For one thing, the Boston Convention Center was packed for most of the week, with its enormous exhibit hall, filled with people. USGBC reports that some 25,230 attendees showed up for the conference.

There were far too many sessions for a single reporter to attend, but here are a few things of note that were mentioned:

  • List Item 1
  • Brokerage firms seem to be taking sustainability seriously. During a press conference sponsored by GlobeSt.com, USGBC and the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA), Richard Purtell, BOMA's chairman and portfolio manager at Grubb & Ellis, noted that education on green building practices is a high priority at his firm.

    "It is a vital part of what we're doing," he said, also noting that there is a growing demand for green leases in the industry. BOMA has released a green leasing guide to deal with the trend.

Jim Peck, who is BOMA's chairman-elect and a senior director at CB Richard Ellis, said that his firm now has 200 LEED-certified professionals and plans more. "It's a great business proposition."

  • List Item 2
  • Parking is a big environmental issue, said panelists at one session. Steffen Turoff, a consultant at Walker Parking Consultants, said that parking is such an environmental hot point because parking spaces take up more land than the actual businesses they service. Per 1,000 square feet of retail, in general, a space takes up 1,400 square feet. Every 1,000 square feet of restaurant space accounts for 3,500 square feet of parking.

    Turoff said that it is up to developers to encourage people to use their cars less and rely more on public transportation or car pooling. They can do so by charging for parking, be it for customers or employees.

    • "The more parking you build, the more you're encouraging the use of a car," he said. "And you're subsidizing it."

  • List Item 3
  • One thing the industry will see more of is sustainable hospitals, though they may be the hardest commercial buildings to green, said Jean Mah, a healthcare specialist at design firm Perkins and Will. "They tend not only to be complex, but they are code and regulation driven and they are very large," she said.

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