U.S. Green Building Council president to speak on future of green building movement

U.S. Green Building Council president to speak on future of green building movementNovember 09, 2005Kelly Homan Rodoskikahoman@syr.edu

The Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems (CoE) will host a presentation on green building by Richard Fedrizzi, president and CEO of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), Nov. 17 at 4 p.m., in the auditorium of Syracuse University’s Martin J. Whitman School of Management.

Fedrizzi will speak on “Building Momentum for Green Buildings: From Market Transformation to Sustainability.” The presentation is free and open to the public, and parking is available in the University’s paid visitor lots.

The built environment has had a profound impact on the health and productivity of occupants and the surrounding natural environment. The USGBC was established in 1993 to transform markets for building design, construction and operation by creating the demand for buildings that achieve superior performance in multiple areas, including indoor environmental quality, energy efficiency and diminished impact on surrounding ecosystems. Today, green building has become a $5.8 billion industry in the United States alone, and the demand for green products and services is increasing every day.

Fedrizzi’s talk will review the development of the green building industry in the U.S, including the genesis and growth of the USGBC and the opportunities and needs for future development, moving the industry from market transformation to sustainability.

Fedrizzi was appointed present and CEO of the USGBC in April 2004. He previously was founding chairman of the USGBC’s board of directors, founderand president of the consulting firm Green Think, and an in-house environmental marketing consultant for the Carrier Corp. Fedrizzi is on the board of directors of the National Association of Indoor Environmental Professionals and the advisory board of the Syracuse CoE. He is a frequent speaker on green marketing, industrial ecology and sustainable building design. He holds a bachelor’s degree from LeMoyne College and a M.B.A. from Syracuse University.