Yesterday a co-worker and I had the pleasure of attending a USGBC sponsored workshop covering LEED Core Concepts and Strategies. I use the word pleasure sincerely, as the full-day event was well-executed, informative and well worth the cost.
Before attending the event, I searched online for reviews of the LEED workshops, wondering if they were worth the course and travel costs. As someone who isn’t an architect, engineer, designer, builder or contractor, I was unsure of how I would fit in or benefit from the classroom sessions.
I didn’t find much help online, so here’s some highlights and my thoughts on if you should attend similar workshops.
- There was only one architect in our workshop, the rest were mostly engineers and contractors. Is this because architect’s have already jumped on board the LEED AP wagon or are they beyond this workshop’s knowledge base? Is LEED now filtering down to the other members of the design/build process?
- The most informative aspect of the workshop was not the content presented (I was familiar with most of it), but instead the questions and comments of my classmates. The workshops was led by Paula Vaughan, co-director of the Sustainable Design Initiative, who did a great job encouraging participation and individual feedback based on everyone’s unique backgrounds.
- Can’t say enough about Hubbell Lighting, who hosted the event at their LEED Silver Certified building. The company is as green as it gets, to the extent of buying carbon credits to offset the emissions of shipping partners such as UPS. A few of Hubbell’s employees also sat in on the session and offered insightful advice on lighting’s role in LEED certification.
So, should you participate in a LEED workshop? I think so. If nothing else, you hear opinions and views from others in your industry that you may not normally be exposed to. Architects can learn from builders and vice a versa. I certainly learned from everyone.
I was pleased to be apart of the event, and want to thank the USGBC and Hubbell Lighting for putting on a well-executed workshop. If anyone has any questions about the workshop I attended, please feel free to leave a comment and I’d be happy to help.
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