The Green Building Matters Podcast with Charlie Cichetti

🧨 The Green Impact Report Quick take: Alicia Silva Villanueva is back! In this powerful follow-up episode, the renowned sustainability leader from Mexico shares lessons from greening iconic places like Estadio Azteca for the FIFA World Cup, redefining resilience in hospitality, and writing the playbook to inspire the next generation of changemakers. 😎 Meet Your Fellow Sustainability Champion Alicia Silva Villanueva is a LEED Fellow and founder of a Mexico City-based consultancy that's been shaping the future of green buildings in Latin America for over 17 years. With 120+ LEED projects under her belt — from data centers to luxury resorts and World Cup stadiums — she brings deep insight, international perspective, and an infectious passion for sustainability. She's also the author of Leave the Gap, a new book about overcoming the barriers to meaningful impact. 🌱 Breaking Ground on Better Building In this episode, Alicia Silva Villanueva revolutionizes traditional construction approaches: 🎯 Key Insight #1: Turning a National Treasure Into a World Cup Sustainability Leader The Challenge: Transforming Estadio Azteca — Mexico's beloved soccer stadium — into a green icon for FIFA 2026. The Solution: Achieving LEED Platinum for O+M and major renovation with a strong focus on water savings, circular economy, and community impact. ROI: One of the greenest stadiums in the tournament, inspiring staff, fans, and suppliers to level up their sustainability game. 🎯 Key Insight #2: Resilience as Business Continuity in Hospitality The Challenge: Coastal hotels and resorts in Cabo facing climate threats, water shortages, and energy insecurity. The Solution: Resilience screenings, climate value-at-risk modeling, and smart systems for energy and water efficiency. ROI: Reduced operational risk, stronger investor confidence, and long-term savings in high-risk zones. 🎯 Key Insight #3: Storytelling That Shifts the Sustainability Conversation The Challenge: Clients and teams seeing sustainability as too costly or complex. The Solution: Alicia's new book, Leave the Gap, offers practical levers for overcoming resistance and sparking systemic change. ROI: Empowered consultants, clearer business cases, and a replicable framework for sustainable leadership. 🎙️ Sustainable Soundbite "Sustainability is no longer about reputation — it's about business continuity." – Alicia Silva Villanueva 🧩 Your Green Building Action Plan Transform your next project with these steps: This Week: Identify one building in your portfolio that would benefit from a resilience screening. Start the conversation. This Quarter: Push one client to go beyond minimum certification requirements — challenge them to go for Platinum. This Year: Read Leave the Gap and apply at least one of Alicia's levers to your practice or pitch. 🔗 Connect & Learn More 🌿 Access full episode resources: https://www.gbes.com/podcast 🗒 Read the transcript here 👩🏻‍💻 Connect with Alicia Silva Villanueva: website: revitalizaconsultores.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/aliciasilvasynergy 🎧 Missed her first episode? 👉 Mexico City's LEED Pioneer – Alicia Silva 💚 Join the Green Building Movement: https://www.greenbuilding.news/subscribe ♻️ Want More Green Building Insights? Get sustainability tips 2x a week. 👉 Subscribe to our FREE newsletter here: https://www.greenbuilding.news/subscribe Green Building Matters, Inc © 2026 | Good Green Fun.

The Green Impact Report Quick take: This episode shines a light on how youth advocacy and sustainability education are creating ripple effects in the green building world. Julia Pooler shares how empowering children with the right tools and mindset today can shape the carbon-zero leaders of tomorrow. Meet Your Fellow Sustainability Champion Julia Pooler is the executive director of the Carbon Zero Youth Initiative, a nonprofit dedicated to educational outreach towards a sustainable built environment. She is also the author of Buildy Green, it Takes a Team! A Better Building Story, a children's book that celebrates the work of green building and sustainable materials professionals and introduces green building ideas through simple, accessible language and vibrant illustrations. She became involved in green building as a Girl Scout Leader supporting a troop-level national outreach campaign about embodied carbon and low-carbon building materials. Drawing on lessons learned from that project, Julia is working to support community demand for greener building materials and practices through outreach resources and youth engagement. Breaking Ground on Better Building In this episode, Julia Pooler revolutionizes traditional construction approaches: Key Insight #1: Elevating Youth as Catalysts for Carbon Awareness The Challenge: Sustainability efforts in construction often overlook youth engagement. The Solution: Julia's Girl Scout troop created an award-winning project on low embodied carbon concrete, even presenting at Greenbuild 2022. ROI: Youth-driven outreach reached professionals, spotlighting embodied carbon while building leadership in the next generation. Key Insight #2: Turning Green Buildings into Educational Tools The Challenge: Green building principles rarely make it into early education. The Solution: Julia authored a children's book that demystifies green building concepts and celebrates the professionals behind them. ROI: Kids begin to understand and appreciate green design early, creating a lasting foundation for eco-conscious thinking. Key Insight #3: Building a Movement with Joy and Accessibility The Challenge: Sustainability messages can feel overwhelming or negative. The Solution: Julia emphasizes fun, uplifting, and community-driven resources through the Carbon Zero Youth Initiative. ROI: More meaningful engagement from students and professionals, driving curiosity and long-term cultural shifts in the built environment. Sustainable Soundbite Your Green Building Action Plan Transform your next project with these steps: This Week: Share your green building story with a young person in your life. This Quarter: Volunteer to speak at a local school, troop, or youth event about sustainable design. This Year: Integrate youth-friendly sustainability resources into your company's community outreach efforts. Connect & Learn More 🌿 Access full episode resources: Green Building Matters Podcast 💚Join the Green Building Movement 📄 Read the transcript: HERE 🔗 Connect with Julia Pooler: LinkedIn Carbon Zero Youth Initiative Buildy Green, It Takes a Team! A Better Building Story Don't forget to catch more episodes and resources for all of your green building news at the Green Building Matters website. ✉️ Want More Green Building Insights? Get sustainability tips 2x a week. Subscribe to our FREE newsletter here: Green Building Matters, Inc © 2025 | Good Green Fun

📌 The Green Impact Report Quick take: This episode explores how data-driven design can shift the building industry toward true decarbonization. Jack Rusk, co-founder of C Scale, shares how better data at the right time empowers architects and project teams to make real progress toward carbon reduction goals. 🙋 Meet Your Fellow Sustainability Champion Jack Rusk is the CEO and Co-Founder of C Scale, a company helping architects integrate carbon data earlier in the design process. With a background that bridges ecological science, hands-on construction, and architectural education, Jack brings a unique perspective to sustainable innovation in the built environment. Prior to founding C Scale, Jack ****was Director of Climate Strategy at EHDD, where he led groundbreaking work in electrification and embodied carbon analysis. 🌱 Breaking Ground on Better Building In this episode, Jack Rusk revolutionizes traditional construction approaches: 😎 Key Insight #1: Redefining project success through holistic carbon data The Challenge: Traditional focus on energy performance alone misses deeper carbon impact. The Solution: C Scale provides early-stage carbon modeling, considering operational and embodied emissions. ROI: Enables project teams to pitch and deliver on net-zero carbon targets, aligning with climate goals from day one. 😎 Key Insight #2: Empowering architects with decision-ready data The Challenge: Architects lack access to timely, granular data during early design phases. The Solution: C Scale integrates carbon intelligence directly into design workflows. ROI: Informed material and system choices lead to lower emissions and better project alignment with decarbonization goals. 😎 Key Insight #3: Bridging data gaps across the design lifecycle The Challenge: Data silos prevent continuity from early planning to construction. The Solution: C Scale's "red thread" approach ensures data persists across design phases. ROI: More consistent sustainability outcomes, smoother collaboration, and increased transparency across stakeholders. 💬 Sustainable Soundbite "The goal is not to have a few better projects. The goal is to change the way buildings are delivered as an industry." – Jack Rusk 📆 Your Green Building Action Plan Transform your next project with these steps: This Week: Review your past project data — see what sustainability insights can be reused. This Quarter: Incorporate early-stage carbon modeling in proposal phases. This Year: Build a cross-functional team to champion data continuity from design to delivery. 🔗 Connect & Learn More 🌿 Access full episode resources: https://www.gbes.com/podcast 🗒 Read the transcript here 👩🏻‍💻 Connect with Jack Rusk: Website: cscale.io LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackrusk/ 💚 Join the Green Building Movement: https://www.greenbuilding.news/subscribe ♻️ Want More Green Building Insights? Get sustainability tips 2x a week. 📬 Subscribe to our FREE newsletter here: https://www.greenbuilding.news/subscribe Green Building Matters, Inc © 2026 | Good Green Fun.

📣 The Green Impact Report Quick take: From decarbonization strategies to student-centric campus design, this episode with LEED Fellow Allison Wilson is a masterclass in sustainability leadership for mission-driven institutions. 👷‍♂️ Meet Your fellow Sustainability Champion Allison Wilson is a newly inducted LEED Fellow and architect at Ayers Saint Gross, where she champions sustainable, student-focused design for higher education institutions. Based in Austin, TX, Allison works nationally on everything from lab planning to decarbonized campus housing, helping clients align their values with the right frameworks — LEED, WELL, Fitwel, and beyond. 🌱 Breaking Ground on Better Building In this episode, Allison Wilson revolutionizes traditional construction approaches: 💡 Key Insight #1: Leading with sustainability in academic architecture The Challenge: Campus projects historically siloed sustainability goals from design decisions. The Solution: Allison uses frameworks like LEED and WELL — whether or not clients want formal certification — to guide holistic, decarbonized design. ROI: Reduced operational carbon, improved indoor health, and more engaged campus communities. 💡 Key Insight #2: Mentorship as a design strategy The Challenge: Talent development often takes a back seat in fast-paced firms. The Solution: Allison actively mentors interns and staff, building cross-disciplinary fluency across architecture, engineering, and planning. ROI: A resilient, empowered team capable of delivering complex, sustainable projects at scale. 💡Key Insight #3: Healthy materials and deep client alignment The Challenge: Material selection lacked accountability and long-term health focus. The Solution: Through tools like the Materials Pledge and annual reporting, Allison's teams help clients link procurement to environmental and human health. ROI: Reduced toxicity, enhanced lifecycle performance, and greater transparency in the supply chain. 💬 Sustainable Soundbite "We all know that my building might say it's LEED, but we have to do it together." – Allison Wilson 📈 Your Green Building Action Plan Transform your next project with these steps: This Week: Start a running timeline of your accomplishments — it will serve you later in grant or LEED Fellow applications. This Quarter: Assess your current or upcoming project against multiple frameworks (LEED, WELL, Fitwel, etc.) and map values to systems. This Year: Mentor a peer or intern to pass down your knowledge and build a stronger sustainability network. 🔗 Connect & Learn More 🌿 Access full episode resources: https://www.gbes.com/podcast 🗒 Read the transcript here 🔗 Connect with Allison Wilson: Websites: 2011.solarteam.org , asg-architects.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/allison-wilson-aia-leed-fellow-well-ap-lfa-8970557 💚 Join the Green Building Movement: https://www.greenbuilding.news/subscribe ♻️ Want More Green Building Insights? Get sustainability tips 2x a week. Subscribe to our FREE newsletter here: https://www.greenbuilding.news/subscribe Green Building Matters, Inc © 2026 | Good Green Fun.

🎯 The Green Impact Report Quick take: What does it really take to deliver LEED Platinum projects across the Middle East and Africa — at scale, in extreme climates, and without blowing budgets? Newly minted LEED Fellow Dr. Hoda Ibrahim shares how impact-driven sustainability, material transparency, and market transformation are reshaping the built environment worldwide. 👷‍♂️ Meet Your Fellow Sustainability Champion Dr. Hoda Ibrahim is a LEED Fellow, sustainability executive, architect, researcher, and global green building leader based in Cairo. With nearly two decades of experience spanning Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Africa, Hoda has delivered some of the region's most complex LEED Platinum, WELL, and high-performance developments. She currently serves as Head of Sustainability & Climate Change at a leading multidisciplinary consultancy, while also contributing to the evolution of LEED itself through USGBC technical advisory roles. 🌱 Breaking Ground on Better Building In this episode, Dr. Hoda Ibrahim redefines what sustainable building looks like when performance, people, and planet are all treated as non-negotiables. 🎯 Key Insight #1: Sustainability Is No Longer a Checklist — It's a Decision-Making System The Challenge: Sustainability is treated as a box-checking exercise focused only on certification points. The Solution: Integrating sustainability into early design thinking, construction coordination, and long-term operational strategy. ROI: Buildings that perform better, last longer, reduce operational costs, and deliver real climate and human-health benefits. 🎯 Key Insight #2: LEED Platinum Is Achievable — Even in Emerging Markets The Challenge: The perception that LEED Platinum is too expensive or unrealistic in regions with extreme climates or limited resources. The Solution: Strategic credit selection, early planning, regional material sourcing, and leveraging "no-cost" opportunities tied to site, energy, and water. ROI: Landmark projects such as Africa's first LEED Platinum building, large-scale Saudi developments, and multi-city sustainable master plans. 🎯 Key Insight #3: Material Transparency Is the Next Sustainability Frontier The Challenge: Limited disclosure around embodied carbon, health impacts, and end-of-life material performance. The Solution: Driving adoption of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), Health Product Declarations (HPDs), and circular economy principles. ROI: Lower embodied carbon, healthier interiors, market transformation, and stronger alignment with LEED v5 and future regulations. 💬 Sustainable Soundbite "Buildings can either protect nature — or damage it. Sustainability for me was never a trend. It was a continuation of values I grew up with." — Dr. Hoda Ibrahim ✅ Your Green Building Action Plan Transform your next project with these steps: This Week: Review your current projects for "no-cost" LEED and performance opportunities already on the table. This Quarter: Engage manufacturers early to discuss EPDs, VOC limits, and material transparency pathways. This Year: Shift from certification-first thinking to impact-first design focused on decarbonization, health, and resilience. 🔗 Connect & Learn More 🌿 Access full episode resources**:** Green Building Matters Podcast 🗒 Read the transcript here 🔗 Connect with Dr. Hoda Ibrahim: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/hoda-ibrahim-ba924b50 Facebook: m.facebook.com/leedaccreditedprofessionals/ 💚 Join the Green Building Movement: https://www.greenbuilding.news/subscribe ♻️ Want More Green Building Insights? Get sustainability tips 2x a week. 👉 Subscribe to our FREE newsletter here: **https://www.greenbuilding.news/subscribe** Green Building Matters, Inc © 2025 | Good Green Fun.