By Emily Andrews, Missouri Gateway Green Building Council
A new year holds a lot of promise and opportunity. It’s a chance to reflect, to set new intentions, or to recommit to a goal or practice. This year, your local Green Building Council is making a big change while also recommitting to our mission of making every building a green building. Our work takes many shapes – but it always comes back to making connections.
Connecting people, places, and planet – for greener schools. For 10 years, the Green Schools Quest has connected our volunteer green mentors (people) with K-12 schools (places) to implement low or no cost sustainability projects (planet). We have worked with nearly 200 schools on sustainability projects like food waste compositing, benchmarking energy use, and native plant gardens. Connecting people, places, and planet – for better buildings. Over the years, we have convened thousands of individuals (people) in spaces throughout the region (places) to provide green building education that people can act on (planet). Providing these networking and educational opportunities for those who design, build, operate and spend time in buildings is probably the work for which we are best known. Connecting people, places, and planet – for a greener future. In the past few years, we have been working hard to support the City of St. Louis’ (people) building energy efficiency efforts (places), which help to combat climate change (planet). The energy benchmarking and Building Energy Performance Standards (BEPS) have put St. Louis on the map as committed to making our buildings climate solutions – we are so proud to be a part of this work.
Starting in 2023, we will be the Missouri Gateway Green Building Council. With this new name, comes a new brand and website. We are excited to recommit to our mission and our work of Connecting People, Places, and Planet. We are still YOUR green building community in the St. Louis Metro area and most of Missouri (excluding Kansas City and northwest Missouri). We still believe Green Buildings Are Better for our health, for the planet, and for the bottom line. And we will continue to provide quality green building education and networking opportunities . . . Connecting people, places and planet for a better, greener, healthier future.
Join us to celebrate the new brand and website at our Annual State of the Council on January 30, 2023. You can find us at www.MOgreenbuildings.org. (Get it? MORE green buildings!)