AGC held its first-ever Contractors Environmental Conference on June 7-8, 2012, in the Washington, D.C. area. Approximately 100 participants learned from industry experts, peers and regulators the latest strategies for maintaining compliance, improving efficiencies, exploring new markets and being competitive in today’s environment.
The event began with a pre-conference "regulatory fly-in" of the Environmental Forum Steering Committee members to meet with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers program offices on June 6. Then followed the day-and-a-half Contractors Environmental Conference filled with cross-cutting general sessions and detailed breakout sessions, featuring a keynote by AGC Treasurer David Hanson of Walbridge. Conference topics ran the gamut of issues from environmental compliance to beyond compliance initiatives that help improve the bottom line and demonstrate leadership. Speakers included U.S. Environmental Protection Agency experts on stormwater runoff, lead paint and oil spill planning; green building specialists from the U.S. Green Building Council and International Code Council; senior-level executives from the Diesel Technology Forum, Caterpillar, Inc., and Waste Management; as well as prominent environmental professionals from peer companies, law firms, consultant groups, and insurance companies.
The event closed with a co-located workshop on environmental initiatives important to federal building owners. Kevin Kampschroer, director at the Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings at the U.S. General Services Administration, delivered the keynote for the workshop. A presentation by the Naval Facilities Engineering Command and the Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense-Installations and Environment followed on the new "total ownership cost" sustainment and energy evaluation factor being piloted on some design-build defense projects. The closing panel discussion gave the perspectives of a builder, underwriter and construction law attorney on how environmental performance requirements in government contracts may affect construction practices.
Based on the overwhelmingly positive feedback that AGC received from participants, planning is already underway for a conference in 2013—providing more opportunities to go into greater detail on many of these hot-button environmental issues, as well as exploring emerging trends and markets.
Special thanks to our 2012 sponsors and companies providing technology demonstrations, including Aon, Brüel & Kjær, Diesel Technology Forum, Greengrade, Stormwater Risk Management, Travelers, and XL Group Insurance. We’d also like to thank International Erosion Control Association for being an industry partner for this conference.
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Associated General Contractors of America