The U.S. Green Building Council is transforming the building industry

Gary Anzalone

I am inspired by what I have seen - in a few short years the building industry has been transformed - The result is less waste to our landfill, reduced energy usage and healthy places to live, work and learn. As one of the founding members of the Long Island Chapter, I had no idea how much impact we would have. We all knew that we were doing the right thing, it was driving us all and that was enough.

Even though the year ahead of us is packed with challenges and continued growth I cannot help think back to the beginning of this "Start-up" chapter. Interested parties met at a diner to talk about our vision for the future, and how we were going to commit our time and energy to making Long Island a better place to live and work. We all wanted to make a difference, but it had to be sustainable. I remember hearing the following phrase that has stayed in my head, "we don't own the land we are just borrowing it from our children." This is the attitude that we all shared.

In this past year alone we have accomplished so much, it's hard to imagine how it was before. We are now very organized, just look at our website, www.usgbc-li.org; it did not even exist a year ago. The calendar is packed with regular meetings; weekly executive board meetings, monthly board meetings, regular committee meetings and regular educational and social functions. We have formed the following committees to help get the word out; communication, education, advocacy, programs, membership, green incentives, sponsorship, financial, and more forming as the need arises. Also, from our website you can learn about the LEED Rating system, find a LEED AP, register to attend a program, see our green sponsors and join our chapter.

The result of our collective efforts is that municipalities have begun to adopt the USGBC rating system into their building code. Schools are asking for support for educational programs. Individuals and companies are seeing the benefit to our cause - we are up and running! There are so many people to thank that I cannot begin to name them all; rest assured that this is a well organized group effort of dedicated and talented volunteers.

With all that said we are still on the ground floor, it's not time to rest, in a world of excess and mass consumption - we are the voice of reason. Now that we have been made aware of a better way it's impossible to go back to the days of excessive waste.

The dramatic change in the industry can best be illustrated by the questions that are being asked. We have come from, "What do you mean build a green building?" to today's question "What level LEED Project should we go for?"

Finally we are all looking forward with great excitement to our first Gala March 19th. We are giving out scholarships and celebrating the green building movement - look for the details on our website! In the coming months and years, my greatest hope for this organization is that we continue to grow and make a difference.

Gary Anzalone is a principal for Precision Signs, Amityville, N.Y. and the president of the Long Island chapter of USGBC.

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