Washington, D.C.—The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI), appointed Peter Templeton as president and CEO. As president and CEO of both USGBC and GBCI, Templeton will direct the organizations’ efforts to increase the reach and impact of green building and green business market transformation activities around the world. The company said he will build on his work over the past 25 years to accelerate the global adoption of practices that improve human health, environmental well-being and quality of life for all.
Templeton has played a leading role in the development, launch and ongoing operation of the LEED program—the most widely used and respected green building program in the world—which developers, corporations and governments have leveraged to dramatically reduce their environmental footprints. LEED provides a comprehensive, globally-recognized framework for healthy, high-performing green buildings, communities and cities.
Templeton has served at USGBC and its partner organization GBCI for over 20 years. During the past year, he has led the organizations on an interim basis. Templeton has dedicated the entirety of his career to successfully driving behavior change to improve public health and the environment in communities worldwide.
“We must accelerate action on the climate crisis,” said Aaron Bernstein, chair of the USGBC board of directors and interim director of the Center for Health and the Global Environment at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “Peter has worked tirelessly throughout his career to advance green building and in doing so combat climate change and protect our health. Our boards are thrilled that he has agreed to take on the CEO role at this critical juncture in the history of the green building movement.”
According to Don Anderson, chair of the GBCI board of directors and operational advisor to Blackstone, Templeton is a passionate leader with a clear vision for taking green building to the next level. “Organizations around the world are focused on environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance,” Anderson said. “Quite simply, Peter gets it and is working collaboratively with partners in all sectors to mobilize action at scale. He is committed to evolving our frameworks and ramping up capacity needed for building owners and occupiers to meet aggressive goals for decarbonization, resilience, health and equity in the built environment.”
Templeton said it is a tremendous honor and responsibility to lead USGBC and GBCI. “Buildings are a primary contributor to climate change, and over the past three decades the USGBC community has championed proven solutions and readied the market for critical innovation in policy, technology and practice,” he said. “I am committed to working with our talented team and dedicated partners to advance this work further and faster to address the urgent challenges facing our families, communities and planet.”