President's Message

It is a great honor and privilege to serve as your president for 2013. Our past success is attributable to our members’ continued dedication and commitment to our core mission. I know that membership has declined over the past few years but we are back on the upswing led by our outstanding education committee and their commitment to showing value to our members through educational opportunities.

The U.S. Green Building Council - Nevada Chapter does not represent merely what is left of our industry, but rather what is best about our industry. We have survived not by luck or chance, but by hard work and perseverance. We have shown a commitment to our professions and to this organization. We are one of few organizations in town that are once again growing, showing that green building is not a fad or trend, but a way of life.

USGBC Nevada represents a vast pool of talent. Now is the time to both draw upon as well as increase that pool. Now is the time we unite to strengthen our chapter and promote business and the green economy from within our ranks. We have committed our time and resources to make this chapter a success; let’s consider that commitment when we choose with whom to do business. Now is the time to commit to each other.

During the next USGBC Nevada event look around the room and remember who is there. Remember that when times were difficult, we stayed together. We are the leaders of our green building industry and we will strive to keep moving to bring in more members and provide more service to our existing members.

It looks to be a packed year. We hit the ground running in January with a breakfast program and workshop presented by Jerry Yudelson, a transformational proponent of building better buildings. We will have lots of other excitement this year as well with presentations by Steve Ritz of the Green Bronx Machine and David Gottfried as well as our national representatives and a local education panel.

We are in the first full year of our updated strategic plan and will be working at both the committee and board level to implement the goals we set for ourselves. We will be putting on events this year for the first time – things such as a Green Gala (mark your calendars for December 5, 2013) and a mini-educational conference, and these are only the things we know about today. If you aren’t volunteering, then come find me or one of the other board members so we can help you find the place that works for you.

We are a dynamic, hard-working, dedicated group of individuals and I am looking forward to working with all of you to continue to drive our industry towards green. Now is the time – so let’s get to work!

Sincerely,

Jennifer Turchin
President,
U.S. Green Building Council - Nevada Chapter