October 5, 2011

U.S. Canadian green building councils kick off Greenbuild conference in Toronto

KELLY LAPOINTE

staff writer

Greenbuild kicks off its first foray outside of the United States today.

The four-day conference in Toronto will feature “what’s next” in green building with over 25,000 delegates from over 115 countries attending.

Mark Casaletto, Vice-President and General Manager of Reed Construction Data, said it’s an important milestone not only because green building is an emerging societal trend but also because it’s the first time the annual U.S.-based conference will be held outside of the States.

“Most levels of government — municipal, federal, provincial — are all mandating a certain minimum green standard. This is a big deal because this is the kind of forum where you learn about best practices on technology, process and people involved in this type of thing,” he said.

The fact that the 10^th anniversary of Greenbuild is being held in Toronto shows that the city is not following the rest of the continent when it comes to green building, said Casaletto.

“I think it’s on the leading edge in terms of building green and sustainable structure.”

This year, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is hosting the conference in conjunction with the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC). Greenbuild hosts hundreds of educational sessions; dozens of master speakers; one and two day summits focused on green jobs, residential and affordable green building, and the international green building marketplace; and more than 1,000 companies showcasing the most innovative green building products and services in the world’s largest expo hall dedicated to green building.

“There is no doubt that Greenbuild will be a game changer for Toronto and for Canada by taking green building to the next level in terms of industry and government recognition and international trade,” said CaBGC President Thomas Mueller.

“The conference demonstrates that green building is an industry sector of the future, bridging the gap between business and the environment, providing significant opportunities to reduce environmental impacts, improving the health of Canadians, furthering economic growth and increasingly providing international trade opportunities between Canada and the U.S.”

North America’s collective conscience is focused on greener thinking. Casaletto pointed to the well-documented fact that buildings are the worst when it comes to generating greenhouse gases.

“An inefficient building not only makes for an unpleasant work environment or place to live, but it also contributes a lot of greenhouse gas. The idea that there’s this upswell of demand for sustainability, obviously owners, public and private, are saying ‘I need to serve my customers better and build more livable, more workable sustainable buildings’ and that’s why this is important.”

Greenbuild runs Oct. 4 to 7 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and is expected to create an economic impact of $26 million on Toronto.

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