Apr 19 2006
The U.S. Green Building Council, Turner Construction Company, the nation's leading general builder, and Haverford College, today announced the program for "Investing in the Future: Building Green Schools," the first of a three-part conference series, which is the result of a commitment made at the Clinton Global Initiative Inaugural Meeting in 2005. The daylong conference will be held at Haverford College in Haverford, Pa., on May 17.
The conference will focus on the economic rationale for green schools, in both the K-12 and higher education sectors, providing an in-depth analysis of costs and benefits, case studies, and a discussion of applied standards and tools to encourage innovative ways to create cost-effective, high performance, energy efficient schools.
"Of all the buildings that should be green, schools may be the most important," said Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO & founding chair, USGBC.
"Students need fresh air, day light and a healthy indoor environment in order to learn. USGBC's LEED(R) program for buildings will ensure that our children spend their days in safe, healthy buildings that increase their productivity and well-being."
Speakers include:
- Keynoter Greg Kats, principal of Capital-E, a strategic consulting and advisory firm for sustainable solutions, will address the real-life cost issues of building green schools
- Charles Eley, vice president, Architectural Energy Corporation; executive director, Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS)
- Richard Hodge from Kieran Timberlake Associates, which is the architecture firm representing Sidwell Friends School in Maryland, the first middle school in the country to apply for the prestigious platinum LEED rating from the U.S. Green Building Council
"Turner Construction Company is committed to green building, as demonstrated by its completion of over 158 green projects valued at $10.8 billion and totaling more than 41.7 million square feet," said Thomas C. Leppert, chairman and CEO of The Turner Corporation. "A significant portion of these projects are schools and universities which are in the vanguard of creating healthier learning environments. To encourage more educational institutions to join in this effort, we are cosponsoring a conference that focuses on the economics of green building."
The two panel discussions, "Standards for Building Green" and "Applying the Tools for Building Green," will include leaders in the field of sustainable building design in the education industry. The panelists will offer their expertise on the return on investment (ROI) of green schools, along with case histories to support these findings.
Following the conference, there will be a tour of Haverford's new 100,000- square-foot Douglas B. Gardner '83 Integrated Athletic Center, the first green building on the college campus, which recently was LEED Gold certified.
"I am thrilled that Haverford College is working in partnership with Turner Construction and the U.S. Green Building Council to sponsor this conference on environmentally friendly projects for schools and colleges," said Thomas Tritton, president of Haverford College. "I believe that educational institutions can be among the leaders in creating energy efficient, environmentally friendly and beautiful buildings on our campuses. The conference will show how it's done, and also offer the opportunity to visit Haverford's first contribution to green buildings."
There is no charge for attendance, but registration is mandatory.