The Green Building Matters Podcast with Charlie Cichetti

Geoffrey Brock, LEED Fellow, Director of Sustainability at IPS, has more than 15 years of experience in the AEC industry with roles in both sustainability and project management. He has supported dozens of LEED and WELL projects in the life sciences, healthcare and other industries. He also oversaw project and portfolio scale collection of energy, water and waste, including research and piloting of various reduction strategies and cost-benefit analysis. To complement his work experience, he received a Master of Science, Environmental Systems Management from the Pratt Institute. As Director of Sustainability, Mr. Brock will support clients’ sustainability initiatives. He focuses on implementing strategies early in design, leveraging site-specific opportunities to incorporate elements that will have the greatest lasting value, not only for the environment but for future occupants and the greater community. Geoffrey’s background in project management, environmental management, and health and wellbeing positions him to maximize opportunities to create high-quality, Sustainable design & construction of resilient, efficient and healthy buildings with strong consideration for social and environmental impacts. Focus on Sustainable Urbanism, promoting Mixed-Use & Transit-Oriented Development, Bicycle and Pedestrian Infrastructure, Reduction of Energy, Water and Waste and Environmental Management. Academic background in Civil Engineering, Architecture, Urban Studies, Environmental Management and Real Estate Development. Show Highlights   Project management and scheduling/estimating will create a well-rounded experience when pursuing project manager or superintendent positions in construction, Geoff’s early career.  Benchmarking laws and initiatives driving the industry in the Northeast. Technology improvements with one of the most important changes needed in the industry to produce coefficient and performance at lower temperatures.  Cutting edge startups that are tackling what we can do with something other than fossil fuels. Challenges companies, especially construction companies are facing to achieve their goal to be net zero or reduction by a certain year. Available technology being readily available will drive the success of green building.  Something that we take for granted after being in the industry a while and tips to turn that into a win.       Show Resource and Information Connect with Charlie Cichetti and GBES   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 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 .  We have prepared more episodes for the upcoming weeks, so come by again next week! Thank you for tuning in to the !   Copyright © 2024 GBES

Asa Posner, LEED Fellow, is a green building and sustainability consultant in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area currently working as the Vice President of Sales for Sustainable Investment Group (SIG), a full-service sustainability, wellness, and ESG consulting and engineering firm. He has extensive experience in green building design/construction and operations, energy and water conservation, and building occupant comfort.   Asa is a LEED Accredited Professional with specialties in BD+C and O+M, a member of the U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC) Minnesota Chapter, and serves the Market Leadership Advisory Board (MLAB).   He has worked as a green building consultant for 15 years and have helped certify over 220 LEED projects, encompassing over 60M sf LEED certified space.  He  regularly teaches exam prep classes for professionals looking to earn their LEED Green Associate or Accredited Professional with Specialty credentials.   Nick Kassanis, LEED Fellow, PE, is the Sustainable Investment Group’s President and oversees daily operations, strategic planning, global growth and the firm's vision. He directs the Climate Investment Solutions, Engineering, ESG and Sustainability consulting departments, offering services such as LEED/WELL/Fitwel consulting, Decarbonization/LCA assessments, Commissioning/RCx, Green Financing, Net Zero Proformas and GRESB/GRI/CDP reporting.    As a LEED Fellow, LEED AP BD+C, licensed Professional Engineer and Certified Building Commissioning Professional, Nick has led and overseen over 350 LEED projects and 150 energy studies across 150M+ square feet in multiple industries. Specializing in the integrated design process, decarbonization and deep retro-commissioning investigations, he enhances energy efficiency and staff training across projects and portfolios alike.    As a globally recognized public speaker, he's mentored and educated 10,000+ professionals and students. Additionally, as Co-Founder and Advisor at Aetos, he is pioneering cutting edge imaging technology to transform training and building operations in the digital age.   Show Highlights   Charlie interviews Nick + Asa after their recent LEED Fellow awards.   Understanding how design and buildings can affect a natural environment and affect a natural ecosystem.  Client engagement and the misconceptions that are still out there when it comes to LEED and a sustainable building. Recognizing your job as sustainability consultants to find the best outcome for clients and projects specific challenges.  Asa shares findings from the LEED Advancement Committee on common misconceptions around LEED. Emerging technology and trends that everyone should be applying to their businesses.  Current innovations to help you leverage technology to advance the efficiency of how you do things.  The evolution of LEED to grow and create a renewed focus on health, wellness, and buildings being designed, built and operated to be better for the environment. The crossover and current pathways to combine environmental performance and human performance.  Fundamental values and roles that keep us alive and keep us caring for our families.     Show Resource and Information Connect with Charlie Cichetti and GBES   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 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 .  We have prepared more episodes for the upcoming weeks, so come by again next week! Thank you for tuning in to the !   Copyright © 2023 GBES

Amy Pastor, LEED Fellow, PE, CxA, ENV SP  is  the Vice President of Sustainability at EXP. She leads a nationwide team of commissioning and sustainability professionals who deliver innovative and cost-effective solutions for their clients in various sectors. With over 18 years of experience in the industry, she has a proven track record of managing complex projects, achieving energy savings, and certifying green buildings. Amy takes immense pride in building better, including lasting relationships with clients and quality, sustainable buildings, without surrendering the integrity of the design. She has personally worked on 210 LEED Certified projects. She is based in Sanford, Florida and has her Bachelor and Master Engineering degrees from Penn State University.   She holds multiple credentials that demonstrate my expertise and commitment to sustainability, such as Certified Commissioning Authority (CxA), Professional Engineer (PE), and LEED Accredited Professional (LEED AP). She is also passionate about sharing her knowledge and skills with others, through public speaking, educational courses, and community involvement. Her mission is to advance the sustainability agenda and create positive impacts for the environment and society.   Show Highlights   Amy shares her expertise on PE commissioning Authority, and unique credentials and licenses PE, Professional Engineering License. CXA, Commissioning Authority. EMVSP, sustainable infrastructure credential.  Envision Certification is a highly sought after rating system for larger projects and infrastructure system impact.  Collegiate programs for an architectural engineering degree focused on the engineering side for building specifically to set you up for career success.  The benefits of putting “boots on the ground” to coordinate all the disciplines from the engineering side.  Sustainability at EXP’s core mission, vision, and why they will always be a private company. Electrification Education, building and design challenges and how to map out pathways to electrify.  The essential conversation you need to have about the grid and efficiency roles. You can't just flip the switch.  Determining how each market sector, how each industry is responding to that transition to electrification.  Retrofit vs new build requirements. Evaluating utility provider, space, equipment and technology needed.  The biggest challenge the industry is facing.       Show Resource and Information Connect with Charlie Cichetti and GBES   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 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 .  We have prepared more episodes for the upcoming weeks, so come by again next week! Thank you for tuning in to the !   Copyright © 2023 GBES

Eddy Santosa, is a LEED Fellow and  a global leader in the delivery of sustainable building strategies and design, with over 24 years of experience including delivering high-performance sustainable design on over 300 building projects across the U.S. and globally.   He has been recognized for his global industry leadership by the USGBC where he has been appointed as a LEED Fellow, the highest level of recognition in the global sustainability sector. Eddy provides technical leadership to a number of nationally and globally significant professional bodies, including as the leader of the AIA National Building Performance Knowledge Community, the International Building Performance Simulation Association (IBPSA) US as a board director, and a voting member of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) SPC 209-2018R committee.   He has served on the USGBC Energy & Atmosphere Technical Advisory Group specifically related to guidelines within version 4.1 of the LEED rating system. Eddy has published many articles on the topic of energy performance, building science, and sustainability as well as spoke at many conferences on the same topics.   Show Highlights   Discussion on climate and nature-based design for LEED. Building science, quantitative measure,s and how you can explain sustainability using a common metric and language. Design each phase effectively early on for a meaningful whole-building design. Tips to stay ahead of the LEED requirements for clients in different cities/regions.  The 3 D’s that are the future of a built environment. Using digitalization to assist you to achieve the goal. Trends to help with the critical data needed for projects.   “A green building career is like a good rollercoaster - you need to keep flexible, change your strategy, and learn how to strategize your career to get to the end goal. The movement is very quick. Before, a LEED consultant wasn’t as popular. Now it's become overcrowded and you need to strategize how you will be different. Green building is a good career when you enjoy learning many different things.” -Eddy Santosa     Show Resource and Information Connect with Charlie Cichetti and GBES   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 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 .  We have prepared more episodes for the upcoming weeks, so come by again next week! Thank you for tuning in to the !   Copyright © 2023 GBES

Amy Upton, LEED Fellow, Experienced Sustainable Design Director, Project Architect, and Project Manager with a demonstrated history of working in the architecture & planning industry. Focus on public architecture and K-12, recreation centers, and libraries. Skilled in BIM, Concept Design through Construction Administration.    As a LEED Fellow, she has dedicated her career to designing and delivering green community architecture and highlighting systems, materials, and features that allow the buildings and site to be learning labs. She has experience in Net Zero Energy design and worked on the second and third NZE schools in the state of Maryland.    Amy is committed to integrating the environmental literacy curriculum in our K-12 green schools, and keeping connections to work with students and staff on Green Apple Day of Service projects annually.   Show Highlights   Focusing on public architecture and community-based architecture. Embodied carbon should be embedded into the design process. Highlight standard design and anything related to sustainable design or metrics. Make sense of co-located facilities or multi-agency facilities with competing interests that need to be balanced. A lot of different ways AI is integrated into our daily business and practice.  Questions to consider when incorporating and working together to move the needle on sustainability goals. Future buildings and restorative practices need to impact people’s lives holistically.        Show Resource and Information Connect with Charlie Cichetti and GBES   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 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 .  We have prepared more episodes for the upcoming weeks, so come by again next week! Thank you for tuning in to the !   Copyright © 2023 GBES

Brittany Storm, a LEED Fellow, shares her journey into sustainable development and her experiences in the sustainable building industry. Topics discussed include early exposure to sustainability, achievements in green building, good habits and routines, travel and food tours, building life cycle assessment, and continuous learning in sustainability.

TITLE:  Regenerative Business Coach Monique Allen   Monique Allen, is CEO and Creative Director of The Garden Continuum, a landscaping design company that brings the principles of regenerative agriculture to ornamental gardening. The central work of The Garden Continuum is to create outdoor living spaces, both public and private, that draw people out into those spaces and begin to build that reconnection with nature.   Monique's approach infuses life back into systems and landscapes that have been abused by degenerative practices.     Through regenerative gardening, Monique breathes new life into the soil, and through her personalized landscape business coaching she helps clients build a high-integrity business reflecting care for the entire earth community. Check out her book, Stop Landscaping, Start Lifescaping.    Show Highlights   The garden continuum and understanding regenerative business and the landscape movement. Jumpstart ecosystems and create an energetic loop on projects. Understanding the conundrum of care to create longevity and not just sustainable. Monique shares how to partner with mother nature on projects. Match your work with clients and people who are already invested emotionally, mentally, financially in what you do. The built environment needs to embrace creating “healthy sites” and not just regenerative spaces. Approach landscaping differently with a  “codify” tool to help you stop landscaping and start life.  Know the difference in a landscape as something pretty to look at, compared with “Life-Scapeing,” a space you interact with nature in.   “Have that triple bottom line mindset where it's: planet, people, and profits. One cannot happen without the other. It's not a question of its linearity. You roll these three aims of planet, people, and profits together. You are always looking through that triple lens to say, ‘Is this project creating a betterment or is it at least somewhat neutral,’ but it just can't be degrading or detrimental.” -Monique Allen   Show Resource and Information Connect with Charlie Cichetti and GBES   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 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 .  We have prepared more episodes for the upcoming weeks, so come by again next week! Thank you for tuning in to the !   Copyright © 2023 GBES

Michael Beckerman, is a leader in the commercial real estate technology and sustainability sectors. He entered these sectors in 2012 after a 25-year career in commercial real estate media relations, in which he started and built Beckerman Public Relations into one of the largest firms in the country before eventually selling the agency.   Michael now serves as CEO of CREtech, the largest conference company devoted to technology and sustainability in the Built World.   Michael also hosts the CREtech Climate Cast, a podcast series devoted to educating, inspiring, and leading the built environment to invest and adopt climate technologies and embrace sustainability. Tune in to in-depth conversations with the leading real estate and tech innovators from across the globe.   Show Highlights   Technology in the built environment that embraces the marketplace of the built environment. The overall umbrella and difference between PropTech vs Climate Tech vs Construction Tech. The industry has to adapt to be a customer-centric hospitality space in office spaces and residential.  Fragmentation in the tech sector created gaps in infrastructure for companies.   Every building is a snowflake in need of technology tools to decarbonize and create building efficiency.  Focus on climate risk mitigation, in the real estate industry, but also  for the homeowner/consumer.  Do your due diligence on AI. It’s the wild, wild, west.    “Our struggles are our greatest teachers. I've learned to embrace the struggle. When I make a mistake, it's like, ‘Okay, why was that given to me? What am I supposed to learn from that experience?’ I think the things I wish I knew when I was younger were more about mindfulness, more about being present and letting go of the stress and the anxiety of like the future, the unknowns.” -Michael Beckerman     Show Resource and Information Connect with Charlie Cichetti and GBES   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 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 .  We have prepared more episodes for the upcoming weeks, so come by again next week! Thank you for tuning in to the !   Copyright © 2023 GBES

David Douek, LEED Fellow, is the director of OTEC, since its foundation in 2007. He has  dedicated himself to building one of the leading consulting and service providers for the real estate, design, construction, properties management, energy efficiency and sustainability markets. Together with OTEC’s team he has worked with companies such as: Coca Cola, P&G, GE, GM, Siemens, Deloitte, Brookfield, Hines, Cyrela, Prologis, Santander, Bndes, USP, GLP and others of the same importance, always helping them achieve their goals.   His academic background is in business, architecture, engineering, real estate, data science and sustainability. In addition to this, he has gained valuable international experience which has helped me develop foreign businesses such as DesignBuilder software in Brazil.   Show Highlights   The main difference between the American and the Brazilian market in building design and construction procedures. The transformation of WELL and the introduction of a variety of WELL certifications and programs to adopt post pandemic.   OTEC consulting firm believes that to improve the quality of the buildings, we have to understand what they represent for the market.   David further shares:   his company’s achievements and contributions to the green building industry.  how to pinpoint what the challenges are.  how to  help the clients increase their performance towards a concrete and a reasonable goal.  why a designer, contractor, a developer, has to incorporate sustainability within the process. how to  drive the market towards IGO.  Why wellness is important, but should be incorporated in a much larger perspective. The balance is in understanding that technologies and finances have to work together. Tips to help whoever's interested in understanding what their ESG strategy should be regarding their facilities.   Show Resource and Information Connect with Charlie Cichetti and GBES   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 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 .  We have prepared more episodes for the upcoming weeks, so come by again next week! Thank you for tuning in to the !   Copyright © 2023 GBES

Charlie Cichetti, CEO, LEED Fellow and WELL AP, is one of the leaders in the green building industry. He’s built a career around green building services/education/and technology, and has co-founded multiple companies that hold sustainability leadership as core values. His career has evolved from a strong construction background, to real estate, to early LEED expertise, to starting his own business, to buying a business, and now to co-founding two technology companies - all in the built environment. ESG | Decarbonization | ClimateTech | EdTech | LEED Charlie is invested in the success of the green building industry. He works with people and buildings around the world to create the highest level of sustainability possible. Show Highlight Current Trends and a glimpse to the future for programs and rating systems around resiliency for the industry. The Past 10 Episodes you should check out * Episode 298: Alvis Yuen, head of ESG Real Estate for Bain Capital. * Episode 297: Silas Mahner with NextWave to help advance the world to a cleaner future. * Episode 296: Keith Fine the Principal at SLAM for an in depth conversation on innovation and AI. * Episode 295: Tucker Perkins with PERC for a conversation on Propane Education and Research Act. * Episode 294: Isela Rosales is the Managing Director, Head of ESG & Sustainability at Bridge Investment Group, a leading $50 billion investment portfolio. Charlie’s Playlist of 8 episodes to check out on GBES Podcast Episode 48: Maria Perez, LEED Fellow at Gensler . Episode 37: Vivian Loftus and the amazing work she's doing at Carnegie Mellon. Episode 57: A Wild Conversation with Jason Twill. Episode 172: Drew Shula, a social entrepreneur focused on building up our green building consulting firms. Episode: Emmanuel Powells, who is a living Future hero. Episode 180: Peter Templeton, the current CEO of the US Green Building Council. Episode 224: A live podcast interview in Munich, Germany last year. Episode 287: The Founding Father of LEED Rob Watson. Inspirational Projects to check out Companies are focused on climate risk and opportunities to support the CDP framework. Show Resource and Information Charlie's Podcast Playlist Inspirational Projects Cal Guerxo Show Notes Don’t forget to catch more episodes and resources for all of your green building news at the website. Connect with Charlie Cichetti and GBES: 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 insurances that you will pass your next exam, you will be given cliff notes if you are a member, and so much more. Go to 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 . We have prepared more episodes for the upcoming weeks, so come by again next week! Thank you for tuning in to the ! Copyright © 2023 GBES