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USGBC: World Citizen

Submitted by: Dan Gerst on Dec 07, 2009 at 10:04 pm Tagged with: common carbon metric, green building, LEED, LEED AP, USGBC Source: USGBC SC Chapter Upstate Branch

The US Green Building Council has a growing commitment to ensuring global reach. This week, the USGBC will join other green building councils and thought leaders from around the world in Copenhagen, Denmark, for the Climate Change Conference. World leaders continue to struggle to find consensus around defining common goals and targets to address climate change. During these critical meetings, the USGBC will aggressively add its voice to others who see greenhouse gas reductions from buildings as a fundamental strategy that should be addressed as part of the outcome of this round of talks.

Greenbuild 2009 – with its 27,373 attendees from 78 countries, and dozens of leaders of green building councils from every region of the world underscore this international cooperation. USGBC is committed to harnessing that energy and excitement with a focus on some clear international goals.

One of those priorities is a common carbon metric. A fundamental aspect of tackling carbon reduction is the ability to measure progress, and to do that, a common language worldwide is required. In November, the world’s leading green building organizations – including USGBC – reached a ground-breaking agreement to adopt a common global metric for the measurement of the carbon footprint of buildings. This is a critical and timely step that will demonstrate the cost-effective carbon mitigation potential of buildings, which account for about 40% of the world’s energy use and 33% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Essential to supporting the green building movement internationally is building capacity on the ground in local communities worldwide, providing professionals, policy makers and others with the tools and training they need to make green building a reality. Throughout 2009, the model by which the USGBC developed, delivered and supported LEED and green building knowledge underwent a major evolution that will serve global and domestic audiences more effectively. The USGBC is working with green building councils and partners worldwide to bring the LEED curriculum to their communities.

The USGBC community helps frame the global conversation about climate change mitigation, economic revitalization, and the other environmental and social challenges. At the end of the third quarter of 2009, there were 4,599 LEED APs outside of the United States. Currently, there are 2,688 non-U.S. green building projects registered or certified under LEED in 117 countries. Clearly, the pace of green building and the work of green building professionals worldwide underscore the immediacy and importance of the impact of green buildings.