Rinker School to host International Sustainable Construction Conference

September 13, 2006

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Get ready, get set and go green at the 12th Rinker International Conference, “Rethinking Sustainable Construction 2006.” The M.E. Rinker Sr. School of Building Construction at the University of Florida will host the international conference Sept. 19-22 in Sarasota, Fla.

While the development of green building has come a long way, the future of the practice is relatively unknown. “Rethinking Sustainable Construction 2006,” unlike any other conference on green building, will focus almost solely on the evolution of high-performance green building in the next 10 to 50 years. The conference will bring together an international collaboration of people and organizations committed to the advancement of high performance and next-generation green buildings.

“The conference will be a collection of presentations, panels, workshops and forums designed to explore sustainable construction and map out the areas where we need more research, technologies, methods and tools,” said Charles Kibert, conference chair and director of the Powell Center for Construction and the Environment at UF.

Conference speakers will include Andy Serwer, contributor to CNN’s “American
Morning” and “Fortune” magazine editor-at-large, and Richard Lorch, editor of the European-based international journal, “Building Research and Information.” Conference attendees will include designers, product manufacturers, builders and policymakers from across the globe.

Kibert, who is a building construction professor at UF’s College of Design, Construction and Planning, said the conference committee chose Sarasota as the conference site because Sarasota County serves as a model for others.

“Sarasota is committed to sustainability. The county offers builders and developers incentives for incorporating sustainable practices and encourages citizens to actively participate in sustainable lifestyle practices, such as energy conservation,” Kibert said.

For more information and to register, interested participants can visit the conference Web site at http://www.treeo.ufl.edu/rsc06/Default.asp.