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Contact: Mike Gehrig
(312) 988-2065
mgehrig@thegbi.org

Green Building Initiative™ celebrates Earth Day natiowide
-- Non-Profit Has Week Long Series of Events Planned to Recognize Achievements and Educate Others --

Portland, Ore. (April 21, 2008) – To help celebrate Earth Day on April 22, the Green Building Initiative (GBI), an education and marketing initiative dedicated to accelerating the adoption of green building practices, will conduct a week long, nationwide series of events.

These activities will include recognizing buildings for their environmental achievements in both New Jersey and Connecticut, supporting the launch of a state-wide residential green building program in Kentucky and the presentation of a sustainability award to a team of university students and professors at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) annual People, Prosperity, Planet (P3) award ceremony in Washington, DC.

"While there's significant room for improvement, Earth Day is an opportunity to celebrate the steps people take every day to better our built environment," said Ward Hubbell, GBI president. "It's also a day to focus on how we can continue educating ourselves and others about the many ways we can collectively contribute to a more sustainable world."

Specific activities GBI has planned for the Earth Day week include:

• A dedication ceremony to recognize The Point at Morristown as the first building in the state of New Jersey to receive a Green Globes rating for achievements in sustainable design and construction identified using the Green Globes environmental assessment and rating system for commercial buildings;
• A dedication ceremony to recognize the Bristol-Myers Squibb research facility in Wallingford, Conn. as the first building to assess its environmental performance using the new module of the Green Globes rating system—Green Globes for Continual Improvement of Existing Buildings (Green Globes-CIEB);
• The introduction, in conjunction with the Home Builders Association of Kentucky, of a state-wide residential green building program called Green Build Kentucky, which provides a baseline for practical green building methods and training resources for local builders; and
• The presentation of a sustainability award on Earth Day to a team of university students and professors for their sustainable design proposal as part of the EPA's annual P3 award ceremony in Washington, D.C.

For more information about the Green Globes environmental assessment and rating system, or the GBI, visit www.thegbi.org.

ABOUT THE GREEN BUILDING INITIATIVE: The mission of the Green Building Initiative is to accelerate the adoption of building practices that result in energy-efficient, healthier and environmentally sustainable buildings by promoting credible and practical green building approaches. A not-for-profit education initiative, the GBI is supported by a broad cross section of organizations and individuals with an interest in residential and commercial construction. For more information on the Green Building Initiative, please visit www.thegbi.org.