Speakers to Look at LEED, New ‘Sustainable Sites Initiative’

Writer(s): 
The LEED certified Ohio 4-H Center

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The LEED green building program and a similar new program for sustainable landscapes are the focus of the next monthly breakfast program of the Environmental Professionals Network (EPN).

The event, which is open to the public, runs from 7:15-9:20 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 14, at Ohio State University’s Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center, 2201 Fred Taylor Drive, Columbus.

“Increasing urbanization worldwide offers opportunities for sustainability, but only if we are serious and innovative about designs and practices,” said David Hanselmann, the network’s coordinator and a lecturer in Ohio State’s School of Environment and Natural Resources (SENR).

The school is part of the university’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.

Jerry Smith, principal and owner of Smith\GreenHealth Consulting LLC of Columbus, will speak on the new Sustainable Sites Initiative, or SITES, program. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects and has served on the group’s national committee to launch the SITES program.

Attorney David Scott of Luper Neidenthall & Logan, Columbus, will look at the successes of and threats to the LEED certification program. He is vice chair of the central Ohio chapter of the U.S Green Building Council and is a member of the SITES program technical core committee.

LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, a set of rating systems for sustainable building design.

Hanselmann described the new SITES program as “a sort of LEED program for landscapes and development sites.”

Registration for the event costs $10 or $15 per person, depending on payment method, and includes a full breakfast. Payment by credit card is due by Jan. 10. Complete details and a link to online registration and payment are at http://go.osu.edu/ZVX.

The event flier may be downloaded at http://go.osu.edu/ZWX (pdf).

For more information, contact Hanselmann at hanselmann.3@osu.edu or 614-247-1908.

EPN membership is free and open to anyone working in or studying an environmental field. Details about the network are at http://epn.osu.edu/home.

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Writer(s): 
CFAES News Team
614-292-2270
For more information, contact: 

David Hanselmann
hanselmann.3@osu.edu
614-247-1908