Congressman Jay Inslee to Participate on Sustainability and Historic Preservation Panel Sponsored by the Trust for Architectural Easements

Washington, DC, March 17, 2009 --(PR.com)-- A series of panel discussions sponsored by the Trust for Architectural Easements, Island Press and the US Green Building Council bring together experts from the financial, real estate, architecture, preservation, planning, and policy worlds to discuss how to create a future that is environmentally, financially, and socially sound. The first two panels – How Policy Influences Development and How We Regulate Development – have been very successful, with capacity attendance and active audiences.

The third panel – How We Finance Development – will be held on March 23, 2009 from 7:30 to 9:00 pm at the SEIU Conference Center Room 1036/38 in Washington, DC. RSVP for this free event by sending an email to kgraves@islandpress.org or calling 202-232-7933 x20.

Congressman Jay Inslee, representing the First District of the State of Washington in the Seattle area, will be joined by Chris Leinberger, Brookings Fellow; Jair Lynch, real estate developer; and Steven McClain, president of the Trust for Architectural Easements. Todd Baldwin, Vice President and Associate Publisher of Island Press, will moderate the panel which will discuss the opportunities and challenges presented by the current financial crisis.

Historic preservation is fundamentally sustainable in that its practice reuses existing built resources and encourages reinvestment in older communities. The integration of green building design into the rehabilitation of historic structures has only recently become a more common and encouraged practice in the United States. Since new construction in the U.S. produces a disproportionate percentage of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, we must continue to rethink housing and commercial development to incorporate sustainable principles. The third panel on Sustainability and Historic Preservation, How We Finance Development, moves us another step forward in the discussion.

The Trust for Architectural Easements is one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit organizations dedicated to voluntary preservation through easement donations.

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