Talking Human Health and Buildings at Greening the Heartland

The 2^nd annual BUILDING Chicago/Greening the Heartland Expo took place last week in Chicago, Illinois. The conference drew architects, engineers, contractors, property owners, developers, and many more from across the region for a three-day event organized by USGBC-Illinois, the Greening the Heartland Committee, AIA Chicago, the Chicagoland/Chamber of Commerce, and the Building Alliance.

I had the privilege of giving a couple of talks, and I wanted to share the slides here. First, I had the chance to team up with Adele Houghton. In our education session, Adele debunked myths associated with green building and human health. I shared some ideas about the potential design of integrative processes credits or criteria to promote human health, wellness, and superior experience. This is a line of thinking we have been advancing with friends at Enterprise Community Partners and the Pew Center’s Health Impact Project. Check out slides from the session.

After that, I gave a keynote presentation addressing human health, wellness, and experience more broadly. I offered a perspective connecting these emerging issues with long-standing themes of market transformation, current scientific understanding, and game-changing technologies. Check out slides from the plenary.

We will go deeper into these issues throughout the week at Greenbuild 2014 in New Orleans. Hope to see you there!