Robert K. Watson

Robert (Rob) Watson (born July 31, 1961 in Chicago, Illinois) is one of the pioneers of the modern Green Building Movement. He founded the LEED Green Building Rating System of the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) in 1994 and was its Founding Chairman through 2005. Mr. Watson is the Chairman, CEO and Chief Scientist of The EcoTech International Group (ETI) [http://www.ecotech-intl.com] and its subsidiaries American SinoTech [http://www.american-sinotech.com] and EcoTech India, which he launched in 2007 to meet the demand for green building technologies and services in China, India and the United States.

Former Director of the Green Building and International Energy Programs at the Natural Resources Defense Council, Mr. Watson has over twenty years experience on five continents improving the environmental performance of buildings, utilities and transportation through energy and building policy and program development, integrated design solutions, and clean building technologies. Mr. Watson was the only foreigner to have been honored by China's Ministry Of Construction (MOC) with its first "Green Innovation Award" in Beijing in 2005. In 2002, he was named as the first recipient of the U.S. Green Building Council's "Leadership Award For Lifetime Achievement" for his work as the "Father of LEED." Watson’s work on green buildings in China and green technology in general has been featured several times by "New York Times" columnist, Thomas Friedman, and in numerous publications including "Fortune Magazine" and "The Economist". In Thomas Friedman's 2008 book, "Hot, Flat And Crowded", Mr. Watson is described as, "one of the best environmental minds in America."

Life and work

While an undergraduate at Dartmouth College studying Energy and Environmental Policy, Rob spent several months living in a tent at an altitude of 8,000 feet helping Amory Lovins and Hunter Lovins build Rocky Mountain Institute.

As a Senior Scientist and Director of the International Energy [http://www.chinacleanenergy.org] and Green Building [http://www.nrdc.org/buildinggreen] programs at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) from 1985 to 2006, Mr. Watson was active in international sustainable building, utility and transportation issues in a dozen countries including China, the United States and Russia.

Since 1997, Mr. Watson has worked with China's Ministry of Construction (MOC) to develop green building standards and energy codes for commercial and residential buildings. He also was the principal coordinator for Accord 21 [http://www.accord21.org] , a key green building demonstration project in Beijing for the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). This building was the first to receive LEED Certification in China at the Gold Level.

In other international work, Mr. Watson helped to develop improved national residential building codes in Russia as well as in Moscow and managed a joint U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Agency for International Development project to promote Integrated Resource Planning in the utility sector for the North Caucasus region of Russia. He has also worked on sustainable energy and green development issues in buildings, electric utilities and transportation in Belarus, Bolivia, Chile, Cuba, Mexico, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Ukraine.

On behalf of NRDC, Mr. Watson advocated for sustainable energy policies and programs before several international financial institutions, including the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, as well as several U.S. government agencies (USAID, U.S. Department of Energy, United States Treasury, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Security Council, Office of Environmental Policy), to promote sustainable energy policies and programs in the developing world. Mr. Watson played an important role in developing the “Partnership for Sustainable Energy Use” for the hemisphere-wide Summit of the Americas in 1996.

Mr. Watson created the first documented, quantifiable “Green Office” in the U.S. for the Natural Resources Defense Council’s NYC headquarters in 1987. Watson took primary responsibility for developing the green features of NRDC’s showcase green offices in Washington, DC and the LEED Platinum Level Robert Redford Building in Los Angeles--one of the highest recipients of LEED points in the world. He also consulted on the San Francisco office, which achieved LEED Gold Level Certification. Mr. Watson was a member of the Executive Committee for the President’s Council on Sustainable Development 1999 National Town Meeting and was the Operations Group Leader for the 1993 Greening of the White House initiative spearheaded by President Bill Clinton.

Appointments

*2006–2008--advises China Ministry of Construction (MOST) and U.S. department of Energy (DOE) on the development of green construction standards and demonstration projects for the 2008 Olympics.

*2006–Present--Beijing Development and Reform Commission, Building Energy and Environment Center, International Expert

*2005-06--Shenyang Association for Science and Technology, Special Expert

*2005--Tsinghua University, International Academic Committee of Building Energy Research

*2005 -- Shenzhen Institute of Building Research, Shenzhen Key Laboratory for Building Energy Efficiency

*2005--Shenyang Jianzhu (Architectural) University appointment as a visiting professor

*2005 -- First Representatives Conference, Chongqing Association of Energy Efficiency in Buildings

Awards

*2005—China’s Ministry of Construction (MOC), first "Green Innovation Award"--the only foreigner so honored--for work on green buildings in China

*2005—The Association of Energy Engineers, "International Energy Development Professional Award"--for work on LEED and green buildings in China
*2004—Interiors & Sources Magazine, "Top 25 Environmental Champions" in the Building Industry

*2004—The Association of Energy Engineers-New York Chapter, "International Energy Professional Development Award"--for work on LEED and green buildings in China

*2003—Engineering News Record, "Top 25 Newsmakers" in the Construction Industry

*2002—The first recipient of the U.S. Green Building Council's "Leadership Award For Lifetime Achievement" for his work as the "Father of LEED"

Education

Mr. Watson received a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from Columbia University, has a Master of Science (MS) degree from the University of California, Berkeley Energy Resources Group (ERG) and is a graduate of Dartmouth College where he was a Senior Fellow. In 1993, Watson was the First Environmental Fellow at the Institute of Transportation Studies at University of California, Davis.

Mr. Watson speaks Spanish, Russian and French. He was a member of the Dartmouth Varsity Lightweight Crew: British Henley 1984; Silver – National Collegiate Championship, 1984; Gold – Canadian Henley 1983. He has a Black Belt in Kuk Sool Won (Instructor), and a black belt in Jow Hop Kuen Kung Fu. Rob became an Eagle Scout in 1976.

Quotes

"Anybody can jump out of an airplane and pretend they're flying for five miles; it's not the fall that kills you it's the sudden stop at the end.""We cannot continue to use 18 century economics, and 19 century engineering, to solve 20 century problems."

Organizations/committees

*U.S. Green Building Council, Founding Chairman of the LEED National Steering Committee: 1994–2005; LEED Core & Shell Committee: 2002–2004; USGBC Board of Directors: 2005–present and 1994 to 2000; USGBC Vice Chairman and Environmental Affairs Officer: 1999–2000

*Ministry of Construction, PRC China, Compiling Group, Public Building Energy Saving Standard, 2003 – Present, Compiling Group, Hot Summer, Warm Winter Zone Residential Energy Standard, 2003–2004, Compiling Group, Hot Summer, Cold Winter Zone Residential Energy Standard, 2001–2004

*American-Chinese Committee Organized for Restorative Development in the 21st Century (ACCORD21), Chairman & President

*International Design Center for the Environment (IDCE), Chairman, 2005–2006, Member of the Board, 2000–2004

*President’s Council for Sustainable Development, Steering Committee Member, National Town Meeting for a Sustainable America, 1998-99

Publications

*"LEED Is Not Perfect, But It's Not Broken" by Rob Watson, Environmental Design + Construction Magazine - December 2005

*"Bringing LEED to China", by Ken Langer and Rob Watson, Environmental Design and Construction Magazine - November 2005

*"The Greening of China's Building Industry", by Ken Langer and Rob Watson, The China Business Review - November/December 2004

External links

EcoTech International group [http://www.ecotech-intl.com] Ameerican SinoTech [http://www.american-sinotech.com] American IndoTech [http://www.american-indotech.com] Natural Resources Defense Council [http://www.nrdc.org] NRDC Building Green [http://www.nrdc.org/buildinggreen] Accord 21 Project [http://www.accord21.org] China Clean Energy [http://www.chinacleanenergy.org] The U.S. green Building Council [http://www.usgbc.org] LEED [http://www.usgbc.org/leed]