The Ambrose Collection, having pioneered environmentally responsible practices years before “green” buildings were touted by the media, has made history with the recognition of its flagship property, The Ambrose, as the first-ever U.S. hotel to earn LEED-EB certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).  The prestigious honor positions The Ambrose Collection at the forefront of the green development movement and verifies its expertise in marrying affordable luxury with eco-consciousness, offering a profitable new model of “sustainable hospitality.

Emerging Artists Family Workshops at SMMOA
Plastic Hunks and Chunks with Alison Joy Goldberg
August 9th
10 am -12pm
Santa Monica Museum of Art
2525 Michigan Ave
Santa Monica, CA
www.smmoa.org

Plastic is ubiquitous, colorful, practical, and way-too-disposable. In an act of creative conciousness, construct unique shapes and forms entirely out of recycled plastic. For more information please visit www.smmoa.org.

Gipsy Kings 2008 Tour
August 15th
8pm
2700 North Vermont, in Griffith Park
Los Angeles, CA
www.greektheatrela.com

Since the 1987 release of the international hit single "Bamboleo," the Gipsy Kings have sold more than fourteen million albums worldwide, more than four million in the United States alone. They are the best-selling French band in history and are among the non-English speaking groups best known in the U.S. The group’s recordings and live performances continue to earn critical and popular acclaim. For more information please visit www.greektheaterla.com

Maria Sibylla Merian & Daughters: Women of Art and Science
Thru August 31st
The Getty Center
1200 Getty Center Drive
Los Angeles, CA
www.getty.edu

Charting the artistic and scientific explorations of German artist Maria Sibylla Merian and her daughters, this exhibit presents books, prints and watercolors by the family. For more information please visit www.getty.edu.

The U.S. Green Building Council is a nonprofit membership organization whose vision is a sustainable built environment within a generation. Its membership includes corporations, builders, universities, government agencies, and other nonprofit organizations. Since UGSBC’s founding in 1993, the Council has grown to more than 13,000 member companies and organizations, a comprehensive family of LEED® green building rating systems, an expansive educational offering, the industry’s popular Greenbuild International Conference and Expo (www.greenbuildexpo.org), and a network of 72 local chapters, affiliates, and organizing groups. For more information, visit www.usgbc.org.

The LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System™ is a feature-oriented rating system that awards buildings points for satisfying specified green building criteria. The six major environmental categories of review include: Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality and Innovation and Design. Certified, Silver, Gold, and Platinum levels of LEED green building certification are awarded based on the total number of points earned within each LEED category. LEED can be applied to all building types including new construction, commercial interiors, core & shell developments, existing buildings, homes, neighborhood developments, schools and retail facilities. LEED for Healthcare is currently under development and is expected to be released in early 2008.

Incentives for LEED are available at the state and local level and LEED has also been adopted nationwide by federal agencies, state and local governments, and interested private companies. For more information, visit www.usgbc.org/LEED.