Noted green building consultant, green building book author, and sustainability planning expert, Jerry Yudelson addressed a large gathering of public officials and LEED Spanish green building experts on June 4, 2012 in Bilbao, Spain, giving the keynote speech at the celebration of Spain’s first public-sector LEED Platinum green building.
In addition to Yudelson, speaking at the half-day event were Sr. Ibon Areso, head of the Bilbao City Council; Sr. Aurelio Ramírez, CEO of the Spain Green Building Council; former US Green Building Council Vice-Chair Zaida Basora from the City of Dallas, Texas; and Lynn Perkins, AIA, representing the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, Washington.
Yudelson’s keynote speech was titled “The Business Case for the Rapid Adoption of Green Building in Spain.” He said, “The key issue now in the green building industry is how such projects perform, using actual operating data, not design projections. For the past two years, I have researched this issue internationally, and in this conference, I shared some of the results of my global research with the Spanish building industry and local government hosts.”
The green building consultant continued, “If we are serious about cutting our carbon emissions, we have to deal with the rapid greening of public and commercial buildings, which globally account for nearly 20 percent of all emissions of greenhouse gases. In this presentation, I challenged the building industry—and those involved in green building and sustainable design in particular—to get serious about adopting high-performance buildings as the New Normal.”
A professional engineer and experienced sustainability consultant, Yudelson has been involved with promoting the LEED green building rating system for 15 years and is the author of twelve (12) books on the subject of green buildings, green homes, green marketing, water conservation and sustainable development. In 2011, the US Green Building Council named him to the first class of LEED Fellows. +
Related Stories
| Jun 25, 2013
Mirvish, Gehry revise plans for triad of Toronto towers
A trio of mixed-use towers planned for an urban redevelopment project in Toronto has been redesigned by planners David Mirvish and Frank Gehry. The plan was announced last October but has recently been substantially revised.
| Jun 25, 2013
First look: Herzog & de Meuron's Jade Signature condo tower in Florida
Real estate developer Fortune International has released details of its new Jade Signature property, to be developed in Sunny Isles Beach near Miami. The luxury waterfront condo building will include 192 units in a 57-story building near high-end retail destinations and cultural venues.
| Jun 25, 2013
DC commission approves Gehry's redesign for Eisenhower memorial
Frank Gehry's updated for a new Dwight D. Eisenhower memorial in Washington, D.C., has been approved by the Eisenhower Memorial Commission, reports the Washington Post. The commission voted unanimously to approve the $110 million project, which has been gestating for 14 years.
| Jun 21, 2013
AIA report: Greater collaboration, stiffer competition among top trends in architecture
A new 34-page report from AIA highlights key trends in the architecture marketplace and their impact on business and growth.
| Jun 20, 2013
Virtual meetings enhance design of University at Buffalo Medical School
HOK designers in New York, St. Louis and Atlanta are using virtual meetings with their University at Buffalo (UB) client team to improve the design process for UB’s new School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.
| Jun 19, 2013
Architects upbeat about the construction market
Following the first reversal into negative territory in ten months in April, AIA's Architecture Billings Index bounced back in May, reaching 52.9.
| Jun 19, 2013
NSF Sustainability begins verifying EPDs that can be used for LEED V4
NSF Sustainability has verified Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for nylon carpet styles and colors manufactured by Mannington Commercial and for J+J Flooring Group’s Kinetex® flooring product and Invision brand modular styles that use eKo® backing.
| Jun 19, 2013
Florida is latest battleground over LEED standards centered on certified wood
A nationwide battle over forest certification standards continues to be played out nationally and in Florida with legislation passed this month.
| Jun 19, 2013
Construction site safety improved in 2011
On-the-job construction fatalities dropped from 802 in 2010 to 781 in 2011, and recordable injuries fell from 4.7 per 100 workers in 2008 to 3.9 per 100 in 2011, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
| Jun 19, 2013
New York City considers new construction standards for hospitals, multifamily buildings
Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration has proposed new building codes for hospitals and multifamily dwellings in New York City to help them be more resilient in the event of severe weather resulting from climate change.