…it’s Greenbuild 2010!

The USGBC’s annual convention showcasing the latest in green-building kicked-off this week in Chicago, Illinois.  Greenbuild 2010 was ushered in on Tuesday, November 16^th during the opening plenary hosted by Rick Fedrizzi, President and CEO of USGBC, with a keynote address given by General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.).

McCormick Place Convention Center welcomed more than 28,000 “green-builders” as well as over 1,800 vendors, with almost 200 educational sessions and off-site tours over the course of five days.  The theme of this year’s conference was “Generation Green” and attendees were invited to use social networking to record and share their thoughts on green building while attending the conference.  Additional highlights included a Green Jobs Fair, the 2010 Chicago Legacy Home Project in partnership with Habitat for Humanity, a green film festival, and even an i-phone app called Green Building Information Gateway (GBIG) that highlights local LEED certified projects.

According to Rick Fedrizzi, “Now is the time, and we are the ones who will be remembered as Generation Green, the people who truly redefined a future built on a foundation of environmental, economic and social prosperity.”

Find out more about the USGBC and the annual Greenbuild conference here.

Just as we have begun to really dig into the meat of the changes that were made to the USGBC’s LEED rating system with the release of LEED V3 in 2009, the USGBC is releasing a draft of the next version of LEED (currently being referred to as LEED 2012) for it’s first of two public comment periods. The first public comment period will run from November 8 – December 31, 2010, with a second scheduled for sometime in 2011, and you can expect the release of the new rating system sometime in 2012. The USGBC encourages and uses the input from seasoned “green” professionals to constantly update the LEED rating systems. Check out an analysis of what’s up for re-tooling here. Post a comment on the draft version of the new rating system here.