The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) yesterday announced that it has been awarded the IMEX Green Meetings Award in recognition of the 2008 Greenbuild International Conference and Expo, which took place in Boston, Massachusettes. This is the third time that the USGBC has accepted this honour for demonstrating an unwavering dedication to minimising the show’s impact on the environment. Greenbuild is the world's largest conference and expo dedicated to green building, and convenes the building industry for three days of outstanding educational sessions, renowned speakers, green building tours, seminars and networking events.

“While this is our third year receiving the prestigious IMEX Award, we’re even more humbled by this accomplishment given that our Boston show was the largest conference in Greenbuild’s seven year history, hosting nearly 30,000 attendees and featuring the largest exhibit hall yet with 1,400 exhibits,” said Kimberly Lewis, Vice President of Conferences and Events for the USGBC. “We’re looking forward to continuing to help transform the global meetings industry at this year’s Greenbuild show in Phoenix, Ariz.”

The IMEX Green Meetings Award is presented in partnership with the Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC). The Award sets stringent standards and judges applicants against their ability to demonstrate innovative efforts to significantly minimise the environmental impact of a meeting or conference. A judging panel, which consists of senior industry experts, examines a variety of success measures. They include energy efficiency, air and water quality, water conservation, waste minimization and environmental purchasing criteria. Judges also ask applicants to explain their economic indicators, if and how their meeting helped commitment to change within the local community, and also how it aided conservation.