USGBC Blog

Marisa Long
Marketing & Communications Manager
Center for Green Schools

Stop by the Center for Green Schools display at Greenbuild and you just might learn something! The Center for Green Schools at USGBC has been busy preparing for this year’s Greenbuild International Conference & Expo taking place next week at Metro Toronto Convention Centre, and we encourage everyone to stop by the Center for Green Schools and USGBC Students display area located on the 700 Level of the South Building. Center staff will be holding “office hours” and other special events, so visitors can take a break between sessions to sit, relax and learn more about the many programs and initiatives targeted at greening K-12 schools, colleges and universities.

Here are 11 Center events during Greenbuild you definitely shouldn’t miss!

1. Rachel Gutter, Director of the Center for Green SchSave changesools, will be interviewed by GreenSource Magazine for “Essential Toronto” (Wednesday, Oct.5, 9:30 a.m., McGraw Hill Booth, Expo Floor)
2. Join the Center for a focus group/input session on the new community college and under resourced program. (Wednesday, Oct. 5, 9-10 a.m., Room 802B)
3. Learn what’s new with the Center’s advocacy outreach and programs, including the Congressional Green Schools Caucus, 50 for 50 Initiative for state legislators, Mayors’ Alliance for Green Schools and the Coalition for Green Schools. (Wednesday, Oct. 5, 10 a.m.- noon.)
4. Learn more about all the people who make up the Center for Green Schools Community with members of the Center’s staff (Wednesday, Oct. 5, noon-2 p.m., Center Display)
5. What’s Next for Green Schools? The Center for Green Schools at USGBC and United Technologies Corp. will host a press briefing to highlight activities in the green schools movement. Rachel Gutter, director of the Center for Green Schools, will announce the results of a recent survey asking Americans their thoughts on green schools. Rachel will also provide a “Year in Review” update on the Center’s many accomplishments since its inception last fall and an overview of what’s next for the green schools movement in 2012. (Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2-2:30 p.m., Center display)
6. The Center will host a panel, moderated by Jenna McKnight from Architectural Record, highlighting the Center for Green Schools Fellowship program, which places full time sustainability officers in public school districts for three years. Panelists include Phoebe Bieirle, Center for Green Schools UTC Fellow for Boston Public Schools; Sandy Diehl, UTC vice president of Integrated Building Solutions; and Anisa Baldwin Metzger, who manages the Fellowship program and previously served as a USGBC supported sustainability officer in New Orleans following hurricane Katrina. (Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2:30-3 p.m., Center display)
7. Green Classroom Professional Certificate Demo: Stop by to watch the demo of GBCI’s Green Classroom Professional Certificate, which will launch in January 2012. (Thursday, Oct. 6, 9 -11 a.m., Center display)
8. Learn more about what’s next for our Center for Green Schools programs in our specialty update, featuring Center staff Nate Allen, Pat Lane and Jenny Wiedower, with special appearances from Center for Green Schools UTC Fellow Farah McDill, Kentucky State Representative Jim DeCesare and Jason Maddox, USGBC Student Groups leader at the Pennsylvania College of Technology. (Thursday, Oct. 6, 2:30-3:30 p.m., Room 718 A)
9. Collaborate! Stop by the Center for Green Schools and USGBC Students display to learn more about USGBC’s initiatives in both the K-12 and higher education green building industries – and lend your voice to the movement. Attendees will be invited to post their stories and tips on bulletin boards. Share your thoughts and take away new perspectives on green schools! (Oct 5-6, all day, Center display)
10. Students in attendance and serving as conference volunteers will have the opportunity to network with one another and conference attendees at the USGBC Students Lounge. Leaders from USGBC Students groups from across the country will collaborate face-to-face for the first time, joining representatives from the Canada Green Building Council to share strategies and successes in developing robust campus groups. Stop by throughout the conference to learn more about the USGBC Students program and how you can get involved. (Oct. 5-6, all day, USGBC Students display)
11. Education: From building sustainable campuses to classrooms, get your share of green schools education at Greenbuild through an array of sessions. Choose from:

Higher Education »
K-12 Schools »
Students and Emerging Professionals »

We hope to see you in Toronto!