects to certify in the 112 countries where LEED has yet to take root. Coined “LEED Earth,” this campaign aims to bring LEED certification and thereby better-performing buildings into new markets. LEED is a global approach to...

Two weeks ago, the Center for Green Schools (@mygreenschools) had the pleasure of virtually sitting down with the Green Sports Alliance (@sportsalliance) and the Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) over Twitter to talk green sports, the Green Apple Day of Service and more. In case you missed it, we've got you covered with a recap of our favorite questions of the day: Green Sports Alliance (Alliance): Let’s get started with a question to Scott Jenkins from the Mariners: How are your team and...

Here’s our weekly collection of green building clips: After years of construction, Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt Federal Building open and efficient, The Oregonian. The federal building in downtown Portland has undergone a jaw-dropping transformation and is working toward LEED Platinum. Hillary Rodham Clinton to Keynote Greenbuild, EcoBuildingPulse. Building on Greenbuild’s tradition of featuring impressive master speakers, the 67th secretary of state will give the opening address in...

Late last week, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released their annual agency sustainability scorecards. These scorecards track how federal agencies are doing in complying with the requirements of Executive Order 13415, which set goals to show reductions on metrics like energy, water and waste in the agencies' operations. The agencies get red, yellow or green to show how they are faring. So what’s new this year? Well, the...

This article is part of a series that USGBC is using to give the LEED community a first look at the tools and resources we’ve developed to support those using LEED. Continuous improvement is a concept that goes beyond the technical requirements. We also apply it to the program as a whole. In the case of the LEED Online forms that teams use to document compliance with LEED credits, this meant streamlining, simplifying and clarifying. Our work paid off, and resulted in fewer forms overall and a...

Over the past year, USGBC and GBCI have collaborated with The Catholic University of America (CUA) on a pilot interdisciplinary studio -- coined the LEED Lab. The goal of this collaboration was to test a course concept where students are engaged in and facilitating LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance on campus. Faculty partner Patricia Andrasik shares her thoughts on the experience. The field of sustainable architecture is evolving, and architects, designers and owners...

The LEED v4 Ballot is officially open! Vote now and make your voice heard.  How do you vote? If you joined the consensus body (registered to vote) in April and you’re employed by a USGBC national member who has remained in good standing, you’ll receive an email with instructions and a direct link to our voting page. There you’ll be able to cast your ballot on the newest update to the LEED rating systems through the month of June. Has it been a while since you’ve...