The U.S. Green Building Council and its partners are premiering the International Green Building Conference and Exposition November 13–15, 2002, in Austin. This gathering promises to feature the most comprehensive congregation of green building programs and technologies ever assembled—a showcase for this rapidly expanding and dynamic industry.

Among the keynote speakers will be M. Arthur Gensler Jr., FAIA, talking about current levels of client demand and other business implications of environmentally sensitive design.

The International Green Building Conference is expected to draw more than 2,000 attendees to Austin, home of the first green building program in the country. Experts and beginners alike will also learn from more than 200 exhibits of products and services at the Expo, the preeminent showcase for leading-edge technologies from around the world. The USGBC plans to make the conference an annual event, explaining that it will be held in locales, such as Austin, noted for transforming the built environment.

USGBC market indicators have made clear the demand for a conference on resource efficiency and sustainable design. For instance, in the past year alone, the USGBC membership jumped from 500 to nearly 2,000 companies, organizations, colleges, and governmental agencies. And the USGBC Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design system for rating and certifying green buildings—LEED™—has sparked keen interest among owners and designers alike. As part of the cycle of awareness, USGBC has seen a surge in media coverage in mainstream and trade publications as well.

Highlighting benchmarks of sustainability, the conference will cut across a broad array of issues affecting site location and development, water use, energy, materials, indoor environmental quality, health and productivity, financing, and the many technologies and systems supporting each. The conference's inclusive approach will showcase the best green building contributions from USGBC members, supporting industries, organizations, and the public at large.

Organizations partnering with the USGBC to make the conference and exposition a reality include the AIA Committee on the Environment, Construction Specifications Institute, Austin Energy Green Building Program, Urban Land Institute, and the U.S. Department of Energy.

Pre-conference events include the Chapter Grant-Writing Workshop November 11 and a USGBC members-only day November 12 to provide updates on USGBC and LEED programs and time for committee meetings and networking. Post-conference intro, intermediate, and advanced LEED workshops will take place November 15–16, with an update on LEED projects and a Green Buildings Program Workshop sponsored by Austin Energy Green Building Program also on November 15. Green building tours will take place November 16–17.

Speakers

Dr. David Suzuki, noted author, award-winning scientist, environmentalist, and television series producer and broadcaster will speak at the opening plenary session on Wednesday, November 13. He will discuss how our collective "ecological footprint" now exceeds nature's annual capacity to replenish renewable resources and how to find solutions to our destructive practices.

Christine Todd Whitman, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and former governor of New Jersey, is invited to join attendees for lunch and a presentation November 13. Whitman believes environmental and economic goals go hand in hand and that the path to continued environmental improvements will require a new emphasis on partnerships. Among other priorities, she is an advocate for smart growth and the Energy Star program.

Chrisna du Plessis, author, research architect, and sustainable development advisor at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Pretoria, South Africa, will speak at November 14 plenary session. She will discuss how the economic and power relations as well as the disparities in wealth and consumption between the North and the South affect global sustainability and the creation of sustainable human settlements. Using African folktales and examples from the built environment, she will illustrate available solutions to overcoming these disparities and providing a fair share of the world's resources to both the North and South.

Peter Garforth, vice president for strategy and business development with Owens Corning and founding member of the European Business Council for a Sustainable Energy Future, Toledo, will be the November 14 luncheon presenter. He will provide a perspective on the global adoption of more efficient construction technologies and the impact on the competitiveness of the U.S. construction industry.

Keynote Speakers

M. Arthur Gensler Jr., FAIA, FIIDA, RIBA, chairman and founder of Gensler Architecture, Design & Planning Worldwide, San Francisco (recipient of the 2000 AIA Firm Award), and Paul Morrell, FRICS, Hon. FRIBA, senior partner for Davis Langdon & Everest, Construction Cost and Project Management, London, and a commissioner on the UK Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, team up to speak at the November 15 plenary session. They will address the critical need for creating green buildings that meet both the objectives and limitations inherent in today's business world. This session will look at the different approaches adopted on both sides of the Atlantic, and the risks of setting the standard too high (creating barriers to profitable adoption that prevent take-up), or too low (rendering them meaningless). Gensler will present the practicalities and (real and perceived) costs of green design, illustrated with recent Gensler projects.

Copyright 2002 The American Institute of Architects. All rights reserved.