Activities
Next Generation Water Summit 2018 Announces Nobel Prize-Winning Keynote Speaker
The Next Generation Water Summit (NGWS) 2018 will host the 2nd annual regional forum, featuring globally recognized climate researcher and Nobel Prize winner, Jonathan T. Overpeck.
The NGWS 2018 takes place on April 29th – May 1st at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Next Generation Water Summit brings together developers, builders, architects, and water professionals to share best practices and learn on the best water conservation and water reuse practices from around the southwest.
Overpeck’s visionary work has been at the forefront of the heated climate change public debates and identifying the risks to managing water resources, providing valuable insights into past climate variability and change in the Southwest. He will present on the Climate Change forecasted impact to the Colorado River flows.
The Colorado River Basin covers nearly 246,000 square miles, including parts of the seven “basin States” of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming and flows into Mexico. The river is the life blood of the Southwest and supplies water to more than 30 million people and irrigates nearly 4 million acres.
“The Next Generation Water Summit is the only event that brings together water, building and land use professionals from the Southwest to collaborate on water reuse and sustainability strategies that are vital to protecting the west’s most vulnerable resource – water,” said Mike Collignon, executive director of the Green Builder® Coalition.
“Peck”, as he prefers to be called, is currently the inaugural dean of the University of Michigan (U-M) School for Environment and Sustainability. He previously served as the director of the Institute of the Environment at the University of Arizona. He has published more than 200 works in climate change and the environmental sciences and was one of the lead authors on the report on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which shared the 2007 Nobel Prize with former Vice President Al Gore.
Attendees can register and learn more about other announced speakers at www.NextGenerationWaterSummit.com. Registration includes admittance to the keynote speakers, any educational session and breakfast and lunch on April 30 and May 1. Leisure activities include a white-water rafting trip on the Rio Grande (additional fee) and a treasure hunt along the Margarita Trail.
NGWS sponsors and partners include the Santa Fe Green Chamber of Commerce, Green Builder® Coalition, City of Santa Fe, the Santa Fe Area Home Builders Association, and The Alliance for Water Efficiency. Santa Fe Community College is the official education sponsor.
Conner Elected to Coalition Board
The Green Builder® Coalition recently held elections for the Board of Directors, and Craig Conner was voted onto the Board. He becomes the first Coalition Member to join the Board for a second time. His previous term ran from 2013-2016, after which he stepped off for 1 year, per Coalition by-laws.
During his first term on the Board, The Coalition started down the path of creating the Water Efficiency Rating Score (WERS)®. Now, Conner is re-joining the Board at a time when WERS is poised to expand across the country. “I am especially pleased to be able to support and help with the Green Builder® Coalition’s important work with water efficiency”, said Conner. “Water is the next energy.”
Conner’s new term will expire on October 1, 2020.
WERS Update
Upcoming WERS Verifier & Consultant Course
The next WERS Verifier/WERS Consultant course will take place on May 2-4, 2018 at the Santa Fe Community College in Santa Fe, NM. Class will start at 9am each day, and conclude at 5pm on Wednesday and Thursday. Friday is exam day.
This will be the second time the WERS Consultant course has been made available. That course will run concurrently with the Verifier course on Wednesday and the first half of Thursday. The written exam will take place on the 2nd half of Thursday.
For more information and to register, please visit www.energysmartacademy.com/water.html.
WERS Educational Sessions – April 2018
Here is the list of upcoming WERS educational sessions:
- Home Performance Coalition’s 2018 National Conference – April 24-26, 2018 – Philadelphia, PA
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