Sustainable construction workshop

The seminar focused on green building and how to educate the public about green living.

In collaboration with Structure Home, a member of our Corporate Partners Program, the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability (IOES) welcomed Ron Jones, Co-Founder and President of Green Builder Media, to UCLA on January 12 to discuss sustainable construction. Ron Jones is widely recognized for his leadership in sustainable design and building techniques.

This workshop was co-organized by Professor Magali Delmas as part of her undergraduate class “Business and the Environment” that focuses on innovative sustainable business solutions and was well attended by undergraduate students from the IoES undergraduate science major as well as graduate students from the UCLA Leaders in Sustainability graduate program. In introducing the workshop, Professor Delmas pointed out that we spend more than 90% of our lives in building and emphasized the crucial need for innovative solutions to mitigate the environmental and health impacts of construction.

ron jones

Professor Glen MacDonald, the director of the IoES, in his introduction, described how innovation in green building could significantly save water and energy resources and described the green building initiatives currently underway on UCLA’s campus.

Jones emphasized the importance of incorporating the latest in sustainable innovations, from low-flow plumbing to geothermal and solar energy. Green Builder Media, which publishes Green Builder magazine, has been working closely with Structure Home, a leading homebuilder in Southern California. The companies are creating a demonstration home in Pacific Palisades that showcases the latest in green design, building techniques, and products. Called "VISION House L.A.," the home utilizes site-specific solutions for key green building issues including energy use, water conservation, land use and orientation, waste management, indoor environmental quality, and products and materials. The home is located at 1162 Via De La Paz in Pacific Palisades.

Center for Corporate Environmental Performance

Published: Monday, January 23, 2012

Testimonials

“When, as a business owner you are given an opportunity to associate yourself or to partner with such an organization like the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, you don’t think twice—it’s an honor to have our names mentioned together. My staff and I learn through their lecture series and corporate boot camp and we hope to contribute to the diversity by sharing our real world experiences.”

Loren Witkin, Principal, Citadel Environmental Services, Inc.

New working relationships like this, between business and the University, are essential to creating an economy that reduces carbon emissions and increases jobs.”

Mary Nichols, Chair, California Air Resources Board

“Our attorneys constantly strive to stay on the cutting-edge of environmental issues impacting our clients, so the firm’s new partnership with UCLA was a natural fit as we continue to provide clients with sophisticated legal and business counsel on a range of environmental matters. We are honored to be joining such an esteemed network of academics and companies globally-recognized for promoting green innovation, and we look forward to working together to stay at the forefront of the latest environmental research and technological advances.”

Craig A. Moyer, Chair of the Environment and Natural Resources Division, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP

"Vertum Partners is an early phase, small business start-up. The partnership was established after recognizing that the atmospheric modeling capabilities of the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability's regional climate group could be disseminated to the renewable energy business community through the combined expertise of our three founders. We hope to continue to learn from the research being conducted and the researchers themselves at the Institute of the Environment and UCLA as a whole."

Cameron Whiteman, Managing Partner, All Vertum Partners