In partnership with the New York Chapter of the National Investor Relations Institute ZCCI hosted a panel to provide an overview of the February 2nd SEC guidance outlining its interpretation of the existing disclosure requirements as they apply to climate change matters. The panel was comprised of Steven Lydenberg, Chief Investment Officer, Domini Social Investments; Jeffrey Rubin, Partner, Hogan & Hartson; and David Westman, Climate and Sustainability Manager, Consolidated Edison

Washington Post energy correspondent Steve Mufson spoke about the BP oil spill and its implications for companies that find and provide the world with fossil fuels. He addressed the legal, legislative and policy responses to the disaster and discussed the unique ethical challenges facing the energy industry.

The conference examined the current best practices of ethics and independence within the auditing profession. Speakers included national partners of the Big Four accounting firms; Darrel Schubert, Chair, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ Auditing Standards Board; Brian Croteau, Deputy Chief Accountant for the Professional Practice Group, Securities and Exchange Commission; and Martin Baumann Chief Auditor or the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). Ensuring Integrity was organized in partnership with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy's Center for the Public Trust.

This conference was designed for the owners and managers of exisiting commerical and residential property and allied professionals, consultants, and contractors. It provided and overview of legislative requirements and practical information for compliance and the realization of cost savings.

Modernism was the defining cultural movement of the 20th century. While its application to the built environment lacked our understanding of resource constraints, its hallmark was, in fact, a precursor of today's quest for sustainability: realizing maximum value from minimal means tailored to local conditions.

Over time, Modernism's precepts were misapplied or neglected, with damaging results. But its power is undimmed. By applying its integrative, analytic rigor and its focus on solving problems at the deepest level, we can both serve sustainability goals and enrich our quality of life. And we can honor and reclaim the authenticity of place.

Opportunities to do this abound. Our existing building stock contains immense stores of "embodied resources," notably the energy consumed at every step of a building's creation. We can capitalize on this by adapting buildings now in surplus to meet new demands for space, avoiding the exorbitant environmental costs of demolition and new construction. We can upgrade buildings in active use to high-performance standards. We can sustainably preserve buildings with historic and aesthetic merit, many of them Modernist structures. We can shape urban and regional planning contexts appropriately.

To illuminate the magnitude of these potential benefits and how Modernism can guide us toward them, we're convening a glittering roster of experts. Some are Modernism's direct heirs: they knew its practitioners and worked with or for them. All of them view it as a living legacy. Their provocative discussions will be keyed to release of a major new book: Greening Modernism: Preservation, Sustainability, and the Modern Movement, by Carl Stein, FAIA, who will speak at the event.

American Justice for Sale consisted of two panels and was directed toward a business professional audience. Panel I provided an overview of judicial elections and issues that can arise from campaign contributions in these elections. Panel II detailed how corporations respond to these ethical challenges. This program was sponsored by the Center for Political Accountability and the Carol and Lawrence Zicklin Center for Business Ethics Research at Wharton.

This daylong conference served as a forum for interaction between business and accounting executives and policy setters from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). The program was highlighted by FASB Chair Robert Herz, SEC Chief Accountant James Kroeker, and International Accounting Standards Board member James Leisenring.

How small could our city’s water footprint be? What would cost-effective, ecologically sound management of water & energy systems look like?

Wasteful water use boosts carbon emissions: moving, heating, cooling, and treating water consumes energy. It pollutes waterways: wastewater volumes swollen by stormwater routinely cause sewer-system overflows; fooding driven by climate change will exacerbate this. NYC water and wastewater costs have soared and are projected to rise higher still.

Regulatory policies, infrastructure investment, new technologies, and best management practices all shape these matters. Drawing from NYC case studies, lessons learned from abroad, and research findings, speakers explored these questions:

• How can energy use be minimized in managing water and wastewater?

• What cost savings are possible?

• How can design of energy, water, and HVAC systems be integrated to optimize performance?

• Is individualized water metering coming?

• What role will ASHRAE Chapter 189.1 Green Building Standards play in future system design?

• Where are NYC water rates heading?

• How much water drawn from aquifers could be displaced by recycled water?

• How can rainwater be captured and reused?

• How can wastewater be treated and reused?

• How can stormwater be characterized, captured, and reused?

• What are NYC’s wastewater and sewer-system infrastructure needs? How will they be met?

Kerry A. Miller, Office of General Counsel, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, lead a discussion drawing on his experience in the Enron collapse as well as more recent examples from the global financial meltdown to examine the ethical issues that face lawyers, investment bankers, accountants and boards of directors in the modern economy.