The World Green Building Council’s goal to ensure that every building produces zero carbon emissions by 2050 took a major step forward this week as Green Building Councils in 10 countries (Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, the Netherlands, South Africa, Sweden, and the US) made progress on their plans to introduce net zero certification or designation schemes within their own countries, at COP22. Specifically, the Green Building Council of Australia, Canada Green Building Council, the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB), India Green Building Council and the US Green Building Council all announced their intention to introduce schemes that recognize and reward net zero carbon buildings, with some announcing target dates by which they will introduce them. These schemes could be either stand alone net zero certification schemes, or a net zero designation within existing certification schemes.

Via workplaceinsight.net >

Join Leonardo DiCaprio as he explores the topic of climate change, and discovers what must be done today to prevent catastrophic disruption of life on our planet.

It’s been two weeks since my final Greenbuild has come and gone. And now my last day at USGBC is coming to a close. But there are a few thoughts I want to leave with you, a few people I want to acknowledge, for helping make this the ride of my life.

In this exceptionally imaginative and thought-provoking exercise in perceptual shifts, Ithaca- & Brooklyn-based CODA transformed hundreds of humble plastic lawn chairs into a project in the Arts Quad at Cornell University. Viewed from afar as a spiky singular entity, close inspection reveals the simple, unpretentious repeated module. CODA explains, "the object’s features are no longer understood in terms of their use (legs, arms, seat) but in terms of their form (spikes, curves, voids) as, due to their rotation away from the ground, they lose their relationship with the human body." We asked Caroline O'Donnell, principle at CODA, to explain the challenges faced in the development and construction of the fully-recyclable URCHIN.

Via archdaily.com >

Washington, D.C.-based IA Designer Emma Wilkinson shares the WELL accreditation process and the benefits of project certification.

The WELL building standard looks at human conditions more holistically, and it requires re-certification every three years. For example, air, water, and lighting systems—three of seven program tenets—need to remain current to maintain healthy standards and productivity drivers.

Via interiorarchitects.com >

It isn’t often that I feel blown away (if not woefully inadequate) when scheduled to appear as one of a list of speakers. Yet that’s exactly how I felt waiting in the wings during the opening plenary session at Greenbuild 2016, as one by one, each speaker before me wove his web of sustainable possibility. 

Up first was Eric Garcetti, the honorable mayor of our host city, followed by California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom.  Both speakers delivered compelling messages of environmental vision, hope and promise, while speaking directly to the wants and needs of a crowd of advocates and believers that, by its very nature, demanded more than simple lip service. And boy, did they deliver.

Mayor Garcetti’s address was more of a traditional welcome, but it hardly lacked for specific takeaways, as the mayor detailed the extent to which his Los Angeles continues to reinvent and retrofit itself into one of this country’s most progressive and environmentally responsible urban areas.

Lt. Gov. Newsom was as on-point as I’ve ever seen him. He made a compelling case for the greening of his state from a jobs/business development perspective. Newsom explained how under Gov. Brown, California has managed to turn the economic growth vs. sustainability debate from an “or” proposition to an “and” one. We’ve proven a state can have an economy that fosters economic growth and is environmentally responsible, Newsom told the rapt attendees.

Via usgbc.com >