The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced that Jerome Foster II, Climate Justice Activist, White House Climate Advisor and founder of #OneMillionOfUs, will headline the USGBC Live conference, which will be held in Washington, D.C. on June 9-10 at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center.

USGBC Live is the leading event for the future of buildings, cities and communities. Attendees will learn how to implement the LEED green building rating system, meet others in the industry, discover new green building strategies that help with real world issues and explore the latest in green building technology platforms, including updates to LEED.

“Jerome Foster is known for delivering passionate speeches advocating for government action and unity towards climate change mitigation and climate justice,” said Kim Heavner, VP, Conferences and Events, USGBC. “He will be the perfect addition to the USGBC Live conference, representing a growing movement of young people around climate activity; his message fits really well not only with the aspirations of LEED and the mission of USGBC, but also with the vision of the LEED rating system.”

Jerome Foster is an American climate justice activist, voting rights advocate and political advisor. He is a member of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council in the Biden administration and has been a leading voice for Black and indigenous visibility in climate activism. Foster is one of the major organizers of Fridays for Future Washington. He has previously served as a congressional intern for U.S. Representative John Lewis and served on the District of Columbia State Board of Education advisory council. Currently, Foster is the executive director of #OneMillionOfUs, an international youth advocacy and voting rights organization. Learn more about Jerome Foster II.

The USGBC Live conference in Washington, D.C., is one and a half days of educational sessions and keynote speakers as well as networking opportunities during breakfast, lunch and an evening reception. The annual USGBC Leadership Awards ceremony will also take place at the event where USGBC will honor six organizations and individuals whose vision, leadership and commitment have been fundamental to the evolution of the green building industry.

USGBC Live also offers six of continuing education (CE) hours for LEED credential holders and registration includes access to the digital platform that offers more than 20 additional CE hours of USGBC Live content. The D.C. event will also offer a special LEED insights track for LEED specific education.

“The green building industry is evolving quickly and seeking innovative solutions to address the parallel crises of Covid-19, climate change, social inequity, supply chain disruptions and more,” added Heavner. “USGBC Live attendees will learn how members of our community are tackling these challenges and leveraging LEED and green building strategies to meet goals for sustainability, resilience, health and equity.”

USGBC Live educational session highlights:

June 9

• Four Critical Trends in Greening Affordable Housing: This session will outline four critical themes of carbon, resilience, health and beyond the building, and show examples of how affordable housing developers across the country are using green building strategies to make better buildings - better for the environment, better for the residents, better for the community.
• U.S. Embassy Niamey: American Diplomacy Achieves LEED Platinum in Developing Nation: This session will tell the story of how this unique project exceeded all expectations by using a design-build model that employed an integrative design process prioritizing strategies of resilience within the regional context and climate. The city’s challenges, lack of infrastructure, lack of resources, and security concerns presented opportunities that resulted in the project achieving LEED Platinum certification.
• LEED Insights: The Future of LEED: The future of LEED must encourage and equip project teams to embrace strategies for decarbonization, health, equity and resilience. While LEED has brought much-needed attention and progress on building materials, occupant health, carbon mitigation, and more, we cannot rest on that history alone. This session is about what’s next for the green building community and LEED.
• LEED Insights: LEED Tips from Reviewers: The LEED Certification process can be rigorous but for those that commit and engage in the process, it can also be valuable, rewarding and game changing. Join us for a discussion with practitioners who have leveraged the process to deliver successful results for their clients.
• LEED Insights: LEED Project Showcase, Washington, DC: Excellence in green building and LEED comes across build types and scales with projects around the world. This Project Showcase highlights three case studies that demonstrate the diversity of ways LEED has been used to drive innovation, solve distinct project challenges and bring the results of high-performance buildings to scale.

June 10

• LEED Insights: New Tools and Partnerships Accelerate Market Transformation for Existing Buildings. LEED, Arc and our partners provide tools that allow every project, everywhere to see where they stand today, improve over time and receive recognition for their leadership. This session discusses how we work together to address sustainability for the Existing Building market by using a “score everyone and certify the best” approach.
• Green Building Policy – An Advocates Training: This session will provide the training you need to understand how you and USGBC’s Advocacy & Policy Team can work together to effectively engage with federal, state and local governments, as well as influence their work on green building policy through green building advocacy.
• LEED for Cities and Communities Showcase: Hear how cities and communities are using LEED to advance resilience, sustainability and social equity goals using the certification program and process. Join this program to learn the rating system basics, hear how projects are taking action, and brainstorm how best to scale the work regionally.

For attendees who can’t make the USGBC Live conference in Washington, D.C., USGBC is also offering a digital only option that features more than 20 CE hours for credential maintenance, including LEED specific sessions. USGBC Live digital is available starting June 7 and includes a mix of live, pre-recorded and on demand sessions.