Washington, DC – The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) today announced former Vice President Al Gore as the opening keynote speaker for USGBC’s annual Greenbuild International Conference & Expo being held 11-13 November 2009, in Phoenix, Arizona.
“Al Gore’s impressive career and bipartisan outreach have helped elevate global climate change to the main street public consciousness,” said Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO & Founding Chair, U.S. Green Building Council. “The role buildings play in our lives, our health, the economy and the global environment — including being responsible for 39% of the carbon emitted in the United States — means the built environment is a tremendous opportunity for us to make real change, and Vice President Gore’s keynote address will be an inspiration to the Greenbuild community to make 2010 yet another banner year for green building innovation and growth.”
Gore’s keynote address will kick off Greenbuild at the Opening Keynote & Celebration, taking place November 11 at Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks. The evening celebration will feature a musical performance by nine-time Grammy winner Sheryl Crow and an address from USGBC President, CEO & Founding Chair, Rick Fedrizzi.
Al Gore has championed awareness and action to confront global climate change since his earliest days in the U.S. Congress 30 years ago, and is regarded for his pioneering role in helping put one of the most important challenges of our time on the map, with his best-selling book and Academy Award-winning documentary, An Inconvenient Truth. In 2007, Gore was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for his environmental activism. In 1992, Gore published Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit and instituted environmental policy and initiatives in the Clinton-Gore Administration to help safeguard the environment.
Gore is cofounder and chairman of Generation Investment Management and multiplatform media company Current TV. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Apple Computer, Inc. and a senior advisor to Google, Inc. Gore is also Visiting Professor at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
Greenbuild is the largest gathering of representatives from all sectors of the green building movement. Three days of extensive educational programming, workshops, a vast exhibition floor and ample networking events provide unrivaled opportunities to learn about the latest technological innovations, explore new products, and exchange ideas with other professionals. Greenbuild is the three-time recipient of IMEX Green Meetings Award. Previous Greenbuild keynote speakers have included former President Bill Clinton in 2007 and Archbishop Desmond Tutu in 2008.
In addition to an impressive collection of master speakers, Greenbuild 2009 will also feature more than 100 educational sessions, LEED and Education Provider workshops, off-site educational sessions, a two-day Residential Summit, the World Green Building Council International Congress, and tours of local green building sites throughout the Arizona area. Exhibitors at more than 1,700 booths will showcase some of the leading technologies and products in green design, construction and operations.
For more information, visit www.usgbc.org and www.greenbuildexpo.org. To see presentations made at last year’s Greenbuild, visit www.greenbuild365.org.
U.S. Green Building Council
The Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Green Building Council is committed to a prosperous and sustainable future for our nation through cost-efficient and energy-saving green buildings.
With a community comprising 78 local affiliates, more than 20,000 member companies and organizations, and more than 131,000 LEED Accredited Professionals, USGBC is the driving force of an industry that is projected to soar to $60 billion by 2010. The USGBC leads an unlikely diverse constituency of builders and environmentalists, corporations and nonprofit organizations, elected officials and concerned citizens, and teachers and students.
Buildings in the United States are responsible for 39% of CO2 emissions, 40% of energy consumption, 13% water consumption and 15% of GDP per year, making green building a source of significant economic and environmental opportunity. Greater building efficiency can meet 85% of future U.S. demand for energy, and a national commitment to green building has the potential to generate 2.5 million American jobs.
About Greenbuild
The U.S. Green Building Council’s Greenbuild International Conference & Expo convenes the industry’s largest gathering of representatives from all sectors of the green building movement. Three days of extensive educational programming, workshops, a vast exhibition floor and ample networking events provide unrivaled opportunities to learn about the latest technological innovations, explore new products, and exchange ideas with other professionals. Greenbuild is the three time recipient of IMEX Green Meetings Award and the 2009 show will be held on 11-13 November 2009, in Phoenix, Arizona. This past year’s conference in Boston, Mass. drew more than 28,000 attendees and featured more than 800 exhibit booths. Visit www.greenbuildexpo.org for more information. To view last year’s Greenbuild show, go to www.greenbuild365.org and to watch a video recap, visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghqw9WqZ_i4
CONTACT
Ashley Katz, Communications Manager
USGBC
+1 202 742 3738
akatz@usgbc.org
