Greenbuild Blog

City planning and infrastructure played a central role in disaster response: the ability of cities to prepare for, withstand and respond to extreme weather and environmental events is directly correlated to the well-being and safety of inhabitants, whether they’re seeking refuge indoors from air pollution caused by a distant source, or living directly within a wildfire- or storm-prone region. 

Development in residential neighborhoods and the construction of commercial buildings are becoming increasingly more energy efficient. LEED accreditations and rating systems (BD+C, O+M, ND, etc.) pave the way for healthier buildings and communities. One practice that directly aligns with Greenbuild and USGBC’s shared mission and LEED’s core concepts involves the term “passive building.”

When you attend Greenbuild, rest assured that we are working hard to offer a uniquely positive impact event. With that said, we are still constantly learning, developing, and creating more ways to be an even more sustainable trade show by incorporating new innovations to lower the event carbon footprint.

A now established trend that presents significant promise to address the housing shortage in Washington is converting empty office buildings to residential spaces. In fact, Washington led the charge on these conversions between 2020 and 2021, with the most office-to-rental conversions in the country, according to real estate analysis group Yardi Matrix. 

Everything from insulation and flooring, to paints and finishes, furniture, decor and even cleaning products can either help or hinder the health of the people in the buildings they design, construct and manage. With an extraordinary amount of materials, ingredients and chemicals to consider, how can building professionals begin the process of selecting safer and healthier materials for their projects? 

With all of the travel, combined with the energy, water, waste, and excess materials, the carbon footprint from the events industry can get overwhelming. Thankfully, events like Greenbuild are paving the way for change in the conference and tradeshow industry to create opportunities to host events nationwide while having a much friendlier impact on the communities, social issues, and the environment. 

Dan Wu, Sustainability Manager at Informa talks about his journey making London's Pride parade more sustainable. Informa launched the Event Sustainability Pledge at COP26 for the global event industry. For Pride in London, drawing on this experience, he organized several workshops with the event team, working with them to answer the following fundamental questions.

A LEED-certified building signifies that the overall structure creates a healthier space for people, uses fewer resources, reduces carbon emissions, and improves efficiency while providing operational cost savings.

The United Nations has declared May 22 the International Day for Biological Diversity (or World Biodiversity Day), aimed at building back biodiversity for the global community and re-examining our relationship with the natural world. 

This month, the World Economic Forum held its annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, where delegates from various sectors converged to discuss urgent global issues. In the discussion of urgent matters, climate change is at the top of the list. We rounded up a few of the top sustainability conversations at Davos 2023.

As we prepare for our first-ever Greenbuild at Home gathering (of as many as 1,000 sustainability professionals), we’ve received some questions from our community about the topic. Before you join us on May 12th, here are some vital facts and stats.

I couldn’t let March (Women’s History Month) end without a shout-out to the many women who influenced the sustainability movement and green building. Their  passion, actions, and words will take us into the future. 

Savvy architects, designers, and developers are discovering the importance of nature in new construction and remodels. The new generation of designers are inspired by ecology, applying systems thinking to create structures and communities.