Yesterday, Green Building Pro and Green Building Expo hosted the Green and Sustainable Schools online event. The half-day event consisted of a panel discussion on green schools, followed by three webcasts. Several hundred people were in attendance live and took part in the first of a series of online events within the virtual environment.

I was particularly impressed by the subject matter experts, who spoke on a variety of topics including daylighting, facilities management, school retrofits, and the costs & benefits of going green in education. The audience was very enthusiastic and a seemingly endless list of questions poured through for the speakers. A major part of the event was the fact that AIA members and LEED APs could earn Continuing Education credits by attending the sessions.

The American Society of Lanscape Architects (ASLA) announced recently that they would offer classes and workshops at their upcoming annual conference that are applicable towards LEED credential maintenance. For the first time ever the courses and workshops will grant LEED accredited professionals continuing education hours towards maintaining their accreditation. This is a wonderful step forward in terms of organizations coming together and providing for environmental professionals. When all these rating systems and organizations first started they were closed off in terms of their own standards, accreditation systems, etc.

Now that the ASLA is beginning to provide for LEED professionals at their annual conference, let's hope this act filters throughout the green building arena. Continuing education is so desperately needed at this time, to keep us current on issues and present answers to age-old problems with integrated solutions. I know being involved with my local USGBC chapter, we are currently trying to put together an education track for our members. Trying to institute programs that not only are educational, but apply to credential maintenance is a tough battle.