The process begins with the Call for Presenters. The submissions will be assigned to members of the appropriate subcommittee for review and rating.  Once review of all submissions is complete, the subcommittee will select the presentations that earned high scores on the pre-established review criteria (see below) and that strongly support the key track topics as determined by the track subcommittee.

Each submission will be reviewed by a minimum of four reviewers; some may be reviewed more times.

In making final selections, the committee will be cognizant to not select multiple presentations by one individual or by a specific company or organization.  A subcommittee may recommend a submission for a poster presentation.

All involved reviewers/committee members are listed on the Greening the Heartland website, under the program committee list.  Committee members who felt they were not qualified or may be biased were asked to remove themselves from the review of a submission.

REVIEW CRITERIA

The goal of the Call for Presenters is to identify and recognize new green building, urban design and energy and water management technologies, processes, approaches and leaders in our region and from across the nation.  The attendees of the conference come to learn and take home information that they can apply to their work.

Submissions will be evaluated based on the relevance to the audience comprised of architects, engineers, energy and water management specialists, urban planners, builders and contractors, landscape designers, facility and property owners and managers, government officials, and interior designers.

The technical quality of the presentation must demonstrate a credible basis supported by qualitative and quantitative data.

Each submission will be reviewed and scored in each of the four criteria areas on a scale of 1 to 5.  A “general comment” field will also be available to the reviewers.

1. Innovation of Topic
2. Strategies/methodology to achieve outcomes and/or attainability of objectives
3. Relevance to the respective audience
4. Regional focus (may not be applicable to all submissions as we will include material from all parts of the country)
5. Technical quality of the data source; the robustness of the study and design methods
6. Overall merit of the abstract:  clarity of description, creativity of presentation and scope of objectives

Numerical scores will provide a starting point for evaluation, but will not constitute the sole basis for selection and inclusion in the final program.

The GTH Program Committee reserves the right to accept or reject without prejudice any submission.