Washington, DC – The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has recognized six of its more than 70 local chapters with its Annual Chapter Awards of Excellence. The awards, given at USGBC’s Greenbuild International Conference & Expo, held last month in Boston, are given to chapters that excel in providing local green building outreach and education and in fostering best practices among the green building community. The four award categories include: Community; Education; Advocacy & Influence and Organizational Excellence. The awards were presented to large and small chapters in each category and are sponsored each year by USGBC member company Milliken & Company.

“Our chapters are central to USGBC’s ability to achieving the vision of buildings and communities that regenerate and sustain the health and vitality of all life within a generation,” said Heather Tomlinson, Vice President of Community. “Chapter volunteers dedicate countless hours toward greening buildings in their local communities and their accomplishments deserve to be recognized as outstanding examples of leadership.”

The Community award recognizes a large and small chapter for its efforts in building and developing the green building community through building relationships with other organizations that result in a greater connection and meaningful dialogue among the groups and the community as a whole.  The winner of the Award of Excellence in the Community large chapter category was the Northern California Chapter for its hard work in actively engaging the larger green building community. The winner of the Award of Excellence in the Community small chapter category was the Charlotte Region Chapter for their continued efforts to be the center for information exchange, which has enabled them to expand the Chapter's reach and influence throughout the community and region.

The Education category recognizes a large and small chapter that has made a significant contribution to green building market transformation through its education programs. The winner of the Award of Excellence in the Education large chapter category is the Delaware Valley Green Building Council for their coordination of training for the City of Philadelphia on high performance buildings and the LEED green building rating system.  In the Award of Excellence in the Education small chapter category, the Charlotte Region Chapter received recognition for its work in engaging the local community through varied educational offerings, reaching a diverse group of constituents.

The Advocacy & Influence award recognizes chapters that have developed and implemented a successful green building advocacy campaign. The winner of the Award of Excellence in the Advocacy & Influence category for a large chapter was the New Jersey Chapter.  The chapter was recognized for their successful effort to educate leaders of municipalities, businesses, counties, while becoming the “go to” organization for information related to local green building. The winner of the Advocacy & Influence Award for a small chapter was the Charlotte Region Chapter.  The chapter developed an extremely active Advocacy Committee which has achieved substantial progress in educating fellow professionals, the public at large, and local and state government officials.

The Organizational Excellence award recognizes a small and large chapter that has demonstrated excellence in organizational practices, including areas such as board leadership, communications and planning, and/or innovations in organizational excellence as defined by USGBC’s Strategic Plan.   The winner of the Organization Excellence Award in the large chapter category was the Chicago Chapter, which engaged in a comprehensive strategic planning process which resulted in the adoption of a new strategic plan by the Chapter's Board. The winner of the Organization Excellence Award in the small chapter category was the South Carolina Chapter.  The chapter distinguished itself in initiating and developing a Chapter-Branch model that has enabled them to effectively address growth of membership and geographic Chapter expansion.

Winning chapters received recognition on Member Day at Greenbuild and on the USGBC Web site, as well as a financial award. The awards review panels for each category were comprised of a cross section of USGBC leadership including chapter leaders and staff, national staff and members of USGBC’s Board of Directors and Chapter Steering Committee.