CaGBC brings Building Lasting Change conference back to Vancouver May 31 to June 1

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CaGBC building lasting change
Webpage for the annual CaGBC conference

The Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) and its national conference and showcase partner REALPAC say they are returning the CaGBC National Conference and Showcase, Building Lasting Change, to Vancouver from May 31 to June 1, at the Vancouver Convention Centre.

Organizers say Building Lasting Change boasts expert speakers from around the world, an interactive showcase floor, green building tours, and networking events that attract delegates from the global green building industry.

This year’s program focuses on building actionable solutions to climate change and encouraging the industry to be more ambitious in reducing GHG emissions from buildings, homes and communities across Canada, a CaGBC statement says. “The green building industry is at the precipice of big change, with green buildings being recognized by governments across Canada as targets for their emissions reduction and health and resiliency potential, as well as drivers of innovation and jobs in the emerging global low carbon economy.”

Bold new approaches are required to take advantage of this opportunity, and the CaGBC has seized this moment to develop a new Zero Carbon Building Standard to assess the carbon performance of commercial, institutional, and multi-family buildings in Canada.

In addition to the zero carbon focused sessions and pre-conference events, Building Lasting Change includes 70 expert speakers, with sessions organized into four additional conference streams.

There will be three plenary keynote addresses over two days:

  • On May 31, the opening plenary titled The Zero Marginal Cost Society with keynote Jeremy Rifkin, an economic and social theorist, who is a political advisor to the European Union, the People’s Republic of China and to heads of state around the world. Rifkin will present information, ideas and evidence that will inform and educate attendees about a new economic paradigm that is poised to dramatically change the way we organize economic life on the planet.
  • A lunch plenary keynote and panel discussion featuring Eric Usher, head of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Finance Initiative, who will share how the UNEP Finance Initiative supports sustainable real estate investment in the context of the Paris Climate Agreement and emerging global and domestic carbon policies. This will be followed by a panel titled Getting to 2030: Commercial Real Estate Investment in a Low Carbon Future, featuring four of Canada’s most influential green real estate entities who will discuss their approaches to carbon mitigation and portfolio planning: Michael Emory, Allied Properties REIT; Amy Erixon, Avison Young; Andrew McAllan, Oxford Properties Group; and moderator Michael Brooks of REALPAC.
  • Educator Dr. Ray Cole will be the final keynote speaker. His presentation titled Charting a Positive Future – Rethinking Environmentalism, will be his final presentation before his retirement. This presentation will explore upcoming approaches that are likely to gain significance for the green building community and which current ones are likely to become less potent.

CaGBC is also offering four pre-conference green building tours on May 30, which will highlight some of Vancouver’s most inspiring sustainable sites.

Additional information and full conference program and agenda is available at cagbc.org/blc2017.

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