Phoenix -- The U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Greenbuild International Conference & Expo kicked off with a bang Wednesday night at Chase Field.

USGBC President, CEO and Founding Chair Rick Fedrizzi took to the podium speaking to an audience of more than 28,000 stressing the importance of green building and human health. “Our work should not be defined solely by the number of LEED certified homes, offices, schools and neighborhoods,” Fedrizzi said. “It is about the people inside of them. Green building is about the families who must weigh their power bill against their grocery bill; it’s about workers who labor in buildings that take a toll on their bodies and spirits; and it’s about kids who spend their entire childhoods in toxic classrooms.”

Continued Fedrizzi, “We have the power to make choices that will fundamentally change the environment, and people’s lives, for the better. And no one has more power to drive that change than those of us here tonight in Diamondback Stadium.”

The Honorable Al Gore was the evening’s keynote speaker. Former Vice President Gore called on the audience to make the choices required to ensure we leave a better earth for our children.

Al Gore has championed awareness and action to confront global climate change since his earliest days in the U.S. Congress 30 years ago, and is regarded for his pioneering role in helping put one of the most important challenges of our time on the map, with his best-selling book and Academy Award-winning documentary, An Inconvenient Truth. In 2007, Gore was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for his environmental activism. In 1992, Gore published “Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit” and instituted environmental policy and initiatives in the Clinton-Gore Administration to help safeguard the environment.

The show closed with a performance from the talented singer/songwriter Sheryl Crow. “Performing at Greenbuild is like being on the international stage of the green movement, celebrating with you the progress we’re making on this important issue,” Crow said.

Archived video footage from the Greenbuild Opening Keynote & Celebration can be viewed at GreenbuildExpo.org.