Greenbuild Tops 25,000 in Chicago

The U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC) Greenbuild International Conference & Expo being held this week in Chicago has already attracted 25,000 attendees from 112 countries, and when Greenbuild ends on Nov. 19 show organizers expect it to surpass its attendance record of 27,373 record set in Phoenix last year. A rough count on the Greenbuild exhibitor list showed several dozen electrical manufacturers, with lighting companies being the most common.

USGBC reached a big milestone this month when the total footprint of commercial projects certified under its LEED Green Building Rating System surpassed one billion square feet. Another six billion square feet of projects are registered and currently working toward LEED certification around the world. Since it was introduced to the marketplace in 2000, more than 36,000 commercial projects and 38,000 single-family homes have participated in LEED.

“This traction demonstrates the transformation of the way we design, build and operate buildings,” said Rick Fedrizzi,USGBC's president, CEO and founding chair. “Not only does green building contribute to saving energy, water and money, it also creates green jobs that will grow and energize our economy.”

GE personnel at Greenbuild said the WattStation electric vehicle charger was attracting lots of attention at the show, and one public relations exec jokingly said she could have sold several million of them on Wednesday.

During an exclusive interview with Electrical Marketing, Luis Ramirez, CEO, GE Industrial Solutions, said one of the biggest challenges in the market today for GE and its distributors is meeting the changing information needs of new employees. He said the generation that's retiring now depends on different modes of communication than young employees just getting into the electrical business. Ramirez said they rely on social media tools like Twitter and Facebook to get information, and that GE and its distributors need to communicate with them in these formats.

Also at Greenbuild is WESCO Distribution, Pittsburgh, Pa., which used the show to promote it's renewable products. The Windtronics wind turbine that it now sells seemed to be attracting the most attention in its booth. This smaller-scale turbine is designed for homes and businesses and does not need to be mounted on tall towers.

Greenbuild 2011 will be held in Toronto, Oct. 5-7, 2011.