Portland, Ore. – April 10, 2008 – Green building does not happen at just the design level – those who facilitate the use and sale of green buildings must also be able to speak the language of “green.” To address this need, the Cascadia Region Green Building Council and the Commercial Brokers Association (CBA) are venturing together on an initiative called Certified Green Broker® commencing with a conference on May 22 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland. Geared towards the commercial real estate and finance communities, Green Broker® will introduce brokers and other commercial real estate service providers to practices of marketing, financing, leasing and selling of green buildings.
 
“It is often the brokers and finance professionals, not the architects and builders, who directly interface with the end user: the owner, landlord, and/or tenant. Therefore they have great influence on how owners and users may perceive the affordability and overall value of green buildings,” said Jason McLennan, CEO of Cascadia. 
 
With session topics that range from market trends to the art of crafting green leases, presenters from all disciplines of green building expertise will provide attendees with a comprehensive foundation in green issues related to the commercial brokerage industry –a knowledge base that is becoming increasingly vital to the financing, sale and leasing of commercial real estate. 
 
“Sustainability has become a fundamental issue for the bottom line of commercial real estate, which will impact property values, leasing rates and practices and employee/tenant satisfaction,” said Tricia Deering, president and CEO of CBA. “A commercial broker who is familiar with green issues will provide the best service to their clients.”
 
Green real estate leaders and advocates Bill Browning, co-founder of Terrapin Bright Green LLC, and Martin Melaver, president and founder of Melaver Inc., are the conference’s keynote speakers. 

“For me, it's important to be a part of this conference because, when sustainability hits Main Street in a big way, it's critical to reach out to the brokerage community and say ‘help us lead this movement,’” said Melaver, who calls brokers the translators and diffusers for the building industry. 
 
The unveiling of a new professional certification, Certified Green Broker®, will also take stage at the conference. Through web-based and live seminars in Seattle, Portland and Vancouver, this program will provide cutting edge continuing education to brokers and award successful candidates with credentials that will raise the bar for industry standards.
 
The conference will be an annual event and will take place in Seattle, WA in 2009 and in Vancouver, BC in 2010.