About the Awards

Every year, across every region of California, people are doing extraordinary work, designing buildings and exterior spaces that raise the bar. These visionaries heal rather than harm, championing communities that have been left out, and push our industry to be bolder, more innovative, and more equitable.

The California Green Building & Community Awards exist to find them. To celebrate them. And to make sure the rest of us know their names, projects & good work.

Nominations are open to projects, leaders, and organizations from across California. A single winner is named in each category and recognized live at the Green Gala on December 10, 2026. This is our moment to honor the work that represents the best of what California's green building community can do.

Nominations & Awards Timeline

Step 01 • May 2026

Submissions launch at the Annual California Green Building Conference. Self-nominations are welcome and encouraged.

Step 02 • Week of Oct 26

A shortlist of finalists in each category is announced publicly and notified directly.

Step 03 • Dec 10, 2026

A single winner in each category is announced live at our annual Green Gala celebration.

Awards Ceremony & Green Gala

Each award recognizes a distinct kind of leadership in California's green building movement. A single winner is named in each category at the Green Gala — taking place in 2026 at the Audry Irmas Pavillion.

★ Highest Honor

Project of the Year

Recognizes a project that exemplifies overall excellence in sustainable design, construction, and operations by demonstrating exceptional performance across multiple categories, including energy, water, carbon, waste, health, equity, and nature-based solutions. This award honors the project that best embodies the spirit of the CA Green Building Awards, representing innovation, leadership, and measurable impact in advancing the future of green building.

Green Building Awards

Energy

Recognizing a project that goes above and beyond CalGreen’s Title 24 energy baseline, while incorporating solar, battery storage, and/or all electric readiness.

Green Building Awards

Water

Recognition of a project that achieves significant water savings through nature-based solutions, onsite reuse, or retention and recharge. 

Green Building Awards

Carbon

Recognition of a project that meaningfully addresses embodied and/or operational carbon throughout design, construction, and operation. 

Green Building Awards

Waste

This award recognizes a project that has successfully incorporated waste diversion and mitigation strategies from design through construction and O&M. 

Green Building Awards

Health

Recognition of a project that puts health at its center through features such as material choices, daylighting, access to nature, and biophilic design.

Green Building Awards

Equity

Recognition of a project with equity considerations at the core of its design. Includes at least three of the following: community engagement, material health, access to public transportation, and/or cultural responsiveness.

Green Building Awards

Nature-Based

This award recognizes a project that has successfully incorporated relevant strategies into the building design, landscape biodiversity, and balanced site ecology. 

Community Awards

Emerging Leader Award

Recognizing an individual who is still early in their career, but is demonstrating industry leadership in pushing us all forward to a more sustainable built environment. 

Community Awards

Kevin Devine Award

This award honors the life and work of Kevin Devine, commemorating a leading green building operations and maintenance, or facilities professional who demonstrates the highest values that Kevin represented: true leadership and setting an example for others.

Community Awards

Environmental Justice Award

Honors an organization or person who has led in putting equity and the environment at the center of focus for projects and buildings across our state.

Community Awards

Community Impact Award

Recognizes outstanding leadership paving the way toward a more sustainable future. 

Community Awards

Corporate Sustainability Award

Recognizes a company creating lasting change through ambitious goals, policy, and action towards a more sustainable future.

Community Awards

Volunteer of the Year

Honors a USGBC-CA member who consistently and actively contributes to and supports USGBC-CA and its community, and inspires others to do the same.

Community Awards

Sustainable Entertainment Award

Recognizes a company, organization, or person in the entertainment industry who is creating lasting change through ambitious goals, education, policy, and/or action toward a more sustainable future.

Community Awards

Partner of the Year

Recognizes outstanding organizational leadership and commitment to accelerating the transformation of California into a more sustainable region for all.

Community Awards

Heart of the Chapter

Honors a USGBC-CA member(s) who has/have gone above and beyond in their dedication to creating a more sustainable future for us all and inspires us to keep doing this work.

Selection & Criteria

A volunteer jury of California's green building leaders.

Nominations are reviewed by a jury of green building professionals, community advocates, and sustainability leaders from across California's ten regions. Jurors represent a range of expertise, from policy to environmental justice, and recuse themselves where a conflict of interest exists.

All nominations are evaluated on the criteria to the right. A single winner is named in each category. There are no runners-up, only finalists.
 

Innovation

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Strategies Used to Honor Credit Intent

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Team Collaboration

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Community Impact

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How to Enter

Anyone can submit a nomination for themselves, their organization, their project, or someone whose work deserves to be seen. There is no entry fee.

Choose your category

Review the eight award categories and select the one that best fits the work you're nominating. A nomination may only be submitted to one category.


Opens May 2026

Submit your nomination

Complete the nomination form with a project or candidate description, supporting materials, and contact information. Self-nominations are welcome and encouraged.



Via online form

Jury review

Our jury evaluates all nominations against the five selection criteria. Finalists are notified and announced publicly the week of October 26.


Oct 26 · Finalists Announced

Green Gala, winners revealed

A single winner in each category is announced live at the Green Gala. Finalists and nominators are invited to attend and celebrate together.

Dec 10, 2026 · Los Angeles

Nominations open in May at the Annual California Green Building Conference. In the meantime, mark your calendar and spread the word.