US Green Building Council (New York Chapter)

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Community, Environment

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By collaborating with all sectors of the building market, USGBC New York and its members are united by a common purpose: to transform the way buildings are designed, built and operated and to create environmentally responsible, profitable and healthy places to live and work in the greater New York area. With a focus on education, research and advocacy, USGBC New York advances building practices in our nation’s largest city and its surrounding counties of Westchester and Rockland, New York.

Our work aims at not only new buildings, but also existing ones. We know that even if every new building is built green, the environmental and health impacts of buildings will remain. All new buildings increase the demand for energy, water, and other resources. While a new green building can reduce the magnitude of these impacts, the environment is still a little worse off than it was. Therefore, it is just as important for us to green the 950,000 buildings that already exist in New York City, as well as the many buildings in Rockland and Westchester counties, as it is to ensure that new buildings are green.

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Impact of New York City Buildings

Why do we care about buildings? Because buildings have a greater impact on human health and the environment than perhaps any other aspect of urban life. Buildings tax natural resources such as wood and water, contribute to global warming, and consume vast amounts of electricity. Yet it needn't be that way. Properly designed buildings can help solve many of our most critical environmental and health problems. Whether the issue is global warming or water conservation, toxic chemicals in the air and water or asthma, buildings can help address our nation’s most pressing environmental issues.

History

Since its founding in 1993, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has been focused on fulfilling the building and construction industry’s vision for the transformation to high-performance green building. As a testament to the organization’s leadership, USGBC’s membership has quadrupled in the past five years alone, to more than 11,000 member companies and organizations. In addition, more than 4 billion square feet of building space has been registered or certified with the LEED program nationwide. And the annual U.S. market in green building products and services is expected to reach $12 billion in 2007, up from $7 billion just two years earlier.

Industry-led and consensus-driven, USGBC is as diverse as the marketplace it serves. The council's members include building owners and end-users, real estate developers, facility managers, architects, designers, engineers, general contractors, subcontractors, product and building system manufacturers, government agencies, and nonprofits. Leaders from within each of these sectors participate in the development of the LEED Green Building Rating Systems, as well as in the direction of the Council through volunteer service on USGBC’s open committees.