Beyond Greenbuild

Published February 09, 2009

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Back in 2002 (the first year that I attended), Greenbuild had 800 attendees -- and that was a significant increase over the year before. In successive years, Greenbuild grew exponentially, and attendance is now over 20,000. Greenbuild has expanded with the influence of its sponsor, the U.S. Green Building Council, and attendance at Greenbuild testifies to LEED's success in the U.S. green building market. Greenbuild remains the granddaddy of sustainable real estate conferences, but there are some other excellent options out there for those of you who prefer the more intimate venue that Greenbuild can no longer offer.

Green Building Finance and Investment Forum. As a real estate finance specialist, I've noticed that many green real estate conferences have comparatively little to say about how to get your project financed. I helped create Infocast's Green Building Finance and Investment Forum to remedy that situation. The third Green Building Finance and Investment Forum will be held in San Francisco from March 2-4, and the speakers' list is a Who's Who of the leaders in sustainable real estate investment. I'm a co-sponsor of this conference and have worked with Infocast, Lisa Galley of Galley EcoCapital and Mark Bennett of Miller Canfield to shape the agenda. The preconference workshops will highlight the financing of energy-efficient retrofits and green communities. The conference itself will cover sustainable real estate finance from the perspective of pension funds, triple bottom line fund sponsors, and developers. In addition to introducing you to the best financing solutions, the conference will cover portfolio management, the carbon markets, green leases and risk management. I hope that you'll join me in San Francisco for the latest on green building finance and investment.

Urban Land Institute, Developing Green. The Urban Land Institute's Developing Green conference always delivers an excellent balance between design, planning and finance topics. This conference is a strong choice if you'd like to get an overview of numerous national trends, rather than focusing on a specific functional area. The conference typically attracts a diverse national audience and is oriented toward seasoned real estate professionals. The 2009 conference is scheduled for May 12-13 in Los Angeles. The agenda covers creating development deals with public, private and non-traditional partners, energy-efficient retrofits, cost-effective development approaches and regulatory changes.

Ecobuild America. Ecobuild America is a premier conference for learning about the latest technical aspects of building green. Indepth attention is paid to building information modeling (BIM), new contracting protocols and the latest in building materials and systems. Presentations are invariably thoughtful and of high quality, and co-sponsors include the Building Smart Alliance of the National Institute of Building Sciences. Policy ideas are included, too -- the first public meeting of the House of Representatives' High Performance Building Caucus took place at Ecobuild America's December 2008 session. The next session is advertised for Washington, D.C. from December 8-10, 2009.

Leanne Tobias is founder and principal of Malachite LLC, an advisory firm that specializes in the development, leasing, management, financing and certification of sustainable or green real estate on a global basis. Write to Leanne about your thoughts on jumpstarting the economy at greenstimulus@malachitellc.com. She'll share the best ideas in future posts.

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