Thoughts from Greenbuild 2008

I just returned to DC after a couple of weeks of travel that culminated in attending Greenbuild, the annual conference from USGBC. Somewhere around 30,000 people were involved in this event, a mind-boggling total for a formerly fringe movement.

Personally, I was overwhelmed by the sheer size of the event. The people, lasers, and multiple projection screens made it seem more like the MTV music awards than a conference. Sensory overload. Combine that with the mind-numbing cold outside and it's a miracle I can even function right now.

The theme of the conference was "Revolutionary Green," which aptly describes the mood of those in attendance. People were buzzing over the possibilities offered by a new Presidential administration and the once far-fetched goals that now seem achievable. Buildings will play the primary role in our transition to the clean energy economy, and the potential to save energy and precious resources in our buildings while simultaneously creating new green jobs and stimulating our economy was always a part of the discussion. The connections between social equity, economic prosperity, and environmental responsibility were subtle like a brick.

But was there more glitter than substance? I would say no, even though there was a lot of flash. The master speakers in particular drove the urgency of the situation home. Personal highlights for me included:

• Desmond Tutu, inspiring the crowd and praising Americans in general for being crazy, wonderful people who provide hope to the rest of the world; he even referred to the green building movement as "the cat's whiskers."
• Van Jones, eloquently explaining why economic and social responsibility is not separable from environmental responsibility. He could not have been more right when he said that the symbol that will most effectively convey our response to global climate change is the caulk gun. Bravo.
• E.O. Wilson, providing the context in which we all work. His general discussions on how we live and the things we value were like a shot in the arm.

Despite the celebratory tone of the conference, the real hard work has yet to begin and I hope the majority of those in attendance understand what really needs to be done to meet our climate change goals. The newest technologies on display in the expo and the beautiful new buildings that we can create now are only a tiny piece of the puzzle. We have to roll up our sleeves and get into existing buildings in the most meaningful way by pursuing energy efficiency. We have to know when to spend our construction dollars on better insulation rather than on more solar panels. And we have to understand that where we build our shiny new green buildings matters as much as how they work. It is completely understandable that this particular event would focus on new, commercial construction, but getting the small army in attendance to promote real change in building policy in this country should absolutely be a goal of the green building movement.