WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced 10 inspiring individuals, companies, organizations and projects have been named 2020 Leadership Award recipients. The honorees are at the forefront of green building and working to advance healthy, resilient, and equitable buildings and communities. USGBC honored this year’s recipients last month during the closing event at the Greenbuild Virtual conference.
Among the Outstanding Companies, Organizations & Projects were the Chumash Casino Resort and TCF Center.
Chumash Casino Resort is the sixth largest Native American gaming operation in California. Managing its waste is a critical function for the resort, Tribal Ownership and the community. Its innovative approach to diverting waste earned it TRUE Silver certification. From 2004 to 2018, the resort reduced its total waste stream from 7.2 million pounds per year to 3.2 million. During the same period, it also increased recycling from 6 percent to 90 percent, established a food donation program to support local seniors, and developed a public education campaign highlighting best practices for the community. Employee education was critical to its success and led to the resort creating the Native American Sustainability Facility Association.
TCF Center is a 2.4 million square foot convention center in downtown Detroit that achieved LEED Gold in October 2019 under LEED v4.1 O+M. It is one of only a few convention centers in the world to certify under that rating system. TCF is a high-performing green building and the team is dedicated to ongoing performance measurement through Arc. It invests in educating employees, vendors, customers, partners and visitors on its efforts and the importance of sustainable practices. The center is also a steward of human health and in response to this year’s pandemic, was designated an alternate care site where it was prepared to provide medical care space for the overflow of local Detroit hospitals.
“Our 2020 Leadership Award recipients understand that by investing in healthy, green buildings and communities we are not only improving quality of life for people, but we are also taking steps to strengthen our businesses and economy,” said Mahesh Ramanujam, President and CEO, USGBC and Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI). “These recipients are an inspiration and celebrating their achievements is a bright spot during a year that has challenged us all. Their work reminds us to be hopeful and stay the course, because a commitment to green building will be a key part of rebuilding a better world.”
