Designers, manufacturers, educators, environmentalists, journalists, public policymakers discuss green home furnishings at Las Vegas winter market
During the 2010 Las Vegas winter market, the Sustainable Furnishings Council 
partnered with World Market Center to present its first ECOngress event and its second DESIGNINGreen discussion, the latter featuring Kathy Ireland, HGTV’s Angelo Surmelis (both shown in the photo at right) and Dwell magazine Publisher Michela O’Connor Abrams.
The One World ECOngress, themed “Legal Wood Sourcing & Building Green Markets,” was held Jan. 31, 2010, and featured thirteen speaker panelists from academic, government, environment, industry and media organizations including the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, World Wildlife Fund, Forest Stewardship Council, U.S. Department of Justice, Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, The Forest Trust, Weyerhaeuser, Savannah College of Art & Design, Century Furniture, Oregon State, Williams-Sonoma, Architectural Digest and Associates III Interior Design.
Attendees participated in panel discussions dealing with policy, manufacturing and marketing. “As a first time effort, we were uncertain quite what to expect,” said Jeff Hiller, SFC president “It was truly amazing. The speakers were knowledgeable and interesting, the mood was fun, there was a large audience asking great questions and everyone raved about how much they go out of it.”
Also during the winter Las Vegas market, the SFC hosted its second DESIGNINGreen roundtable. Participants Kathy Ireland, HGTV’s Angelo Surmelis and Dwell magazine President/Publisher Michela O’Connor Abrams discussed the influence of sustainability in their lives and work. Abrams also announced that Dwell would be running the campaign gratis in many of its issues going forward.
"It was inspirational to be involved with an organization like S
FC, and to see all of the people at the events during the Las Vegas Market," Surmelis said. "There is nothing quite like meeting face to face with the individuals who are working on the ground floor of something this exciting."
GREENleaders Certified Sustainability Training SFC concluded its market programming with an all-day staging of the GREENleaders Certified Sustainability Training program.
The training program was written by a LEED AP and launched at the Las Vegas market a year ago. It has since graduated more than 250 participants as expert in green residential. The course is delivered live at market or by webinar. Contact Susan Inglis at (919)967-1137 for more details.
Photo above right: (l-r) Scott Poynton, Jeff Hiller, Mark Haynes, Margaret Casey, Roger Jones, Antonio Larosa, panelists from the Forests to Factories: Supplying Sustainability seminar, ECOngress 2010,World Market Center Las Vegas.
