This week marks our two year anniversary of our newsletter focusing on sustainable building in the North Texas region. Our initial goals for this newsletter were to keep our member's abreast of local events and workshops and also being a resource for sustainable design and construction practices. During our two years, we have grown tremendously. Read on to see how we have grown!

Weekly e-mail newsletter distribution

The Chapter's first communications were sent to individuals who had dropped business cards at our local events. These individuals were interested in our upcoming events, and also wanted a professional and non-biased source of information. Previously, e-mail addresses were compiled via an excel spreadsheet, which was quickly becoming unmanageable.

On June 28, 2005, we sent out our first mass e-mail newsletter. This newsletter was sent to just over 300 local individuals. Over the last two years, our distribution has seen a significant increase - almost 800%! We are currently distributing to over 2,600 individuals weekly!

Membership growth!

In June 2005, we were still a fledging Chapter with just over 150 local members. Organized as a 501(c)3 non- profit, the USGBC North Texas Chapter relies solely on our member participation. All of our activities are organized and handled on a 100% volunteer basis.

One of the strengths of the North Texas Chapter is it's diversity of its members. With over 450 current members (and growing), we represent the entire green building industry. Our members are made up of developers, contractors, product manufacturers, retailers, property and facility managers, educators, interior designers, architects, and engineers, just to name a few!

At the Chapter level, our membership is individual based, and open to all. USGBC National membership is reserved for companies and organizations, and allows all full-time employees to enjoy National member benefits. Chapter membership allows any individual, regardless of whether or not his or her company is a member, to participate in the chapter and take advantage of local chapter benefits.

Our sponsors sustain us!

Even as a volunteer based non-profit, the Chapter needs funds to sustain our activities. By accepting sponsors, the Chapter has been able to host our events at a heavily discounted and manageable rate for our members - most times break-even or even at a loss. Our sponsors provide the majority of operational and project costs associated with the core operation and progress of the Chapter. We thank them for their support, and encourage our members to support them in turn.

Our sponsors also enjoy an association with the Chapter through our newsletter and website. In this way, our sponsors are exposed to others in our local market that also share an interest in sustainable building. Since June of 2005, we have distributed 191,710 e-mails, an average of 8,000 per month! Our website also averaged 1,600 visits monthly.

The Chapter is always interested in aligning with new sponsors. If your company shares similar ideals and philosophies as the Chapter, consider becoming an annual sponsor. Rates are very affordable, and range from $1,000 to $50,000 annually.

Professionalism is growing!

There are currently two professional accreditations available for individuals relating to sustainable building. The LEED AP designation, or LEED Accredited Professional, distinguishes building professionals with the knowledge and skills to successfully steward the integrated design and LEED certification process. A quickly growing group, the North Texas region is proud to have over 750 LEED AP's.

Green Advantage (GA) is a complementary accreditation, and certifies an individual's knowledge of the latest in "green" building practices, technologies and techniques. Green Advantage is a relatively new accreditation, and has only been released from pilot stage since early this year. In that short time, the North Texas Chapter has been a leader to other's throughout the nation, and is proud to have over 225 Green Advantage accredited professionals locally.

Michael Kawecki is a Project Manager for Sustainable Structures of Texas, a sustainable design/build contractor. He recently completed the Hensley Field Operations Center, a LEED Gold certified facility, and has been involved in sustainable building since 2002. For additional information regarding this article, please contact Michael at mkawecki@usgbcnorthtexas.org. All comments are the sole responsibility of the author.

This article was originally posted 6/26/07.