By Johanna Schweiss,
USGBC-Missouri Gateway Chapter Volunteer & Outreach Coordinator
The Missouri Gateway Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council’s State of the Chapter & Social is always enjoyable – full of opportunities for building community, building connections, learning from one another. And, each year, it’s the day we release our annual Educational Catalog. This year that catalog includes 10 monthly programs, 10 in-depth seminars, several full day workshops, exam prep courses, and more. I’m excited to share a few highlights from the catalog with you. I encourage you to visit www.usgbc-mogateway.org to browse the full catalog and make plans to join us to expand your green horizons in 2017!
We are excited to highlight several notable green buildings this year. Our Annual Green Building Showcase on May 9th will feature several different green building ratings systems. We will get the inside story of a building pursuing WELL Building Certification, an evidence-based system for measuring, certifying and monitoring the performance of building features that impact human health and well-being. UNIGROUP will share their experience with energy benchmarking, the 25×20 voluntary benchmarking campaign, and ENERGY STAR certification. Finally we’ll hear about the progress being made on a major renovation for the LEED certification of The Armory District.
We are also looking forward to several events exploring sustainable landscapes. On February 22, How Does Your [Rain] Garden Flow will take an in-depth look at the obligations and responsibilities of property owners for the operation and maintenance of Stormwater Treatment System Best Management Practices. Later on in the year we are looking forward to a one-day regional workshop about the Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES). SITES’ central message is that any project holds the potential to protect, improve, and regenerate the natural benefits and services provided by healthy ecosystems. This workshop will examine the concepts and goals of sustainable and regenerative land design, and provide practitioners and regional leaders with the tools they need to integrate SITES into their work. And we are looking forward to partnering with the Missouri Botanical Garden and BiodiverseCity St. Louis on September 13 to present Measuring Landscape Performance: Practical Steps & Resources to Conduct Performance Evaluations, featuring Barbara Deutsch, executive director of the Landscape Architecture Foundation. The session presents a primer on evaluating the environmental, social and economic performance of landscape projects, informed by 6 years of the Landscapes Architecture Foundation’s Landscape Performance Series and Case Study Investigation program.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg! Be sure to visit www.usgbc-mogateway.org to explore the full list of 2017 educational offerings, including events focused on Historic Preservation & Sustainability, our 10th Annual Green Schools Event, Materials Transparency, Building Optimization, and more!