Join David Gottfried, the founder of the U.S. and World Green Building Councils & CEO of Regenerative Ventures for 45 minute hosted conversations with 35 of the world’s foremost thought leaders in green building and sustainability, including bestselling authors, greentech CEOs, major developers, and luminary architects, engineers and green movement leaders.

It’s almost impossible to grow up in Sudbury Ontario without becoming an environmentalist. Sudbury was a nickel-mining town that by 1970 was so moonscape-bleak that NASA used it for astronaut training. When Jason McLennan was in middle school, he participated in restoration efforts that eventually won the town a UN commendation. But then he watched a hill he helped regreen be flattened for a strip mall. He chose the University of Oregon because of its deep environmental program and the greenest architecture program he could find, and studied with a small group of dedicated professors. When he finished school in 1996, Bob Berkebile hired him over the phone, saying he sensed “a change agent.” Jason became a partner in BNIM at 30, the youngest in the firm. He credits BNIM’s Montana State University EpiCenter project for giving him a virtual Ph.D. in “deep green research,” along with the genesis of the Living Building Challenge (LBC). Jason became CEO of the Cascadia Region GBC in 2006, transferred the LBC intellectual property to the Council, and formally launched the program that year.

Today Jason is the CEO of International Living Future Institute, and one of the most influential individuals in the green building movement. The LBC was a major driver in the creation of the Bullitt Center. He is also the creator of Pharos, an advanced building material rating system, Declare, an ingredient disclosure label for building products, and JUST, a social justice transparency platform for organizations. In addition, he serves as the Chief Innovation Officer for Integral Group. He has received numerous awards, and is the author of five books. Jason hopes that eventually people will realize that they are no higher or lower than any other creature, and that all are part of the same act of creation. He believes that instead of valuing size, we should value quality.

For more information on this event, visit the International Living Future Institute’s wesbite.