Event Description

Accelerating Investments in Energy Efficiency in
Houston's Building Market

Via third-party validation over the last decade the class A office buildings and corporate facilities within the City of Houston have made impressive advancements in energy efficiency. To tackle the next steps the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), the United States Business Council for Sustainable Development (US BCSD) and partners in the WBCSD’s Energy Efficiency in Buildings market transformation initiative convened a deep-dive workshop exploring ambitious and actionable strategies for reducing energy consumption in buildings by 30% or more in the Houston market.

At the November meeting of CoreNet a number of the participants in the lab’s three day collaborative effort of building owners, operators, investors, and tenants will share findings and describe the path forward. The panel will review the means to balance operational energy optimization and value to owners and tenants via healthful and productive workplaces.


Panelists:

Gavin Dillingham, PhD
Research Scientist, Clean Energy Policy

Dr. Gavin Dillingham holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Rice University. He joined HARC as a Research Scientist in 2012, and conducts research related to factors that predict energy policy adoption and the outcomes of these policies based on program design and implementation.

Dr. Dillingham’s research is informed by practical experience through real-world application of policies and technologies. Prior to joining HARC, he was the Energy Manager at the Houston Independent School District and the Director of Sustainability for the General Services Department at the City of Houston. In these positions, he led large energy efficiency and renewable energy programs which included large-scale energy performance contracting, behavioral energy management programs, retro-commissioning and installation of solar powered systems.

During his time at HARC, Dr. Dillingham has led the Gulf Coast Clean Energy Application Center. He is also leading the development of the City of Houston’s Climate Action Plan. His current research projects include a study of energy management programs in the K-12 market; a study on the longevity of residential weatherization program benefits over time; and researching policy innovation and diffusion related to the adoption of energy efficiency standards at the state and local governmental level.


Marina Badoian-Kriticos
City of Houston
Mayor's Office of Sustainability

Marina V. Badoian-Kriticos serves as Senior Advisor to the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability. In this role, she provides support and expertise to help the City continue to be a leader in building energy efficiency and energy conservation. Marina has 14 years of related experience and previously worked as Sustainability Director for the International Facility Management Association where she drove sustainability initiatives through a global organization and developed tools for market innovation.




Clayton Ulrich
Hines

Since joining Hines in 1975, Mr. Ulrich has provided the leadership and direction for Hines' 1,000 member operations engineering team. He is responsible for developing and implementing the strategy for Hines’ global engineering operations. Mr. Ulrich leads Hines’ energy management and conservation focus on an annual utility spend in excess of $215,000,000.  His experience with building operations, technologies, equipment and systems serves as the foundation for executing his engineering leadership responsibilities on Hines' portfolio encompasses 260 properties, 140 million square feet, 100 cities and 17 countries.




Jonathan Wilson
Schneider Electric

Jonathan Wilson spent five years in commercial real estate supporting the development of office and retail properties across the U.S., prior to joining the Houston office of Summit Energy Services, now known as Schneider Electric’s Energy and Sustainability Services.  He currently works with commercial property owners to understand their energy use and manage the commodity risk embedded in their real property portfolios. He is part of the world’s largest energy services firm, managing over $30 Billion in annual energy spend for clients in 120 countries.  Jonathan is key to a team that manages energy strategies for 450 million square feet of commercial office properties, including 65 million square feet in Houston.  He has been an active member of the Urban Land Institute, founding member of the Texas Gulf Coast Energy Summit and serves on the Board of Directors for the USGBC Texas Gulf Coast Chapter.  Jonathan earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from Texas State University and a Master of Quantitative Finance from Tulane University.   




Rives Taylor FAIA LEED AP BD+C
Principal, Gensler

Rives Taylor FAIA is a Texas licensed, practicing architect and educator. He has over 28 years experience in institutional and commercial architecture with 20 years spent focusing on strategic planning, programming, sustainable design, project management and commissioning in university facility environments, corporate headquarters and campuses, health and wellness facilities and private residential practice.

Rives casts a wide net in elevating both the why and how of sustainable design, including students, faculty, professionals, public officials and the general public. In 20 years as adjunct Professor at the University of Houston and visiting Professor at Rice University, Taylor has influenced more than 5,000 students in his technical and high-performance design studios and seminars.
The approaches Rives developed for Gensler not only affect the firm's extensive practice but also influence clients' building decisions worldwide. He developed a firm-wide green practice primer called "The Four Tiers of Sustainability", led the inclusion of sustainable design and a wellbeing focus in the firm's in-house education program, and in partnership with Architecture 2030 and the Design Futures Council, developed an "eco-charrette" process and developed a building performance metric that is now used in all of Gensler's projects. Design and construction standards Rives developed for clients such as BP and Toyota are now embedded in those clients' protocols and are followed worldwide. He is launching a new practice area focus of Health and Wellness – elevating the design focus on the health provider and her customer in clinical, wellness community and lifestyle environments.

He leads Sustainable Design Education at the Hines College of Architecture at the University of Houston, and teaches at Rice University as well.