The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced that Zaria Forman will deliver the opening plenary for its annual IMPACT green building conference. IMPACT is the Midwest’s green building event of the year and will be co-located with USGBC’s Green Schools Conference & Expo 2019 (GSCE). IMPACT + GSCE will be held in St. Paul, Minn., from April 8-9, 2019.

The Green Schools Conference & Expo is the only national event to bring together all the players involved in making green schools a reality, while the IMPACT conference is the largest green building conference and expo in the Midwest and attracts building professionals, sustainability leaders and change makers from across the region.

Zaria Forman documents climate change with powerful pastel drawings. She travels to remote regions of the world to collect images and inspiration for her work, which is exhibited in venues around the world. She has flown with NASA on several Operation IceBridge missions over Antarctica, Greenland and Arctic Canada, inspiring her art.

“Zaria brings a unique expertise in science, sustainability and art to this year’s IMPACT and Green Schools Conference & Expo,” said Sheri Brezinka, regional director at USGBC. “She offers an up-close perspective of the environment in remote places and will underscore the importance of addressing the impacts of climate change, which can be seen in all corners of the world, through the practice of green building.”

Forman’s work has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning, CNN and PBS. She has delivered a TEDTalk and has spoken at Amazon, Google and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, exhibited in Banksy’s Dismaland and was the artist-in-residence aboard the National Geographic Explorer in Antarctica. Her works have appeared in publications such as The New York Times, National Geographic, Huffington Post and the Smithsonian Magazine.

"I make drawings of remote landscapes at the forefront of climate change. By sharing the beauty and sublimity of these remote places, I hope to energize viewers to help preserve them,” said Forman. “I am honored, and very much looking forward to sharing my work with a community that is helping to shape and inspire future generations to protect this earth that sustains us all."

The IMPACT conference unites hundreds of industry leaders, experts and professionals to inspire, connect and advance sustainable building across the Midwest. Industry professionals attending IMPACT have a unique opportunity to enhance their understanding of the K-12 schools sector by also attending GSCE. GSCE is produced in partnership with the Green Schools National Network. As the largest gathering of green schools advocates in the country, GSCE offers an opportunity for attendees to learn creative strategies to support healthy, sustainable schools. The co-location of the two conferences will bring together experts from diverse industries within the green building world for a unique opportunity of collaboration and networking.

The GSCE program and the IMPACT program are now available online. 

To register for the event please visit the GSCE/IMPACT website.