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Greenbuild 2011 Closing Plenary

Greenbuild NEXT came at a moment in time when we had a sharp focus on building performance, regenerative buildings, a commitment to social equity that redefines not just our environment and economy but the fabric of society itself – in other words, we were moving well beyond transforming a marketplace. We were answering the question: What comes next? The foward-thinking, diverse group of closing plenary speakers helped answer this exciting prompt.

In a fast-paced “TED-talk” format, attendees found out “What’s NEXT?” in design, innovation, business and sustainability in our nation’s cities. Through the use of striking images, inspiring anecdotes and tangible deliverables, attendees took the lessons shared on stage and implement them at home.

Closing Plenary Speakers

In 1992, Robert Swan was the first person ever to have walked to the North and South poles and since then has been traveling around the world on a mission to teach people the importance of sustainability and promoting the use of renewable energy for a sustainable future. His exploration insights are excellent teaching tools for teamwork and leaderships in sustainability movement. In recognition of that he was appointed as a UN Goodwill Ambassador for Youth and in 1994 became Special Envoy to the Director General of UNESCO. Swan and his company, 2041, delivered the first corporate Antarctic Expeditions in 2003 on teamwork and leadership through positive participation and real missions. Throughout these five years, the ‘Inspire Antarctic Expeditions’ (IAE) teams have helped design and build the world’s first education station (The E-Base) in Antarctica.

Lisa Strausfeld's work lies at the intersection of physical and virtual space: where information structures and physical structures meet, and where the navigation of information and the navigation of a building join in a single experience. An inventive and forward thinker, Strausfeld was a partner in the New York office of Pentagram from 2002 to 2011, working on large-scale media installations, software prototypes and user interfaces, signage, and Web sites for a broad range of civic, cultural and corporate clients. She is now embarking on a new phase of her career as an entrepreneur of information-based projects.

Another major innovator, John Picard used his own home as a lab to build an off-the-grid wonder house in 1990. Picard’s insights and practical energy solutions were instrumental in the Greening of the White House during Clinton’s presidency. Since then, Picard has continously created successful, sustainable designs, including a 20-million-square-foot mixed-use development called Atlantic Station and the the first entirely sustainable airport facility.

Natalie Jeremijenko directs the xdesign Environmental Health Clinic, which develops and prescribes locally optimized and often playful strategies to effect remediation of environmental systems. Her progressive work includes a permanently installed Model Urban Development on the roof of Postmasters Gallery in Chelsea, featuring seven residential housing developments, concert hall, and other public amenities, powered by human food waste.

The USGBC NEXT Team

The USGBC NEXT Team brought Greenbuild NEXT to an exciting conclusion. Consisting of four of USGBC’s top leaders and most savvy innovators, the team told the story of what’s next for green building.

If you couldn’t make it to all of the specialty updates and Master Series Sessions, this was your opportunity to get up to speed on USGBC’s future plans and budding technologies: From the newest LEED 2012 updates to the Green Building Information Gateway (GBIG); from the path to greening our country’s schools to LEED Automation.

The USGBC NEXT Team: Mahesh Ramanujam, Chief Information Officer; Scot Horst, Senior Vice President of LEED; Chris Pyke, Vice President of Research; and Rachel Gutter, Director of USGBC’s Center for Green Schools.