The EBies: Honoring Great Work in Buildings Gone Green

William Nutt
Associate, Marketing and Communications
U.S. Green Building Council

Urban Green Council, the New York City chapter of USGBC, held the first-ever EBie Awards on June 28th at the Hard Rock Café Theater. Though this marks the first public showcase for the EBies, the project reflects concepts and ideas that have been discussed for years by NYC leaders in sustainability. The basic idea is this: We need to recognize and encourage the people who are making amazing improvements to existing buildings (hence “EB”ies). Last month, a total of 10 projects from around the country received awards across eight categories.

Sixty-seven entries were submitted; the jurors narrowed the list down to a select 18 finalists, and then chose the winners. Winning the All-Rounder was Glen Neville, a Director of Deutsche Bank, with a team from Jones Lang LaSalle for the Deutsche Bank Americas Headquarters at 60 Wall Street. Maintenance, operational, and capital improvements to the property increased its energy and water efficiency as it moves towards a goal of carbon neutrality by 2013. Included in the spectacular outcome of this $8 million project is the creation of a 123KW flat panel solar array – the largest rooftop array in New York City.

Forty percent energy savings over the past three years earned Jesse Dillard of the Dallas Museum of Art the Reformed Gas Guzzler Award thanks to lighting, HVAC and water heater retrofits. The Reformed Drinker Award went to Steve Allwine of the Johnson Braund office building in Seattle for reducing water consumption by 95%. The range of building types that received other innovative awards include a commercial office space, a mixed-use industrial complex and office building, an elementary school, a condominium complex and a rental apartment building.

Citi Becomes World's First Bank with 200 LEED-Certified Projects

Yesterday, Citi celebrated the LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum certification of its New York City flagship branch in Union Square, becoming the world's first bank with 200 LEED-certified projects. LEED is the U.S Green Building Council's leading rating system for designing and constructing the world's greenest, most energy efficient, and high performing buildings.

Billy Cho, Citibank Area Director for NYC; Don Callahan, Citi CAO; Val Smith, Director of Citi's Corporate Sustainability, and Scot Horst, USGBC's Senior Vice President of LEED.

The 9,700 square foot branch is located at 14th Street and Broadway and features 100 percent ENERGY STAR rated equipment, high efficiency, energy optimizing lighting controls and nearly a quarter of all building materials manufactured using recycled content. The announcement is a direct result of a $50 billion pledge Citi made in 2007 to address global climate change over the next 10 years, which includes financing for the renewable energy and clean technology industries as well as investments in reducing our corporate environmental footprint through procurement, energy use and real estate portfolio. To date, Citi has directed over $36.4 billion towards these activities as part of this initiative.

Making Benchmarking Mainstream

Matt Pearce
Campaign Specialist
U.S. Green Building Council

In January, USGBC launched its second advocacy campaign of 2012, Mainstream Benchmarking.  Through this campaign we will advocate for policies that will bring the benefits of energy benchmarking to all commercial buildings. 

So why benchmarking? Why now? 

The answer is simple. The green building movement has made many technologies and processes standard practice by building new LEED buildings and by retrofitting existing buildings; however, many spaces are not considered energy efficient.  There are low and no cost opportunities to stop this energy waste still abound.

Learning to Speak Green: Urban Green Council Conference Highlights Successful Green Messaging

Amy King
Director, Chapter Community Development
U.S. Green Building Council

Ever feel tongue tied when you are out there advocating for green buildings?

How do you explain the environmental, health and financial benefits of green buildings to the media? To your mom? What about to a local union rep, or a school teacher? What kind of story do you tell?

This week on June 8, Urban Green Council, the USGBC Chapter based in New York City, will host Speak Green, a conference for green building professionals on how to message the value of green buildings and communities to the general public and other critical stakeholders. Sponsored by Carrier Corporation, the conference will feature panel discussions exploring lessons learned, roadblocks to widespread adoption, and messaging strategies from a variety of perspectives. USGBC’s own Judith Webb, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications and 30-year media strategist, will lay the foundation for the conversation on green building messaging – and an array of expert speakers will offer expert advice from around the industry. Speakers include Duane Bray of global design firm IDEO, Pat DiFilippo of Turner Construction, John Mandyck of Carrier Corporation, Kim Slicklein of OgilvyEarth Worldwide, and many more. Curtis Ravenel, Global Head of Bloomberg’s Sustainability Group, will deliver the keynote.

In our professional training efforts as green building advocates and leaders, the critical topic of messaging and persuasion is often overlooked. No matter what your role or experience in the green building movement, effective communication is something we can all practice and improve. In the end, our movement is all about people. The relationships we build and people we engage will truly help us reach our vision of green buildings and communities for all within this generation.

Tickets are still available to Speak Green – significant discounts are available for LEED APs and students.

Learn more and register for Speak Green »