LOS ANGELES— Architect Jim Weiner, AIA, a pioneering leader in the green building movement, has been named to the inaugural class of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Efficiency Design) Fellows, a small group of the global green-building industry’s most accomplished innovators.
Weiner, founder and principal of L.A.’s Collaborative Project Consulting, was named as one of 34 LEED Fellows, the highest professional honor designated by the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI), the independent nonprofit organization that certifies sustainable building projects nationally for the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the nation’s leading authority on such matters.
“I have worked with Jim since before LEED certifications were awarded,” said Murray Milne, an award-winning professor of architecture and urban planning at UCLA and USC who did not participate in choosing the LEED Fellows. “He has contributed greatly to the growth and success of green building within our profession and I can think of no one more qualified for this honor.”
Weiner’s renowned design for the City of Los Angeles’ Lake View Terrace Library achieved the highest Platinum designation in the USGBC’s LEED certification system. (He collaborated with Fields Devereaux Architects & Engineers for the project.) This month, his fourth LEED Platinum project was certified, the Los Angeles Firemen’s Credit Union, as was another of several Gold LEED projects he’s consulted on, Amonix, Inc., a solar-power system manufacturer in Seal Beach, Calif.
A recognized thought leader in architecture and sustainable building in the U.S. and internationally, Weiner has shaped green building policy by working with major utilities, universities and local governments. He is a charter USGBC LEED faculty member and mentor, training the educators who teach the LEED program globally. He was founding co-chair of the USGBC Los Angeles chapter and is president of the Architectural Foundation of Los Angeles, where he founded the Design Green Awards, one of the first internationally juried programs to honor excellence in architectural design among LEED Certified projects.
A LEED AP (Accredited Professional) with a specialization in building, design and construction, he has also partnered with a leading sustainability consulting firm in Japan, CSR Design & Landscape, to initiate some of that country’s first LEED projects.
“Good buildings take a lot of time and money,” Weiner said. “Let’s make sure we spend both in a way that is in accord with our values.”
LEED Fellows are designated through a peer nomination and portfolio review process. This year’s Fellows will be honored in Toronto at the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo from Oct. 4 to 7, where Weiner will present an advanced full-day workshop with colleague Paul Goldsmith on implementing LEED rating systems for existing building operations.
For more information on the LEED Fellow program, please visit gbci.org/fellow.