Winter is Green this Year

So today I want to talk about two of my favorite things. The Olympics and sustainable construction.

Winter is Green at 2010 Olympics

Okay so maybe I like one of those a little more than the other. I love the Olympics. They hit me on a deep emotional level for many reasons. I see them as an expression of how powerful we can be when we are focused and determined to be the best at what we choose to do. The Olympics are also a great way for nations across the world to compete on a very emotional level but without any bloodshed.

Another reason to love the Olympics is it's ability to be a bully pulpit if you will. Millions and millions of people all over the world watch the competition. While watching they are exposed to the puff pieces that the producers put together about the various athletes and also about various other things like how amazing a place they are competing in.

This year I guarantee they will also be talking about LEED certification. For the first time ever the Olympic Village will be LEED Gold certified, and the Community Center will be Platinum certified. For those of you who are unfamiliar with LEED please take a quick look at this link for more info.

What LEED is

Basically LEED is how we categorize levels of sustainable construction using various parameters such as CO2, energy consumption, etc. Gold certification is not easy to get. Platinum is even more challenging.

This will get talked about a lot by the producers which will educate a very large number of people about what LEED is and why it's a good thing for us to strive for. It can only be a good thing to associate LEED with the Olympics. The strong positive associations will make for a boom in green construction all over the world, which can only mean good things for our industry.