Healthy Urban Infrastructure: The Future of Green Building Standards & Energy Policy

On March 25, 2015, Penn IUR and the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy convened a group of experts to discuss the major issues facing green building policy and infrastructure in urban areas and to answer key questions related to toxic building materials, lifecycle issues, and more effective energy use. The discussion began with panel introductions by moderator Mark Alan Hughes, Faculty Director of the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy. The first speaker was Alex Dews, Executive Director of the Delaware Valley Green Buildings Council.  His presentation was a brief overview of existing tools and policies that address sustainable measures of built infrastructure. Elizabeth Beardsley, Senior Policy Council with the U.S. Green Building Council discussed LEED program successes as well as the Clean Power Plan. William Braham, Director of the Masters of Environmental Building Design Program at Penn, talked about the trade-off between rural and urban environments and the adoption of specific renewable resources. Erica Cochran, Assistant Professor at Carnegie Melon University spoke about transparency in data analysis of building efficiency.  After the speakers gave their presentations, together they discussed the challenge of expert integration in the overall sustainable infrastructure as well as widespread climate change disbelief and the role of the private sector as early adopters of green building policy.

Penn IUR and KCEP’s Health Urban Infrastructure: the Future of Green Building Standards and Clean Energy Policy