In coordination with green-building councils worldwide, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is helping kick off the inaugural World Green Building Day on Wednesday, Sept. 23, by leading a group of green-building practitioners, including architects, engineers, builders, planners, contractors, and building owners, to advocate for climate-change legislation on Capitol Hill.
With U.S. lawmakers considering action this fall on energy and climate legislation, including several green-building provisions, USGBC has organized a “Congressional Advocacy Day” for nearly 80 advocates from the United States to visit and meet with more than 130 members of Congress and their staff.
USGBC advocates will call on Congress to take action on climate legislation before December when representatives from more than 150 countries will assemble in Copenhagen, Denmark, for international negotiations to create a new global climate agreement to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.
“As the built environment accounts for 40 percent of global carbon emissions, the green-building movement has an unprecedented opportunity to make a major contribution to both national and international-carbon reduction targets,” Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO, and founding chairman of the USGBC, said.
As part of its “Road to Copenhagen” and participation in the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change in December, USGBC is involved with government delegations and non-government organizations to better understand how cooperation can show that green building represents one of the most direct, immediate, and cost-effective opportunities to help tackle climate change.
World Green Building Day, an initiative of the World Green Building Council, is intended to draw global attention to the need to develop policies and strategies to help deliver the environmental, economic, and health benefits of green building. In addition to Congressional Advocacy Day, USGBC also will be joining other green-building councils in signing two documents: the Buildings and Climate Change Industry Call to Action and the Framework for a Common Carbon Metric.