Year of the Dragon. Summer of Love. Time-stamping cultural movements isn’t a new phenomenon, but the “Decade of Downtown” is. Declared by San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, the Decade of Downtown heralds a shift toward developing San Antonio’s downtown neighborhoods. The only question that remains is: How? In their Greenbuild 2012 education session, “Dream It, Map It, Do It: Delivering on a City Vision,” three industry pros weigh in how to reimagine San Antonio’s downtown sustainably – and how...

661,000: That's how many architects, engineers and contractors reported having green jobs last fall in a McGraw-Hill Construction study. Beyond the positive environmental and health benefits of green buildings, we also know they’re an economic driver in a down economy. In an economy where construction activity is at an all time low, green building construction has remained strong and even grown in several sectors. We’re bringing this discussion to Greenbuild with the session “The Role of Green...

Think fast: Do you need a permit to implement greywater irrigation? How about filters? What is greywater, anyway? Get the facts at Greenbuild this November, during the “Drink, Wash, Water – Policy, Action and Greywater Irrigation” session. Greywater, untreated waste water which has not come in to contact with toilet water, (such as the water from bathroom wash basins or laundry tubs) is a big-time vehicle for reusing the water from our buildings. The Greenbuild session, led by Tim Kohut, Senior...

Performance at historic Bill Graham Civic Auditorium will celebrate green building movement San Francisco, Calif. – (Sept. 21, 2012) – Three-time Grammy Award-winning band, Train, will perform before thousands of green building professionals and community members at the upcoming Greenbuild International Conference and Expo, hosted by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Greenbuild, the world’s largest conference and expo dedicated to green building, will take place Nov. 14-16 in San...

Join me for an hour of excitement and adventure at the Greenbuild Film Festival and view “Sheltered: Underground and Off the Grid.” The earth shelter project, an underground, off-the-grid farm, shown in our documentary, was delayed several months due to a scheduling conflict. I remember getting a phone call on the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving in 2009 telling me that the earth shelter kit had arrived and that we needed to begin construction immediately to try to beat the winter weather...

What are the hidden gems among this year’s rich roster of Greenbuild tours? Each tour offers a great opportunity to get outside the convention center and experience sustainable design in person—and get to the know the Bay Area. (Read my recent tours article for more on that). This year’s green building tours offer an opportunity to see spaces and places that are often closed to the public or off the beaten track, and to hear about projects from the thought leaders who made them happen. Plus,...

San Francisco is a city of folks who love to grow and eat food. How do you do that in an urban setting with few open land spaces for gardens? Greenbuild’s Legacy Projects demonstrate two variations of urban gardens working with the little space they have available to show exactly how this can be accomplished and meet the goal of providing produce to local area families with no access to fresh fruits and vegetables. These areas are known as “food deserts.” Over 17 project applications were...

It’s coming – that time of year when the leaves start to fall and the breeze feels just a little cooler. For most of us, autumn means breaking out that new sweater you’ve been dying to wear or gearing up for that Pumpkin Spice Latte you’ve been dreaming of since July. But for those of us in the green building industry, the onset of fall means one thing: GREENBUILD. As a USGBC employee for a number of years, Greenbuild San Francisco marks the fifth time I’ll be supporting the conference. Each...

A green education hub, many of the nation’s most sustainable K-12 schools and colleges are within quick reach of central San Francisco. These institutions and communities have graciously opened their doors to Greenbuild attendees, offering tour-goers a rare insider’s view of the secrets behind the successes at a great group of youth spaces, as well as the deep green buildings & policies of University of California Berkeley, Mills College and Stanford University. I’ll be the first to admit...

Picture this: It’s 115°F outside. There’s a dust storm sweeping through the city and it hasn’t rained in weeks. Now: Design an optimally performing building. Where are you? Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, where three leading architecture firms have tackled building envelope design for the King Abdullah Financial District. Marc Rogers, Principal, Cambridge Seven Associates Inc.; Heidi Blau, Partner, FXFOWLE Architects; and Louis Becker, Principal/Partner, Henning Larsen Architects; are...

Lawyers are bringing a different kind of green to Greenbuild: we’re talking green law, and it’s coming to the 2012 Legal Summit being held at this year’s event. The summit is a catalyst for the emerging field of green building law and will add attorneys working in the sustainable real estate, construction and manufacturing fields to the Greenbuild mix. Not a lawyer? Not a problem. The Summit has opportunities for lawyers and non-lawyers alike. For the non-lawyers, the session, “Not So Risky...

By bringing Greenbuild to San Francisco this November, USGBC has come full circle back to its original birthplace, here in the Bay Area. The conference has surprisingly never been to California, and USGBC’s Northern California Chapter (USGBC-NCC) leadership is pretty psyched… and they have big plans to make sure that everyone coming will have a great Greenbuild experience. Greenbuild host committee co-chair Andrea Traber, who is Principal of Sustainable Buildings and Communities for DNV KEMA...