Building a Green Future for the Golden State: Green California Summit

Contributed by Maggie Hartley, Director of Marketing, Gen7

Join local and state government leaders, school officials, businesses, architects, builders and green technology innovators at the 2012 Green California Summit and Exposition. The state’s largest annual conference addressing California’s environmental policies and the technologies that support them will take place April 26-27 at the Sacramento Convention Center. 5,000 attendees are expected from the public and private sectors.

Now in its sixth year, the Expo will offer hands-on exposure to 150 companies offering green products and services, including a Green Schools Pavilion and a Green Auto Mall. The Summit will also include keynote presentations, educational sessions addressing policy, funding and implementation issues, expanded offerings for school administrators, educators, and networking opportunities. The Green California Leadership Awards, acknowledging accomplishments by state and local government, will be presented at a special awards ceremony on April 26.

As California’s towns, cities, schools and state agencies move into implementing ground-breaking environmental policies such as mandatory green building codes, strict standards for energy efficiency, water conservation and fuel efficiency, the state is paving the way to prosperity through renewable and clean resources. Over two days of educational panels and seminars, top experts will present on topics such as Building California’s Clean Energy Future, Funding Energy Projects, Green Schools, Planning the Clean Transportation Future, the Smart Grid, and Carbon Trading.

The 2012 Summit will also include enhanced offerings for the education community, including building and maintaining green education facilities, environmental curriculum and sustainability best practices for schools and community colleges.

The USGBC-NCC Green School Committee will host two sessions: Becoming a Green School: The Blueprint to a Sustainable Future and Greening K-12 Schools: “Collective Impact” Energy Assessment and Workforce Training.

In partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency, the Summit will offer a full-day workshop for educators on the Education and the Environment Initiative (EEI) curriculum, a landmark K-12 environmental literacy resource approved for use in California classrooms by the State Board of Education. All participants will receive a complete set of EEI materials on DVD.

Join with state and local government officials, green tech companies and organizations to discover your part in building a green future for the Golden State. Expo and keynotes are free. USGBC-NCC members can save 20% by using discount code USGBCNCC. For information and to register, go to: http://www.green-technology.org/gcsummit or call Cindy Dangberg at 626-577-5700.