Hillary Clinton Addresses the Need for Sustainability

PHILADELPHIA — Sustainability should be the rule, not the exception in construction and retrofitting projects in the United States, said former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Clinton addressed approximately 10,000 green building leaders, experts and advocates at Philadelphia’s Temple University Thursday night as the keynote speaker for the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo. A former secretary of state, senator and first lady, Clinton discussed how she has witnessed the evolution of green building in the U.S. and how the conference attendees are driving positive changes across the globe.
“Thank you for bringing to public awareness what it will take for us to be more energy efficient to create the atmosphere both politically and economically that will gives us sustainability,” Clinton said to the crowd.
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), which organizes the annual conference, is an extraordinary example of a small, committed group of people that cultivated a worldwide movement.
The USGBC began their work in 1993, the same year Bill Clinton became president of the U.S. The USGBC was then a much smaller group, Clinton said. But the ideas of the small organization rang “so profoundly true” to the Clintons that they decided to take action in their new home.
“We decided we wanted to turn the White House into a model of energy efficiency. We did call it the greening of the White House,” Clinton said. “The old air conditioning and heating systems got a makeover; new windows went up that let more light in and less heat out; we installed compact fluorescent light bulbs all over the building from the massive floodlights outside to our bedside lamps in the residence.”
As a result of the Clinton’s greening efforts, the White House saved more than $150,000 in annual energy and water costs. By 1999, Clinton said these savings doubled. In total, the carbon emissions from the White House have been reduced by at least 845 metric tons annually, she said.
As time went on, Clinton said she witnessed more organizations and investors begin to notice the benefits of green building. Green buildings are now undoubtedly one of the best investments the nation can make, she said. However, sustainable building must continue to bring green buildings to the forefront of conversation.
“At the top of any agenda about America’s future, sustainability has to be viewed as one of the key goals,” Clinton said.
The former secretary of state encouraged attendees of the conference to revive their commitment to sustainable buildings by making more of an effort to explain green building benefits to clients and businesses as well as reaching out to elected officials to make the case for green building legislation.
“We know this works and over the past 20 years you’ve seen slow, steady progress but, as I said, I think we’re at a new level,” Clinton said. “The work has proven itself. We know what to do. We just need to be better organized and focused and create new partnerships to do even more.”
The future will belong to communities that are looking forward onto the horizon and making investments in their future, Clinton said.
“There is so much more we can do together to put our country back on the right path to the future Americans deserve,” Clinton said.