Rick Fedrizzi, founder and president of Green-Think, Inc., and the founding chairman of U.S. Green Building Council, has been named acting president and chief executive officer of the Council, replacing Christine Ervin, the Council's first president and CEO.
The change is part of the organization's planned transition to a management team based in the organization's Washington, D.C. headquarters. Ervin announced plans to step down from the leadership post effective April 30, 2004, to remain in Oregon.
"While I have relished the Board's flexibility in this cross-country arrangement, it is time for full-time leadership in Washington, D.C., as we move into the next phase of our growth and development," said Ervin, who lives in Portland. "Rick is the perfect person to take that on."
Fedrizzi's appointment occurs as the Council's board is moving into the next cycle of its three-year strategic plan. Implementation of that plan will focus on five key strategies that are designed to continue to build the staff infrastructure of the rapidly growing organization, enhance and expand its ground-breaking LEED programs into all phases of building, further develop local chapter programs, and broaden financial development.
Fedrizzi's background demonstrates he is up to the task. A native of Syracuse, New York, he served as in-house environmental consultant with Carrier Corporation for more than 25 years, helping to lead that organization to its iconic status as an innovator in green building, before founding Green- Think. He currently serves as principal of the Global Environment & Technology Foundation and member of the Board of Directors of the New York Indoor Environmental Quality Center.
The U.S. Green Building Council is the nation's leading coalition of corporations, builders, universities, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations working together to promote buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable and healthy places to live and work. Since its founding in 1993, the Council has grown to more than 4,000 member companies and organizations, a 40-person professional staff, a broad portfolio of LEED products and services, the industry's popular Greenbuild International Conference and Expo, and a network of 67 local chapters, affiliates, and organizing groups.