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IFMA World Workplace 2009 Event Powered by Green Energy through Participation in the Cleaner and Greener® Program

IFMA World Workplace 2009 Event Powered by Green Energy through Participation in the Cleaner and Greener® Program

Published 10-12-09

Submitted by Leonardo Academy

October 12, 2009 - Leonardo Academy announced today that the International Facility Management Association's (IFMA) World Workplace conference has attained Cleaner and Greener® certification through the quantification and offset of emissions related to both climate change and human health. WindCurrent donated the renewable energy certificates (RECs) from 679 megawatt hours of wind energy in the eastern United States in order to offset the electricity used during this year's event, which resulted in an 18 percent reduction in the event’s GHG emissions. World Workplace 2009 was held in Orlando, Florida, from October 7-9th.

World Workplace is an annual conference that brings together active industry participants from the world’s leading business and government entities, along with educators and exhibitors, to focus on the future of the built environment. Leonardo Academy's Cleaner and Greener® Program calculated the emissions resulting from the energy use for the event facility, travel, meals, and lodging associated with the event. This year's conference hosted approximately 3,800 attendees, and, given the large event space totaling nearly 567,150 square feet as well as the energy used by attendees for hotels and meals, electricity use caused a significant portion of the event’s emissions.

WindCurrent's donated RECs were permanently retired to offset the emissions resulting from electricity use at the event, which included 1,143,400 pounds of CO2e reductions, or 18% of the total greenhouse gas emissions associated with the event. In addition, thirty-two percent of the NOx emissions and one hundred percent of the SO2 and mercury emissions were offset.

Michael Arny, President of Leonardo Academy, said, "Offsetting the emissions from an event like World Workplace, which brings people together to address energy use and the environment, sends a strong message about IFMA's environmental activism. We thank WindCurrent and IFMA for coming together to make this a sustainable event."

LEONARDO ACADEMY - Leonardo Academy (www.leonardoacademy.org) is a charitable 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing sustainability and environmental stewardship. Leonardo Academy develops new approaches, methods and metrics for sustainability and also helps companies, organizations, families and individuals enhance sustainability. Leonardo Academy provides assessments, strategy development, and implementation for sustainability including emissions, LEED, and the supply chain.

WINDCURRENT - WindCurrent is a provider of Green-e Certified Clean Source Renewable Energy, resulting from wind farms in the eastern United States. All of the RECs donated for World Workplace are generated from wind farms located in West Virginia, and the company has plans to incorporate more renewable energy from Maryland and Virginia as it becomes available. See www.windcurrent.com for more information.

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Leonardo Academy

Leonardo Academy

Leonardo Academy is a charitable (501c3)nonprofit that promotes sustainability. Our primary focus is developing and supporting approaches to environmental improvement that put the competitive market to work on improving the environment. Work includes: Cleaner and Greener® recognition and certification program for emission reduction actions by companies, organizations, events, families and individuals - Key role in authoring and supporting U.S. Green Building Council' LEED® for Existing Buildings Rating System, Supporting development, implementation and documentation of LEED projects - Sustainability training and education - Prairie and savannah restoration - ANSI Accredited Standard Developer: Developing ANSI standard for emissions inventories, emission reduction credits and offsets.

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