Event Description

Join USGBC’s Senior Policy Council, Liz Beardsley, and the Executive Director of the Virginia Energy Efficiency Council, Chelsea Harnish!

The 2020 session of the Virginia General Assembly was a positive one for Virginians who support energy efficiency, sustainability, and resiliency. Many key pieces of legislation were passed, including the Virginia Clean Economy Act, adding momentum to state initiatives promoting a greener, healthier and more efficient environment for all citizens. These important changes in state policy also come in a year when Virginia was ranked at number seven on the list of Top Ten States for LEED, demonstrating that green building is making real progress across the Commonwealth.

Join USGBC’s Senior Policy Council, Liz Beardsley, and the Executive Director of the Virginia Energy Efficiency Council, Chelsea Harnish, for a policy re-cap from the 2020 session. Learn what changes you can expect to see going forward, and where your support is still needed to advocate for continued improvement. This education session is co-presented with Resilient Virginia as part of their Resiliency Academy series.

Learning objectives:

• Summarize legislation from the 2020 Virginia state session that relates to the areas of green building, energy efficiency, resiliency, and sustainability.
• Explore USGBC and VAEEC’s role in working with legislators and sustainability stakeholder
• Identify ways the updates in policy affect Virginian’s ability to pursue LEED and other green building certifications
• Discuss opportunities to continue advocating for improvements in green building, energy, and resiliency policies at the state and local levels