USGBC and its Northern California Chapter launch the California Best Buildings Challenge at CGI America Meeting

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and USGBC’s Northern California Chapter (USGBC-NCC) will launch the California Best Buildings Challenge at the closing plenary event of the 2012 Clinton Global Initiative America (CGI America), a meeting focused on finding solutions that promote economic recovery in the United States. President Clinton and USGBC President, CEO and Founding Chair, Rick Fedrizzi, will join three of the six inaugural commitment participants, Genentech, Google and Prudential Real Estate Investors (PREI®), on stage to announce the Challenge during the closing plenary of the popular event that draws more than 900 business, non-profit and media participants.

Inspired by the White House’s Better Buildings Challenge (BBC) and President Clinton’s pioneering work to promote sustainable buildings, the California Best Buildings Challenge consists of industry-leading firms with a strong California presence that have committed to reduce their building energy, water and waste by 20 percent in two years. Adobe, Genentech, Google, PREI, SAP and Zynga have stepped up to kick off the challenge, collectively committing five million square feet of building space from their portfolios. 

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VISIONARY: Lecture Series continues with Professor Roger Boulton

The Visionary Lecture series, a joint effort between the USGBC-NCC Capital Branch and the AIA Central Valley Chapter, continues this June with a presentation by Professor Roger Boulton, the Stephen Sinclair Scott Professor of Enology and Chemical Engineering at the Department of Viticulture and Enology, University of California at Davis.

Professor Boulton started dreaming of a self-sustaining winery more than ten years before the Mondavi Institute built its LEED Platinum Winery and Brewery. His passion for rainwater harvesting, an ideal source for pure reverse osmosis water for scientific experiments, and his need to prevent deposits on valuable equipment, fueled his study for systems for the new facility. As a result, the new winery, brewery, and food-processing complex now serves as a test bed for production processes and techniques that conserve water, energy, and other vital resources.

There is an auxiliary building that houses equipment adjacent to the winery that will make it possible to capture, store, and recycle rainwater. The proposed system reuses 90 percent of the captured cleaning water volume each cycle—requiring only a fifth of the normal water volume for cleaning. Eventually, the facility plans to be “water positive” and completely independent of the main campus water line.

Advocacy Day 2012

Special report from USGBC California

Governor Jerry Brown announcing Executive Order B-18-12 for state buildings over 10,000 sq. ft. and musing on energy efficiency and elegance at USGBC California's Top10 Reception. (Ron Fong)

When the history of USGBC California is written, Wednesday, April 25, 2012 will prove to be a very significant day.

Our largest Advocacy Day group yet turned out for the inaugural Road to Greenbuild event. We had good representation from every California chapter, great representation from the Northern California Chapter, and fantastic cooperation from the Capital Branch.

Advocates blanketed the Capital with their cheerful, informed demeanors, as well as their USGBC California information packets and colorful square pins. The morning "Top10" press conference featured the debut of USGBC's honor roll of top California state and local policies and culminated with the dynamic and inspiring Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson accepting a Green Hard Hat Award on behalf of the Greenwise Regional Action Plan. Distinguished USGBC visitors Jason Hartke (VP, National Policy) and Kimberly Lewis (Sr. VP, Chapters and Greenbuild) and Campaign Specialist Extraordinaire Matt Pearce enlivened the proceedings and were the featured speakers during our USGBC California group lunch.

We're Looking for an Operations Manager!

We're in search of a key team member who will oversee the Chapter’s financial, administrative, and technology operations, as well as support a variety of programs, events and other chapter activities.

Interested in joining the team? Learn more about the opening here.

Top 10: How the Golden State Became the Green Building Leader

Contributed by Matt Pearce, Campaign Specialist, U.S. Green Building Council

"If you would understand anything, observe its beginning and its development." – Aristotle

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson at the Top 10 Event

Yesterday marked a pivotal moment for state and local green building policy wins. In the state capitol of California, USGBC, in partnership with the eight chapters that make up USGBC California, announced the Top 10 list of California state and local green building policies. The list celebrates decades of leadership by state and local governments to advance green buildings through effective policies and codes.

But it was a stop-the-presses moment when we learned that Gov. Brown issued a sweeping executive order yesterday - addressing LEED certification, emissions reduction and more - ensuring that California continues to be a national leader in green building. At our reception at the CalEPA LEED Platinum building, we applauded Gov. Brown for his dedication to green building and his lifetime achievement working to protect the environment.

Governor Brown Announces Ambitious Green Building Goals

Contributed by Dan Geiger, Executive Director, USGBC-NCC

On April 25th, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. announced an important new executive order that calls for new or renovated state buildings larger than 10,000 square feet to achieve the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED “Silver” certification or higher and to incorporate clean, on-site power generation, such as solar photovoltaic, solar thermal and wind power generation and clean back-up power supplies.

The order also sets a target of zero net energy consumption for 50% of the square footage of existing state-owned buildings by 2025 and zero net energy consumption from all new or renovated state buildings beginning design after 2025.

“Doing something real about the growing threat of global warming requires more than just new laws. We must lead by example,” said Governor Brown. “Greening the state’s buildings will shrink our environmental footprint and save taxpayers millions of dollars.”

2012 Super Heroes Awards Gala

Setting the Stage for Greenbuild 2012

Presenters and finalists this year include USGBC CEO Rick Fedrizzi, Google, Inc., Hines, the City and County of San Francisco, First Community Housing, and Urban Solutions, among others.

On May 23rd, the Super Heroes Awards Gala will bring together the brightest minds in green building to set the stage for Greenbuild 2012, which is taking place in November and will be held in San Francisco for the first time in its ten year history. Gala attendees will build connections with fellow leaders, enjoy dinner and drinks, and get inspired by presentations from special guests and awardees.

The Super Heroes Awards program honors innovators that are pushing green building towards a sustainable future. This year’s awards will be given for Outstanding Green Portfolio, Outstanding Community Organization, David Gottfried Special Achievement, and an additional award to be announced.