SustainableBusiness.com Newswire
02/16/2009 11:14 AM ET
News from: International Facility Management Association
Sustainability Summit Offers Comprehensive Approach to Green Building
HOUSTON — (Feb. 16, 2009) — From implementing energy efficiency and water conservation techniques to selling sustainability to executives and dealing with America’s changing environmental laws, the International Facility Management Association’s Sustainability Summit will offer facility professionals strategies to help them get the most out of their green programs.
Presented during the second day of IFMA’s FM-3D conference — held Feb. 23-25 at the U.S. Grant Hotel in San Diego, Calif. — the Sustainability Summit will help provide attendees with the education, strategy and leadership skills they need to address the challenges facing today’s built environment.
The summit will feature keynote addresses from Jerry Yudelson, PE, MS, MBA, LEED® AP and president of Yudelson Associates, a green building consulting firm, and Panama Bartholomy, environmental advisor for the California Energy Commission, board member of the Northern California Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council and the Humboldt Bay Center for Sustainable Living, and member of the City of Sacramento Planning Commission and County of Sacramento Environmental Commission.
Yudelson will present the morning keynote address “How Can a Facility Professional ‘Sell’ Sustainability into the C-suite?” in which he will discuss the five areas that comprise the business case for sustainability and how today’s facility professionals can work alongside the chief financial officer and chief sustainability officer to create effective programs for their organizations.
“If you can’t sell it up the line, green investment won’t happen,” said Yudelson. “With enormous pressure today on capital investment dollars, it’s important for the facility professional to be articulate about the business case for green investments and to be able to explain the benefits in terms top management understands: return on investment, reputational value, risk reduction and mission alignment.”
Bartholomy will give the afternoon’s keynote address, entitled “Managing a Footprint: The Role of Facility Management in a Policy Environment of Change,” in which he will answer important questions about environmental policy as it relates to the facility management profession.
The Sustainability Summit will include a wide selection of educational sessions in three different tracks, covering topics such as establishing a sustainability program, greening leased facilities, sustainable lighting, green cleaning and strategies for addressing under-funded sustainable initiatives. Representatives from ARAMARK, Cushman & Wakefield, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Georgia Institute of Technology, JohnsonDiversey, Kohler and IFMA will present. Additionally, Sustainability Summit attendees will be able to earn Continuing Education Units toward maintaining their professional designations.
To register for FM-3D, or to learn more about the event, click here. To view a personal invitation to FM-3D from IFMA President and CEO David J. Brady, click here.
IFMA is the world’s largest and most widely recognized international association for professional facility managers, supporting more than 19,500 members in 60 countries. The association’s members, represented in 125 chapters and 15 councils worldwide, manage more than 37 billion square feet of property and annually purchase more than US$100 billion in products and services. Formed in 1980, IFMA certifies facility managers, conducts research, provides educational programs, recognizes facility management certificate programs and produces World Workplace, the world’s largest facility management conference and exposition. For more information, visit the IFMA press room or www.ifma.org.
For more information please contact:
Andrea Sanchez
713-623-4362
communications@ifma.org
