Green Building/Sustainability Conference Comes Here

Greening the Heartland, the premier annual conference on green building and sustainability in the Midwest, will be held June 22-24 at America’s Center in downtown St. Louis,. The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) – St. Louis Regional Chapter will host this fifth annual event, which is geared toward people interested in greening their town, business, college campus or building.

“We are honored to have this prestigious conference in the Gateway City,” says Pat Justis, board chair of the USGBC’s St. Louis chapter. “Greening the Heartland 2008 will be an opportunity not only to highlight the latest in green building techniques but also to discuss how the public and private sectors can work together to promote sustainable design and construction strategies.”

Greening the Heartland will demonstrate how green buildings promote the ‘triple bottom

line’ of profitability, people and the environment – without compromising resources for

future generations. It will feature international sustainability leaders in four

content areas: corporate; community; education; and government.

These leaders include:

Ray Anderson, the founder of Interface, who revolutionized the commercial floor covering industry by producing America’s first free-lay carpet tiles;

Jaime Lerner, an architect and urban planner responsible for creating and structuring the Institute of Urban Planning and Research of Curitiba in Brazil;

Leith Sharp, who established the Harvard Green Campus Initiative; and Grand Rapids, Michigan

Mayor George Heartwell, whose city of Grand Rapids, MI has “gone green” by implementing a variety of environmental measures.

“We have some of the top leaders in sustainability speaking at this conference,” says

Brandyn Jones, conference co-chair. “In addition, we will have nearly 50 sessions,

numerous tours showcasing St. Louis’ most innovative buildings and sites and an extensive  exposition featuring the latest in sustainable building products and services.”

The sessions will focus on such topics as how to transform communities through green

development, staying green and staying competitive, state-of-the-art energy technologies

and new construction innovations. Before and after the conference, there will be

professional workshops, including Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design

(LEED™) training where attendees can earn continuing education credits.

St. Louis’ greening efforts will be highlighted during bus and bike tours. One bus tour will include a visit to Alberici headquarters, which has been certified Platinum under the LEED for New Construction rating system at 60 points, the world’s second highest credit level achieved to date. Another will visit St. Louis Community College’s new state-of-the-art  Wildwood campus. This “green” campus is the first of its kind in Missouri built with  environmentally friendly materials and architecture.

The Honorary Chairs for Greening the Heartland are: Corporate – David Kemper,

Chairman, Commerce Bank; Education – Dr. Paul Ferguson, Provost, Southern Illinois

University Edwardsville; Government – Honorable Linda Goldstein, Mayor of Clayton,

Missouri; and Community – Glenda Abney, Manager, Earthways Center.

The USGBC – St. Louis Regional Chapter was founded in January 2001.The chapter seeks to transform the built environment by: increasing LEED-registered and certified buildings; facilitating professional development and accreditation; and promoting practical green building standards.

There are eleven other heartland regional chapters plus two affiliates partnering with

USGBC – St. Louis Regional Chapter on Greening the Heartland. They are: Central

Illinois; Chicago; Cincinnati Regional; Detroit Regional; Flatwater; Greater Kansas City;

Indiana; Mississippi Headwaters; Missouri Heartland; West Michigan; Iowa; Cleveland

Green Building Coalition; and the Wisconsin Green Building Alliance.

Conference registration is now open at www.greeningtheheartland.org For more

information about the conference, sponsorships and/or being an exhibitor, call 1-866-933-

4GRN or email to

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