green@work : Magazine : Back Issues : Jan/Feb 2000 : EnvironDesign4

EnvironDesign4

If you believe you can’t have a positive influence on the environment, think again. The choices you make can and do make a difference.

Sustainable design is about more than just the built environment. It’s about the way companies think, work and operate to meet their social responsibilities in today’s global arena. It’s about the products they design, and the processes they use to manufacture, market and distribute. Sustainable design is good design, and good design is good business.

Fact:
The Economist magazine cites environmental issues as one of the most important business issues for the first half of the new century, stating, “For far-sighted companies, the environment may turn out to be the biggest opportunity for enterprise and invention the industrial world has even seen.”

Fact:
According to American Demographics magazine, approximately 50 percent of American consumers look for environmental labeling and actually switch brands based on environmental friendliness.

Fact:
According to a study published in Facility Management Journal, commercial buildings account for almost 17 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions. This projection is particularly important since 80 percent of the buildings that will exist in 2020 have yet to be built.

Fact:
Buildings account for one-sixth of the world’s freshwater withdrawals, one-quarter of its wood harvest and two-fifths of its material and energy flow, according to a study conducted by Worldwatch Institute.

Fact:
South American rain forests are being destroyed at the rate of one football field per second.

Fact:
Every year, U.S. office workers throw out enough office and writing paper to build a 12-foot-high wall from New York City to Los Angeles.

Fact:
The U.S. has five percent of the world’s population, but generates 19 percent of its wastes.

Fact:
The energy saved by recycling one aluminum can could power a television for three hours.Fact:

Your participation at EnvironDesign®4 will provide the concrete answers to many of the compelling challenges faced when incorporating sustainable design solutions into today’s building and operation strategies. Here’s how:

1. Sustainable design pioneers provide enlightened commentary on the increasing strength of this defining issue.

2. Acquire the motivation needed to achieve positive change.

3. Network with colleagues traveling the same path toward sustainability.

4. Experience firsthand examples of green design victories at site tours.

5. Workshops provide unlimited learning opportunities for shared knowledge.

6. Participate in open dialogue with newcomers and veterans from varied segments of the corporate design and building industries.

7. Be inspired by others in the field who use passion and knowledge to deliver world-class sustainable solutions.

8. Talk with manufacturers about the green products and initiatives available today.

9. Explore additional resources to expand your knowledge and growth.

10. Experience the value of individual actions.

Who Should Attend?

Commercial Real Estate Executives

Learn how to positively influence the health and well-being of a building’s occupants, while simultaneously increasing productivity and, ultimately, greatly improving a company’s bottom line.

Product Manufacturers

Learn how to successfully develop the products and services that answer your customers need for green products, services and solutions.

Residential Building Planners

Learn how to answer the needs of the increasing number of home owners who are seeking sustainable design solutions for the places where they and their families live and, with the popularity of telecommuting, work.

Educators

Learn how to successfully incorporate sustainable design principles and practices into a curriculum that meets the needs of tomorrow’s leaders today.

Non-profit and Non-governmental Organizations

Learn from and network with the visionaries who are propelling a movement that will define sustainable design as the standard—not the exception—for shaping the built environments of tomorrow.