As the nation faces rising fuel prices, a struggling economy, a slumping construction market and increasing concern about climate change, an architect Tuesday told an audience in West Valley that solutions are available.

Speaking to an audience of about 400 people at the Salt Lake Sustainable Building Conference at the Utah Cultural Celebration Center, Edward Mazria, founder and executive director of Architecture 2030, said constructing buildings that would result in 50 percent less emission of carbon gases would help move the economy forward and mitigate climate change.

"The federal government has to require that all developments using a dollar of federal funds meet that standard," he said.

Architecture 2030 is an independent, nonprofit organization with the goal of achieving a dramatic reduction in greenhouses gases that contribute to global warming by changing the way buildings and developments are planned, designed and constructed.

"Think about what goes into a building when you renovate it and make it more efficient," he said.

Tradesmen, manufacturers and suppliers stand to benefit and prosper as they assist in environmentally friendly development and reigniting of the economy, he said.

His group's strategy, called The Challenge 2030, is a measured and achievable plan to dramatically reduce global greenhouse-gas emissions and fossil-fuel consumption, he said.

Mazria said local leaders should join together to develop funding for green-building projects that will jump-start the state's economy.

"Utah should invest $164 million in building energy efficiency each year for five years," he said. "Squeeze the money out of the feds' plate, or if you have to, create a public-private partnership, which would be even better."

Mazria said such a plan would create about 8,000 new jobs in the state and save consumers over $960 million over that five-year period in energy and efficiency improvement savings.

"It will stimulate construction and the Utah economy," he said. "It will reduce building-sector energy consumption and reduce Utah's contribution to greenhouse-gas emissions."

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