Sustainable Design and Development Conference

Sustainable Connections announces an impressive lineup of speakers and sessions for their annual Sustainable Design and Development Conference, Northwest Washington’s premier green building and smart growth conference, taking place Wednesday & Thursday November 2-3, at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center.

The conference embodies principals from the Living Building Challenge, a building certification program, advocacy tool and philosophy that defines the most advanced measure of sustainability in any building project. It will be an impressive gathering of our region’s most creative thought leaders in green building and the contractors, architects, designers, builders, planners and engineers who work to create the communities we live in.

Keynote speakers and conference highlights include:

·         Mitchel Reardon, of Happy City Lab

As a developer for Happy City Lab’s operation in Asia and a principal at the Metropolitan Collective, Mitchell employs a keen emphasis on social issues, wellbeing, public engagement, planning and design and works daily to address urban issues from the neighborhood to the regional scale. He is also the deputy coordinator of TH!NK, IBI Group’s innovation team, and the TH!NK by IBI blog curator.

·         Kathleen O’Brien, Director of the EMERGE Leadership Project

As a longtime leader in the sustainable building field as an author, educator, writer, strategic planner, and project consultant for thirty plus years, Kathleen has been instrumental in developing programs and plans that have supported sustainable development initiatives across multiple sectors in the green building field. She has won several regional leadership awards, authored a number of books, and now directs the EMERGE Leadership Project, a charitable non-profit dedicated to energizing the emergent leadership capabilities of green building professionals.

·         Net Positive Energy ILFI Workshop

Normally an exclusive ILFI class, this workshop will be offered for free for conference attendees. The session will showcase the latest Net Positive Energy Building projects, uncover the strategies and technologies used and the policies and programs in place that are accelerating the uptake of Net Zero and Net Positive Energy Buildings and Communities. Finally, the session will look to the future and uncover the trends emerging in Net Zero Energy, including the push to Net Positive Energy, and discuss how each participant can take the lessons learned into their own practice.

“This conference brings together the best in our field to explore transformative solutions and advance visionary design practices that are truly sustainable. This year we are bringing in some of the most sought after speakers and including incredible sessions that give practitioners actionable tools to use in their practice,” said Rose Lathrop, Green Building & Smart Growth Manager for Sustainable Connections.

Registration for the conference is available online now and includes locally sourced lunches, workshops, networking, and two receptions hosted by the Northwest Washington Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. Early bird pricing ends October 15, 2016.