The Road to Rio+20: Houston is a city leading by example

Jason Hartke
Vice President, National Policy
U.S. Green Building Council

Note: this blog was originally published on The Guardian

When you think of Houston you might think of 10-gallon cowboy hats, Nasa and a terrific barbecue. But you might not necessarily think about green building and sustainability initiatives.

Houston has been employing several very impressive sustainability strategies to achieve the city's self-proclaimed goal of being the greenest city in the country. It was another great stop on our Road to Rio+20 series of events that focuses on exploring the role of cities and buildings in the green economy.

Last year, in partnership with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and the UN Environment Programme, we launched the series as a way to foster local discussion about how innovation in the built environment can translate into a global movement for driving a green economy before the 20-year anniversary Rio+20 conference in June 2012.

Cities were a logical focus when you consider more than half the world's population lives in cities – and that will rise to 70% by 2030. In addition, our urban areas generate 80% of all greenhouse gases worldwide, 75% of all energy and 60% of all water use.