Activities
Mary Ann Dickinson to Keynote Final Day of Next Generation Water Summit
The Next Generation Water Summit is excited to have Mary Ann Dickinson of the Alliance for Water Efficiency as the keynote speaker for Tuesday, June 6th. She’ll be sharing information on their Net Blue Ordinance initiative. Net Blue is a collaborative initiative that developed a model ordinance that communities can tailor and customize to create a water demand offset approach meeting local needs.
Dickinson said, “I am delighted to be invited to address the Next Generation Water Summit, a gathering of green building professionals who make demonstrated progress in sustainable development practices. This is the ideal audience for us to present our work on our new Net Blue initiative, which promotes water-neutral development in water-scarce regions that otherwise might not be able to grow.”
“Having Mary Ann speak about the Net Blue Ordinance is an ideal way to kick off Solutions Day at the Summit,” said Mike Collignon, Executive Director of the Green Builder® Coalition. “Then, our attendees’ ability to draw on her 40 years of experience in this field will be such a great benefit.”
The Summit will take place June 4-6, 2017 at the Santa Fe Convention Center in Santa Fe, NM. Through March 31st, attendees can register to attend the Summit for just $249. This will allow admittance to the keynote speakers, any educational session, and all meals. Just as important, attendees will be able to network with a broad spectrum of stakeholders while working towards solutions for their respective challenges.
Hosts of the event will be the Santa Fe Green Chamber of Commerce (lead host), Green Builder® Coalition, City of Santa Fe, and the Santa Fe Area Home Builders Association. Santa Fe Community College is the official education sponsor, and Green Builder® Media is the national media sponsor.
Industry News
Energy Efficiency Bill Reintroduced, SAVE Act Included
On February 15th, Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) introduced S. 385, a new energy efficiency bill, in the U.S. Senate. But for those paying attention for the better part of a decade, it looked very familiar. This same bill, when it was introduced in September 2015 and known as S. 720, received broad bi-partisan support and passed the Senate in 2016 by a vote of 85-12. It stalled in the House, however. Prior to that, it was introduced in 2013 and titled S. 1000.
The SAVE Act is included in S. 385. This legislation would provide better value for energy efficiency within the appraisal and mortgage underwriting process. The Green Builder® Coalition has long been a supporter of this much-needed update to the HUD underwriting guidelines.
S. 385 has 11 co-sponsors, 4 Republicans and 7 Democrats. It was immediately referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. While the full text of the bill isn’t publicly available yet, Sen. Shaheen said this when announcing the legislation: “Our bipartisan legislation would create jobs in the private sector, save families and businesses money, and drastically reduce pollution in a smart, effective and affordable way. Simply put, it’s good for our economy and good for our environment – that’s why it enjoys broad bipartisan support.” Sen. Portman called the bill “a win-win, creating nearly 200,000 new jobs and protecting our environment—all without a single new tax or mandate.”[1]
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