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Demand for Green Buildings Exceeds Workforce Supply

This morning, McGraw-Hill Construction (MHC) released its latest SmartMarket Report, “Construction Industry Workforce Shortages: Role of Certification, Training and Green Jobs in Filling the Gaps.” The report, sponsored by the U.S. Green Building Council and the American Institute of Architects with support from other contributing partners, finds that 69 percent of architect, engineer and contractor professionals expect there to be a shortage of skilled labor in the next three years.

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Parenting’s 2012 Mom Congress Provides Green School Inspiration

Even though by my assessment I was the only non-parent to take the stage at Parenting Magazine’s 2012 Mom Congress Conference, mom delegates from every state in the country welcomed me into their fold with open arms. It was incredibly energizing to meet so many moms who are singularly focused on helping their children succeed at any cost. I met one mother who has to fill out 19 applications a year to be able to send her children to higher performing schools on the other side of the city.

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Common Ground on Green Schools

Earlier this year, USGBC launched seven new advocacy campaigns designed to highlight our organization’s public policy priorities. And local advocates sure have responded. Most recently, USGBC South Carolina hosted a day-long summit inspired by USGBC’s Common Ground on Green Schools Campaign which brought together Palmetto state educators, government officials and legislators to discuss ways to put every South Carolinian child in a green school within a generation.

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A Toast to LEED: Volume Program Brings Industry Leaders Together

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USGBC's Rick Fedrizzi and Scot Horst raise a toast to LEED Volume participants

What happens when Kohl’s Department Stores, Wells Fargo, and Subway Restaurants walk in to a room?

At the USGBC offices, it means a great conversation on green building is about to ensue – among some of the foremost business leaders in sustainability.

Last month, we were thrilled to welcome participants in our LEED Volume Program to USGBC’s Washington, DC headquarters for full-day orientation seminars to kick-off their journey in scaling up with LEED.

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The 2012 Greenest School on Earth: Green School Bali

It’s been a very exciting few weeks at Green School Bali since the Center for Green School’s Rachel Gutter visited and presented us with the award as “2012 Greenest School on Earth.” There were close to 400 students, staff, parents and friends gathered in our beautiful open-air bamboo coliseum for an Earth Day assembly, and only a small handfu

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“Inexhaustible” Inspiration: Thomas Knittel Talks Biomimicry

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Biomimicry expert, Thomas Knittel

A building shaped like a butterfly. A skyscraper modeled after self-cooling termite mounds. A structure in arid climate inspired by a desert snail. Biomimicry, the application of nature’s principles to solve problems, is an emerging influence in modern day green building and other design and technology.

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Southeastern Building Codes Welcome Greater Efficiency for Greater Savings

“Air conditioning saved the South.” I distinctly remember my high school American history teacher repeating this as we reviewed economic growth in the U.S. during the mid- to late twentieth century. Whether you believe that reduced perspiration leads to economic growth or that economic growth spurs the demand for comfortable, less humid spaces, evolving building practice has proven that we can build much more efficient buildings today if we have the right tools – and the Southeast is taking action.

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