Alexandria, VA (June 23, 2010) - The Center for Environmental Innovation and Leadership's featured podcast this week is an interview with the U.S. Green Building Council's director of government sector, Melissa Gallagher-Rogers. The discussion covers future sustainability plans USGBC has for green buildings and communities as well as explaining USGBC's green certification system, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).

"A major component of USGBC's mission is to provide the industry professionals with the highest quality green building education," explains Gallagher-Rogers. LEED uses a rating system created by volunteer committees to identify and measure high-performance green building design and construction. Organizations which undergo LEED certification are demonstrating leadership in solving our collective environmental challenges through the most rigorous green building tool on the market. Through LEED, which is a point-based rating system with four levels of certification, projects can look forward to financial savings throughout the lifecycle of the building. The suite of LEED rating systems, including the newest, LEED for Neighborhood Development, is expanding the marketplace to include a wide-range of projects. Currently, LEED certifies around one million square feet per day.

Executive Order 13514, passed by President Obama last November, requires federal agencies to pursue innovative strategies to achieve net-zero energy consumption in all buildings. Federal agencies are adopting LEED in order to meet the Executive Order building mandates. Released in April 2009, LEED v3 is the most recent LEED system, emphasizing carbon footprint reductions which parallels with the goals of the Executive Order.

"The federal government was an early adopter of LEED, even before EO 13514," says Gallagher-Rogers. "The government has placed great importance upon developing partnerships, particularly developing research initiatives regarding green building." LEED offers tools and resources for building owners and operators to implement into their current practices as they work to create and maintain green buildings.

"I think agencies will continue leading the country towards sustainability, particularly amongst the built environment., "closes Gallagher-Rogers.

Listen to the interview: The interview aired on June 22, 2010. To hear the interview go to www.ceileadership.org.

ABOUT CEIL
Inform, Educate, Enable.

The Center for Environmental Innovation and Leadership (www.CEILeadership.org) is an independent organization that facilitates information and education exchange among government and military professionals charged with identifying, specifying and buying green goods and services, and with vendors, contractors and consultants that provide green goods and services. CEIL is the sponsor of GOVgreen Conference and Exposition, a nonpartisan event designed to bring government employees and green suppliers together face-to-face in one convenient place to discover optimal solutions to green the government. The event takes place November 9-10 in Washington, D.C. and is free to all credentialed government professionals and military personnel.

For more information contact Ann Seltz, President, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or at 703-706-8221 or visit www.CEILeadership.org.

U.S. Green Building Council

The USGBC community is transforming the way we build, design and operate our buildings for healthier places that save precious resources for people to live, work, learn and play in. UGSBC is helping create buildings and communities that regenerate and sustain the health and vitality of all life within a generation. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the Council is the driving force of the green building industry, which is projected to contribute $554 billion to the U.S. gross domestic product by 2013. USGBC leads a diverse constituency of builders and environmentalists, corporations and nonprofit organizations, elected officials, concerned citizens, teachers and students. The USGBC community comprises 80 local chapters, 17,000 member companies and organizations, and more than 150,000 individuals who have earned LEED Professional Credentials. Visit www.usgbc.org for more information.