Informational Interview

What Needs Research?

A part of my coursework was to find a non-profit organization and reach out to people involved for an informational interview. In line with my mission to encourage, collaborate, and lead the change to long-term sustainable building solutions, I chose the U.S. Green Building Council. After reaching out to many individuals working at or with USGBC Mr. Benavides was kind enough to share his time for an interview on his work and experiences. From our interview, I formed my question of research: What barriers stand between environmentally sustainable building practices from reaching urban communities?

Interview

During my interview with Mr. Benavides, he identified many challenges and successes that came with his work. Many of the challenges and barriers he experienced I found were felt on a global level and aided the expansion of my research.

Challenges:

Communication struggles- Even with great ideas the application of the design is often lost in translation and seems unrealistic to most, most importantly to buyers, investors, or stakeholders.

Politics and Policy- The state of our environment has become politicalized over time and every country, state, city, or county has different views on global warming and/or climate change. The politicization of the health of people and our environment causes ever-slow policy changes and responses from governments to increase.

Education & Awareness- Sharing the skill sets and knowledge of sustainable energy and building practices is one thing, understanding their benefits and effectiveness is another. Both awareness of our current climate situation and education on the application and implementation of such practices need to be understood by stakeholders, citizens, governments, and most importantly our youth.

Interviewee: Jeff Benavides

Jeff Benavides, who currently works with Plans to Action at USGBC as Director of Portfolio Performance where he supports the global program development of future USGBC & GBCI tools and solutions for cities, counties, and large real estate portfolios. Providing market research, product development, and scaling ability to track and verify performance on international standards, sustainability action plans, and climate commitments. His work began initially in the hotel hospitality industry where he observed the many varieties of waste and the enormous amount of waste the industry generated over time. Since Mr. Benavides found his passion for sustainability he has managed and supported many sustainable construction and renewable energy projects mainly in the Florida area. Mr. Benavides' work at USGBC in connection with LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design: the most widely used green building rating system in the world, offering a framework for healthy, efficient, and cost-saving buildings) has brought together all stakeholders for particular projects, many of which were based in developing countries outside of the United States who look to LEED as the building code standards.

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