2025 has been a year of transition for the Greater Cincinnati 2030 District. When the program was founded, it primarily focused on the large buildings located in downtown Cincinnati. Over time, however, we realized there were many building owners and managers outside of the urban core that stood to benefit from the value we had to offer. Therefore, we decided to regionalize our program by opening it up to buildings located anywhere in the 10-county territory served by Green Umbrella.

This decision has prompted us to explore ways to reach new audiences and scale our impact. We have developed new initiatives to expand awareness of energy management solutions and showcase our region’s green building leaders. Throughout it all, we have been gratified to learn that interest in improving the sustainability of our building stock, and the enthusiasm for doing so, is widespread across our region.

Looking ahead to 2026, we have exciting things in store. We will be increasing community outreach and engagement. We are actively developing new projects to further scale our impact to reach all members. And we are working on ways to generate increased visibility and excitement for our members, both old and new.

To celebrate you and the region’s progress, I would like to invite you to join us at our year-end event for the 2030 District: Elevating Regional Champions. The event will take place on December 11, from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. You can learn more about it in the Upcoming Events section below.

Sol Design + Consulting, a local leader in the field of sustainable design, has been a steadfast member of the Greater Cincinnati 2030 District since the program started. The expert architects at Sol can design a sustainable building from the ground up, or they can serve as a sustainability consultant on a project, contributing their deep expertise in green design and certification. This was the role they played in the case of the Ingalls Building, a historic restoration project in downtown Cincinnati that was ultimately awarded LEED Gold status. Back in October, Sanyog Rathod, Founder and CEO of Sol shared a case study of the Ingalls project as part of the 2030 District Panel at the ReBuild Conference.

In September, the 2030 District convened a roundtable discussion on the topic of Policy Innovation in the Building Sector. This was part of the broader Thrive Together initiative, which is an effort to create a "sustainability playbook” for our region. The intent is to create a blueprint that local leaders can draw from to help them implement sustainability across a wide range of sectors. For the Buildings Roundtable, we brought together nearly 40 experts from architecture, engineering, energy management, finance, policy, and other related fields. Collectively, these building sector experts contributed dozens of ideas to the playbook.

Building Performance Standards (BPS) are policies that stipulate a minimum level of energy efficiency for existing buildings. These policies are being adopted by a growing number of cities across the United States, and the 2023 Green Cincinnati Plan calls for the study of one for Cincinnati. Throughout the summer and fall, the 2030 District worked with the City of Cincinnati’s Office of Sustainability and Environment and Dr. Amanda Webb at UC to explore a BPS for the city.

As part of that effort, we helped recruit a stakeholder working group to study other cities’ BPS policies and provide feedback on what would make the most sense for our community. The organizing team is now in the process of preparing a synopsis of the input that was received, which will then be submitted to the City Council for further consideration.

December 11 | 5:00 - 7:00 PM | 1819 Innovation Hub

Come celebrate the 2030 District! Enjoy drinks, light bites, good company, and a friendly sustainability trivia competition. We will have presentations on a host of innovative green building projects from across our region, and unveil our exciting plans for 2026!

Dec 11 | 12:00 - 1:00 PM | Virtual

Are you looking for financial support for your clean energy project? Join us for a presentation by Nikki Vandivort from Cincinnati’s Office of Environment and Sustainability on the shifting landscape of federal, state, and local incentives for clean energy projects.

The City of Cincinnati is sponsoring a program to provide area contractors with an exciting opportunity to deepen their expertise and burnish their professional credentials by undergoing BPI (Building Performance Institute) training and certification. The following certifications are being offered:

Local residents and businesses will get priority consideration. The program is currently funded through the end of 2025, so if you are interested, don’t delay.

Learn more and find the application here.

The 2026 Midwest Regional Sustainability Summit invites leaders across government, business, nonprofit, and academic sectors to share their ideas and innovations that help our region adapt today so we can thrive tomorrow.

We are seeking proposals for speakers and breakout sessions, artists and live performers, and academic or professional posters that explore how we can strengthen resilience, accelerate innovation, and build collective capacity for a more sustainable and equitable future.

Proposals due: December 31, 2025

Summit date: June 12, 2026 | Sharonville Convention Center (Cincinnati, OH)

Learn more and submit: midwestsustainabilitysummit.org

Interested in sponsoring the Greater Cincinnati 2030 District? Review Green Umbrella’s sponsor package and reach out to charlie@greenumbrella.org.

Reply to this email to reach Wyatt, or for questions regarding membership, visit here or email membership@greenumbrella.org