Look who’s coming to Green Cities™ Florida
May 16, 2009
On May 20th, the Orange County Convention Center will open its doors to Florida’s top business, community and government leaders who are gathering to attend the first ever Green Cities™ Florida conference. The event is designed to create, connect and facilitate meaningful business dialogues while providing educational platforms for business and government with practical steps, strategic plans and appropriate tools for getting started down the path of sustainability.
This is no ordinary ‘green’ conference. Designed specifically to address the economic and environmental challenges and opportunities that Florida faces, Green Cities™ provides 60 of the nation’s sustainability experts speaking on 7 separate educational tracks including: Growing Florida’s Green Economy; Greening your Business A-Z; Green Government; Wise Business Choices in a Changing Economy; Green Events Planning and Production; Understanding and Responding to Climate Change; Green Cities Planning, Design and Construction and a training track.
“Florida has the opportunity to emerge a leader in green business,” states Mayor Richard Crotty. “This event is geared for motivated businesses and government leaders who desire to be more pro-active with ‘green practices’ in order to realize the savings and opportunities associated with this new shift in doing business. Orange County is proud to support this conference because it enables business and government leaders to gain the knowledge they need to implement opportunities to help protect the environment, build community quality, and increase economic opportunities.”
Some of the speakers include:
- Gil Friend – Founder, President and CEO of Natural Logic, Inc., providing advisory services in strategy, design, operations, and information systems that help clients build economic advantage through exceptional environmental performance.
- Mike Italiano – President & Chief Executive Officer for Market Transformation to Sustainability and founder of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).
- Dr. Jennifer Languell – Founder and President of Trifecta Construction Solutions and nationally recognized leader in green building education.
- Jerome Ringo – President of the Apollo Alliance, a coalition of business, labor, environmental, and community leaders working to catalyze a clean energy revolution in America.
- Tim Center – Director of Sustainable Florida – Collins Center, an alliance of private and public partners committed to identifying, supporting and communicating sustainable best practices.
- John Lushetsky – Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency for the U.S. Department of Energy, with responsibility for all solar technology development, grid integration, and market transformation activities under the Solar America Initiative.
- Steve Cochran – Internationally-recognized and nationally-prominent leader, speaker, writer, and advocate and practitioner in the field of sustainable enterprise.
Green Cities™ Florida participants will have the opportunity to network with business and government entities through professional and social networking integrated throughout the 2 day conference. In addition, attendees will take part in an historic event: the “Flip The Switch” ceremony for the largest solar array of its kind in the Southeast. The one-megawatt photovoltaic (PV) system is currently being installed atop the Orange County Convention Center and will be turned on for the first time the morning of May 20th during opening ceremonies for Green Cities™ Florida. Both Mayor Buddy Dyer of Orlando and Mayor Richard Crotty of Orange County will be on hand along with Senator Lee Constantine to “turn on the sun” – putting Florida on the map as a leader in sustainability.
Contributing Sponsors include: Advanced Solar Photonics, OUC and Permapave; Media Sponsors are EcoFactory, CSRwire, Sustainability: The Journal of Record and ENS.
ABOUT GREEN CITIES™ FLORIDA
Green Cities™ is produced by Seven-Star, Inc., an EPA award winning green event and green education expert. Green Cities™ Florida offers ideas, products, and services that provide business and government with the necessary tools and resources to make a shift toward sustainable practices. Topics range from green building to clean technology; organic agriculture to green investments; fair trade to the sustainable supply chain; and, integrating sustainability into corporate culture.
For more information, please visit www.greencitiesflorida.com
Need another “green” reason to attend Green Cities™ Florida? Hold on to your blueprint!
The American Planning Association has approved 17 of the Green Cities™ Florida courses for AICP CMs (the Continuing Education designation for Planners) for a total of 20.5 hours of credits.
Turn your blueprint into a greenprint!
Here is a list of those courses:
| Achieving Climate Neutrality: The LACCD Sustainability Plan Wednesday, 05/20/09 02:30PM to Wednesday, 05/20/09 03:30PM |
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| Alternative Energy Innovations Thursday, 05/21/09 09:00AM to Thursday, 05/21/09 11:30AM |
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| Building Florida’s Clean Tech Economy Wednesday, 05/20/09 02:30PM to Wednesday, 05/20/09 03:30PM |
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| Effective Actions and Collaborations for Addressing Climate Change Wednesday, 05/20/09 04:00PM to Wednesday, 05/20/09 05:30PM |
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| Federal to Local: Translating the Stimulus Package for local governments Wednesday, 05/20/09 01:00PM to Wednesday, 05/20/09 02:00PM |
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| Green Roofs, Living Walls, and buildings as Green Space Thursday, 05/21/09 09:00AM to Thursday, 05/21/09 10:00AM |
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| Leadership in Florida’s Green Local Governments Wednesday, 05/20/09 04:00PM to Wednesday, 05/20/09 05:30PM |
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| Local Government: Setting a Course of Action Thursday, 05/21/09 09:00AM to Thursday, 05/21/09 11:30AM |
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| Preserving Florida’s Water Supply and Quality with LID Practices Thursday, 05/21/09 09:00AM to Thursday, 05/21/09 10:00AM |
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| Re:Visioning The American City Wednesday, 05/20/09 02:30PM to Wednesday, 05/20/09 03:30PM |
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| Renewable Energy Policy and Programs Panel Wednesday, 05/20/09 04:00PM to Wednesday, 05/20/09 05:30PM |
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| Self-sufficient Urbanism: Contraction of the American City Thursday, 05/21/09 10:30AM to Thursday, 05/21/09 11:30AM |
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| Sustainable Hospitality: In Search of Low Hanging Fruit Wednesday, 05/20/09 02:30PM to Wednesday, 05/20/09 03:30PM |
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| The Bridges: Sustainable Community Design Wednesday, 05/20/09 01:00PM to Wednesday, 05/20/09 02:00PM |
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| Transit Oriented Design and Central Florida’s Sustainable Future Wednesday, 05/20/09 02:30PM to Wednesday, 05/20/09 03:30PM |
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| Understanding the Dynamics of the Global Carbon-Climate-Human System Wednesday, 05/20/09 11:00AM to Wednesday, 05/20/09 12:00PM |
Green Cities™ Florida, to be held May 20-21, 2009 in Orlando, offers a highly interactive, outcome-based portfolio of courses and workshops presented with practical steps and specific plans for participating in the growing $400 billion green economy.
Check out the full Green Cities™ Florida program and schedule and don’t miss the Planning Central Florida: Integrating Growth and Conservation panel with Jim Yawn, Walt Thompson, and Jeff Jones on May 20! Learn about The Walt Disney Company and The Nature Conservancy’s innovative partnership and model for planning. This presentation will provide insight for successful public and private partnerships that can be applied anywhere a balance is needed between growth and natural resource conservation.
For more conference details visit the official website or call 1-800-408-0002.
Take a walk around Mayor Nutter’s “green” Philadelphia and you’ll find an open, public space within a 10-minute walk of almost every Philadelphian’s home.
Also within a short stroll from every household: a farmer’s market or other healthy, fresh food outlet.
Both visions are part of the mayor’s ambitious plan, scheduled to be announced today, to make Philadelphia the No. 1 Green City in the nation.
“We’ve put out a plan that is aggressive, achievable and measurable,” said Nutter. “The green economy is a pathway to the future. We [Philadelphia] were known for innovation many years ago and now we are reinventing ourselves.”
Called “Greenworks Philadelphia,” the plan identifies 15 goals the administration hopes to reach by 2015 – the last year of a possible second term for Nutter.
The mayor will formally announce the plan in a speech at the Franklin Institute that will mark the culmination of a campaign promise and, at least momentarily, shift attention away from the troubled city budget.
“This is really an economic development strategy. This is about jobs,” said Mark Alan Hughes, Nutter’s director of sustainability.
He described the plan’s overarching goal as repositioning Philadelphia for a new future – and away from a past marked by deep job losses and a declining population.
“So while it is about carbon reduction, it’s really about poverty reduction,” he said. “While it’s about providing fresh food in neighborhoods, it’s really about building an agriculture sector of jobs.”
While other cities, such as New York and Chicago, have in recent years already unveiled similar blueprints for “green” living, none have done so at a time when the federal government is ready to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on renewable energy, energy conservation and other such programs.
But that is just what President Obama is prepared to do as part of the $787 billion stimulus plan – and the mayor’s office anticipates using some of that money to fund some Greenworks programs, such as weatherizing homes and installing electricity-saving LED traffic lights.
“It is a bit serendipitous,” Joseph Manko, chairman of the mayor’s Sustainability Advisory Board, said of the completion of Greenworks Philadelphia. “To me, the timing couldn’t be better.”
In terms of “green” initiatives, Philadelphia is on the White House’s radar, with Vice President Biden convening a task force hearing last February at the University of Pennsylvania on the “green” economy. Nutter was one of the speakers.
Some of the 15 goals Nutter is expected to outline focus on the city government itself.
For instance, he will call for the city government to lower its energy consumption by 30 percent – a move that Hughes said can save the city $36 million in 2015.
The bulk of the energy savings would be achieved in two ways. First, the city is currently searching for a company that specializes in providing energy services to assess how costs can be cut at four major city buildings: City Hall, the Municipal Services Building, One Parkway and the Criminal Justice Center.
Together, energy bills for the four buildings cost $5 million a year. But three companies competing for the work – final proposals are due today – have indicated that they can cut that expense by $1 million annually, Hughes said.
Moreover, under a special state program, he said the city would be able to borrow against the anticipated savings for up to 15 years – freeing up $15 million to spend now on other energy projects.
Second, beginning July 1, city departments will for the first time receive individual energy bills showing how much it costs, for example, to provide electricity to specific police stations and recreation centers. Previously, those bills were lumped into a single expense.
“They’ve had no reason to conserve because it was treated like it was for free,” Hughes said. But now departments will be given projected energy bills – and instructed to reduce them by 10 percent. “So they will have to start doing things like closing the door in August to keep the A/C in, and turning off the lights,” he said.
As an incentive, departments will be permitted to keep any savings of more than 10 percent within their department budgets.
To read the original article and Nutter’s other “green” goals for 2015, visit The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Interested in becoming a green city? Learn how to green your city, government or business A-Z during Green Cities™ Florida – an upcoming sustainability conference to be held May 20-21 in Orlando, Florida.
Green Cities™ Florida will address the key elements that make-up a city such as: energy, tourism, finance, construction, manufacturing, education, health care and infrastructure. The conference will offer green strategies that will transform the way you think, live, manage business and govern in Florida.
To learn more about Green Cities™ Florida, visit the official website or call 1-800-408-0002.
Green Cities Tweet-Up in Orlando!
May 1, 2009
If you have been looking to connect with the growing ‘green’ business and government community in Central Florida, you’re invited to attend the first Green Cities Tweet-up on Wednesday May 6 at 7 pm at the Orlando Brewing Company.
Doterati.com and Green Cities Florida invite you to join them for a fun evening of networking at the Orlando Brewing Company, Florida’s only fully certified Organic Brewery.
Connect with other sustainably-minded professionals and learn more about what is coming to Florida in terms of green economic growth.
Just a few more reasons you should join us on Wednesday, May 6th for THE progressive networking event of the year!
- Great door prizes including one-day passes to the Green Cities Florida Conference
- Enjoy award winning certified organic beers & wine-right from the source
- Meet and network with ‘eco-preneurs’, business leaders, and other ‘green’ professionals from Orlando
- Green Cities Twitter team will be on hand to help de-mystify the world of Twitter and help you connect with the people, businesses and communities you have been wanting to meet
- Learn more about Green Cities Florida and get to know other conference attendees
And don’t worry, you don’t have to be a Twitter expert to attend. This event is designed to be beneficial to anyone interested in creating professional connections with ‘green’ focused businesses and sustainably-minded professionals in Central Florida.
Click here for directions to the Orlando Brewing Company.
If you are not on Twitter yet, click here to sign up and for the latest buzz be sure to follow us @GreenCitiesNews, @GreenBuzz and @GreenerCity!
Early Bird Registration for Green Cities Florida ends May 11 – Register here today!
*FYI: Orlando Brewing has Wi Fi, so feel free to bring your laptop and tweet ’til your heart’s content*
100 Cities: The Best And Worst Air Quality
April 29, 2009
America’s air is markedly cleaner than it was nearly 40 years ago, when the Clean Air Act was passed. Toxic chemicals, smog and soot are less pervasive today. But science has also taught us, since then, that lower levels of pollutants do serious harm — to our lungs, our hearts and circulatory systems and to the development of our children. Science has shown that, despite significant reduction in acid rain, mountain streams are still struggling to recover from decades of abuse, leaving water there toxic to much fish and plant life.
In other words, as the American Lung Association’s 10th annual State of the Air puts it: “Air pollution continues to threaten the lives and health of millions of people in the United States despite great progress since the modern Clean Air Act was first passed in 1970. Even as the nation explores the complex challenges of global warming and energy, air pollution remains widespread and dangerous.”
The report, released this week, focuses on the two forms of air pollution most dangerous to lungs: Smog (a.k.a. ozone) and soot (a.k.a. fine particulates). Particulate pollution was analyzed in two ways — short-term and long-term levels.
Ozone forms on hot sunny days when smokestack and tailpipe pollution interacts with heat and sunlight. The result is ozone, a major component of smog. It’s the same molecule that, in the upper atmosphere, protects our skin from harmful radiation from the sun; but at ground level it scars lung tissue, causing permanent damage and making it unhealthy to exercise or, for sensitive individuals like the young, the elderly and those with lung disease, even breathe. Particulates can come in the form of familiar dust and soot, but also in the form of chemicals that form as tiny droplets after being spewed out of tailpipes and smokestacks.
More than 175 million Americans — six in 10 — live in counties where high ozone levels were detected — nearly twice as many as were at risk in 2008. That increase is largely due to new government calculations that account for new scientific understanding of risk of exposure at lower levels for shorter durations.
Even as cities have taken steps to reduce pollution sources, global warming is producing more hot sunny days, extending the ozone pollution season (April heat wave, anyone?) and increasing the number of days likely to produce unhealthy levels of ozone pollution.
Of the 25 most-polluted U.S. cities, 16 had worse ozone pollution than one year ago, according to the American Lung Association. Thirteen had worse particulate pollution.
Check out:
- The Cleanest Cities in the U.S.
- 25 Cities With The Worst Air Pollution: Ozone (Smog)
- 25 Counties With The Worst Air Pollution
Visit The Daily Green for the above mentioned lists and to read the original article.
Then get to Orlando for Green Cities Florida on May 20-21, 2009 and learn what actions community, business, and government leaders can take to be greener, cleaner and more sustainable!
Be sure to check out Dr. Penelope Canan’s presentation “Understanding the Global Carbon-Climate-Human System” which brings together natural and social science perspectives to understand global warming and climate change, their causes, consequences, and feedback loops.
To learn more about Green Cities Florida sustainability conference, visit the official website or call 1-800-408-0002.
Green Cities Founder Walks the Green Talk
April 16, 2009
As part of Green Cities’ efforts to advance sustainability initiatives and the challenges of communities in going green, Green Cities’ visionary founder Joseph Malki is in Florida on the Green Cities “Listening Tour”. Malki is meeting with business and government leaders to identify and address their priorities in building Florida’s green economy.
During the tour, Malki has been presenting the exciting and informative presentation “Florida is Going Long for Green,” highlighting Florida’s green achievements while explaining the overall global transformation to sustainable government, business and communities. Malki’s expertise and passion is paving the way for a greener future!
Leaders are learning “best practices” for sustainability and “first steps” toward creating real green communities. If you are interested in having Joseph speak at your event or meet with your organization, email Kylie Black at kylie.black@greencities.com.
Interested in becoming a greener city? Listen to Malki’s podcast where he discusses sustainability, the birth of Green Cities, and the importance of walking across party lines.
Check out Malki’s inspiring and entertaining podcast at http://greencitiesmedia.com/2009/04/podcast-joseph-malki-interview/.
Malki will also be a speaker at Green Cities Florida in Orlando this May. To learn more about the upcoming sustainability conference, go to http://greencities.com/usa/florida/orlando/2009.
Miami Herald: What are ‘green cities’?
April 7, 2009
‘Green cities’ are best described as a loose association of cities focused on sustainability. The emerging “green cities movement” encompasses thousands of urban areas around the world all striving to lessen their environmental impacts by reducing waste, expanding recycling, lowering emissions, increasing housing density while expanding open space, and encouraging the development of sustainable local business.
Curitiba, Brazil and Rekyjavik, Iceland are among the world’s green cities. Green cities abound in the U.S. as well. Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington are just two examples of green cities throughout the U.S.
Want to read more? Visit http://greencitiesmedia.com/2009/04/miami-herald-what-are-green-cities/.
Source: Miami Herald, April 3, 2009
Orlando will be receiving a Solar Cities award at the opening plenary of Green Cities Florida on May 19, 2009.
Orlando has already received this designation, but the formal ceremony will take place at the Orange County Convention Center during the upcoming sustainable solutions conference, Green Cities Florida with Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and John Lushetsky of the U.S. Department of Energy.
The long term goal is to make solar energy the norm, and no longer an alternative energy source.
Join us at Green Cities Florida for the formal ceremony!
To learn more about Green Cities Florida, visit http://greencities.com/usa/florida/orlando/2009.
To read the back story about this event, visit http://www.cfnews13.com/FamilyAndHome/YourHome/2008/4/20/orlando_to_become_federally_funded_solar_city.html.
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