Mighty Buildings Podcast

Lindsay was one of the first 40 staff members at the U.S. Green Building Council, working to develop consensus about what the LEED rating system would become. She then earned an MS from the University of California at Berkeley in Architecture, with a focus on Building Science, and spent five years as a building science researcher at the UC Berkeley Center for the Built Environment. 

Lindsay is a climate entrepreneur, experienced in launching and growing innovative businesses from being part Google's Green team to being her own entrepreneur and later co-founded a smart buildings start-up called Comfy, which got acquired by Siemens. She was also the first Global Head of Sustainability and Impact at WeWork, where she built the corporate sustainability team and programs from scratch.

As the current CEO of the International Living Future Institute, Lindsay Baker is the organization’s chief strategist, charged with delivering on its mission to lead the transformation toward a civilization that is socially just, culturally rich, and ecologically restorative. 

Prior to that he spent twelve years on the Pasadena City Council, including a term as Mayor. Rick has been recognized as one of “America's Public Officials of the Year” by Governing Magazine and one of the "Top 25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers" by Government Technology Magazine. He has won numerous awards for municipal management excellence and urban planning leadership. 

Shawn is also responsible for the business product stewardship program and leads a team of passionate product stewards to enable the business commitment to product stewardship.

An expert in sustainability with over a decade of experience in business sustainability programs, Dr. Hunter previously led the development of Dow's 2025 Sustainability goals and has a background in product sustainability, Life Cycle Assessment, green chemistry, and R&D.  Dr. Hunter holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering, with a master’s concentration in environmental sustainability, from the University of Michigan, where he serves as an Adjunct Professor in Chemical Engineering.

Chris has substantive international experience having lived in North America, Europe, and Asia and works with GlobeScan clients in all regions of the world. He is a member of Walgreens' Corporate Responsibility Advisory Board, The Test of Corporate Purpose Advisory Board, and the Multinational Subcommittee of B Lab’s Standards Advisory Council. He is also the Chair of Canadian Business for Social Responsibility, and is the author of the new book, All In: The Future of Business Leadership.

Paul is an authority on green building and the application of technology in the real estate, design, engineering and construction industries. He began his career as a sustainability consultant in 2000. 

In support of his work with clients, he founded 3 greentech companies: ecologic3 and ecoScorecard which were acquired in 2010.  He has consulted on over $50 billion of real estate, design and construction projects in his career.  Paul is a graduate of the University of Florida with a Masters of Engineering.

The Urban Us platform includes the Urban Us community - a resource for urbantech focused founders, investors, partners and customers; URBAN-X, funded by MINI, is a program that supports early stage teams with company building and fundraising with seed and series A graduation rates exceeding benchmark programs such as YCombinator; Urban Us affiliates include Perl Street which helps finance hardware startups; and Urban Gateway which supports startups in business development in Asia. 

The Urban Us portfolio includes nearly 90 investments, many in NYC but spanning the globe, such as Bowery Farming, One Concern, Cove Tool, Future Motion, Blocpower, Near Space Labs, Seamlessdocs (acquired by Kofile), Evolve Energy (acquired by Octopus Energy), Versatile, Toggle, and Revivn. Before Urban Us, the operating team had three exits as operators and managed investments at First Round Capital, Goldman Sachs, and Citigroup. The team has taught urbantech courses at the University of Chicago and teaches the Urban Us business case study at Harvard Business School. 

Her background as an architect, city planner, urban designer, real estate developer, community development strategist, publisher, and instigator gives her a rich understanding of how cities work, how urban neighborhoods can be revitalized, what policies are needed to do it, and the unique marketing that creates the buzz needed for regeneration. You can learn more about Small Change at https://www.smallchange.co/ or listen to her podcast at https://evepicker.com/.

Aaron is the Founder and Executive Director of unCommon Construction - a New Orleans-based nonprofit that uses the build process to empower youth to lead the workforce after high school or college. Through unCommon Construction apprenticeship program, high school students apply to join a diverse team to earn hourly pay and school credit for building a house in a semester. With the revenue from each project, unCommon Construction matches apprentices' paychecks with an Equity Award Scholarship, which they can use for further education, industry certifications, or tools needed for a full time job. To learn and get involved, visit www.unCommonConstruction.org

As a LEED AP+ BD&C, Josh has served on over 30 sustainably focused committees, including but not limited to ASHRAE 189.1, LEED Steering Committee, USGBC’s Pilot Credit Committee, Green Globes and served on the water/IEQ work group that developed the first public draft of the IgCC. He is a recurring guest lecturer at multiple universities and has spoken on sustainable building practices and purchasing on 5 continents. 

Josh served as Chairman of the US Mirror Committee for ISO 20400 Sustainable Procurement, the 2015 NAHB Material/IEQ Working Group, Vice Chair for USGBC’s Pilot Credit Committee, and currently serves as the chairman for USGBC’s LEED Steering Committee, Vice Chair of ASHRAE 189.1 and Board Member (alternate) for Greenroads Foundation.

Justin Westover has been in various facets of real estate since 2006. He has financed over $1 billion in transactions in both the commercial and residentials industries. Justin finds that helping folks transition from renters into home owners through mortgage lending as deeply rewarding especially when he sees the photos of his customers smiling upon entering their new homes as they take the keys.

Jeremy previously served 10 years as CEO of Greenbelt Alliance, a San Francisco Bay Area focused advocacy group focused on protecting the natural and agricultural lands that make the Bay Area special and promoting the right development in the right places. Under his leadership, Greenbelt Alliance became a recognized authority on sustainable and equitable urban and suburban development. More recently, Madsen was at the Energy Foundation where he focused on cultivating atypical advocates such as corporate leaders for climate protection and clean energy. 

Sheila believes that everyone deserves to live in a healthy home environment that supports health and vitality, family, provides comfort, and brings joy each day.  Her magazine is dedicated to helping readers do that.  You can find the preview of this month’s issue at: http://bit.ly/wellnessRE-march2021

As an innovator, she hopes to model new ways to bring together universities, startups, and nonprofits in partnership.

She is an entrepreneurship and tech policy scholar and have held positions at Stanford University and the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. Her research centers on competitive dynamics of tech industries, the platform economy, startup ecosystems, and innovation management. 

Martha leads RMI’s REALIZE initiative in RMI’s Carbon-Free Buildings Practice. REALIZE is focused on making net-zero residential retrofits standardized, affordable, convenient, and attractive through a model where retrofits are financed through utility savings, include a performance guarantee, and are delivered using semi-industrial approaches that allow for scale and simultaneous mass customization.

Dr. Eric Holt is an Assistant Professor in the Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management at the University of Denver (DU). He teaches Construction Building Systems, Introduction to Architecture & Design Management, and Construction Estimating. 

He has 29 years of experience in the construction industry. His career includes construction material sales and marketing, plan reviewer and building inspector, custom home project manager, and architectural designer for new homes and remodel projects. 

Eric earned his PhD from Purdue University in Construction Management. He is a certified instructor for the National Association of Home Builders and teaches the Certified Green Professional (CGP), Certified Aging in Place Specialist (CAPS), and Residential Construction Superintendent (RCS) courses. He serves on the NAHB Student Chapter Advisory Board at the national level, and as the DU NAHB Student Chapter Faculty Advisor. 

His research focus is in wood framing and methods, workforce development, and technology utilized in construction. Dr. Holt has published 21 articles in the field of green homebuilding, technology utilized in building information modeling, and incorporating the technology into the classroom setting. 

He and his grad student team are currently working on a research grant from the National Housing Endowment to develop a cost analysis model for stick built vs. pre-cut vs. panelized vs. modular light wood framing systems.

Prior to joining Mayor Schaaf’s team in 2018, he worked for 15 years in the Oakland Planning and Building Department, most recently as the Deputy Director where he oversaw the land use planning functions of the department, including development policy and major development projects. He also oversees interdepartmental efforts and public-private partnerships to promote Accessory Dwelling Units and construction innovation. 

Basil has 20 years of real estate experience including acquisitions, sales, asset management and finance. Basil previously held senior credit positions at a FreddieMac multifamily lender and an NYSE-listed REIT. Prior to this, Basil led trade & investment for several multinational corporations based in Hong Kong and Indonesia and served as an Honorary Consul facilitating trade development in Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific and Africa. 

He started his career in investment banking at JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley and holds a degree from USC Marshall School of Business with concentration in Finance and International Business. In addition to English, Basil speaks Russian, Ukrainian, German and Chinese.