Message From the President

In February I was an invited speaker at the International Construction Week (ICW) 2012 held from February 14 to 16 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Each year the Malaysian government and the Construction Industry Board of Malaysia brings together leaders and key players in the global construction industry to showcase the latest in construction products and services, construction mechanization and automation, and green technology. I was impressed by the large amount of infrastructure development that Malaysia is undertaking.

In early March, close to a dozen participants of the National Sustainable Agriculture Standard development process traveled from across the country to Leonardo Academy's office in Madison, Wisconsin to work on refining the draft standard. It was a very productive three days. The group completed an incredible amount of work, paving the way for the draft standard to be ready for review at the annual Standard Committee meeting in Washington, DC this April 24-25.

March was a notable month for our Sustainable Building Services team. We announced the achievement of LEED-EB Gold Certification for three of our projects: the Wisconsin Department of Administration's La Crosse State Office Building and National Resources Building in Madison, and Gould Property Company's and Boston Properties' Market Square North Building in Washington, DC.

Leonardo Academy's Sustainable Transportation Program has partnered with the Schneider National to reduce emissions from 107 tractors and trailers through the EPA's Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program. This is a voluntary collaboration between the EPA, the freight industry and interested parties to reduce greenhouse gases and air pollution within the transportation sector. Additionally, we are facilitating efforts to reduce emissions from two Wisconsin ferry operators, the Madeline Island Ferry Line (MIFL) and Washington Island Ferry Line (WIFL), which were also awarded funds to help offset the cost of replacing older inefficient engines through the same grant program. As always, Leonardo Academy's Sustainable Transportation Program is recruiting additional partners for future EPA grant cycles.