Greening Greenbuild

In an effort to walk the talk of sustainability, the U.S. Green Building Council sought to green the Greenbuild conference itself. Holding the event in a LEED Gold-rated conference center was a great first step.

In addition, conference programs, name-badge holders, and cloth bags were made of recycled materials. Hotels were asked to implement towel and sheet reuse programs, replace amenities only if they had been consumed, and shut off HVAC in unoccupied rooms. The caterer was asked to use a minimum of 15% locally grown or organic food, donate leftover food to local organizations, and save water by not prefilling water glasses and not providing coffee-cup saucers. Convention center staff were asked to reduce lights, power, and HVAC during exhibitor set-up and take-down; serve water from bulk containers instead of individual bottles; sweep parking lots, sidewalks, and driveways instead of spraying them with water; and stock bathrooms with recycled-content paper towels and toilet paper.