Cleaner and Greener Certified Events

Greenbuild organizers worked with the Cleaner & Greener^(R) / Health & Climate Care Program to make Greenbuild 2006 in Denver a Cleaner and Greener Certified Event. This is the fifth year the U.S. Green Building Council's annual event has gained this certification by offsetting the emissions created by conference travel and energy use. Press release

Check out this PowerPoint presentation to learn more about the calculation of Greenbuild emissions and how these emissions were offset.

The U.S. Green Building Council also worked to offset 100 percent of emissions created by organization activities, including office space, employee travel, and workshops for 2005 and 2006. Offset donations from large companies that exceeded the needed offsets for Greenbuild were placed towards offsetting USGBC operations. More Info

Event Information:

Greenbuild International Conference & Expo

Dates: November 15-17, 2006

Location: Colorado Convention Center, Denver, CO

Event Organizer: U.S. Green Building Council

Post-Event Emissions Estimates

Event Attendance: 13,350: local (5,910), regional (1,680), national (5,280), and international (480)
Event Meeting Floor Space = 1,750,000 avg. square feet/day
Total Electricity Consumption = 1,069,000 kWh
Total Natural Gas Use = 50,000 therms
Total Air Passenger Miles = 16,062,000 miles (490,000 gallons kerosene)
Total Vehicle Miles = 1,003,000 VMTs (47,000 gallons gasoline)

Table 1: Emissions Summary Prepared by Leonardo Academy's Cleaner and Greener Program (Updated 3/30/07)

Pollutant Type

Emissions from Event Energy Use (lbs.)

Emission Reduction Offsets by Donor and Amount (lbs.)

Total Emissions
Offset Donations (lbs)

Milliken & Company Wind Current Sterling Planet Green Mountain Energy Dupont National Offsets Leonardo Academy Philips Johnson Controls
Individual Donations

Carbon Dioxide (CO₂)
13,390,419 13,269,500 1,149,972 194,960 5,932 13,270,000 500,000 1,000,000
1,124,569
30,514,933

Sulfur Dioxide (SO₂)
5,216 4,030 848 96 5,100 2,000 1,822 13,896

Nitrogen Oxide (NOx)
18,262 2,357 409 104 1,000 1,976 5,846

Particulates (PM10)
2,780 90 18 5.5 105 218

Mercury (Hg)
.0396 0.0300 0.0037 0.0008 0.0200 0.0146 0.0691

Emissions Offset Donors

Milliken donated over 13 million carbon credits from forest preservation projects to offset 100% of the CO2 emissions caused by this event.

Wind Current donated 500 MWh of Green-e certified renewable energy credits resulting from a wind turbine on a family farm in Iowa.

Sterling Planet donated 100,000 kWh of Green-e certified renewable energy credits.

Green Mountain Energy Company donated 25,000 kWh of Green-e certified renewable energy credits resulting from an electric generation facility using renewable fuel in Wyoming.

Dupont donated 13,270,000 lb of CO2 equivalent emission reductions resulting from the reduction of emissions in manufacturing processes.

National Offsets donated 5,100 lbs of Coastal 2006 cycle 1 SOx RTCs (thank you to Natsource for facilitating this donation).

Leonardo Academy donated one ton (2,000 lbs) of sulfur dioxide emissions reductions by retiring emissions reductions purchased by the Cleaner and Greener Program in 2004. Source: U.S. EPA SO2 Allowance Serial Number 200400174988.

Philips donated emission reductions from internal facility energy efficiency projects reported through the Cleaner and Greener Program.

Johnson Controls donated emission reductions from internal facility energy efficiency projects reported through the Cleaner and Greener Program.

Individual Donations Emission offsets were purchased from WindCurrent�s Foote Creek windfarm in Carbon County, Wyoming (about 180 miles from Denver) with $2,500 in financial donations by Greenbuild Attendees and Exhibitors (Includes $500 Individual offset donation for USGBC Operations below)

Individual Offset Donors

These Greenbuild attendees made a personal donation to offset their atmospheric impact at Greenbuild. 95% of all donations made to our program go directly towards the purchase of renewable energy credits. (Total = $1,995 as of Mar. 30, 2007)

Ross Spiegel $20

Tamara Twaseczko $20

Carolle Huber $20

Jeff Honerkamp $40

HOK for 36 attendees $720

Richard Chien $10

Environmental Design + Construction $100

Jeffrey Justice $20

Dennis Okamura $20

Barbara Brown $20

Perry Brown $25

Owens Corning for 15 attendees $300

Jerry Yudelson $20

Lisa Matthiessen $100

Vaughn Mollenauer $20

Gary Moshier $20

Michael Rehder $20

Margaret Montgomery $20

Huston Eubank $40

Planet Relations $20

Michelle Reott $20

Matthew Gray $20

Michael Arny $100

Kim Shinn $20

Kristine Neurauter $20

Jennifer Bogo $20

Edward Wansing $20

Lucinda Jennings $20

Alison Kinn $20

William Mason $20

Sean Culman $20

Mark Lichtenstein $25

Chuck Sanderson $20

Lissa Spitz $15

Greg Roberson $30

Bricker & Associates $30

*Emission offsets purchased with financial donations from Greenbuild attendees and exhibitors will be tabulated following the event.

Leonardo Academy and the USGBC are seeking donations to help offset this event. Financial or in-kind donations of carbon and sulfur dioxide credits, renewable energy credits, or other emission reductions, including those from energy efficiency projects, are needed to make this an event with a net positive atmospheric impact.

Greenbuild 2006 and USGBC Operations Emissions

The Cleaner and Greener Program jointly gatheried offsets for the Greenbuild 2006 event and the USGBC operations for 2005 and 2006 (See Table 1 Above). Large offset donations from companies that exceed the needed offsets for Greenbuild 2006 will be placed towards USGBC. However, financial donations from Greenbuild participants to offset event attendance will only be used to purchase emission offsets for Greenbuild.

Table 2: Emissions Summary Prepared by Leonardo Academy's Cleaner and Greener Program (Updated 3/30/07)

Pollutant Type

Emission Amounts and Offset Goals (lbs.)

Greenbuild 2006

USGBC Operations 2005

Estimated USGBC Operations 2006

Total Emission Offsets Needed

Carbon Dioxide (CO₂)
13,269,500
2,301,641 4,603,282 20,174,423

Sulfur Dioxide (SO₂) 5,100 5,405 10,813 21,315

Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) 17,900 4,444 8,888 31,232

Particulates (PM10) 2,800 329 658 3,787

Mercury (Hg) .0389 0.0207 0.0414 0.101

Individual offset donors for USGBC Operations

John Howard $500

Offset your Attendance Impact

You can make a donation to offset the emissions caused by your participation at this event. A $20 donation purchases enough reductions to offset all the emissions caused by one attendees travel, lodging, meals and event attendance. Financial donations are used to buy renewable energy certificates (i.e. "greentags") to offset the emissions of Greenbuild 2006.

***Offset Your Individual Emissions for Greenbuild***

If you represent an organization or business, you can sign up to become a Cleaner and Greener Certified Company and donate some emission reductions delivered by your organization�s energy efficiency projects to help offset the emissions of this event. This is a great, low-cost way to make a big difference. More Information

(Note: Cleaner and Greener is program of Leonardo Academy, a charitable 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, so your donations are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law.)

If you have any questions, please call 608-280-0255 or email info@cleanerandgreener.org.

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