{"id":64500,"date":"2020-11-12T12:00:48","date_gmt":"2020-11-12T17:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/retrofitmagazine.com\/?p=64500"},"modified":"2020-11-12T14:28:05","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T19:28:05","slug":"usgbc-to-fund-500-people-to-earn-leed-professional-credential","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/retrofitmagazine.com\/usgbc-to-fund-500-people-to-earn-leed-professional-credential\/","title":{"rendered":"USGBC to Fund 500 People to Earn LEED Professional Credential"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

During its annual\u00a0Greenbuild Conference & Expo<\/a>, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC)<\/a> has announced it will provide funding for 500 people in underserved communities to earn their LEED professional credential. This commitment is designed to help build capacity and expertise for green building and is a key objective in USGBC\u2019s draft equity strategy,\u00a0USGBC All In: Building Equity Together<\/u><\/a>, which was also released during the Greenbuild Opening Plenary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGreen building and equity go hand-in-hand, and we know that addressing and emphasizing sustainability through green building can provide communities with resources and opportunities that can help them reach their full potential,\u201d says\u00a0Mahesh Ramanujam, president and CEO, USGBC, Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI)<\/a> and\u00a0Arc<\/a>. \u201cAt USGBC, we believe that a sustainable future is meaningless without an equitable future. When we say USGBC is \u2018all in,\u2019 we mean we are committed to taking inclusive action to empower all people to reach their full potential and improve their standard of living regardless of race, class, gender, ability, age, health or economic status.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

USGBC All In<\/a>\u00a0is focused on addressing social, health and economic disparities through green building. The draft strategy outlines 12 priorities and commitments, and USGBC will solicit feedback on this strategy from key stakeholders and release its final strategy in the first quarter of 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur goal is to create an environmentally and socially responsible world that improves quality of life for all, but to achieve that we need to look deeper, take bolder action and address some challenging questions as an organization and community,\u201d adds Ramanujam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All In will work to engage member companies, organizations, project teams and individuals in\u00a0sharing progress and lessons<\/a>\u00a0about how green building can play a role in addressing equity issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

USGBC announced its intent to form an equity program at Greenbuild in 2019 and in May committed to accelerating that work as part of a new economic recovery strategy,\u00a0Healthy People in Healthy Places Equals a Healthy Economy<\/a>.\u00a0This past summer, USGBC hosted a series of Equity Summits designed to be listening and learning opportunities that invited input and insights from leaders both within and outside of the green building community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese summits were a valuable first step in this important and necessary work and those that participated called on us to be clear in our beliefs and accountable in our actions,\u201d continues Ramanujam. \u201cThe conversations pushed us to not only focus on recognizing leaders but finding ways to both ensure equity is embedded in everything USGBC does and to provide the tools and resources to help ourselves and others become effective allies and partners.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

USGBC is\u00a0currently seeking feedback<\/u><\/a>\u00a0on several priorities outlined in the draft strategy that include, but are not limited to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n