The Green Building Matters Podcast with Charlie Cichetti

About this Episode On the Podcast today, Charlie Cichetti visits with Shan Arora, Director of The Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design at Georgia Tech. They discuss Shan's journey in sustainability, career highlights, mindset strategies, and regular habits that have helped him get to this next chapter. Key Talking Points Shan has over a decade of sustainability sector experience unde...

About this episode In the Green Belt Movement Podcast today, Charlie engages Eden Brukman, who leads the Living Building Challenge. Eden Brukman is formally trained as an architect, and also a creative writer, with a strong bias in creating children's books. Eden shares her journey as an architect until she took a significant shift in her career to education advocacy in sustainability development...

Passive Houses and Zero Net Energy with James Geppner About this Episode In this episode, Charlie talks with James Geppner about zero net energy and how we adjust our behaviors and adjust as a society. James is the Executive Director for Erase 40 in New York and has lived there for the last 30 years. Key Talking Points James's journey in the film industry to sustainability and zero net energy. Wor...

About this Episode In this episode, Charlie talks with Z about his very unique career through the green building industry after earning multiple degrees. Z Smith decided to get his Master's degree in Architecture after he already had a Bachelor's in Physics and PhD in Electrical Engineering/Computer Science. Yes, you read that right. His career also includes a variety of experiences with pioneerin...

About this Episode In this episode, Charlie talks with Brad Pease about his 16-year career as a green building expert with Paladino and Company. Brad shared how he got into the sustainability industry, why he chose to work (and continue to work) with Paladino and Company, and his thoughts of the future of the sustainable building industry. Key Talking Points Brad's reasons for jumping from history...

About this Episode In this episode, we talk with Prasad Vaidya about his experience growing up in one of the most populous cities in the world (Mumbai) to a LEED Fellow/consultant/professor of a Master's degree program that is scaling the sustainability industry. Prasad shared his initial interest in sustainability and how he (and the sustainability industry) have evolved over the years. Key Talki...

Nate Adams, The House Whisperer About this Episode In this episode, we talk with Nate Adams, aka "The House Whisperer" about the residential side of things, particularly energy performance. Nate shares how he got into the field of improving home energy performance and the powerful movement he is supporting to help make energy efficiency the norm in the industry. Key Talking Points Nate's nontradit...

Joe Connell has been Executive Director of the Building Materials Reuse Association (BMRA) since 2017. Being in the building trades since I was 15 years old, and in reuse nonprofits for the last 20 years I am a builder at heart. Whether it's renovating our 1887 home on an offshore island in Maine, or restructuring and building a nonprofit for success, I delight in looking for ways to improve syste...

Cesar Ulises Trevino is the General Director of Bioconstrucción y Energía Alternativa, a pioneering consulting firm and leader in sustainable building in Mexico and Latin America. He has developed emblematic projects including the first LEED-NC Gold and LEED-NC Platinum certifications in Latin America. Cesar has been the keynote speaker at multiple conferences in America, Europe and Asia. He is a...

A More Sustainable and Resilient City with Mike Hess Mike Hess is the Smart City Project Director in Orlando, Florida. He was born and raised in southeastern Wisconsin. He graduated from the Milwaukee School of Engineering. Mike spent most of his life in Wisconsin and then was recruited by an engineering company in Orlando and focused on mechanical/electrical/plumbing engineering for buildings. "M...

BuildingWrx is a firm founded by Susan Kaplan for the purpose of providing collaborative solutions for greening buildings, sites, cities and businesses, and finding more equitable solutions for all design, planning and community endeavors. Clients have included GSA, Community Environmental Center, Perkins Eastman Architects, NYSERDA (via Sustainable Performance Consulting, Inc.), Federal Reserve B...

Susan El-Naggar is a LEED Green Associate and WELL AP and along with her husband, Tarik, AIA both are principals at Healing Environments. Susan has over 20 years of experience as an interior designer. She received her education for interior design at The International Academy of Design & Technology in Chicago and completed additional studies in Portugal, Egypt, Israel, and Montreal. She has worked...

Mark Loeffler is a professional member of the International Association of Lighting Designers and a LEED Fellow and has practiced lighting and sustainable design consulting for more than 30 years. Based in the New Haven area, Mark enjoys working with innumerable architects, engineers, organizations, and institutions across the Northeast US on a wide range of ambitious and notable projects of every...

Mark Loeffler is a professional member of the International Association of Lighting Designers and a LEED Fellow and has practiced lighting and sustainable design consulting for more than 30 years. Based in the New Haven area, Mark enjoys working with innumerable architects, engineers, organizations, and institutions across the Northeast US on a wide range of ambitious and notable projects of every...

Dan Burgoyne is the Sustainability Manager for California's Department of General Services (DGS), where he develops and helps implement policies improving California's sustainable buildings, energy, water and resource efficiency. Dan is a California-licensed architect and LEED Fellow, with over 26 years of experience in the design and construction industry, and green building policy. Dan led the d...

Kenyona Pierre is currently a Sustainability Consultant with Energy Cost Solutions Group, LLC (ECSG,LLC). She is still involved with the USGBC Florida Chapter, GBES' Green Building Matters Community, and Habitat for Humanity Young Professionals. Her goal and passion for green buildings and sustainability remain the same. Kenyona Pierre - Early Career Kenyona is a native to Miami, Florida. She was...

Erik Ring has a breadth of experience in engineering, consulting, design, analysis, and commissioning for green building projects. Erik is a Principal and the Director of Engineering at LPA, Inc., an integrated design firm specializing in sustainable design for commercial, educational, civic, sports and recreation, and health care projects. Erik has provided MEP systems design, energy modeling, LE...

Rosalind Wyatt is a consultant that helps companies develop the right 'SUSTAINEGY' by combining smart business strategy with sustainability to achieve a strong triple bottom line. She believes the key is to balance the goals of making a profit, protecting the planet, and meeting the needs of stakeholders. Rosalind is a Marketing educator that helps current and future business leaders understand th...

Chris Webb is a licensed professional engineer (civil) in the States of Washington, Oregon, California, and a LEED™ Fellow and Accredited Professional (ND & BD+C) whose passion and technical expertise is focused on providing civil engineering designs that demonstrate the highest degree of sustainability and are based on ecological principles. Chris is a frequent speaker on the technical aspects of...

Lance Hosey, FAIA, LEED Fellow, a nationally acclaimed authority on sustainability and design innovation, is a Design Director and the Global Co-Director of Design Resilience with Gensler. His latest book, 'The Shape of Green: Aesthetics, Ecology, and Design' (Island Press, 2012), the first to study the relationships between sustainability and beauty, won a 2013 New York Book Show award, was a 201...

Holley Henderson is the founder of H2 Ecodesign which has led over 4 million square feet of successful green building certifications worldwide including several firsts in China and Thailand. She has served in a variety of leadership positions for the National U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC) LEED Steering, Market, and Education Committees. Holley is author of the book "Becoming a Green Buildi...

Heather Holdridge is the Sustainability Director at Lake|Flato Architects. Leveraging her mechanical engineering background, she directs all Lake|Flato teams in establishing and achieving sustainability goals by devising strategies and systems under programs such as LEED, the 2030 Challenge, and the Living Building Challenge. Heather works closely with teams to evaluate passive systems and perform...

Chris Shaffner, Founder and Principal with The Green Engineer, Inc., a sustainable design consulting firm providing LEED Project Management, Building Performance Analysis, and Sustainable Design Consulting. Chris grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio but went to MIT in Boston where he earned his mechanical engineering degree. "If I was going to do it again, I would've gone to architecture school instead of...

David Rodriguez, LEED AP BD+C has a philosophy that provides, in principle, buildable, practical projects with a sense of aesthetics and belonging. David grew up in Panama spending a lot of summers in Europe. He received his Bachelor's degree in Architecture and his Master's degree from the University of Notre Dame. He returned to Panama and eventually started Rodriguez and Toledo Architecture and...

Jason Twill has a career spanning over 20 years in urban development. Jason has been at the forefront of built environment transformation. His career experience includes delivery of sustainable mixed-income housing projects throughout New York City, delivery of Vulcan Inc.'s South Lake Union Innovation District in Seattle, Washington, and serving as Head of Sustainability and Innovation for Lendle...