USGBC President and CEO Rick Fedrizzi will travel to Davos, Switzerland this week to participate in the 40th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, joining some 2500 global leaders from 90 countries as they meet under the theme "Improve the State of the World: Rethink, Redesign, Rebuild." The situation in Haiti will figure significantly in the week's discussion.
Fedrizzi will be a discussion leader for a session on "Retrofit Financing and Investment." He'll be joined on the panel by Joachim Faber , Chief Executive Officer, Allianz Global Investors, Germany; Steve McCann , Chief Executive Officer, Lend Lease Corporation, Australia; Kevin Surace , President and Chief Executive Officer, Serious Materials, USA; and Colin Dyer , President and Chief Executive Officer, Jones Lang LaSalle, USA and Chair of the Governors Meeting for Real Estate 2010.
"We know that the first best fuel is energy efficiency," said Fedrizzi, "but financing for building retrofits to achieve that efficiency is the hardest piece of this puzzle to solve. USGBC is pioneering strategies such as paid-from-savings and green performance contracting, and we are looking forward to getting feedback from this esteemed group." Fedrizzi will participate in a number of other meetings, including several related to the global real estate and global affordable housing sectors.
The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas.
Incorporated as a foundation in 1971, and based in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum is impartial and not-for-profit; it is tied to no political, partisan or national interests. The World Economic Forum is under the supervision of the Swiss Federal Government. Its annual meeting in Davos is by invitation only, and attracts CEOs of its 1,000 member companies, along with key government and NGO leaders.