NYS Green Building Conference offers more education this year

SYRACUSE  —  The organizers of the New York State Green Building Conference decided to build out the event’s educational offerings this year.

“We’ve expanded the scope to now include two days of education regarding all different aspects of green building,” says Tracie Hall, executive director of the U.S. Green Building Council New York Upstate Chapter. “We have three tracks [on each day] this year to appeal to the ever-growing audience that is interested in learning about green buildings.”

This is the 10th year for the Green Building Conference, which will be held this year on March 29 and March 30 at the Oncenter in downtown Syracuse. The conference, which is co-hosted by the Green Building Council’s Upstate New York Chapter and the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, has a mission to promote, educate, and support green-building design, construction, and processes.

Concurrent tracks on the first day of this year’s conference include case studies on higher-educational institutions’ green buildings, green building for commercial construction, and green building for residential construction. On the conference’s second day, they include deconstruction, commercial construction, and biomimicry, which uses the study of nature to inspire innovations.

Green Building Conference attendees will be able to choose which of the concurrent sessions they wish to attend. In the past, sessions on commercial construction have been popular, Hall says.

“There are so many developers and contractors and engineers trying to better understand what a green building is and how it can be accomplished in a commercial setting,” she says.

The conference has not had concurrent sessions on both conference days in the past, according to Hall.

“We have either conducted a [Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design] workshop, or for a couple of years we also had a deconstruction summit on day one,” she says. “Now, in an effort to respond to all the desire for education, as well as provide continuing-education hours for professionals, we’ve expanded it to two days of complete sessions.”

The keynote speaker for this year’s conference is Paul Anastas, who will speak on green chemistry at 8:15 a.m. on the first day. Anastas is a synthetic organic chemist who earned his Ph.D. in chemistry from Brandeis University in Massachusetts and is now the director for Yale University’s Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering. He has also been appointed to serve as the assistant administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Research and Development and as a science adviser to the EPA.

An understanding of green chemistry can be important to building, according to Hall.

“Buildings are comprised of components that are comprised of chemicals,” she says. “It’s best if we understand the chemistry of a building and how it can impact human health, human productivity — even building performance when it comes to energy and indoor environmental quality.”

More than 40 exhibitors are scheduled for the conference, Hall says. Exhibitor booths and tables are now sold out, she adds.

Hall expects this year’s conference to draw more people than last year’s confab, which had about 310 attendees. She believes attendance could grow by 10 percent.

“I would not be surprised if we did achieve that,” she says. “I have seen the growth in green building and high-performance technologies in the upstate area.”

The cost to attend the Green Building Conference differs for professionals and students. The registration fee for professionals who attend for one day is $195, while the two-day fee for professionals is $310. Students who attend for one day pay $35, and students who attend for two days pay $65.

Check-in starts at 7:15 a.m. on March 29, and the conference is scheduled to start at 8 a.m. that day. Its first day is slated to conclude with a networking session from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The second day of the conference on March 30 will start check-ins at 7:15 a.m. and open with a plenary session at 8:15 a.m. It is set to conclude at 3 p.m.

SYRACUSE  —  The organizers of the New York State Green Building Conference decided to build out the event’s educational offerings this year.

“We’ve expanded the scope to now include two days of education regarding all different aspects of green building,” says Tracie Hall, executive director of the U.S. Green Building Council New York Upstate Chapter. “We have three tracks [on each day] this year to appeal to the ever-growing audience that is interested in learning about green buildings.”

This is the 10th year for the Green Building Conference, which will be held this year on March 29 and March 30 at the Oncenter in downtown Syracuse. The conference, which is co-hosted by the Green Building Council’s Upstate New York Chapter and the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, has a mission to promote, educate, and support green-building design, construction, and processes.

Concurrent tracks on the first day of this year’s conference include case studies on higher-educational institutions’ green buildings, green building for commercial construction, and green building for residential construction. On the conference’s second day, they include deconstruction, commercial construction, and biomimicry, which uses the study of nature to inspire innovations.

Green Building Conference attendees will be able to choose which of the concurrent sessions they wish to attend. In the past, sessions on commercial construction have been popular, Hall says.

“There are so many developers and contractors and engineers trying to better understand what a green building is and how it can be accomplished in a commercial setting,” she says.

The conference has not had concurrent sessions on both conference days in the past, according to Hall.

“We have either conducted a [Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design] workshop, or for a couple of years we also had a deconstruction summit on day one,” she says. “Now, in an effort to respond to all the desire for education, as well as provide continuing-education hours for professionals, we’ve expanded it to two days of complete sessions.”

The keynote speaker for this year’s conference is Paul Anastas, who will speak on green chemistry at 8:15 a.m. on the first day. Anastas is a synthetic organic chemist who earned his Ph.D. in chemistry from Brandeis University in Massachusetts and is now the director for Yale University’s Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering. He has also been appointed to serve as the assistant administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Research and Development and as a science adviser to the EPA.

An understanding of green chemistry can be important to building, according to Hall.

“Buildings are comprised of components that are comprised of chemicals,” she says. “It’s best if we understand the chemistry of a building and how it can impact human health, human productivity — even building performance when it comes to energy and indoor environmental quality.”

More than 40 exhibitors are scheduled for the conference, Hall says. Exhibitor booths and tables are now sold out, she adds.

Hall expects this year’s conference to draw more people than last year’s confab, which had about 310 attendees. She believes attendance could grow by 10 percent.

“I would not be surprised if we did achieve that,” she says. “I have seen the growth in green building and high-performance technologies in the upstate area.”

The cost to attend the Green Building Conference differs for professionals and students. The registration fee for professionals who attend for one day is $195, while the two-day fee for professionals is $310. Students who attend for one day pay $35, and students who attend for two days pay $65.

Check-in starts at 7:15 a.m. on March 29, and the conference is scheduled to start at 8 a.m. that day. Its first day is slated to conclude with a networking session from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The second day of the conference on March 30 will start check-ins at 7:15 a.m. and open with a plenary session at 8:15 a.m. It is set to conclude at 3 p.m.