Chicago

Started in 2002 by the infamous United States Green Building Council (USGBC), the GreenBuild Expo has quickly become the largest conference and exhibition focused solely on green building (both practices and products).

Nearly 20,000 people are expected to attend this year's GreenBuild in Chicago. In recent years, Chicago has been working to become on of the top sustainable cities in the country - in 2006, the city was named #4 in SustainLane's Top 10 Green U.S. Cities, and they're aiming to make it to #1.

Pulling out all the stops this year, the USGBC has an unprecedented number of awards, workshops, events and more planned for the three short days of this year's conference. Former President Bill Clinton will be giving the opening keynote speech on November 7th and the newest LEED for Homes program will be a major focus. Also available to attendees are detailed educational seminars, LEED workshops, local Chicago green building tours, the sixth annual USGBC Leadership Awards, and beautiful outdoor activities (including a picnic, yoga, and a bike tour).

Having been hosted previous in Austin, Pittsburgh, Portland, Atlanta and Denver, we are keeping are fingers crossed that they come to beautiful San Francisco next year (hint hint). Keep your eyes tuned to Building Green TV for details on exciting new products and programs featured at the expo.

The U.S. Green Building Council's http://www.usgbc.org/ Greenbuild Expo http://www.greenbuildexpo.org/ will be held in Chicago November 7-9. I talked about the conference in a prior post but the venue for the conference is also worth noting given its size and LEED certification. It will be held in the new addition to the existing McCormick Place, which itself totals about 2 million square feet, just south of Chicago's downtown. The addition, called McCormick Place West, was completed in August 2007, eight months ahead of schedule and on budget. It includes an expansive roof top garden, 470,000 sq ft of exhibit space, 250,000 sq ft of meeting space and a 100,000 sq. ft. ballroom. The LEED certified addition was built at a cost of $882 million by TVS Architects. http://www.mccormick2008.com/ Its environmental and innovative design adds another dimension to Chicago's rich architectural history.

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) http://www.usgbc.org/ will hold this year's Greenbuild Expo in Chicago on November 7-9. http://www.greenbuildexpo.org/ The move to Chicago was made in part to accomodate its growing attendance and given this year's keynote speaker, former President Bill Clinton, it was probably a good idea. Apparently the "Clinton Climate Initiative" has decided that green building is key to reaching its goals of reducing CO2 emissions that lead to climate change.

What does all this mean? I think it points to how far the green building movement has come in recent years. The interest and commitment to building, both commercial and residential, in a sustainable manner has reached new levels.

USGBC initiated the LEED system http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CategoryID=19 that rates buildings according to specific criteria pertaining to green building practices. It has been beta-testing "LEED for Homes" for nearly two years as I mentioned in a prior post. USGBC started Greenbuild in 2002 and in 2006 attendance was much higher than anticipated. The conference consists of educational sessions and workshops, an exhibition floor, networking events and even guided tours of local green buildings. Attendees include building professionals, i.e. architects, designers, engineers etc. as well as anyone interested in green building.

Why hold it in Chicago? "Chicago is committed to becoming the most environmentally friendly city in the world," said Mayor Richard Daley. "Chicago was one of the first cities to adopt LEED for the construction of all new city facilities and to develop an expedited permit process for LEED certified green buildings. As a signatory to the U.S. Mayor's Climate Protection Agreement and a member of the Clinton Climate Initiative, Chicago is also a leader in reducing greenhouse gas emissions." Also, the site of the conference is a LEED registered project. Given Chicago's rich architectural history, perhaps an appropriate place to hold a conference on building green.