Hicks Named VP of LEED Rating System Program

Washington, D.C., October 5, 2005--The U.S. Green Building Council today named Tom Hicks vice president of its popular LEED Green Building Rating System program following Nigel Howard being named chief technical officer in July. According to Rick Fedrizzi, USGBC's president, CEO and founding chairman, this is the latest in a series of management changes designed to support an organizational realignment of resources against USGBC's strategic goals. "USGBC members deserve an all-star management team, and Tom's promotion from his role as director of LEED for Existing Buildings to VP for all of LEED further builds the foundation of our already strong organization," said Fedrizzi. "His exceptional technical knowledge, combined with his deep market expertise, make him the perfect person to help us take LEED, and USGBC, to the next level." Prior to joining the USGBC in November 2004, Hicks spent nine years at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a Senior Program Manager, serving as principal architect and program manager of the Energy Star commercial building rating system, the nation's largest and best-known energy efficiency initiative. Energy Star has been utilized to assess the energy performance of over 30,000 buildings, and is a strong partner to LEED. "LEED is the leadership standard for green building, and the adoption of green building practices is growing exponentially. Thus we have to be sure that while we successfully implement our ongoing program, we don't lose sight of where we go next," Fedrizzi continued. "That's one of the reasons we've asked Nigel Howard, who brought LEED to its current level of success, to now focus his attention on evolving LEED version 3.0, which will seek to incorporate all the new science around bioregionalism, life cycle analysis, and a number of other issues. This is where Nigel's significant expertise can pay the highest dividends," Fedrizzi said. In addition to shepherding LEED 3.0 through USGBC's consensus process, he will continue to be LEED's international ambassador, overseeing global outreach programs. Fedrizzi underscored the importance of other organizational changes announced earlier this summer, including the appointment of USGBC's first ever COO, Chris Smith; the promotion of Peter Templeton to vice president of Education and Research; the promotion of Michelle Moore to vice president of Community and Communications; and the appointment of Joe Maheady to newly created position of director of Public Policy. "This latest strengthening of the management team puts in place yet another asset that will enable us to move faster in achieving our goal of market transformation," Fedrizzi said. He noted that the strategic imperatives supporting that goal include advancing USGBC's efforts in the areas of Education, Research, Advocacy and Influence, USGBC as Community, Organizational Excellence, and LEED. "We now have a board advocate and a member of the senior management team, alongside our volunteer committees, aligned with each of these imperatives, providing them all with the necessary leadership, direction, and resources for success," he said.

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