Special Episode: Athens, Greece GBCI Circle – LEED Europe Conference Notes

Today is a special episode – notes from Athens as well as #LEEDv5 preview. I talk about the amazing conference I recently attended in late April in Athens, Greece. The great folks that run GBCI Europe , Kay Killmann and Nicole Killmann and their entire team do such a great job promoting green buildings, especially programs like LEED, all through Europe. And every Spring, they host a #LEEDcommunityreunion.

About 400 attendees that really practice #greenbuildings and especially LEED get together in one amazing city in Europe each Spring. This year was Athens, Greece. I had never been to Athens. It was an amazing trip!?

Last year was Barcelona, Spain. Two years ago I was in Munich, Germany. I want to tell you a little bit about what I saw, what I heard coming out of this amazing conference. And then one of the big topics of course, was LEED v5.

We wanted to do this special episode and put some links to the latest information on LEED v5 for all of you to make sure you’re reading up on it right now.

There was an additional focus on healthy buildings and healthy communities and then really technical sessions on LEED v5. We were fortunate to hear from both Peter Templeton and Melissa Baker that came over from the U.S. Green Building Council to give us the latest information. It was great to see so many friends that practice LEED throughout Europe all in one place.

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#GBCIEuropeCircle event is an annual community reunion which combines the best qualities of a retreat and a conference. It is an energetic space to connect, learn and discover – a blend of familiar faces and important ideas.

LEED unites many who attend – property owners, investors, architects, entrepreneurs, engineers, consultants and more – but experience with LEED is not required, nor is our content exclusively about LEED. We discuss the topics most important to those building green and healthy in Europe, those transforming our built environment for the next generations.

SHOW HIGHLIGHT

• The event celebrated the growth of LEED in Europe, emphasizing sustainability in existing building real estate through benchmarking.
• European Green Building trends, programs, future Services and community focus and sustainable design.
• Introduction to a new platinum certification criteria to boost energy efficiency and renewable energy use while improving performance monitoring across the building lifecycle.
• The shift towards emphasizing actual green building performance over design aspects was recognized as a strategic move.
• Highlighting the focus on LEED v5 and healthy buildings.
• Overview of the central areas of impact for LEED v5 – decarbonization, quality of life, ecological conservation.
• LEED v5 Updates a. Development Areas: Decarbonization, quality of life, ecological conservation b. Key Changes: Modified scorecards, point weighting c. Development Cycle: Five-year cycle, update in 2030 d. Focus: Continuity across building lifecycle, green building performance e. Certification: New requirements for platinum certification
• Explanation of LEED’s move to a five-year development cycle and continuity across the building lifecycle.

Get the episode transcript here!!

SHOW RESOURCE AND INFORMATION

• GBCI Europe Circle 2024
• What’s new in LEED v5
• The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC)

DON’T FORGET TO CATCH MORE EPISODES AND RESOURCES FOR ALL OF YOUR GREEN BUILDING NEWS AT THE GREEN BUILDING MATTERS WEBSITE.