Madison, Wisc.—Leonardo Academy announced that the emissions resulting from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC)’s annual Greenbuild International Conference & Exposition have been offset through the generous donations of carbon offsets and renewable energy certificates (RECs) from Milliken & Company and WindCurrent, respectively. This marks the 8th year that Leonardo Academy’s Cleaner and Greener Program has donated its services to the USGBC for quantifying and procuring the offsets for the event’s greenhouse gas emissions and emissions that affect health. Based on projected Greenbuild attendance and energy use, the donations to this year’s conference in Phoenix, Ariz., have offset 100 percent of the greenhouse gas, sulfur dioxide, and mercury emissions, as well a portion of the nitrogen oxides emissions associated with the event. Due to this emission reduction achievement, Greenbuild 2009 earned gold-level certification through the Cleaner and Greener Program.

In an effort to make Greenbuild a sustainable event, renewable energy certificate (REC) provider WindCurrent donated 3,100 MWh of RECs to completely offset the electricity use from the event, and Milliken donated 12,500 metric tons of carbon offsets to offset the remainder of the greenhouse gas emissions. WindCurrent’s donation of RECs included Green-e certified wind-generated renewable energy from wind farms in the eastern U.S. The carbon offsets donated by Milliken were created through carbon sequestered in the company’s existing forests, which were assessed according to the Leonardo Academy Draft Standard for Trial Use for Emissions Inventories, Offsets, Reduction Credits, and TAGs. This donation from Milliken, a founding member of the USGBC, stems from a long-term commitment to the organization.

Leonardo Academy’s Cleaner and Greener Program calculated the emissions resulting from the energy used at the event facility as well as for travel, meals and lodging associated with the event. This year’s conference is expected to host more than 20,000 attendees, who will incur more than 2 million vehicle miles and more than 40 million flight passenger miles in transit to and from the Phoenix event, which will make a weighty contribution to the event’s emissions impact. In addition to the substantial donations made by Milliken and WindCurrent, Greenbuild vendors, exhibitors and general attendees also have the opportunity to offset the emissions associated with individual attendance by purchasing offsets through the Cleaner and Greener website, www.cleanerandgreener.org/greenbuild2009.html.

Donated and purchased emissions offsets will be permanently retired to offset the carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gas emissions (methane, CH4 and nitrous oxide, N2O) as well as the health-impacting sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOX), and mercury (Hg) emissions resulting from the use of the convention center and the travel, meals and lodging connected to the conference.

The pre-event estimates of the event emissions and offset achievements are posted on Leonardo Academy’s Cleaner and Greener website, www.cleanerandgreener.org. This website also breaks down the total event emissions to the level of emissions per attendee, and provides a means for attendees to offset their personal event emissions. Following Greenbuild, the emissions and offset achievements will be updated to reflect actual event attendance and additional donations made during the event.