Earlier this week the U.S. Chamber Business Civic Leadership Center (BCLC) co-hosted a sustainability conference in North Carolina’s Research Triangle area with the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce. Back in April, BCLC honored the local chamber and the community it serves as an inaugural winner of the "Siemens Sustainable Community Award."

The conference this week served as a way for leaders and officials from both North Carolina and other parts of the country to share lessons learned, discuss challenges, and continue to make progress on building a sustainable community.

Lisa Rossi from The News & Observer reported on the conference:

They want to design buildings that use less energy, teach employees to save water and reduce waste.

Those were a few of the hopes some of the Triangle's largest employers articulated at a conference Tuesday. The challenge, some employers said, is being environmental stewards while making a profit.

"We must think dramatically different," said Aaron Nelson, president of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce. "No more shooting at each other. No more, 'Who's the enemy?' "

Historically, Nelson said, environmentalists have beat on the business community, which has disengaged from environmentalists -- a tension he wants to dissolve.

About 50 people attended the two-day conference on sustainability, broadly defined as meeting present needs without compromising those of future generations.

Stephen Jordan, executive director of the Business Civic Leadership Center, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce affiliate in Washington that promotes business civic involvement, applauded their efforts.

"There's a willingness to innovate and a willingness to accept change that we haven't necessarily seen in some other places," Jordan said. "It's refreshing there's a place that's out there that's actually looking forward on this."

The Research Triangle conference was part of BCLC’s community-forum series made possible by the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration. Other related events have taken or will take place in Boca Raton-Delray Beach, FL; Houston; San Jose, CA; Newark, NJ; Seattle; Rochester, NY; Atlanta; and Minneapolis, MN. For more information visit BCLC’s website.