Who We Are

Welcome to

USGBC California!

Welcome to

USGBC California!

California is on the front lines of the climate crisis, and the buildings where we live and work are a major part of both the problem and the solution. We’re a statewide, member-based nonprofit made up of architects, developers, policymakers, and building professionals. Together, our members are reshaping how this state builds, connecting the industry at events, helping residents make their homes more efficient, and training the next generation of green building leaders, because the buildings we build today decide the California we live in tomorrow.

Our Mission

Transform California through the built environment into a more sustainable, resilient, and equitable place for all.

We share the core values of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), but our focus is uniquely California: the state’s own environmental, social, and policy challenges. By inspiring communities and fostering collaboration, we drive systemic change through:

Leading

Inspiring leaders throughout our communities to take action on climate change, public health, and environmental justice.

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Educating

Developing and empowering a diverse talent pipeline through training, mentorship, and direct engagement.

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Connecting

Convening interdisciplinary perspectives and collaborating to create positive systemic change.

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Advocating

Promoting innovative and impactful policy solutions to address the urgent environmental and social challenges of our time.

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We're for California, by California.

What We Do

At USGBC California, we help people and communities learn how to build a more sustainable future, with a special focus on what California needs. We offer training programs and certificates that prepare professionals across disciplines to take on today’s environmental and social challenges.

We build new programs by testing ideas, using new technology, listening to community feedback, and sharing resources that inspire positive change.

We lead by educating, connecting people, supporting environmental policy, and encouraging sustainable practices that match California’s climate and environmental goals.

A new era of statewide Green Building leadership

In April of 2024, we announced the unification of green building communities across California into USGBC California. This moment marked a pivotal step forward in our mission to transform California through the built environment into a more sustainable, resilient, and equitable place for all.

By uniting existing communities in San Diego, Orange County, Los Angeles, the Central Coast, Central Valley, Bay Area, and Redwood Empire, we are stronger together and more capable than ever before of championing sustainability, environmental justice, and advancing green building practices across our beautiful state.

Join us as we build upon our collective legacy of environmental stewardship, climate education, and community action. Together, we can make a lasting impact and build a brighter tomorrow for generations to come.

Statewide Committees

Collaboratively advances education, policy, and programs on building decarbonization through technology, tools, and materials.

Dedicated to fostering a sustainable and resilient future through the development of a comprehensive circular manufacturing and reuse network.

This committee provides a space for collaboration to advance sustainability in construction through education, leadership, and access to resources.

Underlying Environmental Justice in planning, infrastructure, and other related issues which are not just affected by climate change, lack of representation, and inclusion of solid commitments. The DEIB committee seeks to combat environmental and social injustice issues that plague inner city communities, like air pollution, lack of sustainable housing, lack of funding for training programs, lack of representation in community block grants, and sustainable urban planning projects.

Convenes fresh new perspectives from some of the brightest minds in our sector. This group helps to support all of our committees and serves as a pipeline for emerging talent to grow into leadership positions within our organization and their own organizations.

The Green Building Design & Engineering Committee provides a forum for multidisciplinary collaboration to elevate the role of sustainable design within our region through education, innovation, and leadership.

Provides a dynamic platform for exchange, engagement, and alignment to encourage healthy, sustainable, affordable, and regenerative practices in home building and living. The committee aims to address the inequities of access to information, resources, and technology by working to advance and diversify the awareness, knowledge, and innovation in greening homes through education, training, and outreach.

Engages community schools in a dialogue that facilitates and encourages the growth of a sustainable school system, for K-12 schools and higher education. This includes providing the fundamentals of sustainability education, improving internal and external campus systems. Suggested changes ensure the health and well-being of all students and school campus employees for both indoor and outdoor spaces in which they inhabit daily.

The Living Futures Committee seeks to go beyond minimizing our buildings’ negative impact on our environment. The committee strives to create a positive contribution to this environment by facilitating open dialogue about leading-edge designs and arranging tours of regenerative projects. Living Futures envisions a thriving California that is socially just, ecologically restorative, and culturally rich

Provides a forum for women and allies to make an impact in the Greater LA region, build networks, celebrate women leaders and create healthy, inclusive, sustainable, resilient communities for all.

Bay Area

Los Angeles

San Diego

Collaboratively advances education, policy, and programs on building decarbonization through technology, tools, and materials.

Dedicated to fostering a sustainable and resilient future through the development of a comprehensive circular manufacturing and reuse network.

This committee provides a space for collaboration to advance sustainability in construction through education, leadership, and access to resources.

Underlying Environmental Justice in planning, infrastructure, and other related issues which are not just affected by climate change, lack of representation, and inclusion of solid commitments. The DEIB committee seeks to combat environmental and social injustice issues that plague inner city communities, like air pollution, lack of sustainable housing, lack of funding for training programs, lack of representation in community block grants, and sustainable urban planning projects.

Convenes fresh new perspectives from some of the brightest minds in our sector. This group helps to support all of our committees and serves as a pipeline for emerging talent to grow into leadership positions within our organization and their own organizations.

The Green Building Design & Engineering Committee provides a forum for multidisciplinary collaboration to elevate the role of sustainable design within our region through education, innovation, and leadership.

Provides a dynamic platform for exchange, engagement, and alignment to encourage healthy, sustainable, affordable, and regenerative practices in home building and living. The committee aims to address the inequities of access to information, resources, and technology by working to advance and diversify the awareness, knowledge, and innovation in greening homes through education, training, and outreach.

Engages community schools in a dialogue that facilitates and encourages the growth of a sustainable school system, for K-12 schools and higher education. This includes providing the fundamentals of sustainability education, improving internal and external campus systems. Suggested changes ensure the health and well-being of all students and school campus employees for both indoor and outdoor spaces in which they inhabit daily.

The Living Futures Committee seeks to go beyond minimizing our buildings’ negative impact on our environment. The committee strives to create a positive contribution to this environment by facilitating open dialogue about leading-edge designs and arranging tours of regenerative projects. Living Futures envisions a thriving California that is socially just, ecologically restorative, and culturally rich

Provides a forum for women and allies to make an impact in the Greater LA region, build networks, celebrate women leaders and create healthy, inclusive, sustainable, resilient communities for all.

Bay Area

Los Angeles

San Diego

Regional Leadership Advisory Boards

Regional Leadership Advisory Boards (RLABs) are composed of passionate leaders who advance transformational communities across California.

RLABs build local capacity by developing initiatives (programs or events) that directly benefit members in the region and serve as an active pipeline for community engagement, network development, and impact.

RLAB members are responsible for generating ideas and initiatives that address local community needs while aligning with USGBC-CA’s mission. RLABs will direct and advise on regional advocacy while providing feedback on statewide or federal policy.

Bay Area
Central California
Central Coast
Inland Empire
Long Beach
Los Angeles
Orange County
Redwood Empire
Sacramento
San Diego

Honoring the Present, Inspiring the Future.

This plan is more than a vision on paper. It’s a call to action. It reflects our shared commitment to building a more sustainable, resilient, and equitable California, and it can’t succeed without leaders like you.

Your ideas, your expertise, and your leadership are what will turn this vision into reality. Together, we’ll shape the projects, initiatives, and partnerships that define the future of green building in California.

Thank you for your ongoing support and dedication to our mission. Now we invite you to take the next step: get involved, share your insights, and help us bring this strategic plan to life.