Greenbuild's Summits & Workshops

Tuesday, November 4, 2025, from 8am – 12pm PT

LEED v5 has been holistically created to guide decisions and actions to move us towards our global climate goals. This workshop focuses on the LEED BD+C rating system to provide steps and tools to deliver new buildings with ultra-low greenhouse gas emissions for operations.

This workshop teaches the steps and tools for achieving decarbonization, focusing on the first step: operational decarbonization design and planning. It will highlight the LEED v5 “recipe” for achieving decarbonization.

The workshop will provide an understanding of the importance and utility of decarbonization plans and how to establish these plans for new construction projects. Attendees will engage in a fun activity to model designs and factors and learn how to account for wild cards in a green building project.

Learning Objectives:

1. Recognize the benefits and strategies for operational decarbonization in new construction projects
2. Apply decarbonization design and planning actions
3. Identify steps and tools for achieving ultra-low operational greenhouse gas emissions in new buildings
4. Identify potential wildcards in decarbonization designing and planning

Tuesday, November 4, 2025, from 8am – 12pm PT

A primer for those interested in learning more about sustainable finance, this workshop will focus on what green building practitioners need to know to use sustainable finance for their green building projects.

The workshop will review the basic concepts of green bonds and loans and how they work, and then delve into how green ratings can be used to enable sustainable financing. It will teach the basics of financing options and their applicability for different project types (new/retrofit). This workshop will feature expert speakers who will coach teams during activities and enhance USGBC's capability to work nimbly towards resolving areas of market confusion in the commercial/residential, public/private sector, etc., and related guidance on how to secure such funding. It will explore how green building ratings can be used for sustainable finance instruments.

The workshop will also review current and emerging trends in sustainable finance and how they impact green building activity.

Learning Objectives:

1. Define the basic concepts of green bonds and green loans and how they work
2. Identify how sustainable finance instruments can be used to finance different green building projects
3. Identify how green building ratings can be used for sustainable finance instruments
4. Recognize emerging trends in sustainable finance and how they impact green building activity

Tuesday, November 4, 2025, from 8am – 12pm PT

Join this workshop to learn how to transform your waste management approach into a commodity-driven, resource-centric, zero waste plan that contributes to a circular economy. This interactive workshop will have sector specific round table discussions to learn from experienced professionals about how zero waste and TRUE have added value to their facilities, events and construction projects. It will tailor attendees’ experience to the type of facility they work in and present case studies from TRUE-certified facilities across sectors, including many from California, where TRUE was started.

The workshop will teach the new TRUE sector resources available in Q2 2025 and prepare the market for TRUE v2 coming out in 2026. Participants will also have the opportunity to provide their feedback and input for TRUE v2 development.

Learning Objectives:

1. Identify the financial benefits of zero waste
2. Support a project’s zero waste goals
3. Create a waste management approach that contributes to a circular economy
4. Identify zero waste strategies from TRUE certified projects

Tuesday, November 4, 2025, from 8am – 12pm PT

This exam prep workshop will help kick-start your journey to earning the LEED Green Associate credential. It will introduce you to the Green Associate credential, provide you with exam insights, and prepare you to begin successfully studying. Study resources and materials will be reviewed, so that you are able to leave the conference with confidence and a well-informed study plan. There will be the option to purchase access to a virtual exam prep bootcamp cohort following Greenbuild to continue your studying and learn from an industry expert.

Learning Objectives: does not qualify for CE.

1. Prepare a study plan for the LEED Green Associate credential exam

Tuesday, November 4, 2025, from 1pm – 5pm PT

This half-day workshop dives into the principles and framework of the LEED v5 Building Design and Construction (BD+C), Interior Design and Construction (ID+C), and Operations and Maintenance(O+M) rating systems. Gain a comprehensive understanding of how buildings can contribute to critical environmental and social imperatives through the LEED v5 framework.

The session will present the three impact areas - decarbonization, quality of life, and ecological conservation and restoration – and how they are aligned with LEED v5 credits to drive real-world change. It will review each credit category and discuss key prerequisites and credits. The session will also present the key changes from LEED v4/v4.1 and the available tools and resources to support project teams.

Learning Objectives:

1. Describe the key principles and framework of LEED v5 BD+C, ID+C, and O+M rating systems
2. Discuss the impact areas of LEED v5 and alignment with LEED credits
3. Describe the benefits of each credit category including key changes from LEED v4/v4.1
4. Locate the available tools and resources to effectively support project teams in achieving LEED v5 certification

Tuesday, November 4, 2025, from 1pm – 5pm PT

There are huge changes for LEED v5. The (EA) credit category has the most potential for leveraging synergies and maximizing points with streamlined workflows. It also has the most potential for overwhelming practitioners with all the options.

This workshop focuses on documentation and understanding compliance paths to unlock LEED v5 and master EA credits through interactive strategies. It teaches project teams to leverage synergies within the EA credit suite to optimize the project workflow documenting decarbonization.

This workshop will provide practitioners with a solid understanding of how to implement the new LEED v5 energy credit requirements in the design and construction rating systems, and to fully leverage the synergies built into the EA framework to achieve the project’s decarbonization goals, while optimizing project workflow.

Learning Objectives:

1. Identify how to achieve decarbonization goals on a new construction project
2. Identify best options for a project to implement LEED v5 EA credits
3. Leverage synergies built into the EA framework for new construction projects
4. Create a streamlined workflow to earn EA credits

Tuesday, November 4, 2025, from 1pm – 5pm PT

Join GRESB, SBTi, and USGBC to gain key insights to advance your portfolio-level performance goals, manage data, verify progress, and leverage tools and strategies to efficiently complete GRESB Assessments.

The workshop demonstrates USGBC’s solutions for GRESB indicators: Energy Ratings, Performance Certificates, LEED, and PERFORM verification. Learn to align LEED v5 O+M with PERFORM. Guest speakers will provide short examples and testimonials of how they used PERFORM verification successfully.

PERFORM supports organizations in managing and enhancing the sustainability of their real estate portfolios. This program helps organizations set goals for emissions, energy, waste and other key metrics, and measure progress against defined targets

Learning Objectives:

1. Streamline ESG reporting with USGBC products
2. Align LEED v5 with PERFORM performance metrics
3. Planning for successful review timelines with PERFORM
4. Use PERFORM to support GRESB’s data monitoring and review section