Greenbuild 2009: Which Education Sessions To See
Greenbuild is the big North American conference and expo for green-building professionals. Attendees are invited to register for education sessions in advance. Here's our list of recommendations.
November 09, 2009
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This year's conference is at the Phoenix Convention Center. (City of Phoenix photo) |
Two years ago at Greenbuild, attendees waited in long lines outside popular sessions, only to be turned away. Last year USGBC instituted a pre-registration system that used kiosks in the lobby.
This year you can pre-register for sessions online, and we strongly recommend doing it.
These are our top choices for each of the seven time slots on the schedule of education sessions.
Wednesday 8:30 - Brown
Corporate Sustainability: A View from the C-Suite of Corporate America (BR01)
I'm always interested in how building owners and occupants see green building within the context of overall sustainability. It's a perspective that is changing rapidly in the current political climate.
Politics of Green Building (BR05)
Sustainable energy can't be separated from policy. That has never been more clear than in the past 12 months, with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Wednesday 2:00 - Blue
Spending Federal Green on Green: Success Stories and Lessons Learned from Implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (BL05)
It seems early to gauge the success of ARRA on green building, but it's a good time to start gathering the lessons and mistakes.
Oops! Learning from unexpected results in a European design process (BL07)
The energy-conscious Europeans have always led U.S. trends by about a decade. What's "leading-edge" here is common or even mandatory there. This session looks interesting because it focuses on the unanticipated.
Wednesday 4:00 - Green
Economics of Corporate Sustainability (GR16)
Green builders need to track the economic value of sustainability in the real estate market -- whether from operating cost advantages or tenant/investor attractiveness.
Green Building as if Energy and Getting to Net Zero Mattered (GR09)
Since we covered some net zero energy and carbon neutral buildings in Canada last year, I've been keeping my eye on this important trend.
Wednesday 6:00 - Keynote & Celebration
Al Gore. Sheryl Crow. Need I say more? Walk 2 blocks to Chase Field. It's a short walk from there to take Metro back to your hotel.
Thursday 8:30 - Red
Living with Sustainable Energy in a Global Society (RD09)
This session promises to examine some projects in Europe, a good follow-on to "Oops! Learning from unexpected results in a European design process" the previous morning. The title suggests it will go beyond design and discuss ongoing operations.
A Revolution in Existing Buildings - LEED EBOM (RD10)
Increasingly in the past two years or so, green builders have lamented the decline of their masterful (and LEED-certified) designs in the aftermath of initial occupancy. This session will look at how a real estate manager brought a portfolio of buildings up to the standards of LEED for Existing Buildings: Operation and Maintenance. I hope to hear some discussion of BIM and continuous commissioning.
Thursday 2:00 - Orange
Leapfrogging Energy Efficiency: How Leading Companies Are Transforming the Sustainable Building Market (OR09)
I want to hear how 23 large companies committed to create building prototypes that achieve 50 percent energy reduction for new construction and 30 percent for retrofits. If they can do it, there are a few thousand companies their size that could learn from their experiences.
Sustainable Valuation: When Going Green Makes Cents (OR16)
Energy efficiency is a long-term investment, but commercial buildings generally are not. Green building projects must have a positive impact on valuation, or they don't happen. I'm pleased to see that the amount of economics content at Greenbuild has blossomed in just two years, when only one or two sessions discussed the ROI of green building.
Thursday 4:00 - Yellow
Renewable Energy from the Outside In: Creating DC Micro-Grids in Buildings (YL09)
Call me a geek, but I think there's tremendous potential in direct-current microgrids in commercial buildings. It gets especially interesting when you add Power over Ethernet to the equation.
Friday 8:30 - Purple
Do green buildings make cents and dollars for investors? (PL10)
More on the economics of green building, hopefully not redundant after "Sustainable Valuation: When Going Green Makes Cents" the previous day.
Case Study: Assessing Green Building Performance (PL01)
The nation's largest landlord, the GSA, evaluated 12 buildings to find out whether sustainable design delivers as promised. It identified seven key areas with significant potential for public and private sector portfolios.
Friday 10:30 - Closing Plenary
Obama environmental adviser Carol M. Browner will be the keynote speaker.
Room numbers for each session are indicated in the online schedule.