(Los Angeles - March 2012) The Municipal Green Building Conference and Expo (MGBCE) returns for its 11th year on April 26, 2012, from 8:00am to 5:30pm, as Southern California's longest running and largest sustainability and green building event focused on the needs and concerns of municipalities. Drawing from 75 Southern California-area municipalities, MGBCE will take place at the Southern California Gas Company's Energy Resource Center located at 9240 Firestone Blvd. in Downey.
Hosted annually by the Southern California Gas Company and the Los Angeles Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC-LA), and co-hosted this year with the Orange County Chapter (USGCB-OC), MGBCE brings together thought-leaders in the industry with their local municipal policy makers, policy implementers, leading architects, and engineers to further the development of a sustainable and energy efficient future for So. California.
Craig Perkins, President and Executive Director of the Energy Coalition, a non-profit organization focused on generating capital for communities through energy, will moderate the morning Keynote panel titled "Generating Community Economic Benefit through Local Government Energy Management." Panelists include Howard Choy (GM, Office of Sustainability, County of Los Angeles ), Demetra McBride (Director, Climate Action and Sustainability, Office of Sustainability, Santa Clara County), Joseph Oldham (Sustainability Manager, Sustainable Fresno Division of the Planning and Development Department, City of Fresno), and Andrew McAllister, Managing Director, California Center for Sustainable Energy.
The panel will provide an update on the current California energy landscape as it is being shaped by recent decisions at the Public Utilities Commission and the Energy Commission and by actions in the legislature that will have a major impact on the types and funding of programs during 2013-14 and beyond. After laying the groundwork for an understanding of the current energy policy environment, the panel will introduce and discuss a new proposed model for developing, funding and implementing joint local government action at the regional level that can achieve much greater levels of energy efficiency and cost savings in both municipally-owned and privately-owned buildings.
Specific areas of focus for the regional networks would be residential, commercial and municipal building retrofits; financing programs; implementation of energy action plan and climate action plan projects through collective procurement, contracting and project management approaches; adoption of innovative energy codes and standards; and widespread community engagement and awareness building to change energy behaviors.
Eric Corey Freed, LEED AP, Hon. FIGP, Principal of organicARCHITECT, an architecture and consulting firm in California, with nearly 20 years of experience in green building, returns to give the cocktail reception Keynote. An annual highlight, this year's presentation is titled "Dodo-Sapiens: How Our Way of Life is Killing Us, and the Need for Regenerative, Bio-Based Buildings." Eric is the author of four books, including "Green Building & Remodeling for Dummies", a best seller with over 200,000 copies in print, and "Sustainable School Architecture." "Green$ense for your Home" won the 2011 Outstanding Book Award from the American Society of Journalists and Authors. He lectures around the world on how to green our buildings and cities.
Breakout sessions will feature all aspects of sustainable design, construction and operations practices for buildings and communities, including their impact on people, climate, the environment and the economy. Some highlights include:
The Small Cities Climate Action Partnership Innovator Pilot Program: An Innovative and Replicable Model for Advancing Energy Management in California's Smaller Municipalities. This Innovator Pilot Program was designed to address the unique challenges that California's small cities face in implementing energy management practices. PG&E and Strategic Energy Innovations Inc. came together to help seven East Bay municipalities establish procedures/policies to implement energy management; establish relevant software and reporting procedures; I.D. energy saving opportunities; train staff and develop long-term plans. This presentation will focus on the Program's progress thus far, and on the potential to replicate this collaborative model in other jurisdictions throughout California.
The Seven Tribes of Real Estate: Their culture and behavior regarding energy efficiency investment risk. The marketplace acknowledges Seven Tribes of Real Estate as single-family homes, small commercial, large commercial, multifamily, special use and MUSH [Municipal, University, School and Hospital/Health]. The Tribes naturally cluster by behavior in ownership groups, risk tolerance, banking relationships and access to capital. Anyone seeking to complete an energy efficiency upgrade will improve their chances of obtaining a loan if they work within and understand these existing market structures. The discussion will include identification of differences within each tribe of how to best prepare the appraisal.
Practical and Legal Issues in Sustainable Development and Green Building. Co-taught by an experienced green building consultant and an attorney, each has more than 25 years experience in their respective professions. The presentation focuses on the practical, contractual and legal issues of LEED and CALGreen projects. This unique approach will be useful for attendees who wish to understand the important business and legal aspects of green building. Includes materials and sample contract forms in digital format.
Panel Discussion on the Realistic Next Steps Towards Net Zero and Regenerative Buildings
The focus will be to highlight a possible outline for where we are heading and how to get there, namely net zero and regenerative buildings. Conceptual ideas such as closed loop systems will be explored along with designing, engineering, constructability and feasibility concerns. The panel will entertain the ideas of taking existing technologies and coupling them together for a robust community/neighborhood scale implementation. The AIA 2030, LEED, CALGreen, Living Building Challenge and other initiatives will be referenced for input and general goals for compliance.
mPOWER Placer: A model of a countywide "green" program to strengthen the local economy. MPOWER Placer provides fixed-rate, no money down financing to commercial, industrial, agricultural and multifamily property owners who want to install energy efficiency, water conservation and renewable energy retrofits. The program was launched in 2010 and is open to eligible Placer County properties in any of its six incorporated cities and towns, as well as the unincorporated areas. Placer County believes that local economy investment is the first step toward economic recovery. The goal of this program is to lower energy bills, increase energy and water efficiency, reduce reliance on foreign fuels, stimulate the local economy, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
For more information on MGBCE including sponsorships and/or general information, please visit www.mgbce.org or contact Event Chair Lisa Tholen at Lisa@TholenSustainability.com.
About Municipal Green Building Conference and Expo (MGBCE). Since its inception in 2000, MGBCE has become an important gathering of leading sustainability and green building advocates within both the public and private sectors in southern California. Hosted by the Southern California Gas Company at the ERC building in Downey, this annual Spring conference and trade show provides training, education and outreach to inform local government agencies, building industry professionals and the general public about the principles, practices and products associated with green building.
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