USGBC Announces 2005 Leadership Award Recipients

Washington, D.C., November 7, 2005--The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has announced the 2005 recipients of the Fourth Annual Leadership Awards. The awards are presented in six categories including Community, Education, LEED, Organizational Excellence, Research and Advocacy. The Leadership Awards recognize outstanding individuals and organizations that signify vision, leadership and commitment to the evolution of green building design and construction. The recipients will be honored at USGBC’s Annual Greenbuild Conference & Expo on Thursday, November 10, 2005, at a ceremony to be held at the Tabernacle in Atlanta, Georgia. “The recipients of the 2005 Leadership Awards are to be congratulated,” said Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO & Founding Chair, USGBC. “The organizations and individuals represented are among the most influential green building leaders and their achievements are bedrock to our mission of transforming the built environment.” Each Leadership Award category recognizes one organization and one individual. In the Community category, the Kresge Foundation, one of the largest foundations in the U.S., was recognized for their green building leadership and program initiatives including a national program which provides educational materials and funding for nonprofit organizations to plan and design green buildings. Bob Berkebile, of BNIM Architects, was recognized in the Community category for his lifelong commitment to sustainability. For the past 30 years, Berkebile has been committed to restoring social, economic and environmental vitality to our communities through his role as founding Chairman of the American Institute of Architect’s Committee on the Environment (AIA-COTE) and his previous service on the USGBC Board of Directors. In the Education category the Croxton Collaborative, founded by Randolph R. Croxton, was honored for their development of environmental/sustainable and human-centered architecture and design. Internationally recognized as an innovator, the firm has been instrumental in defining the criteria used to establish universally accepted goals and practices in this field of green architecture. Traci Ryder of Alliance Architecture was also recognized in the Education category. Ryder is the Chair and a founding member of USGBC’s Emerging Green Builders, whose mission is to integrate students and young professionals into the green building movement. Traci has been essential to the success of the EGB program. Over the past three years since its inception, Traci has created and led the USGBC Design Competition; a national program that recognizes and awards students and young professionals for exceptional project design using the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System. The LEED award went to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). With leadership from Craig Kneeland, a NYSERDA project manager, the organization has become a critical force for green building in New York. Kneeland initiated the first green building program based on the principles of the LEED green building rating system in the state of New York. He led the effort to craft New York State Green Building tax credit legislation. The LEED individual award went to Paul von Paumgartten of Johnson Controls for his many years of service in the development of the LEED for New Construction and for Existing Buildings rating systems as a member and as Chair of LEED committees, and for his leadership within Johnson Controls in brining the message of sustainability to their customers.

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