The Canada Green Building Council and its national conference and showcase partner REALPAC are pleased to bring the CaGBC National Conference and Showcase, Building Lasting Change, back to Vancouver from May 31 to June 1, at the Vancouver Convention Centre. As Canada’s premier annual green building event, Building Lasting Change boasts expert speakers from around the world, an interactive showcase floor, green building tours, and networking events that attract delegates from the global green building industry.
This year’s Building Lasting Change program focuses on building actionable solutions to climate change and encouraging the industry to be more ambitious in reducing GHG emissions from buildings, homes and communities across Canada. The green building industry is at the precipice of big change, with green buildings being recognized by governments across Canada as targets for their emissions reduction and health and resiliency potential, as well as drivers of innovation and jobs in the emerging global low carbon economy.
Bold new approaches are required to take advantage of this opportunity, and the CaGBC has seized this moment to develop a new Zero Carbon Building Standard to assess the carbon performance of commercial, institutional, and multi-family buildings in Canada. Media are invited to attend the official launch of the new Standard, with CaGBC President & CEO Thomas Mueller and Mayor of Vancouver Gregor Robertson at Firehall #17, 7070 Knight Street in Vancouver at 11:30 am on May 29. The Standard will also be featured in a full-day pre-conference Net Zero Carbon Buildings Summit and throughout the main conference schedule in the Getting to Net Zero Carbon Buildings stream.
In addition to the zero carbon focused sessions and pre-conference events, Building Lasting Change boasts a strong line-up of over 70 expert speakers, with sessions organized into four additional conference streams.
Attendees will also have the privilege of attending three plenary keynote addresses over two days:
- On May 31, the Opening Plenary titled The Zero Marginal Cost Society with keynote Jeremy Rifkin, Economic and Social Theorist, who is a political advisor to the European Union, the People’s Republic of China and to heads of state around the world. Mr. Rifkin will present information, ideas and evidence that will inform and educate attendees about a new economic paradigm that is poised to dramatically change the way we organize economic life on the planet.
- On June 1, a Lunch Plenary Keynote and Panel Discussion featuring Eric Usher, Head of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Finance Initiative, who will share how the UNEP Finance Initiative supports sustainable real estate investment in the context of the Paris Climate Agreement and emerging global and domestic carbon policies. This will be followed by a panel titled Getting to 2030: Commercial Real Estate Investment in a Low Carbon Future, featuring four of Canada’s most influential green real estate entities who will discuss their approaches to carbon mitigation and portfolio planning: Michael Emory, Allied Properties REIT; Amy Erixon, Avison Young; Andrew McAllan, Oxford Properties Group; and moderator Michael Brooks of REALPAC.
- On June 1, Dr. Ray Cole, one of Canada’s most influential educators and trailblazers of sustainable architecture will be the final keynote speaker of Building Lasting Change 2017. Delegates are privileged to attend Dr. Cole’s presentation titled Charting a Positive Future – Rethinking Environmentalism, which will be his final official presentation before his well-deserved retirement. This presentation will explore upcoming approaches that are likely to gain significance for the green building community and which current ones are likely to become less potent.
CaGBC is also offering four pre-Conference green building tours on May 30, which will highlight some of Vancouver’s most inspiring sustainable sites.
Additional information and full Conference program and agenda is available at cagbc.org/blc2017. To attend the conference on a media pass or to attend the Zero Carbon Building Standard press conference, please email Renée Rietveld at media@cagbc.org.
