PASADENA, CA /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ – They save millions of dollars and dramatically lower carbon footprints; they provide healthy learning environments for students and faculty, and they are helping a new generation gain hands-on exposure to the green technologies and strategies. Green schools—and the policies, technologies and best practices that sustain them—will be the focus of the third annual Green California Schools Summit, the largest green schools conference in the United States. Taking place at the Pasadena Convention Center, Pasadena, CA, on December 9-11, 2009, the Summit covers every aspect of building, financing and maintaining green, or "high-performance," schools.
"Things are changing fast in the worlds of facilities, energy and finance," says Gwen Gross, Ph.D., superintendent of the Irvine Unified School District. "Districts face increasing pressure to understand how green programs can help them navigate these changes. The Green California Schools Summit offers a rare chance to gather vital information and resources."
The opening general session on Thursday, December 10 will feature a keynote address by teenager Alec Loorz, who at 12 founded his own nonprofit, Kids vs. Global Warming, to help his contemporaries understand the challenges that await their generation. The December 11 keynote will be Bharat Patel, director of sustainability at URS. Patel has worked on sustainable building projects in Europe, Asia and America and helped develop the green building program at the Los Angeles Community Colleges District, one of the nation's largest public sector green building initiatives.
Admission to the keynote sessions and an exposition featuring scores of companies with innovative green products and services is free to registered attendees. (Online registration is available at www.green-technology.org/gcschools.)
The Summit also offers an extensive education program, including day-long workshops and in-depth sessions presented by experts in green school design, curriculum, financing options, energy efficiency, renewable energy, and much more. While the Summit focuses on green schools in California, the U.S. Green Building Council has organized a track of sessions that will cover innovations around the United States.
The Green California Schools Summit was developed under the leadership of an advisory board comprised of green school leaders from the public and private sectors and chaired by David Thorman, California State Architect. For more information, visit www.green-technology.org/gcschools or call Eric Rennie at (626) 577-5700.
The Green California Schools Summit is produced by Green Technology
Source: Green Technology (www.green-technology.org)
For additional information, contact Racquel Palmese of Green Technology: (626) 577-5700.
