The Top Green Building Conferences 2005-2006

Many of us are rapidly coming up to speed by attending conferences on green building or sustainable construction and I thought it would be useful to mention a few upcoming ones that can increase your knowledge about the world of green building. If you teach courses about green buildings or are an academic engaged in scholarly work and research, attendance at these conferences can be especially helpful.

May 25-27, 2005 Green Trends 2005 Sarasota, Florida

The Florida Green Building Coalition (FGBC) organizes this annual conference that address the state of green building specifically in Florida where a high rate of penetration is occurring in both residential and larger building arenas. One of the major points of the conference will be discussions about the FGBC’s Florida Green Building Program, consisting of Green Building Standards for Florida Homes, Developments, Commercial Buildings , and Counties and Cities.

June 20-23 2005 Ecobuild America Orlando, Florida

Organized by the Sustainable Buildings Industry Council, this combination conference/exhibition is an outgrowth of successful Ecobuild conferences in Asia. Ecobuild America will address the estimated $15 billion worth of green buildings currently in design or under construction in the US, representing 12-15% of total public construction and 2% of private sector construction. It covers the breadth of commercial, industrial, institutional and residential green building techniques, construction products, renewable energy resources, and sustainable growth design and planning processes. Ecobuild America will be accompanied by product educational sessions for design and construction professionals will feature the latest innovations in green building materials and energy and technology, with particular emphasis on sustainable growth, green building, and environmental design. 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.

September 2005 Sustainable Building 2005 Tokyo, Japan

SB05 is a truly international conference whose central theme is the Green Building Challenge, a competition among countries with green buildings to produce facilities with the lowest possible impacts. Although distant from the U.S., this conference is a remarkable gathering of professionals and researchers from around the world, covering all aspects of green building. It also provides the opportunity for the attendee to learn about green building assessment tools such as LEED that are employed in other countries as well as energy and materials strategies that go well beyond U.S. practices.

November 9-11, 2005 Greenbuild Atlanta, Georgia

The Greenbuild International Conference & Expo is the annual convention of the U.S. Green Building Council USGBC) and is a truly enormous undertaking, with over 8,100 people and 380 exhibitors having attended the 2004 version of Greenbuild in Portland, Oregon. Greenbuild’s focus is on the green building doctrine articulated by the USGBC, especially in the form of the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) suite of standards that is their central product. A wide variety of educational sessions, primarily about LEED, are available to attendees.

September 19-22, 2006 Rethinking Sustainable Construction Sarasota, Florida

This unique conference will attempt to address a long-standing problem in the green building arena, the long range vision of green buildings. RSC06 will be a collaboration of people and organizations who are committed to the advancement of high-performance or next-generation green buildings and the development of design approaches, tools, products, techniques, and policies needed to produce the next-generations of high-performance green buildings. Because it is intended to produce a strategic work product, attendance will be limited to under 400 people. Instead of relying solely on academic papers or powerpoint presentations as the focus of information exchange, RSC06 is encouraging submittals of a wide variety of information to include models, drawings, mock-ups of products, and other innovative approaches to stimulating the discussion of the long range future of green building.