The eleventh annual National Association of Home Builders Green Building Conference concluded this last Sunday in Dallas, Texas. This year’s conference was attended by approximately 1,200 builders, manufacturer’s reps, built environment consultants and media people. The attendee numbers were down slightly from the previous year’s conference but were a good indicator that not only is the industry becoming more environmentally conscious but that it is getting back on its feet. This three day event, which included 38 educational sessions with something for everyone, kicked off on Friday morning with a five stop home tour of sustainable designed homes in various stages of construction across metro Dallas.
Friday night was the awards gala with financier T. Boone Pickens as the keynote speaker discussing his new wind turbine venture. Saturday morning began with keynote speaker Joel Makower, a nationally recognized speaker and strategist on corporate environmental practices, clean technology, and green marketing, sharing his philosophy of building green and how it creates tangible value for all parties — the builder, the real estate broker and most importantly the homeowner. The list of nationally recognized speakers was extensive and included Peter Yost of Building Green, LLC, Peter Pfieffer, FAIA of Barley & Pfeiffer Architects, Steve Easley of Steve Easly & Associates, Sara Gutterman of Green Builder Media, LLC and many more. There was hometown representation from Molly McCabe, AKBD of A Kitchen That Works, Bainbridge Island who presented, along with David Bennink, Sustainable Alternatives to Deconstruction. There was no shortage of valuable and interesting topics to choose from, only time.
In between educational sessions, attendees had an opportunity to peruse 95 environmentally oriented product manufacturer booths while catching up with old friends and making new connections. Everything from solar water heating to wireless light switches . There were lots of innovative products to capture even a veteran green builder’s eye.
Mark your calendars for the 12th annual NAHB National Green Building Conference May 16-18, 2010 at the Raleigh Convention Center — Raleigh, NC.
