What are the arguments for the city of Cleveland to mandate that a restored and expanded Cleveland Convention Center and new Medical Mart building on The Mall are built with green building principles?

“Sometimes lost in the debate of should Cleveland build a new convention center (and where), is what type of building can transform the region by offering a vision of what buildings can be in the 21st century?" GreenCityBlueLake Director David Beach writes here. "How has green building technology helped some cities—most notably, Pittsburgh—create forward-thinking convention centers instead of giant, single-purpose, energy intensive boxes?”

Architects and sustainability advocates are joining the call for a green convention center.

“The building industry is the single largest contributor to global warming in the country,” writes GBC staffer Michele Kilroy. “The design, construction and operation of green buildings offers cost effective solutions for achieving measurable results in air quality, energy demands, greenhouse gas effects, water demands, waste reduction and can establish our region as an environmental and economic leader comparable to cities like Pittsburgh and Chicago.”

"The county's partner in the Medical Mart project, MMPI, owns and occupies the world's largest commercial building, The Merchandise Mart in Chicago. They just transformed this facility, which was built in 1930, into a high performing LEED Silver Certified building. As Clevelanders we ask no less of the project they wish to put in our front yard," writes Dave Pindel, an architect and LEED AP with Herschman Architects, Inc. "It would be unconscionable for any structure with the word "Medical" in its name to be anything but. We press for a facility that will leave not only a positive economic impact on Cleveland but also a positive environmental one."

It has been stated by the operator that the building will be built with green principles as well as LEED standards, writes Kelly Brewer, VP of Sales at Positively Cleveland (formerly the Convention and Visitor's Bureau). This public hearing and meeting with Council is vitally important toward demonstrating the viability of the chosen site with the best use of the money allocated publicly for the project.

In the lead up to this Thursday’s public forum on the convention center site selection (2 p.m. at the Cleveland Public Library), let’s take a moment to compile a wish list of the type of innovations we expect to see in this building. How do we capitalize on a convention center as an opportunity to establish Cleveland as a leader in sustainable and historically sensitive design, renovation and construction?