Washington, D.C. (Nov. 20, 2014): This week, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) was honoured as a winner of the United Nation’s top environmental accolade, the Champions of the Earth award.
In accepting the award in the category of entrepreneurial vision, USGBC CEO Rick Fedrizzi acknowledged the role of the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) and its 100+ member councils in driving the global green building movement that the award recognised.
The award, which usually honours a single individual, was won by USGBC for its outstanding contribution to sustainable building practices worldwide and the immense impacts of those practices.
“I’m deeply honored tonight to accept this Champions of the Earth award on behalf of the thousands of USGBC members, volunteers, LEED professionals and staff, and the global green building movement at large, including the 100+ World Green Building Council members from around the world,” said Fedrizzi.
“This is a community that has come to deeply understand how much our buildings and communities are also our first line of defense in battling climate change and the final piece of a complex puzzle in how we create communities that enhance our lives, not compromise them. Green building is not just about market transformation. It’s about human transformation.”
WorldGBC CEO Jane Henley, who was on hand for the gala, said:
“If the UNEP research estimates that buildings contribute as much as one third of total global greenhouse gas emissions are correct, then it’s up to every one of our more than 100 green building council members of WorldGBC to lead their countries by example and continue the tireless work of creating buildings that are energy-efficient, water-efficient, daylight-filled, toxin- and-pollutant-free structures, and placing them in walkable communities with access to fresh food and green space, with recycling and composting.
It will take all of us working together,” she said, “to fashion these places that protect our planet and nourish our souls. And we’re creating more of them every day, thanks to WorldGBC members all over the globe.”
Champions of the Earth is the United Nations’ flagship environmental award launched in 2005 that recognises outstanding visionaries and leaders in the fields of policy, science, entrepreneurship, and civil society action. Whether by helping to improve the management of natural resources, demonstrating new ways to tackle climate change or raising awareness of emerging environmental challenges, Champions of the Earth should serve as an inspiration for transformative action across the world.
Past laureates have included Mikhail Gorbachev, Al Gore, Felipe Calderon, Mohamed Nasheed, Marina Silva, Vinod Khosla and many other such exemplary leaders on the environment and development front.
[Source: www.usgbc.org]
