The Green Building Matters Podcast with Charlie Cichetti

Tucker Perkins is the president and chief executive officer of the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC), an organization authorized by the U.S. Congress with passage of the Propane Education and Research Act (PERA), Public Law 104-284, signed into law on October 11, 1996. Tucker assumed the role of PERC president and CEO when Roy Willis retired July 31, 2017, having previously served as PERC's chief business development officer since 2012 and then as chief operating officer since December 2016. He has worked in the propane industry for 26 years, having served as the director of business development for Inergy, chief executive officer of Premier Propane, and the chief operating officer of Columbia Propane, a unit of the Columbia Energy Group. Tucker is also the former chairman of a PERC advisory committee on engine fuel matters and is active with the National Propane Gas Association and the Virginia Propane Gas Association. Show Highlights The most important topic in green buildings. Understanding how propane is such a different fuel and can support the demands of the industry as a fuel of the future. PERC in the Propane Education and Research Council and there are three roles they play in the industry. Solutions to address where the power gaps are and how to begin to fill them with a changing and fragile electric grid. Tucker shares innovations that will minimize our environmental footprint. Not all fossil fuels are equal. The high level difference between natural gas and propane and what is the best fuel for the environment, our health, and economy. Addressing the energy needs of a building and how to pivot to provide the best efficiency. Where is propane needed most in infrastructure? "We're really looking for the recipe that is the most efficient initial cost, the most efficient operating cost. But at the end of the day, it's still about minimizing our environmental footprint. It's a responsibility of all energy providers to rethink that equation. We've moved from wood to coal and coal to oil, and I would say oil to natural gas. And we're really moving from natural gas to renewable electricity, particularly in the built environment as fast as we can. And there isn't one solution. There's not one silver bullet. Renewable electricity is not the silver bullet because it'll take 40 years to build it out. And if we're not careful, we won't be able to afford the solutions nor will all the solutions be reliable. So propane [and renewable propane] will be part of the recipe." -Tucker Perkins "I don't think all fossil fuels are equal. Certainly coal and oil and wood, I'd argue they're all fossil fuels. They're not nearly the same as natural gas and propane. I think those are low carbon fossil fuels and with this great combustion property. I think the last, particularly five years now have been really engaging in this conversation about what are the fuels of the future and what is good for the environment, what's good for our health, and frankly, what can we afford at the same time brings us warmth, hot food, hot showers bringing, bringing that whole conversation together." -Tucker Perkins Get the episode transcript here!! Show Resource and Information Podcast | PERC LinkedIn Undaunted Courage Connect with Charlie Cichetti and GBES Charlie on LinkedIn Green Building Educational Services GBES on Twitter Connect on LinkedIn Like on Facebook Google+ GBES Pinterest Pins GBES on Instagram GBES is excited our membership community is growing. Consider joining our membership community as members are given access to some of the guests on the podcasts that you can ask project questions. If you are preparing for an exam, there will be more assurance that you will pass your next exam, you will be given cliff notes if you are a member, and so much more. Go to www.gbes.com/join to learn more about the 4 different levels of access to this one-of-a-kind career-advancing green building community! If you truly enjoyed the show, don't forget to leave a positive rating and review on iTunes. We have prepared more episodes for the upcoming weeks, so come by again next week! Thank you for tuning in to the Green Building Matters Podcast! Copyright © 2023 GBES

Isela Rosales is the Managing Director, Head of ESG & Sustainability at Bridge Investment Group, a leading real estate investment firm. Isela is based in San Francisco, CA. Prior to joining Bridge, Ms. Rosales lived and worked in New York City for nearly a decade in the financial services sector building and managing large institutional client relationships for multiple global asset management firms. She pursued and earned the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst designation in 2016 and decided to expand her financial services background from the hedge fund industry to include private real estate. She began her career at Cambridge Associates, working in Menlo Park following her graduation from Stanford University before receiving a promotion that would take her to the firm's Boston headquarters. Ms. Rosales received her dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in International Relations and Spanish from Stanford, graduating with honors distinctions, and achieved top of her class ranking from Elsie Allen High's first graduating Class of 1997. She is fluent in Spanish and competes in Ironman and marathon competitions in her spare time. Isela was the first alumna to start giving back to Elsie Allen through her Ironman competitions prior to the Foundation being established. She currently serves as a Community Member on the Board. Show Highlights A platform of strategies in renewable energy ventures and in secondaries in the real estate value arena to meet where the market is heading. Where real estate meets technology with the five areas of PropTech and ESG/sustainability is one of those five. Tips to determine what to put effort into, what's important, and selecting frameworks, scoring systems, and which plaques to go after. Unpack the vast menu of building certifications from the smallest to the largest that exist around the world. What you need to know about PRI and PRI Signatory to achieve important milestones. The secret to ESG with some high level tips. What to consider for your organizations employee engagement, developing talent and supportive measures for DEI. Selecting programs that make sense for a given property type. "The S of ESG, does not represent sustainability, it actually represents Social - you can have the most efficient building out there, but you still have to factor in the People side of the equation. I really believe that when the topic of the S comes up, it's important to look at it from two perspectives. One, as the S relates to your company, what is going on for the employees of your company. And then the S is also for your company's investments in society." -Isela Rosales Isela Rosales Get the episode transcript here! Show Resource and Information Never Split the Difference Connect: Building Exceptional Relationships Connect with Charlie Cichetti and GBES Charlie on LinkedIn Green Building Educational Services GBES on Twitter Connect on LinkedIn Like on Facebook Google+ GBES Pinterest Pins GBES on Instagram GBES is excited our membership community is growing. Consider joining our membership community as members are given access to some of the guests on the podcasts that you can ask project questions. If you are preparing for an exam, there will be more assurance that you will pass your next exam, you will be given cliff notes if you are a member, and so much more. Go to www.gbes.com/join to learn more about the 4 different levels of access to this one-of-a-kind career-advancing green building community! If you truly enjoyed the show, don't forget to leave a positive rating and review on iTunes. We have prepared more episodes for the upcoming weeks, so come by again next week! Thank you for tuning in to the Green Building Matters Podcast! Copyright © 2023 GBES

Robert Fleming is an AIA, LEED AP, NOMA, an award-winning educator, author, keynote speaker, sustainability advocate, and architect. In all his work, Rob strives to: Advocate for social equity in the built environment; Regenerate the natural world, Design beautiful places; and Bring economic viability to sustainability projects. Rob is an educator He is the Director of Online Innovation at the University of Pennsylvania's Weitzman School of Design and he Is the Director of the Design Leadership Program. From 1996 to 2021, Rob served as the Founding Director and Professor for the Award-winning Master of Science in Sustainable Design Program at Thomas Jefferson University, where he taught hundreds of emerging sustainability professionals who have made important contributions in the world. Rob is an author His 4th book, Sustainable Design for the Built Environment, has become a required textbook for many college courses around the country. In all his books, Rob breaks down complex topics using straightforward language and compelling graphics, leading to a better understanding of how we can address the challenges of the climate emergency. Rob is a speaker He has delivered over 250 public presentations on sustainability where he brings humor, enthusiasm, inspiration and hope for a sustainable future to audiences around the world. Rob is an advocate Rob co-founded the Justice Alliance for Design Education which features an alliance of six universities and six non-profit organizations all working together to transform the principles and practices of design programs across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Starting in 2022, Rob will become the President-Elect of the Philadelphia AIA. Rob is an architect Rob works with clients and design firms around the country to facilitate integrative design charrettes using co-creative, stakeholder driven design processes. In this way, built environment projects reach higher levels of sustainability and the design teams themselves develop stronger bonds through a shared sense of purpose Show Highlights Design education has a long way to go before it begins to transform the curriculum to be authentically sustainable. NOMA, National Organization of Minority Architects is an influential group of young emerging leaders in architecture. Robert shares pet peeves with the building industry and how to fix them. Shifting away from mitigation into resilience to prepare for "survivability." The debate if Sustainability and resiliency fit under one another or they are separate. One of the greatest challenges that we face with wellness and climate change. AI framework for design excellence and how we need it to get through the challenges that we're facing in the future. Joining organizations is critical and effective to pull out the best in yourself through collaboration. Get the episode transcript here!! Show Resource and Information Design Education for a Sustainable Future Bobiverse The Black Swan: Linkedin Home Page - NOMA Framework for Design Excellence AIA Framework for Design Excellence Connect with Charlie Cichetti and GBES Charlie on LinkedIn Green Building Educational Services GBES on Twitter Connect on LinkedIn Like on Facebook Google+ GBES Pinterest Pins GBES on Instagram GBES is excited our membership community is growing. Consider joining our membership community as members are given access to some of the guests on the podcasts that you can ask project questions. If you are preparing for an exam, there will be more assurance that you will pass your next exam, you will be given cliff notes if you are a member, and so much more. Go to www.gbes.com/join to learn more about the 4 different levels of access to this one-of-a-kind career-advancing green building community! If you truly enjoyed the show, don't forget to leave a positive rating and review on iTunes. We have prepared more episodes for the upcoming weeks, so come by again next week! Thank you for tuning in to the Green Building Matters Podcast! Copyright © 2023 GBES

Chris Kaiser is the VP of Business Operations at Sona Energy in Atlanta, GA. He's been a student of sustainability and uses his position to implement sustainable solutions for the clients he works with. His focus is defining, designing, and delivering clean energy solutions ranging from EV Charging, LED lighting and controls, and Solar PV & Microgrid. Most companies today talk about the importance of sustainability, but Chris focuses on how do they actually make it happen? As a people-facing engineer, he uses his passion for minimizing waste and maximizing efficiency to help clients define and execute their sustainability goals. Creating change at an industrial level has broad, positive impacts that help him create a better Earth for his children. Show Highlights Chris shares all things energy, decarbonization, and EV charging. The three pillars of clean energy. Legislation and incentives to fund the technology and address mandates. The breakdown and pro tips on EVcharging, the different levels and recommendations for businesses. Understand the technical realities, grid stability and what it's gonna take to balance electricity. What is needed to move the needle in the industry to avoid greenwashing and create a more sustainable future with clean energy infrastructure. Clean energy boards and continuing to drive the clean energy space forward. Understanding how to convince decision makers to find and address pain points. "I hear, or I see, or I read these articles with people saying, 'Oh, until I can charge my EV at the same amount of time it takes to fill up my gas car, I'm not gonna get an EV.' And I'm like, 'Well that's not really a fair analysis because if you live in a single family home, you can fuel up 90% of the time you're fueling up while you're sleeping and you can't do that with your gas car.'" -Chris Kaiser Get the episode transcript here! Show Resource and Information Mid-Course Correction ​​Deep Economy Freeing Energy Linkedin Amped about EV Charging Connect with Charlie Cichetti and GBES Charlie on LinkedIn Green Building Educational Services GBES on Twitter Connect on LinkedIn Like on Facebook Google+ GBES Pinterest Pins GBES on Instagram GBES is excited our membership community is growing. Consider joining our membership community as members are given access to some of the guests on the podcasts that you can ask project questions. If you are preparing for an exam, there will be more assurance that you will pass your next exam, you will be given cliff notes if you are a member, and so much more. Go to www.gbes.com/join to learn more about the 4 different levels of access to this one-of-a-kind career-advancing green building community! If you truly enjoyed the show, don't forget to leave a positive rating and review on iTunes. We have prepared more episodes for the upcoming weeks, so come by again next week! Thank you for tuning in to the Green Building Matters Podcast! Copyright © 2023 GBES

Andres Prera is a LEED Fellow. He has worked in a sustainable architecture firm in St Louis, Missouri. In 2003, he became one of the first in Latin America to gain LEED AP credentials. Upon his return to Guatemala, Andres co-founded ENVIRO. The firm specializes in green design, project management and sustainability consulting. Since 2004, Andres has worked to promote and provoke change in the building industry towards a sustainable future for the country and the region, now working in several countries. In 2006, Andres earned his Masters of Urban Management degree from the Technical University in Berlin. In 2010, a small group of professionals from different sectors in the industry got together and founded the Guatemala Green Building Council, and AndrÃes became the first president of the Guatemala GBC. Show Highlights Green design mixing biology, nature, and architecture. Tips to show the industry it doesn't have to be more expensive but make more sense when building in different regions. Understanding what goes into LEED and LEED Ebom projects in the Guatemala region. Push towards regenerative buildings, bio chromatic design and Bioclimatic architecture. Create great performance and sustainable buildings while being climate responsive. The logic in having Biophilic design in every build and design. Create value in the business and services you promote to select products that fully support a healthy living. "The green building movement is still ongoing, it's still innovative, and it's still a great community, so it's always welcoming new people and professionals…I encourage everyone to think about climate and people. I think those two things are always there. If you're thinking about architecture and construction/development, it has to be human-centered." -Andres Prera Get the episode transcript here! Show Resource and Information Linkedin Architecture Of Happiness Book Connect with Charlie Cichetti and GBES Charlie on LinkedIn Green Building Educational Services GBES on Twitter Connect on LinkedIn Like on Facebook Google+ GBES Pinterest Pins GBES on Instagram GBES is excited our membership community is growing. Consider joining our membership community as members are given access to some of the guests on the podcasts that you can ask project questions. If you are preparing for an exam, there will be more assurance that you will pass your next exam, you will be given cliff notes if you are a member, and so much more. Go to www.gbes.com/join to learn more about the 4 different levels of access to this one-of-a-kind career-advancing green building community! If you truly enjoyed the show, don't forget to leave a positive rating and review on iTunes. We have prepared more episodes for the upcoming weeks, so come by again next week! Thank you for tuning in to the Green Building Matters Podcast! Copyright © 2023 GBES

Norbert Szircsak is Head of ESG Strategic Advisory Services for Colliers International based in Budapest, Hungary. Norbert started his career with Colliers International - Hungary in August 2007, joining the Valuation and Advisory services team. Norbert has over 15 years' experience in the real estate and green building industry. He has been directly involved in more than 30 LEED certification projects, including Commercial Interiors, Existing Buildings and New Construction projects. In the majority of these projects, he has been the overall project manager. Hungary's first certification in LEED version 4, which is also the first certified office building in the countryside, and the first LEED Platinum certification are on his & his team's list of accomplishments. Norbert has also contributed to more than 10 BREEAM In-Use certifications, similarly in project manager roles. Norbert graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Engineering from Gábor Dénes College in 2009. He obtained his local appraiser qualification in 2009 and is also a member of the Hungarian Real Estate Association. Furthermore, in 2009, he obtained the LEED Green Associate and in 2013 the LEED Accredited Professional with specialty qualification from the U.S. Green Building Council. In 2019, he became a WELL Accredited Professional. Show Highlights Get a better understanding of Hungary and the European regions. Usage of renewables A peak into what rating systems are easier and harder to apply Taxonomy European Green Deal Connecting engineering and technical backgrounds into a green building career. Challenges building within an advanced green building environment. 90% of Collier's work is green building certified with green building advisory for various types of buildings. Learn where green building is expandings in competitive markets. A total carbon plan to reduce your carbon footage with electrification and the renewable energy production on site. The grid infrastructure development needs. Get the episode transcript here!! Show Resource and Information LinkedIn The Miracle Morning Atomic Habits Connect with Charlie Cichetti and GBES Charlie on LinkedIn Green Building Educational Services GBES on Twitter Connect on LinkedIn Like on Facebook Google+ GBES Pinterest Pins GBES on Instagram GBES is excited our membership community is growing. Consider joining our membership community as members are given access to some of the guests on the podcasts that you can ask project questions. If you are preparing for an exam, there will be more assurance that you will pass your next exam, you will be given cliff notes if you are a member, and so much more. Go to www.gbes.com/join to learn more about the 4 different levels of access to this one-of-a-kind career-advancing green building community! If you truly enjoyed the show, don't forget to leave a positive rating and review on iTunes. We have prepared more episodes for the upcoming weeks, so come by again next week! Thank you for tuning in to the Green Building Matters Podcast! Copyright © 2023 GBES

Angelica M. Ospina Alvarado is a LEED Fellow with over 15 years of experience and deeply passionate about contributing to our planet. Angelica has been a forefront leader of the adoption of green building, and integrative design practices in Colombia. Her strategic thinking, technical rigor and integrative approach has brought together the work of government, academia, industry and professional associations to advance the field. She is one of the founding members of the Colombia Green Building Council where she has volunteered her knowledge and experience since its foundation, currently, she is the Technical Director of the Council. Angelica is part time professor at the civil engineering master's program at Universidad de los Andes, in the field of construction engineering and management. Show Highlights Understand how to include natural ventilation and different simulations to support the needs of the region. Moving topics that have a huge impact in public policy. Comparing LEED to the various rating systems used in the region. EDGE's great impact in the social and in housing sector. CASA Colombia supports the residential sector ARC influence on reporting energy consumption The difficulties of building for a climate lower energy consumption . A roadmap for Columbia's goals to meet the demands of new buildings and existing buildings as the country develops. Sustainable construction is growing faster in the region with incentives and the influence from the economic perspective . Decarbonization hurdles Columbia faces. The broader scope of urban development to focus on building green communities. "Urban development has a broader scope to not only focus on green buildings, but entire green communities. This is important. Decarbonization is a must now and moving to that for us is very, very important for resilience. Our countries really have a huge problem related to climate change. We need to move to that faster because we have not mapped those effects of climate change in each country. I see that we're moving in that direction." -Angelica M. Ospina Alvarado Get the episode transcript here!! Show Resource and Information Linkedin EDGE | Green building certification CASA Colombia, CCCS certification tool A Common Story Connect with Charlie Cichetti and GBES Charlie on LinkedIn Green Building Educational Services GBES on Twitter Connect on LinkedIn Like on Facebook Google+ GBES Pinterest Pins GBES on Instagram GBES is excited our membership community is growing. Consider joining our membership community as members are given access to some of the guests on the podcasts that you can ask project questions. If you are preparing for an exam, there will be more assurance that you will pass your next exam, you will be given cliff notes if you are a member, and so much more. Go to www.gbes.com/join to learn more about the 4 different levels of access to this one-of-a-kind career-advancing green building community! If you truly enjoyed the show, don't forget to leave a positive rating and review on iTunes. We have prepared more episodes for the upcoming weeks, so come by again next week! Thank you for tuning in to the Green Building Matters Podcast! Copyright © 2023 GBES

TITLE: From Romania to Spain With Green Building Expert Patricia Abrudan Patricia Abrudan is an architect certified as a Sustainability Consultant with post graduate training in Project Management and Facility Management and her work has mainly been oriented towards sustainable development projects. She has been focused on green building, life cycle assessment and sustainability consulting and certifications and is currently leading the ESG and Decarbonization Consulting team at JG Ingenieros in Barcelona, while continuing my work as a LEED Project Manager for several projects in the EMEA region. Additional Work and Education: - Sustainability and Energy Efficiency Consulting - Carbon Footprint consulting for real estate assets - Life Cycle Assessment and Costing - LEED ZERO and Net Zero Carbon Services - Circular design development - Space planning and workplace consulting - Architecture planning, measurements and compliance Show Highlights Reimagining "matchbox" neighborhoods to make a difference in urbanism projects. Improve the deliverability sustainable projects in our cities to make better spaces by embracing the various challenges from public vs private enterprise. Transform projects into reality and impact people's lives with so little. Work with different types of clients to achieve their goals and make the environment better, with contradictory objectives. Walk the path of sustainability and embed sustainability in your business model, construction projects and real estate. Patricia shares a unique opportunity to use our engineering infrastructure. Expertise in engineering to assist clients in implementing global strategies into practice from the building level, portfolio level and wellness level.. Fascinating college classes and questions for the industry to consider and be an eco-engineer. Switch the paradigm from a linear economy to a circular economy in order to achieve decarbonization. "The first requirement for you to start a green building career is to believe in the movement. And not to just sign up because it's fashionable. Investigate a little bit what's behind this movement, and if you actually are in sync. And then, try to formalize your learning/education path, because it helps you discover where you can contribute." -Patricia Abrudan Get the episode transcript here!! Show Resource and Information Linkedin The Whole-Brain Child Circular Economy Principles - Ellen MacArthur Foundation Connect with Charlie Cichetti and GBES Charlie on LinkedIn Green Building Educational Services GBES on Twitter Connect on LinkedIn Like on Facebook Google+ GBES Pinterest Pins GBES on Instagram GBES is excited our membership community is growing. Consider joining our membership community as members are given access to some of the guests on the podcasts that you can ask project questions. If you are preparing for an exam, there will be more assurance that you will pass your next exam, you will be given cliff notes if you are a member, and so much more. Go to www.gbes.com/join to learn more about the 4 different levels of access to this one-of-a-kind career-advancing green building community! If you truly enjoyed the show, don't forget to leave a positive rating and review on iTunes. We have prepared more episodes for the upcoming weeks, so come by again next week! Thank you for tuning in to the Green Building Matters Podcast! Copyright © 2023 GBES

Andrea Costa is a qualified chartered engineer and building energy rating (BER) assessor in Italy and a Certified Energy Manager (CEM) affiliated to the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE). He is expert in building simulation with experience on an array of building energy simulation software and ISO 50001 certification tools. Andrea is originally a graduate from the Politecnico di Milano where he obtained a BSc(Eng) in Building Engineering in 2005. In 2007 he was also awarded a summa cum laude Masters of Science degree in Building Engineering. During the master degree programme, he was awarded an Erasmus Scholarship and studied at University College Cork in the academic year 2005/2006. He pursued and was awarded a PhD in Civil Engineering from the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) with a PhD topic of providing support to the energy manager in improving the building operation strategy with considerations on building energy use and occupant comfort throughout the building lifecycle. After his PhD, Andrea was awarded an industrially supported Postdoctoral Fellow co-funded by IRCSET (Irish Research Council for Science Engineering and Technology) as part of the Enterprise Ireland Partnership Scheme and D'Appolonia Spa in Italy. Andrea brings with him a balance of field and research experience including FP7 projects for energy efficiency with targeted focus for office buildings, airports, sport facilities, and schools. Show Highlights Play sustainability Legos to inspire your direction. Aims and innovative solutions and technologies to speed up change to the construction industry and the real estate industry. Research funded projects to support green building consulting and projects. R2M focus and industry impact Making buildings more digitally sustainable and eco digital. Understanding new European directive for building energy efficiency Educating stakeholders to manage their own assets. A framework for digital initial log books directly working with requirements and guidelines for green building. Unique approach to digitizing and keeping digital data available for buildings during daylight time. Providing internal occupants with the digital solutions that maintain better conditions. Understanding the difference between the European Green Deal and EU taxonomy mandates and priorities. The secret to growing a sizable business for budding entrepreneurs. Transform buildings into digital assets. "Find the right balance or the mood of the dial. When you are very excited, it's easy. Longer when you are very frustrated, it's easier to reduce. The challenge is when you're frustrated, you should try to keep pushing a bit more than when you would like to stop. And when you are super excited, you should try not to overwork too much because otherwise another dry spell of being not so excited will come. It's a hard balance to keep." -Andrea Costa Get the episode transcript here!! Show Resource and Information R2M Solution Intelligence Squared: Roberto Saviano Pure of Heart Connect with Charlie Cichetti and GBES Charlie on LinkedIn Green Building Educational Services GBES on Twitter Connect on LinkedIn Like on Facebook Google+ GBES Pinterest Pins GBES on Instagram GBES is excited our membership community is growing. Consider joining our membership community as members are given access to some of the guests on the podcasts that you can ask project questions. If you are preparing for an exam, there will be more assurance that you will pass your next exam, you will be given cliff notes if you are a member, and so much more. Go to www.gbes.com/join to learn more about the 4 different levels of access to this one-of-a-kind career-advancing green building community! If you truly enjoyed the show, don't forget to leave a positive rating and review on iTunes. We have prepared more episodes for the upcoming weeks, so come by again next week! Thank you for tuning in to the Green Building Matters Podcast! Copyright © 2023 GBES

Rob Watson is an international leader in market transformation, circular economy, sustainable materials management, and green buildings. Watson is known as the "Founding Father of LEED." Under Rob's direction, LEED became the largest and fastest-growing international green building standard. Author Thomas Friedman called Rob "one of the best environmental minds in America." In 2019, Dartmouth Alumni Magazine recognized Mr. Watson as one of the "25 Most Influential Alumni" in the College's 250 year history. Watson is a Principal with Upland Road, LLC, which develops eco-industrial campuses around a disruptive technology and business model that will revolutionize the global materials management industry by separating, diverting, and recycling up to 95% of municipal mixed waste that is collected in one bin. Rob is also the Founder and Co-Chair of the SWEEP (Solid Waste Environmental Excellence Performance) Standard, a system of market transformation standards geared to move the waste industry toward sustainability. Previously, Watson launched ECON Group and EcoTech International to implement cutting edge lifecycle optimized LEED projects in the US and China. Watson was a Senior Scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) for 21 years and received the 2013 International Conservation Award from the Botanical Research Institute of Texas. In 2011, he was an international Zayed Energy Future Award semi-finalist & was profiled on CNN International. Watson was the first foreigner honored for Green Building Innovation by the Chinese Ministry of Construction in 2005 and received the first lifetime achievement award from the U.S. Green Building Council in 2002. Mr. Watson is an Adjunct Professor at the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College and has an MBA from Columbia University and a MS from UC Berkeley. He is married to Green Schools Alliance Founder Margaret Howard Watson and has a 23-year-old son, Max. Show Highlights Rob Watson, the Founding Father of LEED shares his stories and expertise on making a difference in the industry. The ability to grasp complex systems, understand how they're put together and how to change them. The curve balls thrown from the industry and how to adjust your swing to support and create systems that work. Rob breaks down the SWEEP standard as "LEED for solid waste." Creating a structure where value is captured by providing: buildings as a service. The problem of the industry that the USGBC needs to be focusing on to transform and deliver sustainability that has true value. The development of eco-industrial campuses that recycle 90-95% of everything. Smart centers sustainable materials and advanced recovery technology. Be part of "Humanity Inc. and a subsidiary of Planet Co." by being systems thinking, but with a futurist mindset. AI could possibly be the seed of our salvation. Beyond tweaking LEED. We need to figure out how to deliver the Living Building Challenge and LEED Zero in a cost effective way. The need for radical confidence and a Star Trek moment before 2200. "Radical confidence. The Dalai Lama was asked by a colleague of mine, what's it going take to solve our environmental crisis? And he said, 'Radical confidence.' And that's basically, the old person who plants a tree. It's just doing something that you're never going to receive the benefit of because you have a positive vision of the future. I'm going to do it because it's the right thing to do and whether I benefit from it or not is not super relevant. Obviously, you've got to keep the roof over your head and food on the table. But at the end of the day, you have to have a life that's worth living. And that means, doing things outside of yourself to make it, you just make the world a better place." -Rob Watson Get the episode transcript here! Show Resource and Information Linkedin The Peaceful Warrior Connect with Charlie Cichetti and GBES Charlie on LinkedIn Green Building Educational Services GBES on Twitter Connect on LinkedIn Like on Facebook Google+ GBES Pinterest Pins GBES on Instagram GBES is excited our membership community is growing. Consider joining our membership community as members are given access to some of the guests on the podcasts that you can ask project questions. If you are preparing for an exam, there will be more assurance that you will pass your next exam, you will be given cliff notes if you are a member, and so much more. Go to www.gbes.com/join to learn more about the 4 different levels of access to this one-of-a-kind career-advancing green building community! If you truly enjoyed the show, don't forget to leave a positive rating and review on iTunes. We have prepared more episodes for the upcoming weeks, so come by again next week! Thank you for tuning in to the Green Building Matters Podcast! Copyright © 2023 GBES