Over the past year, USGBC has forged new connections to the global community through our annual Greenbuild International Conference & Expo, through our various program areas and through the council’s policy endeavors. Greenbuild 2009 hosted attendees representing 78 countries from around the world, hundreds of participants in the World Green Building Council International Congress, and a dozen leaders of green building councils from every region of the world participating in the Opening Keynote & Celebration. Last December in Copenhagen at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, USGBC worked with dozens of its fellow green building councils from around the world, international businesses and non-governmental stakeholders to advance a green building Call to Action. And in November, USGBC worked with the world’s leading green building organizations to reach an agreement to adopt a common global language for the measurement of the carbon footprint of buildings.

Education is the cornerstone of USGBC’s mission of transforming the building marketplace; and this year, USGBC is focused on expanding the scope of its educational programming. As part of this endeavor, USGBC is ramping up its efforts to provide the global community with the innovative, high-quality LEED and green building education and training for which USGBC is known.

“The global movement toward greener, sustainable living is progressing at an extraordinary pace,” said Rebecca Flora, Senior Vice President, Education & Research. “Organizations and individuals have aggressive appetites for green building knowledge, reaching out to USGBC daily with requests for the quality trainings and resources they need to make their next project a green success.”

And the international community is eager to help transform its own local communities, documented by the tremendous growth in the number of LEED credentialed professionals, certified and registered international projects, and member green building councils. As of December 2009, there were 528 LEED Professionals outside of the U.S., 2,786 non-U.S. green building projects registered or certified under LEED in 114 countries, and 46 member green building councils in the World Green Building Council.

To support LEED projects and growing green building knowledge and capacity worldwide, USGBC is working with green building councils and other partners to globally deliver education. A special emphasis will be placed on foundational levels of training, which are vital to introducing global audiences to the core concepts behind LEED and green building.

A new model for training instructors means that there is greater capacity to train green building professionals from around the world to serve as green building instructors and as third-party providers of green building education. Local leaders armed with rigorous training modules and curriculums will be equipped to deliver the most advanced green building education with an understanding of locally, regionally and culturally specific challenges and opportunities.

“Building green is more than a concept; it is a process and practice that requires on-the-ground expertise and ultimately it can transform how we live our lives,” Flora said. “The global market is demanding green building which demands professionals who possess the skills and know-how to implement it effectively, and education is key to ultimate success in projects and in advancement of a global green building movement.

In addition to USGBC’s own green building curriculum, the USGBC course review process allows us to identify and support high-quality green building education developed by third-party providers, which includes green building councils, international and multinational companies, to be delivered to employees, universities, formal education institutions and others, while helping foster educational innovation and helping providers create and improve their own green building curriculum.

And in order to reach a new international audience, USGBC will begin to offer translations of select USGBC publications, beginning with Spanish, rolling out in 2010.

To learn more about how you can be a part of our international education efforts, listen to the archived February 10 webcast featuring Rebecca Flora that explores USGBC’s international education delivery. Visit www.usgbc.org/education for additional details.