BuildingGreen’s Alex Wilson Recipient of USGBC 2008 Leadership Award for Education

Thursday, November 20, 2008
CONTACT:
Jerelyn Wilson
802-257-7300 ext. 102

BOSTON, MA, November 20, 2008—The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) today recognized Alex Wilson, the founder and president of BuildingGreen, LLC, with its 2008 Leadership Award for Education. The Leadership Awards are presented in six categories: Community, Education, LEED, Organizational Excellence, Research, and Advocacy. The awards are bestowed on companies and individuals who “signify vision, leadership and commitment to the evolution of green building design and construction,” according to USGBC.

Wilson was recognized for his long service in providing the design and construction community with unbiased, reliable information, tools, and resources, including Environmental Building News (EBN), the oldest North American publication focused on green building. “In the early ’90s, when there was very little information on sustainable products, materials or systems, and even less on green building, there was Alex Wilson and Environmental Building News,” said USGBC president and CEO Rick Fedrizzi. “Alex helped us all understand the complex integrated issues of the triple bottom line,” said Fedrizzi, “and that helped us lay a firm foundation for one of the most important and relevant movements of all time. USGBC is thrilled to present this award to Alex, because his leadership truly embodies the spirit of these awards.”

In addition to founding EBN and serving as its executive editor for 17 years, Wilson is coeditor of BuildingGreen’s GreenSpec Directory of green building products, author of the book Your Green Home (New Society Publishers, 2006), and coauthor of the Rocky Mountain Institute’s textbook Green Development: Integrating Ecology and Real Estate (John Wiley & Sons, 1998). He has also written hundreds of articles on green building for such magazines as Architectural Record, GreenSource, Fine Homebuilding, Landscape Architecture, The Journal of Light Construction, Building Safety Journal, and Popular Science. Since founding his company in 1985, it has grown to more than 25 employees.

Wilson’s efforts have supported both the leading practitioners in green building and those just starting out. Bob Berkebile, FAIA, the founder of The American Institute of Architects’ Committee on the Environment, said that in the early stages of this movement “the pioneers were starved for good information about materials, resources and tools. Alex Wilson, Nadav Malin, and their colleagues at Environmental Building News provided an invaluable resource at a critical point in the creation of integrated, sustainable design strategies.” As the movement matured and the industry was awash with information, the problem shifted, explained Berkebile. “Sorting through the abundant material—and a lot of misinformation—to find the reliable information has become the challenge. Once again, Environmental Building News and BuildingGreen have provided the critical service this movement has grown to rely on. We and our children are indebted to their enormous contribution.”

Wilson served on the Board of Directors of the USGBC during a critical period of growth, from 2000, when the LEED Rating System was introduced, through 2005. During that time, the staff increased from just a handful to over 60 and the annual budget of USGBC multiplied many-fold. “That was an exciting time to serve the organization,” said Wilson. His company’s products have been tailored to effectively serve the needs of project teams working on buildings earning LEED certifications.

Gail Vittori, the co-director of the Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems in Austin, Texas and the next Chair of the USGBC Board of Directors, noted that “for more than two decades, Alex Wilson and the folks at BuildingGreen have provided an essential source of information on green building materials, methods, and policies, while contributing volumes of original—sometimes provocative—analysis and research to the field. As a pioneering voice, they have educated a generation of practitioners who collectively are embracing the opportunity to recast the built environment as consonant with triple bottom line principles.”

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BuildingGreen, LLC, has been providing the building industry with quality information on sustainable design and construction since its founding in 1985. BuildingGreen’s publications include Environmental Building News, the GreenSpec® Directory of green building products; and the BuildingGreen Suite of online resources. For information, visit www.BuildingGreen.com or call 802-257-7300.

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ditors: Alex Wilson is available for interviews about BuildingGreen, Environmental Building News, and his company’s evolution over the past 23 years.To arrange an interview, contact Jerelyn Wilson at 802-257-7300 ext. 102 or .