Regenerative, Carbon Neutral and Just Communities with Actionable Outcomes

Communities starting their ‘Race To Zero’ with social equity will need innovative solutions for achieving the triple-bottom-line. This event will showcase global community-scale projects with ambitious, impactful and actionable roadmaps, implementation, and management strategies. They are catalyzing energy, emissions, water, waste, transportation, social equity, and quality of life innovation and continuous improvement with credible frameworks for effective decisions.

U.S. Green Building Council for the past 30 years has transformed how buildings and communities are designed, built and operated, enabling an environmentally and socially responsible, healthy, and prosperous economy. From green building technology and innovation to knowledge-sharing and success stories, USGBC has catalyzed the green building movement and empowered the ecosystem with the tools and resources to adopt and accelerate sustainable and equitable urban practices.

USGBC’s LEED for Communities program works with more than 150 projects globally, revolutionizing the way communities are planned, developed and operated to improve their overall sustainability and quality of life. This LEED framework encompasses social, economic and environmental performance indicators and strategies with a clear, data-driven means of benchmarking and communicating progress.

USGBC proposes to organize three panels on September 20 showcasing 15 global projects for 9am-12:30pm at Thornton Tomasetti offices and coordinate a site visit to one of the projects in Brooklyn for 2:30-4pm.

9:00-9:10am Welcome and an Introduction to the Day’s activities by Vatsal Bhatt, USGBC, United States

9:10am-10:15am Panel 1: Regenerative Communities

Projects will showcase regenerative strategies for natural resource and ecosystem conservation and restoration, blue and green infrastructure for water positive, sponge city, circular economy, urban farming and food systems and nature-based solutions towards resilience.

Speakers:

• Edner Bellanger, Arcos, Guatemala

• Lisa M. Phocas, Crescent Communities, United States

• Ricardo Corrales Baruque, Madrid Castellana Norte District, Spain

• Esteban Martinez Lozada, Green Leaf, Colombia

• Stephen Tam, Kerry Everbright City, China

Moderator: Monique Owens, USGBC, United States

10:15am-11:20am Panel 2: Carbon Neutral Communities

Projects will highlight planning, implementation and management for ambitious net zero targets; with operational and embodied net zero carbon emissions by 2030, and absolute zero scope 1, 2 and 3 by 2040. It will include smart mobility, nearness to all uses, extensive public transit, smart last-mile delivery logistics, electric transport, smart energy production, management and savings, smart two-way grids, positive-energy buildings and renewable energy including solar, wind, bioenergy, storage and geothermal.

Speakers:

• Nadia Boschi, Lendlease, Italy

• Jen Grosso, Alloy Development, United States

• Lourdes Salinas, Three Consulting, Mexico

• Ryoji Nakayama, Woonerf, Japan

• Sohrab Yazdani, Green Group, Argentina

Moderator: Gunnar Hubbard, Thornton Tomasetti, United States

11:20am-12:25pm Panel 3: Just Communities

Projects will highlight multiple dimensions of strategies and policies deployed for integrating community health, safety, wellbeing and intergenerational equity. This will include (1) Equity for people in Project Teams, (2) Equity for people in the Community who work, live, learn, or play, (3) Equity for people in the material Supply Chain, and (4) Equity for people in fenceline communities.

Speakers:

• Sarah Nugent, Steven Winter Associates, United States

• Ana Cunha, Siemenstaad2, Germany

• Daniel Manica, Petinelli Consultants, Brazil

• Leonidas Anastasopoulos, Amber Forest, Romania

• Luis Carlos Gutierrez Motta, Constructora Bolivar, Colombia

Moderator: Seema Thomas, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, United States

12:25-12:30 Concluding Remarks - Vatsal Bhatt, USGBC, United States

2:30-4pm Site Visit – Alloy Block, Brooklyn