S. Richard Fedrizzi
President, CEO & Founding Chairman

Rick Fedrizzi, founding chairman of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), was appointed President & CEO of USGBC in April 2004. Under his leadership, the Council has embarked on a new era of growth, openness and transparency. Rick has spearheaded a number of critical initiatives, including a major refinement of the LEED Rating System, integration and capacity building to drive growth of the Council’s 70+ local Chapters, and an internal reorganization to align the Council’s resources with its strategic goals. 

Under Rick’s leadership, the Council has undertaken a series of far-reaching initiatives including  working with the Clinton Global Initiative, the International Codes Council, the ASID, ASLA, BOMA, IFMA, and ASHRAE, among others, on various new projects and programs designed to further the reach of the green building movement and drive the Council’s vision of a sustainable built environment within a generation. He has led USGBC’s international outreach, working closely with the Minister of Construction in China, to assist that country’s green building efforts.

Outreach and education are at the top of Rick’s agenda for accomplishing the Council’s goals.  2007 saw a call for an increase in green building research from USGBC and the Council is ramping up its educational program by offering additional in-person workshops and expanding on-line opportunities, including launching www.greenbuild365.org, a Web site that offers green building education year-round.  The Council has also launched an action-oriented green schools Web site, www.buildgreenschools.org, and a green homes consumer education Web site, www.greenhomeguide.org. 

That outreach has extended to the public sector, where Rick is a frequent speaker to the Conference of Mayors, White House and Hill staff, and other state and local municipal bodies.  A passionate speaker, Rick has given more than 200 speeches and presentations this year alone.. 

Since Rick joined the Council, USGBC has expanded it membership base to include more than 12,000 organizational members.  He has also overseen the expansion of the nationally recognized LEED Green Building Rating System for New Construction and Major Renovations to include Commercial Interiors, Existing Buildings, Core & Shell developments, launched LEED for Homes, LEED for Schools and LEED for Healthcare, and is currently pilot testing for a retail and a Neighborhood Development system.  Additionally, work has commenced on harmonizing and aligning the various LEED rating systems into one easy to use system that will incorporate Life Cycle Analysis and bio-regionally based LEED points, among other initiatives.

Prior to his appointment, Rick was the founder and president of Green-Think, an environmentally focused marketing and communications consulting firm.  Rick founded Green-Think after a distinguished 25-year career at United Technologies Corporation (UTC), where he served as an in-house environmental marketing consultant. Rick is the Past President of the World Green Building Council (1999-2004) and has worked closely with the Chinese government to develop a framework for the creation of a Chinese Green Building Council. He serves on the Board of Directors of the New York Indoor Environmental Quality (NYIEQ) Center and The Environmental Project™.

Click here to view S. Richard Fedrizzi PSA
Click here to view the Agenda
Click here to view event flyer
Click here to RSVP