PRESS RELEASE: Inaugural Zero Carbon Conference Focuses on Proven, Practical Strategies for Buildings and Communities

PRESS RELEASE: Inaugural Zero Carbon Conference Focuses on Proven, Practical Strategies for Buildings and Communities

Climate Activist Tom Steyer to Keynote Virtual Event on October 7-8

AUGUST 12, 2020 (SEATTLE) – As momentum grows for climate action, the International Living Future Institute announces its inaugural Zero Carbon Conference, to be held on October 7-8, 2020. Tom Steyer, NextGen America founder, climate activist, and former presidential candidate will keynote. 

The theme of the conference is “Scaling Our Decarbonized Future.” Focused on practical tools to develop projects that reverse the effects of climate change and support thriving local economies, the event will include four focus areas: Embodied Carbon, Zero for All, Financing the Future of Zero Carbon Communities, and Operational Carbon. Each will offer participants an opportunity to dig into what it takes to develop zero carbon buildings and communities. 

This exciting inaugural event is focused on the intersection of finance, the A/E/C community, and the building materials industry. The Zero Carbon Conference will knit together our community of developers, architects, engineers, contractors, interior designers, and responsible manufacturers who are realizing zero carbon buildings and communities—along with ESG investors who can accelerate the decarbonized investments that are critical to bring them to scale.

Tom Steyer is well known for his climate activism and political grassroots organizing, including founding  NextGen America, a nonprofit organization that mobilizes young people ages 18-35 to turn out for progressive causes and candidates.

More speakers and program details will be announced soon. While this is the first Zero Carbon Conference the Institute has hosted, the event builds on the success of the organization’s Net Positive and Living Product Expo events beloved and familiar to the green building community, which the Institute has presented for the last several years.

Best known for the Living Building Challenge, which The New York Times recently called, “the program most associated with deep-green development,” the Institute also operates a suite of programs such as Zero Carbon Certification, Declare, Just and the Living Product Challenge, which have been embraced by many of the world’s leading companies, including Google, Microsoft, and Salesforce. For more information, visit https://living-future.org/.

About the International Living Future Institute

The International Living Future Institute is an environmental NGO committed to catalyzing the transformation toward communities that are socially just, culturally rich and ecologically restorative. The Institute is premised on the belief that providing a compelling vision for the future is a fundamental requirement for reconciling humanity’s relationship with the natural world. The Institute operates the Living Building Challenge, the world’s most advanced, holistic performance standard for buildings. It is a hub for many other visionary programs that support the transformation toward a living future. Learn more at www.living-future.org.