Tech Conference To Address Green Building Practices

Construction professionals and representatives from public, private, and nonprofit groups throughout Virginia are gathering in Roanoke to build relationships and exchange ideas for green building innovations.

Harnessing Innovation for Energy Efficient Construction, May 17 and 18, is centered on a theme of bridging industry and education. Held at The Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center, the event is a collaboration between a green jobs training program known as CREATES (Construction, Retrofitting, and Energy-Efficiency Assessment Training and Employment Systems) and Virginia Tech.

The industry-focused conference features panels, workshops, and presentations on green building and energy efficiency by leading firms, researchers, and educators. Brent Darnell, one of Engineering News Record’s top 25 newsmakers of 2011, is leading a pre-conference workshop on creating and maintaining professional relationships.

Other speakers include Peter Yost, who has more than 25 years’ experience in building, researching, teaching, writing, and consulting on high-performance homes in his dual roles as director of residential services for BuildingGreen, and as technical director for Taunton Press’ GreenBuildingAdvisor.com.

Keynote speaker Jay Murdoch serves as executive director of Efficiency First, an organization that unites home- and building-performance companies, product manufacturers, real estate professionals, and related businesses and organizations to advance the energy efficient construction industry.

On day two of the conference, participants may choose from three tracks of panels and workshops.

• The Industry + Education track features ongoing discussions addressing the disconnect between industry needs and educational outputs
• The Industry 2 Industry segment showcases recent developments and innovations in high-performance building and promotes dialogue between industry sectors
• Policy & Advocacy highlights public and private policies and initiatives impacting the green-construction industry

Sponsors of the event include the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy; New River Center for Energy Research and Training; Appalachian Power Company; the Roanoke Regional Homebuilders Association; and the Department of Building Construction in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies at Virginia Tech.

Visit the conference website for registration and more information.

(Photo: whygreenbuildings.com)