LEADING EDUCATION

USGBC Redwood Empire Chapter

May Event – Seminar: What Makes a Building Product “Green”?

    With a tour of a LEED Platinum Home

Seminar: What Makes a Building Product “Green”?

How do you evaluate the true environmental footprint of different products? How do you find green products? What is the landscape of green product certifications and evaluations, and which ones can you trust?

This first event in the Green Building Vision & Practice Series will bring together leading regional experts in green building materials to explore the fascinating and complex challenge of defining what is green when it comes to building products and resources. 

8:30 to 9:00 – Registration

9:00 to 10:00 – Jason Grant, Greenwash Action and Grant & Associates

The 10,000 Foot View - an overview of the many approaches to assessing and qualifying “green” building materials, from performance-based certifications (e.g. FSC, Cradle to Cradle, FloorScore, Sustainable Agriculture Network) to transparency tools (e.g. Health Product Declarations, Life Cycle Assessment, Environmental Product Declarations). Even with all of these sophisticated tools, green is often in the eye of the beholder, and we all need to watch out for greenwash (false or exaggerated environmental claims). 

10:00 to 11:00 – Bruce Hammond, LEED AP, CEO, Hammond & Company

The 1000 Foot View – a practical overview of the materials selection process including material attributes & characteristics commonly considered in evaluating construction materials selection. With aesthetics, cost, and availability always in view, what are the other key considerations that target least impact and the highest performing and most ecologically responsible result ?  We will also walk through a materials selection exercise followed by discussion to keep ourselves thinking clearly on this important topic.

The 2014 Green Building Vision & Practice Series

The Green Building Vision & Practice Series is a suite of educational programs mounted by USGBC Redwood Empire Chapter in 2014. Our goal is to edify and inspire, sharing cutting-edge information on various dimensions of green building while providing a connection to leading green building practitioners from our region.

Events in the series are a combination of brief presentations, panel discussion, and moderated discussion and Q&A with the audience. Each event features panelists who are recognized leaders in their fields. The formal program is preceded by refreshments and networking. All events offer AIA and GBCI CEUs.

 

ABOUT THE PRESENTERS 

Jason Grant

Jason Grant is the Executive Director of Greenwash Action, a joint initiative of Sierra Club and Greenpeace whose mission is to support progress toward a healthy, biodiverse climate-stable world by defending leadership and challenging greenwashing in the green building sector.

Jason is also the principal of Jason Grant Consulting, a consulting firm, and of Grant & Associates, which represents a variety of leading manufacturers of ecological wood products in the green building market. He is the LEED user expert for Certified Wood and is widely recognized as an expert in ecological forest products, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification, and the role of wood in green building. 

For nearly 20 years, Jason has been a leader in the sustainable forestry and green building movements. In 1992, he co-founded EcoTimber, one of the first companies in the world to bring to market products from forests certified to the stringent environmental and social standards of the FSC.

Bruce Hammond

Bruce Hammond, LEED AP, is CEO of Hammond & Company, a design and construction company focused on leading edge green building projects. A number of their projects have been featured in national and international publications and Green Builder Magazine recently awarded “ Home of the Year” to one of their projects here in Sonoma County.

Bruce was founding Chair of the Redwood Empire Chapter of USGBC and currently serves on it’s Advisory Board. He served on the USGBC Codes Committee and is a longtime member of the Certification Board for “The Green Advantage”, a national certifying organization for green construction professionals. He and 2 colleagues established and taught the widely recognized “Green Building Professional Certificate Program” at Sonoma State University from 2002-2008 and afterwards, with Longview Education Associates for USGBC at Autodesk.

As a Planning Commissioner and later, as the solar energy specialist for the Design Review Committee for the City of Cotati he was influential in the establishment of their “Sustainable Building Program” as well as managing the LEED certification of their Police and Community Services building.

 

This seminar offers both AIA and USGBC education credits.

 

Location: 1901 East Napa Street, Sonoma  - East of the Downtown Plaza about a mile

 

Schedule:  

Breakfast and networking: Continental breakfast 8:30 - 9am

Seminar: 9:00 - 11:30am

Refreshments and networking: 11:30am - 12:00pm

Home Tour: 12:00pm - 1:00pm *Please note this time has changed since the original 'Save the Date'

 

Registration:  

Seminar and tour - $35

Tour only - $15

Members of USGBC-REC, AIARE and RECSI receive a $5 discount. Please contact your organization if you have not received a discount code. Membership will be authenticated. 

Register Now!