The Green Building Initiative (GBI) announced today that it has named Jerry Yudelson as its president to accelerate growth of the non-profit and further leverage its green building assessment tools, including the highly recognized Green Globes® rating system, as it brings green building options to a larger audience of owners, designers, facility managers and investors.
(Bonus coverage: BD+C talks with Jerry Yudelson about his appointment and the future of Green Globes.)
Yudelson is widely recognized as one of the nation's leading green building and sustainability advocates and an internationally recognized keynote speaker. Formerly the President of Yudelson Associates in Tucson, AZ, he has authored 13 green building books, achieved recognition as a LEED® Fellow, and chaired the steering committee for Greenbuild®, the country's largest annual green building show, which he helped grow during its first eight years.
As the GBI’s president, Yudelson will oversee the growth of the non-profit, including the ongoing development, expansion and marketing of the Green Globes® green building rating system. His role will also include expanding understanding and use of GBI’s additional assessment tools, such as the GBI’s Guiding Principles Compliance tool, designed specifically to support compliance by federal agencies with President Obama’s green government requirements.
Ray Tonjes, Chairman of the GBI board and president of Ray Tonjes Builder in Austin, Texas, said, “We’re delighted to have someone of Jerry’s caliber in the green building industry step up to lead the GBI. With the recent update of Green Globes and recognition by the General Services Administration, as well as growing use by federal agencies and the Fortune 500 sector, the timing couldn’t be better. We are confident that the combination of Jerry’s leadership with GBI’s practical and credible assessment tools will be powerful catalysts for the growth of green building nationwide.”
“After many years promoting the advancement of green building and market transformation in the building industry, I’m pleased to be asked to lead the GBI at this key time in its development,” said Yudelson. “There is a huge audience of building owners, designers, and facility managers who are looking for more cost-effective and practical options to applying green building principles to every building. The GBI has a unique approach with its interactive, web-based Green Globes platform and on-site, independent third-party assessment. I’m excited by the opportunity to build on the GBI’s successes and help bring more focused green building and facility management options to new audiences.”
“The GBI provides tools that are simple to understand, easy to use and cost effective,” stated Yudelson. “This is a key differentiator for the GBI, and I look forward to encouraging the building community to actively participate in the ongoing development of the organization and its variety of market-driven programs.”
Jerry Yudelson is a professional engineer and an engineering graduate of Caltech and Harvard University; he also holds an MBA from the University of Oregon. He is also a National Peer Professional with the U.S. General Services Administration. From 2007-2009 he served as the Research Scholar for Retail Real Estate Sustainability with the International Council of Shopping Centers, a 70,000-member global organization. In 2011, he was named to the inaugural class of LEED Fellows by the U.S. Green Building Council.
About the Green Building Initiative
The GBI is a nonprofit organization and American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Standards Developer dedicated to accelerating the adoption of green building practices. Founded in 2004, the organization is the sole U.S. provider of the Green Globes® and Guiding Principles Compliance building certification programs. To learn more about opportunities to become involved in the GBI, contact Jerry Yudelson.
About Green Globes
Green Globes is a web-based program for green building guidance and certification that includes on-site reviews by an independent third party assessor. The program is administered in the United States by the GBI. Green Globes is a user-friendly assessment tool that is designed to advance the overall environmental performance and sustainability of commercial, government and institutional buildings.
The program certifies new construction and existing buildings. An additional assessment tool is the GBI’s Guiding Principles Compliance program for federal agencies. Also available are education and professional credentialing through the Green Globes Professional™, Green Globes Assessor™, and Guiding Principles Compliance Professional™ accreditation programs.
Related Stories
| Apr 12, 2011
American Institute of Architects announces Guide for Sustainable Projects
AIA Guide for Sustainable Projects to provide design and construction industries with roadmap for working on sustainable projects.
| Apr 11, 2011
Wind turbines to generate power for new UNT football stadium
The University of North Texas has received a $2 million grant from the State Energy Conservation Office to install three wind turbines that will feed the electrical grid and provide power to UNT’s new football stadium.
| Apr 8, 2011
SHW Group appoints Marjorie K. Simmons as CEO
Chairman of the Board Marjorie K. Simmons assumes CEO position, making SHW Group the only firm in the AIA Large Firm Roundtable to appoint a woman to this leadership position
| Apr 5, 2011
Zaha Hadid’s civic center design divides California city
Architect Zaha Hadid is in high demand these days, designing projects in Hong Kong, Milan, and Seoul, not to mention the London Aquatics Center, the swimming arena for the 2012 Olympics. But one of the firm’s smaller clients, the city of Elk Grove, Calif., recently conjured far different kinds of aquatic life when members of the City Council and the public chose words like “squid,” “octopus,” and “starfish” to describe the latest renderings for a proposed civic center.
| Apr 5, 2011
Are architects falling behind on BIM?
A study by the National Building Specification arm of RIBA Enterprises showed that 43% of architects and others in the industry had still not heard of BIM, let alone started using it. It also found that of the 13% of respondents who were using BIM only a third thought they would be using it for most of their projects in a year’s time.
