USGBC - Northern California Chapter's First Ten Years

Contributed by Sharon Refvem, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, Founding member and past President

In August of 2001 in Tucson Arizona, at the annual, pre-GreenBuild, USGBC National gathering, a call went out for people interested in forming a USGBC Chapter in northern California. A group of about 30 people showed up the next morning to talk about what it would take to begin a chapter, names and contact information were gathered, and the Steering Committee was formed. The Steering Committee met monthly in San Francisco over the next two years to pursue the establishment of the chapter. During that time the Committee grew and shrank, but a core group of about a dozen people provided the continuity and dedication needed to organize and launch the chapter.

The official 501(c)3 paperwork was submitted to the State and USGBC National as the Northern California Chapter moved from organizing group, then provisional chapter, to full Chapter status in 2004. The Northern California Chapter (NCC) name and the Chapter territory, which includes most of northern California south through Monterey County and east to the Nevada border, were then officially recorded.

At the time, Chapters were a relatively new organizational model for the USGBC - only seven of the 79 Chapters had been formed by 2001 - and their role within the USGBC was not yet fully defined. As a consequence, the NCC and its Steering Committee, then Board of Directors, proactively influenced many of the USGBC's policies during those formative years. The Chapter was run on an all volunteer basis until 2004, when limited part time administrative services were hired. Still largely volunteer driven for the next several years, regular programs were provided for the growing membership, including LEED Workshops, monthly Bay Area LEED User Group (BAyLUG) meetings, the first annual Water Conservation Showcase in May 2004, master speaker events, and the ever popular holiday party and Chapter (eventually the California state) gatherings at GreenBuild. Environmental advocacy efforts in line with the Chapter's mission and vision were supported as well. The Emerging Green Builder (EGB) program was created and nurtured as part of the NCC - a grassroots program created by and for students and young professionals that quickly spread to other Chapters around the country, becoming an important component of the USGBC. Early Chapter sponsorship was provided by a number of organizations, in particular, Pacific Energy Center and StopWaste.org provided crucial early support.

In 2004, organizing groups in Sacramento and the Monterey Bay Area established official Branches of the NCC in order to provide local programming to Chapter members located in their areas. This was followed by the successful launches of the Silicon Valley Branch in May 2008, Diablo East Bay Branch in 2009, and the San Francisco Bay Bridge Branch in 2011.

By 2006, it became obvious to the Board that the increasingly successful and growing Chapter needed a home base and professional staff to keep up with the potential and promise of the organization. Sublease arrangements were negotiated with the San Francisco Chapter of the AIA to share their space in the historic Halliday Building on Sutter Street in San Francisco, and Dan Geiger was hired on as the Executive Director in June 2007. By this time the Chapter had grown to approximately 600-800 members.

In 2007, grassroots efforts within the Chapter led to the formation of Green Schools and Green Homes Committees each crystallized around outreach and advocacy initiatives that focused on constituents - parents, teachers, students, homeowners, developers, and so on. NCC Board driven advocacy efforts targeting policy issues with agency and regulatory authorities, as well as the USGBC, also began to expand.

The Northern California Chapter has continued to grow over time and is now one of the largest, most robust, and influential Chapters in the country with a membership of about 1,300, numerous program offerings, an active advocacy agenda, five Branches, and a professional staff of five. In addition to programs established early on, the Chapter now hosts the annual Super Heroes event to honor and celebrate success in the industry and the GreenerBuilder conference to help educate trade partners about green building.

In 2012 NCC will be the host Chapter for the U.S. Green Building Council's 11th annual GreenBuild Conference, the largest green building conference in the world. In honor of GreenBuild 2012 in San Francisco, the Chapter is targeting a membership of 2,012 people - 2012x2012.

Many wonderful and dedicated people contributed to the formation, growth and success of the Northern California Chapter of the USGBC. Let's make the next ten years just as amazing as the first.