The 2015 Greenbuild International Conference and Expo, owned and operated by Informa Exhibitions and presented by the U.S. Green Building Council and held Nov. 18-20 at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., saw a big attendance uptick at the recent show.

Attendance was 19,058, a significant increase, compared with the 2014 event. There also were 548 exhibiting companies participating on 144,300 square feet of exhibit and display space on the trade show floor.
 
Greenbuild featured more than 200 sessions, tours, summits and workshops in the robust education program and throughout the week, with many sold-out sessions. There also were 34,494 hours of continuing education credits were also earned at Greenbuild.
 
Some of the highlights of Greenbuild 2016 included  the Opening Plenary, which featured a conversation on climate change with award winning filmmaker James Cameron and MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski, co-host of Morning Joe; the Greenbuild Celebration, held at the Washington, D.C. Newseum, included a special concert performance by Fitz and the Tantrums and a lively evening of networking; the USGBC Leadership Awards Luncheon, which annually recognizes outstanding efforts to advance green building design and construction and the Greenbuild Legacy Project, which celebrated a new urban food studio at the Capital Area Food Bank.
 
“Every year, Greenbuild brings world-class education and programming to the green building community and continues to maintain the standards that make Greenbuild the most sustainable building conference in the world,” said Kate Hurst, vice president of community, conferences and events, USGBC.

She added, “From impactful education sessions to dynamic speakers and engaging summits, this year’s show represented all facets of green building for the nearly 20,000 attendees."
 
The expo hall again showcased the leading products and services available to professionals within the sustainable building industry and had several notable areas:

·  Greenbuild Unity Home, a 1,620 sq. ft. demonstration home designed to achieve LEED Platinum, WaterSense certified and net zero, which also included a full array of Cradle to Cradle-certified products

·  World’s only Net Zero Zone, a 3,200 sq. ft. pavilion powered by alternative power collected on-site at the Washington Convention Center

·  Expo Stage that hosted relevant and engaging sessions complimentary to all attendees

·  Nine sponsored Education Labs with CE accredited education on the show floor, all sold out

·  A display featuring sustainability-themed art from local area children

Greenbuild 2016 Iconic Green is scheduled for Oct. 5-7 at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, CA. More information can be found at greenbuildexpo.com.