Idaho Environmental Forum #168

The Greater Yellowstone Framework:
Using LEED to Save an Ecosystem

MODERATOR

Katie Sewell, Deputy Director, Idaho Small Business Development Center, Boise State University

SPEAKERS

Jan Brown, Executive Director of the Yellowstone Business Partnership

Elizabeth Young, Representing Trout Architects

Program Description

What can be done to help the largest, intact ecosystem in America survive the demands of rapid development? Can businesses, institutions, government entities, and non-profits in two national parks, 25 countries and three large western states come together to address development challenges? The answer can be found in the Greater Yellowstone Framework for Sustainable Development - designed to provide an objective set of regionally relevant standards for encouraging responsible land development.

The Yellowstone Business Partnership mobilized regional leaders in the fields of architecture, construction, land use planning and community design and over 80 volunteers to design the regional rating system. The standards were modeled after the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards developed by the US Green Building Council. The standards provide the basis for an objective assessment and rating of and development projects carried out by trained, unbiased, third-party experts. It is an entirely voluntary assessment and certification program undertaken by and for the private sector.

Our forum will feature Jan Brown, the Executive Director of the Yellowstone Business Partnership, who will share the process used to develop the standards, describe the rating system, and summarize the future potential for the framework.

In addition, Elizabeth Young with Trout Architects, will describe their experience using the framework in the renovation of Harriman State Park.