This weekend, Chicagoans get to experience the best from sustainability leaders and organizations gathered at the Navy Pier for Green Festival. The nation’s largest green living event, Green Festival is a non-profit with twelve years of attracting a million attendees in more than five cities, with a commitment to sustainable economy, ecological balance, and social justice.

The DotGreen team at the San Francisco Green Festival in November 2012. (DotGreen photo)

FORD Motors and Green Festivals have partnered once again to fund a Community Green Grant at the Chicago Green Festival. Attendees will be able to vote for their favorite project at the FORD Community Green Grants Booth during show hours. One winner will receive a $5,000 grant, while four runner-up organizations will each receive a $1,000 grant.

Find out more about the May 18-19, 2013 Chicago weekend, and other Green Festival events here.

DotGreen has been a long time attendee of Green Festivals in cities around the US, and we always appreciate the connections and insights of both presenters and attendees who gather for a weekend of sustainability discussion!

Green Festival Chicago attendees gathered at the DotGreen booth during the 2012 event. (DotGreen photo)

During our daylong People & Planet Beijing excursion, delegates explored local green businesses and monuments, including the impressive Parkview Green commercial complex. The sleek building is multi-purpose with, a boutique hotel at the top, offices in the middle, and a shopping center at street level. It has been awarded for excellence in sustainability and design, winning the 2010 MIPIM Asia Best Green Building Award, and the 2011 FuturArc Green Leadership award for a commercial building.

ICANN delegates gather to learn about the sustainable Parkview Green complex from Will Tseng, Associate Director. (DotGreen photo)

Will Tseng, Associate Director, met with our group to explain some of the details and background behind this innovative local green building project.

Delegates admire statues on the grounds of Parkview Green. Forty pieces by Dali are displayed in the public space. (DotGreen photo)

Parkview Green was the first integrated commercial project to be awarded LEED Green Building Rating System Platinum pre-certification. The sustainable technologies and building material results in energy usage about 50% lower than that for other buildings similar in size. This impressive figure is the result of multiple strategies on the interior and exterior of the building:

ETFE film roofing, transparent glass wall, and steel frame structure provide unique levels of energy conservation – this regulates the interior climate, providing natural cooling in summer and conserving heat in the winter.

Internally, a stable micro-circulation system and chilled water VAV systems and intelligent building management system achieve 60-80% energy usage savings. The interior arrangement allows for a high degree of flexibility – the modular office design enables tenants to save on renovation costs.

Water conservation is another priority – special features include electronic taps, low-flow shower facilities, and a rainwater capture system that recycles water for irrigation.

Adding to the artistic vibrancy of the family owned building is a sizeable statue collection that decorates the grounds. DotGreen’s People and Planet guests as well as the local passersby agreed that the building was impressive, environmentally and architecturally.

On March 20, DotGreen spent an evening connecting with like-minded green individuals and business leaders at a LOHAS Forum regional reception in Portland, Oregon.

Ted Ning, LOHAS Executive Director, spent a moment connecting with the group about what draws the LOHAS community together – shared values and common striving for more sustainable alternatives. The acronym Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability (LOHAS) includes the food we eat, the cars we drive, and even the Internet we navigate. LOHAS translates to “happy living” or “living in harmony” in Chinese, a sentiment that reflects harmony with ecological systems, local community, and personal development. The LOHAS and green movement are united by a common thread: living with consciousness around human and environmental impacts.

DotGreen Founder Annalisa Roger had a chance to speak about the future of the .green Top-Level Domain, and the way it will help to unite and strengthen this important community online.

The event was graciously hosted by the office of the Metropolitan Group, a social change agency that empowers social purpose organizations through strategy creative services. Other sponsors at the event were DotGreen, Chinook Book, the ReDirect Guide, New Seasons Market, Frey Vineyards, Spirituality & Health, and Yuzen box.

On Sunday, April 7, 2013, DotGreen Community, Inc. and local guides will bring international Internet delegates on a one-day adventure out to the Great Wall of China. Along the way, participants will learn about China’s sustainability efforts on a local and national level prior to participating in ICANN 46.

This event is free, however, due to popularity space is limited. To find out more about the planned activities, or register your interest in participating, visit http://www.dotgreen.org/people-planet-beijing-rsvp/ or contact Jenny Bullock at jenniferbullock@dotgreen.org.

In January, Annalisa Roger and Jennifer Knoll, DotGreen Founder/CEO and Director, were invited to attend the Green Inaugural Ball, an inauguration event that brought together leaders and visionaries for an evening of green networking at the Newseum in Washington DC. The ball brought together individuals representing groups involved in energy, environment, conservation, and clean-tech communities with a goal to look forward to four more years of accomplishment in the green space.

The evening opened with a speech from Leilani Munter, famous racecar driver and eco-activist. Other notable guests included EPA chief Lisa Jackson and performer will.i.am.

Jennifer Knoll, DotGreen Director, Mayer Hawthorne, musician, and Annalisa Roger, DotGreen Founder/CEO at the Inaugural Green Ball.

Vice President Joe Biden was in attendance, and came by to offer his support for objectives and goals of attendees. “I’ll tell you what my green dream is: That we finally face up to climate change,” said Biden.

Special thanks to DotGreen friends and event hosts at the National Wildlife Federation, a non-profit organization that conducts a range of sustainable activities across the US. Thanks to their efforts, the event aimed for zero waste, and teamed up with Carbonfund.org Foundation to offset the impact of the event.

(Left) Vice President Joe Biden addresses attendees, and (right) American musical artist will.i.am performs for the enthusiastic audience.

Some Green Inaugural Ball Attendees

Peter Winter
Trombone Shorty
Onree Gill
Camp Freddy
Sheila E
Mayer Hawthorne
Nicholas David (The Voice)
DJ Neville C.
Darryl Green
Lorenzo Alexander
Chris Wilson
Kedric Golston
Bill Nye the Science Guy
Antwaan Randle El
Derrick Dockery
Stephanie Miller
Melissa Fitzgerald
Les (Survivorman) Stroud & Gina Gershon
Tate Donovan
Leilani Munter

On January 20, government leaders, visionaries, and celebrities will gather for the 2013 Green Inaugural Ball in the Nation’s capital, hosted by a committee of green organizations involved in environmentalism, conservation, and clean tech. Steering committee leaders include individuals from The National Wildlife Federation, The Carbon War Room, Ameresco, Enviance Inc, President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts and many others. Sponsorship comes from the National Wildlife Federation, Solar Energy Industries Association, The Climate Reality Project, Sierra Club, and NRDC, among other well known environmental organizations.

The Green Inaugural Ball is a celebration of accomplishments for the environment, energy, and clean technology, and a hopeful look forward to the next four years of Presidential support for environmental initiatives. Top leaders in green businesses and communities have the opportunity to mingle and share their plans and expectations for the future in environmental progress. Four years ago, the 2009 Green Inaugural Ball brought together Former Vice President Al Gore and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, along with many environmental, conservation, and business leaders. The 2013 event will again draw leaders and visionaries, to the interactive exhibits at the Newseum building in Washington D.C.

The National Wildlife Federation, one of the nation’s most extraordinary organizations for the protection of wildlife and habitat welcomes VIP guests including DotGreen’s Annalisa Roger and Jennifer Knoll. The National Wildlife Federation works with school, communities, and Capitol Hill on initiatives that span topics from climate change to biodiversity.

DotGreen looks forward to joining the conversation at this event, and meeting with many of the world’s inspiring leaders in the green community. Sustainability is a priority and common ground amongst the world’s greenest change-makers in all industries. Governmental leadership in all countries can contribute to the vitality of the green movement, and the forward progress we all make as national and global citizens.

Another inspiring Green Festival weekend brought the DotGreen team to San Francisco for a great time meeting our grass roots supporters and leaders in environmentally and socially responsible organizations and businesses. The San Francisco Green Festival is always a popular one, drawing thousands of green minded guests over the course of the weekend.

The DotGreen Team attended to once again connect with the local green community and learn about exciting projects, and share current details of the .green domain extension.

The launch of Canada DotGreen marks the first official opening of DotGreen’s Bureaus, and the establishment of a regional presence in Canada. Acting on a local level allows DotGreen to develop a meaningful relationship with the green movement as an Internet community, in regionally specific ways. Local efforts working concurrently around the world are integral to a true confluence for global sustainability, DotGreen Community, Inc., and the .green TLD.

For the third People & Planet event, Saturday October 13, sponsors DotGreen and Neustar teamed up with The Foundation for Building Sustainable Communities, (FBSC) to bring ICANN delegates from around the world together for green adventure before the 45th assembly of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

Kicking off the start of an ICANN meeting with a moment for the environment helps remind us of our shared role in creating a greener world, and protecting what we have. The DotGreen team gathered in Toronto to participate and support the global and equal multi-stakeholder process of governance at ICANN, and DotGreen’s executives participate in the discussions of Internet policy and listen to various perspectives from unique roles within the Internet ecosystem.  As managers of the future .green Top-Level Domain, we acknowledge our commonalities, our service for the Internet user, and especially our shared role in spreading information via a growing Internet, creating opportunities and entrepreneurship, and a sustainable future for all.

On July 23, DotGreen and Neustar  hosted the second People & Planet Green Event in Prague at the start of the ICANN 44 meetings on Internet governance.  A warm and beautiful summer day accommodated over 60 international Internet delegates, in a journey to get to know a greener side of Prague.