A closer look at the impact of the annual event where the future of the green building movement is shaped
[Photo: Courtesy of Greenbuild]
PRESENT
The ideas and passions of the diverse and far-reaching green building community come alive each year at Greenbuild (this year’s event takes place in Boston from November 8-10). Here, people come together to discover solutions, become inspired, cultivate key business relationships, and recognize and celebrate innovation. It’s a place where people from around the globe come to reconnect and remind each other why they do what they do—and why they work hard every day to better the built environment and the life of billions who call this planet home.
This year will be a turning point for Greenbuild, for USGBC, and for the future of our movement. Now more than ever, we stand at an important crossroads, and collectively we must carefully consider the direction in which the movement will march. At USGBC, we’re encouraged by the future because we’ve witnessed the green building movement double down its efforts to bring people in, lift communities up, and demonstrate that green buildings and communities are all about people, the environment, human health, and wellness. We’ve been moved by the continued commitment to build a sustainable future for all.
This year’s event includes a stellar lineup of inspiring plenary speakers, including a keynote address from President Bill Clinton and a closing session with acclaimed astrophysicist and cosmologist Neil deGrasse Tyson. Greenbuild education includes Special Sets, which reinvent traditional breakout sessions with alternative formats and new engaging environments. We will also hold three summits: the Communities and Affordable Homes Summit, WaterBuild—The Water Summit at Greenbuild, and the popular International Summit.
“To carry this movement forward, we need a network of fellow change makers who keep building.”
Working with USGBC’s partner, Informa Exhibitions, we expect more than 25,000 attendees from 100 countries to join us in Boston, with several hundred exhibitors of green products and service innovations on the show floor and more than 150 presentations and educational sessions by business, environmental, government, and social leaders.
This year’s theme, “All In,” encompasses the breadth of the sustainability and green building movement. The movement itself is living proof that real change starts with people—it starts with you and me.
PAST
Over the past 15 years, Greenbuild has brought forth world leaders, environmental activists, media celebrities, nonprofit organizations, real estate and architecture leaders, and technology and manufacturing giants. It’s the world’s largest green building exposition of its type, and this year, its legacy of greatness continues. The sustainable conference is a four-time recipient of the IMEX Sustainable Meetings award.
FUTURE
To carry this movement forward, we need a network of fellow change makers who keep building—who keep building net zero office buildings and hospitals, who keep building the homes we open to one another and the schools for our children, who keep building communities that run on brilliant minds and diverse backgrounds, who keep building the community centers where we gather and the headquarters where we commit to doing better for our nation. And most importantly, those who keep building trust in one another and keep building bridges and bonds and breaking barriers.
In order to keep building, we must be “all in” for the ideals of equality, opportunity, diversity, and acceptance. And we must be “all in” for creating a future we all can believe in—a more sustainable future for all regardless of economic, social, cultural, or political background. We must be “all in” for fighting inequity and injustice, ending poverty, and tackling climate change.
“All In” showcases the depth of the commitment we feel to our community, to our mission, and to our world. We leave no stone unturned in our pursuit of what’s next—new technology, new ideas, and new ways forward. We are dedicated to transforming the market and changing the way people all over the world experience buildings.
Mahesh Ramanujam grew up in India, where much of the population around him faced economic and environmental hardships. He learned from a young age to be grateful for what he had and to give what he could to others. He brings this philosophy to USGBC. Before becoming CEO of USGBC, he served as USGBC’s COO and CIO. He also sits on the advisory council of the International WELL Building Institute and the Board of Directors of GRESB.
