The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) South Florida Chapter announced that Bank of America has secured the Title Sponsor position for the nonprofit organization’s upcoming GalaVerde: The 2010 LEEDership and Green Awards Program.

Presented by Bank of America, GalaVerde will recognize and honor those outstanding projects, inspirational businesses, dedicated individuals, and instrumental Chapter members who are LEEDing the way to a more sustainable built environment in our South Florida community. More than 300 attendees are expected to attend the awards ceremony on August 28 at the Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty-Six Resort in Fort Lauderdale.

Rick Fedrizzi, CEO and Founding Chair of the U.S. Green Building Council, will highlight an evening of recognition and appreciation for the South Florida green-building community, during which the Chapter will also recognize the year’s Outstanding Community LEEDer, Green Business, Green Municipality/Government, and Green Elected Official in South Florida.

The Chapter will also recognize achievement in six categories of LEED — New Construction, Commercial Interiors, Core and Shell, Existing Buildings, LEED for Schools, and LEED for Homes. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System, overseen by the U.S. Green Building Council in Washington, DC, is a voluntary, consensus-based national rating system for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings. LEED addresses all building types and emphasizes state-of-the-art “green” strategies in five areas: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials and resources selection, and indoor environmental quality. LEED Accredited Professionals (LEED APs) have demonstrated a thorough understanding of green building techniques and the LEED Green Building Rating System.

“We are extremely excited and honored that Bank of America has stepped up to support our GalaVerde evening,” stated Kyle Abney, President of the Chapter. “Bank of America has been a leader in their own right in promoting sustainable building, and this is a union of organizations that underscores our collective focus and energies to transform the way buildings and communities are designed, built and operated, enabling an environmentally and socially responsible, healthy and prosperous environment that will improve the quality of life of our South Florida communities.”

Bank of America recognizes that the health of the environment, the communities it serves, and the vitality of its business are all interconnected. As part of its 10-year, $20 billion environmental business initiative, Bank of America is addressing climate change through lending, investing, products and services, philanthropy and its own operations. The bank increasingly deploys the power of human and financial capital to connect customers, clients and associates to opportunities in the new lower-carbon economy. As a company, Bank of America pursues opportunities to lend to and invest in companies that are developing renewable sources of energy, creating new jobs and generating a profitable return on investment.

A major employer with a network of banking centers and other facilities, Bank of America is committed to delivering environmentally sustainable real estate and workplace solutions by focusing on energy efficiency and reducing emissions, consumption and waste. Their flagship of environmentally sustainable operations is the newly constructed 2.1 million-square-foot Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park in New York City. The first high-rise office building in the country to receive LEED Platinum Rating for Environmental Design and Construction, the Tower has been recognized for its pioneering approach to providing occupants with cleaner air and more natural light, while conserving energy and other natural resources within the building. These benefits help the environment, promote health, enhance productivity and deliver significant cost savings to the bank.

To learn more about One Bryant Park or Bank of America’s environmental business initiative visit
www.bankofamerica.com/environment.

Other sponsors for the GalaVerde include Trane South Florida; Calvin Giordano & Associates; Advanced Green Technologies; Coastal Construction; E3 Building Services; Florida Power & Light; Anderson-Moore Construction Company; GSD Contracting; Haworth; Southeastern Printing Company; iQuest Productions; and the Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty-Six Resort.

To learn more about GalaVerde and the USGBC South Florida Chapter, visit www.usgbcsf.org/galaverde.