As Green Grows, so Does EGB

I love sharing good news. So, it gives me great pleasure to tell you that thanks to a lot of hard work and contributions by many smart and dedicated people, HPAC Engineering's fourth annual Engineering Green Buildings (EGB) Conference and Expo, which was held Sept. 17 and 18 in Las Vegas, was a highly successful event.

For starters, attendance increased nearly 30 percent over the turnout at last year's conference. With EGB being the only conference dedicated to green mechanical systems and buildings, I expect that trend to continue.

Better yet, we received several unsolicited opinions about the conference as it concluded. As manager of the event, I'm proud to say that the comments were along the lines of "excellent conference."

That doesn't happen by chance. It took many months of planning and preparation by HPAC Engineering staff plus the participation and support of dozens of others. They include our many outstanding exhibitors and sponsors, our expert presenters, and everyone else who helped behind the scenes. To all of you, I offer the warmest, deepest thanks possible.

I'd like to offer special thanks to our two keynote speakers: Paul von Paumgartten of Johnson Controls and Thomas Hartman, PE, who is a long-time member of HPAC Engineering's Editorial Advisory Board. They took different paths in discussing the future of green buildings.

Von Paumgartten, an expert on the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System and an authority on green-building design, construction, and operation, discussed the opportunities and challenges of making the nation's stock of more than 5 million existing buildings more sustainable.

Hartman, an internationally recognized expert in the field of advanced high-performance building operation, gave an impassioned address on why mechanical engineers need to demonstrate leadership in design, construction, and operation to ensure that those tasks are completed effectively and responsibly.

For more on the conference, see our coverage in next month's issue. It's the next best thing to being there. Oh, and you might want to start planning for next year, when EGB returns to Las Vegas. Stay tuned to HPAC Engineering and its Website (www.hpac.com) for more details.