October 15, 2014 by CallisonRTKL

Countdown to New Orleans

Somehow, it’s already October and Greenbuild 2014 is quickly approaching! One of my favorite conferences to attend, Greenbuild is a conference and expo focused on green building design and construction. Now owned and operated by Hanley Wood and sponsored by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), this event not only provides an incredible environment for education, thought leadership, and networking, but it also challenges the building industry to keep pressing forward. This year, the one and only New Orleans, LA will host the annual conference.

With over 22,000 attendees, 600 exhibitors, and over 100 education sessions, tours, and workshops, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. I like to scope out the schedule ahead of time and develop my plan of attack. Here’s my list of the top 10 things I’m most excited for this year at Greenbuild:

1. The DART’s Greenbuild premiere

With over 600 vendors on the enormous expo floor, it’s good to narrow down the field. This year, I’ll be hanging out at RTKL’s booth featuring the DART, the awesome Performance-Driven Design^SM (PDD) resource released earlier this year by our PDD team. Not only will I be there to bask in the glory that is The DART, but the booth features a fun game for those who want to test their dart throwing skills. We’ll also be raffling off a bunch of books by some of the green industry’s biggest names. Make sure to stop by!

2. RTKL’s very own Lance Hosey

Our own Chief Sustainability Officer, Lance Hosey, will be speaking about “Data-Driven Design: Architecture in the Age of Information” on Thursday morning. Lance will be speaking with Luke Leung from SOM and David Fano from CASE on how to develop performance-driven design solutions. While I have the pleasure of working with Lance on a regular basis, I’m really looking forward to this new, collaborative presentation. Among other talents (such as jazz piano), Lance is a great speaker – don’t miss out on this session!

3. Party with Alabama Shakes

I’ll be part of the crowd at the Wednesday night Opening Plenary and Greenbuild Celebration – the main opening party of the conference. First, Paul Hawken will be speaking, then Trombone Shorty and headliner band, Alabama Shakes, will play it up in the New Orleans Super Dome. No offense to Bon Jovi (last year’s headliner), but I think Alabama Shakes will deliver one of the best Greenbuild celebrations. I’m sure the party will spill out into the streets afterwards, too – don’t plan for an early night.

4. WELL Building Standard® debuts at Greenbuild

I’ve been looking forward to this since the development of the WELL Building Standard® was first announced earlier this year. WELL, a “wellness real estate” initiative, is administered by the International WELL Building Institute, and it seeks to employ evidenced-based design and strategies to promote well-being and health. At Greenbuild, they will finally release WELL Building Standard® 1.0 during an all-day symposium. I’ll finally get to read, in detail, what they want to do around health and well-being in buildings and how they plan on measuring it through a certification process. I have a feeling that this standard will become super trendy in the next year so don’t miss out! All the cool kids are doing it…like Leonardo DiCaprio, who is on the Advisory Board of the founding organization, Delos. Maybe we’ll get a surprise appearance?

5. Net-Zero Electricity home

Like most green building geeks, I’d love to live in a net-zero energy home. Since that’s not going to happen anytime soon, the next best thing for me is to check out the net-zero electricity demonstration home, which will be located on the expo floor. I especially like that the home won’t go to waste, as it will be donated to the Make It Right foundation after the conference.

6. Green building meets holistic health

By Thursday, you might want (need?) a break from listening to architects. Switch it up by attending Dr. Deepak Chopra’s Master Series presentation. Dr. Chopra is a leader in mind-body medicine, a prolific author, and I’m excited to hear his perspective on the developing field of wellness as it relates to building design.

7. Health Data Analysis + Green Building Design

Special Set session, “Measuring Sustainability’s Impact on Workplace Productivity: 5 Ways Health Data Analysis Can Add Value to Green Design” completely speaks to Performance-Driven Design^SM. Using measurable goals, strategies, and results to bring added value to a project – this is what PDD is all about. I like that this is a charrette-style format focused on New Orleans, as it will help ground the discussion. I might borrow from the format and apply it to our in-house education sessions at RTKL offices.

8. Can an office building be inspirational?

Integral Group, Lake|Flato, and the Center for the Built Environment have been providing a lot of great project case studies and thought leadership in the green building movement. At Greenbuild, they’re going to continue to tackle this question. In their session, “Experimental Aesthetics: bridging research and practice,” they will argue for human experience to become the inspiration for design decisions to add richness to the built environment. I think it’s great that there are so many sessions at this year’s Greenbuild that are looking beyond technologies and looking to human happiness and well-being.

9. Roam the expo floor

At many conferences it can seem like an overwhelming chore, but the expo floor here always features innovative products and presentations. I like having a few “must check out” booths (like our DART booth!), but also setting aside time just to roam around. As a plus, many booths have free swag, educational presentations, and happy hours!

10. Catching up with colleagues

There are so many inspiring green building leaders in the industry, and Greenbuild is one of the few times each year that so many of them are in the same place at the same time. Can’t beat New Orleans this year as the place to catch up with all of my colleagues and friends.

Bonus:

Eating way too many beignets

Double Bonus:

Jambalaya

Header Image via Smart Planet

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CallisonRTKL

For more than five decades, Callison and RTKL have created some of the world’s most memorable and successful environments for developers, retailers, investors, institutions and public entities. In 2015, our two practices came together under the Arcadis umbrella, expanding our sphere of influence and the depth and breadth of our resources. Our team is comprised of nearly 2,000 creative, innovative professionals throughout the world who are committed to advancing our client’s businesses and enhancing quality of life.