Dan Probst is chairman of sustainability atJones Lang LaSalle

SAN FRANCISCO-Speakers and attendees at Greenbuild2012, held last week in San Francisco’s Moscone Center,echoed the sentiments of many sustainability-focused professionals:Energy efficiency andsustainability have been shown to be as good forbusiness and economic growth as they are for the environment, buttoo many business influencers either haven’t received or don’tbelieve the evidence.

With attendance near 30,000 and with more than 1,000 exhibitors,Greenbuild is the largest annual forum for discussion of thechallenges and solutions facing the green building industry today.In the wake of the presidential election, political considerationstook center stage in the opening plenary session. U.S. GreenBuilding Council president Rick Fedrizzi blamed“uninformed politicians” for skepticism on climate change.Environmentalist author Paul Hawken drew audienceapplause for claiming that large sums of corporate money helped tomislead the public on environmental dangers.