U.S. Green Building Council Taking Steps To Become More User Friendly?

There have been a couple of developments recently that suggest the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is becoming more user friendly.

In October, USGBC announced that it was introducing a "simpler and more inclusive" membership structure, with dues options that will reduce the barrier to entry. The crux of the change is to replace the current dues structure, which involves relatively hefty dues set based on the number of people in an organization. Under the new structure, a member can elect one of three levels of membership packages that start at $300/year. (As someone who has been tasked with justifying the cost of the firm's involvement in USGBC, I can vouch that it will be much easier to get support for paying $300 than $3,500!)