Green Facilities Conference

March 26, 2008

In support of environmental sustainability and a solid commitment to ?green? living, working, building, and cleaning practices, Nichols will host an all-day Green Facilities Conference on Wednesday, March 26, 2008, at the Prince Conference Center at Calvin College in Grand Rapids.

The keynote speaker will be George Heartwell, mayor of Grand Rapids, who will share his city?s sustainability objectives and community partnerships, as well as the significant role that sustainability plays in creating a competitive advantage for businesses and the community at large. The event is targeted at business owners, facility managers, and supervisors for all market segments, as well as engineers and construction managers. The conference will feature a variety of 60-minute educational workshops focused on green facilities and related topics aimed at providing the cutting-edge knowledge and skills needed to maintain a green, high-performance, sustainable, and profitable building.

In the building industry, green is widely used to describe buildings designed, constructed, and operated with an emphasis on conservation of resources, energy efficiency, protecting occupant health, and decreasing operating costs. Statistics show that commercial buildings such as schools, hotels, hospitals, offices, and manufacturing facilities, consume an estimated 62.5 percent of the electricity, 12 percent of drinking water, and 40 percent of all raw materials worldwide. At the same time commercial buildings produce 30 percent of the total greenhouse gas emissions and 136 million tons of construction and demolition debris. Obviously, there is substantial opportunity for operators of these buildings to make an impact on the environment?either positive or negative?as well as on the health of the people who spend a great deal of their waking hours occupying the buildings.

Change in the built environment has the potential to provide dramatic change in environmental quality. A reduction in energy consumption of 30 percent, carbon savings of 35 percent, water savings of 30 to 50 percent, and construction waste savings of 50 to 90 percent are all within reach of every building stakeholder. This vision will take place because local government, business leaders, building owners, designers, operators, and individual citizens are taking more responsibility for their environmental footprint.

Owners, Managers, Supervisors, Lead Custodians, Executive Housekeepers, Facilities, Operations, Property, and Maintenance Managers, Directors of Maintenance, Environmental Service Managers, Engineers and Construction Managers should attend.

What: Green Facilities Conference
When: Wednesday, March 26, 2008 ? 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Where: Prince Conference Center at Calvin College
1800 East Beltline SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Cost: $50 per person includes continental breakfast and lunch

Questions can be directed to Nichols at info@enichols.com, or by calling 800-442-0213 ext. 119.

Click here for a list of available sessions.