Education and events

In week one, participants will identify key dependencies on nature within the built environment sector and explain why addressing them is essential for long-term resilience.

The scale of the challenge is significant. Buildings and construction account for approximately 37% of global carbon dioxide emissions, nearly 50% of global material extraction, and 28% of global energy consumption. As global building stock continues to expand, decisions made today about materials, buildings, infrastructure, and urban development will shape ecological conditions for decades.

Yet the built environment does not simply affect nature - it also depends on healthy natural systems for essential resources and functions, including water, materials, temperature regulation, flood protection, and climate resilience. This module introduces the ambition of nature positive cities and examines where built environment decisions influence natural systems, from materials and buildings to neighborhoods and cities.

This session explores the intersection of the SITES v2 rating system and the European Union’s Nature Restoration Law, demonstrating how Italy is operationalizing restoration mandates through high-performance landscapes. We address a critical gap in current practices: the integration of environmental rating systems with the conservation of historic and testimonial values in monumental gardens.

The narrative follows a "Vision to Performance" model, beginning with a pilot guideline developed for the historic Villa Ada in Rome. This methodology introduces a structured "Knowledge Project" and dedicated Alternative Compliance Paths (ACP) that allow heritage sites to meet SITES v2 requirements while respecting strict conservation constraints.

The narrative then provides technical validation through the "Central Bosc" project in Ferrara. This 5.5-hectare urban forest is currently undergoing the SITES v2 certification process, implementing a suite of innovative solutions specifically designed to satisfy SITES v2 Credit 9.3 (Plan to Monitor and Report Site Performance).

Attendees will discover how the integration of IoT-driven monitoring and bio-modeling provides the rigorous accountability required by public stakeholders and green finance, delivering measurable results such as a 5°C cooling effect and a sequestration of 166 t/year of $CO_2$ eq. By bridging academic research with institutional implementation, the session offers a scalable roadmap for using SITES v2 to transform public funding into verified environmental dividends, supporting the achievement of mandatory nature recovery targets.

Nature positive — halting and reversing nature loss — is reshaping expectations across the built environment. Buildings, landscapes, infrastructure, and cities are increasingly expected to restore ecological function, strengthen resilience, support public health, and adapt to climate pressures. What began as a biodiversity conversation is now influencing policy, investment, and risk decisions at scale.

This session examines how LEED, SITES, and related frameworks support biodiversity, resilience, ecosystem services, and public health across sectors. Speakers from municipal government, finance, regenerative design, and certification will connect market pressures — including TNFD disclosure, resilience and insurability, climate adaptation policy, and demand for measurable performance — to on-the-ground realities.

USGBC will frame how nature-positive strategies integrate across LEED, SITES, and LEED for Cities, and where stronger alignment may still be needed. Attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of what it takes across policy, finance, design, and certification to scale implementation.