USGBC Announces Leadership Changes

WASHINGTON — Roger Platt, senior vice president of global policy and law for the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), is taking over the council’s president position, according to an Oct. 2 announcement.

Platt will acquire the role of president from Founding Chair Rick Fedrizzi. Fedrizzi will continue his role as CEO of both USGBC and the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI).

“Roger possesses proven experience and business acumen well beyond matters of law and policy,” Fedrizzi said in a statement. “In this new role as president, he will serve as my deputy to singularly focus on market development, stakeholder engagement and strategic relationship management of all of our USGBC customers, helping us take our mission to a new level.”

Other executive changes for the USGBC include the addition of a new position — chief product officer (CPO) — a role that Scot Horst, senior vice president of LEED, will assume.

“Scot has been key to the success of LEED. He was a volunteer chair of the LEED Steering Committee before joining our team full-time as leader of the entire LEED system. He is especially known for high-profile initiatives that have set a bar for a level of innovation that is the envy of many successful, for-profit companies,” Fedrizzi continued. “The new LEED Dynamic Plaque he has developed has already proven to be a game-changer in the global real estate market. I am proud to expand his role to include all product vision and development at USGBC.”

Mahesh Ramanujam will continue as COO of USGBC and president for the GBCI.

“Along with Mahesh Ramanujam, this completes an executive team structure that can drive organizational excellence, deepen and expand engagement with all our stakeholders — members, market leaders, volunteers, government authorities — and continue the rapid innovation and market inspiration that USGBC is known for,” Federizzi said, noting that additional restructuring will follow in the months ahead, as schools, health, international and education initiatives expand to meet a massive demand curve already underway.

About Roger Platt

Since joining USGBC in 2010, Platt has been responsible for overseeing the policy aspects of the increasingly global adoption of green building and urban development practices. He has also taken on special projects relative to restructuring USGBC’s fundraising functions and its residential LEED certification program. Before joining USGBC, Roger spent 15 years as a senior executive and policy counsel with the Real Estate Roundtable in Washington, D.C. Prior to that, Platt served as an urban land use and business lawyer in San Francisco, focusing on the city’s two largest neighborhood-sized development projects. A long-time member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), he serves as a member of its Sustainability Center Advisory Board. Platt also currently serves on the board of the World Green Building Council.

About Scot Horst

Horst is responsible for the LEED program at the USGBC and recently led staff and volunteers in the development of LEED v4. He is chief inventor of the LEED Dynamic Plaque, a new measuring device for whole building performance. Horst established the global, regional and local growth strategy that led to LEED as a global benchmark, including the LEED International Roundtable, now comprised of 35 countries and responsible for LEED’s technical development around the world.
Prior to joining USGBC, Horst was president of 7group, a green building consultancy, and Athena Institute International, a nonprofit dedicated to the lifecycle assessment of buildings. He is co-author of “An Integrative Design Guide to Green Building” and serves on multiple boards, including as an advisor to the Sustainable Building Alliance in Paris, the Resilient Design Institute, Cradle to Cradle and the Buildings Retrofit and Finance Steering Committee of the World Economic Forum.

About Mahesh Ramanujam

Ramanujam works for the USGBC to develop, implement and maintain strategic organizational operation plans that align with USGBC’s mission. His areas of expertise include strategic business planning, enterprise business development, customer service, business process optimization, finance, operations, productivity management and organizational design.