Tag Archives: green living

Episode 17 Jean Rogers

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Today, more than ever we need to build and scale organizations to not only boost economics, but add in the other two tenets of what is known as the triple-bottom-line: economy, sustainability, and social equity.

If we are to save Earth and preserve life sustaining elements [air, water, soil, precious resources] capitalism must embrace these essentials in its calculation of profitability and net worth.

In order to make this happen, it’s imperative that the essence of making money and determination of value incorporates a triple-bottom-line calculation in determining the ultimate valuation of corporations.

Fortunately, global companies are waking up to embracing environmental and social equity practices [including health] into their business operations and reporting. Transparency is an essential operating principle for us to be able to evaluate organizational performance in these

For this week’s Regen360 iTunes podcast show I’m privileged to host an interview with Dr. Jean Rogers, the founder of the foremost non-profit establishing corporate financial accounting standards for sustainability. She’s a rare inspiration and brilliant in her vision and execution of the movement building organization she founded know as SASB.

I first met Jean when she was writing the green building standards for San Francisco’s LEED Platinum California Academy of Science, and then later on for Treasure Island.

In this interview, you’ll learn the details of “greening” corporations through the power of financial standards reporting, as well as many facets of creating a global movement. Get ready to be inspired…

-David

Learn more about Jean Rogers here!

Episode 15 Jason McLennan

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About two decades ago [in the pioneering years of green building] I had the privilege to work on an exciting fantasy green building project for Montana State University. They assembled a green dream team to brainstorm outside the box. The project catapulted by visionary technologies and design concepts was aptly named the Epicenter. It was to house the University’s Department of Chemistry.

One of the inspiring visionaries was a young architect that worked for Bob Berkebile at BNIM. His name was Jason McLennan. Bob and Jason came up with leading edge performance standards for the project which were unheard of at the time. This included advocating for net zero energy, water and waste and beyond. They also emphasized user health and productivity and individual control of their environment, including chem labs that would embrace “green chemistry”, also an emerging field.

Jason’s eyes sparked with hope and passion, his hair a bit long and scraggly, with a leather strapped ornament exuding a sense of power. He was bold and relentless as he helped advance the project’s unequaled performance metrics. Despite being in green building for some years, I learned about new integrated approaches and possibilities. It gave me hope that we could do better and lead our way to a more regenerative future.

Although the project unfortunately never got built due to funding reasons, Jason went on to advance his and Bob’s net zero ideas into the Living Building Challenge Rating system. In addition, he founded the Living Future Institute featuring its annual conference that draws thousands of cutting edge sustainable building advocates. Google has become the largest user of the rating system which also features a red list for unhealthy building materials. Together, the two initiatives have advanced our movement and inspired many to demand more and push higher.

I’m so excited to feature Jason in a personal dialog with me for this week’s Regen360 iTunes podcast show. We dive into his work in founding the Living Building Challenge rating system and what inspires his visionary practice. Jason demonstrates many of the attributes and steps for what it takes to build a movement. He’s also an author and recipient of the prestigious Buckminster Fuller Prize.

To a living future!
David

Learn more about Jason here!

Episode 13 Paul Scialla

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I vividly recall that ornery night in Sevilla Spain about 17 years ago when I looked into the mirror and realized the person looking back wasn’t me. He had red bags under his eyes, a puffy inflamed face and was coughing away phlegm from his fourth seasonal flu, indicating a trashed immune system.

That was an epiphany for me. And I went on to invent a greening my life program, leading to my Life Balance Sheet [a 100 point rating system]. I scored just 53 points on my first pass. Fast forward to today, and I’m living much more in balance, and scoring in the Platinum 90s. To score well, I need to practice wellness in my personal life and where I live and work. It also values the transformational nature of my work.

In the past decade, I’ve associated green buildings and sustainability with health. It’s about health of the planet and its people [plus other living things that we forget are here too]. Of course, health of the planet is linked to our health. This includes not only what we eat and how we exercise, but also the quality of our air, water and soil.

Listen to today’s show on how life and the products and services we make all need to be clean and non-toxic: to promote health and productivity for today and tomorrow.

-David

Learn more about Paul and his work by clicking here!

Episode 12 Marc David

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It wasn’t wolfing down the third pint of Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey that bothered me most. It wasn’t even the glob of congealed ice cream on the Natuzzi Italian couch that troubled me, leftover from my binge the night before. It was the crisis of my soul. As usual, the Ben & Jerry’s only briefly deadened the pain. As I stared blankly at my TV playing Mr. Holland’s Opus, for the third time that week, I wondered if I’d ever build my own opus.

I had moved to San Francisco after abandoning my career as a real estate developer in Washington, DC. My size 36 designer jeans were tight, and inflamed skin spewed out the hole in my thigh. They were several sizes up from my prime college 33’s. We had launched the LEED Green Building Rating system. In many ways, my life was rating high, but in terms of health and food, it was lower than I liked to admit. I’d put on twenty-five pounds since college and my food cravings were escalating.

Fast forward to today. I’m the lightest I’ve been since high school. Back into the 33’s. I’m the fittest in my life and completed five cycling centuries this summer. My food plan avoids caffeine, alcohol, gluten, sugar, fruit. My energy, mental acuity, and sleep are the best ever. No more leaky gut and autoimmune issues.

Many of us suffer from food or other addictions. Perhaps like me, you didn’t even know that food addiction existed and has many of the symptoms of alcoholism. I struggled despite being an avid athlete and having fulfilling work of passion and purpose. A deeper pain smoldered inside and played itself out in unconscious ways.

This week’s Regen360 podcast is about the psychology of eating, featuring our expert Marc David, author of The Slow Down Diet. In our conversation, we address the drivers feeding addiction. We talk about the movement he has built over the past thirty plus years in the psychology of eating. He tagged my “crisis in purpose, a crisis in your soul” during our dialog. Hear his perspective on why diets don’t work.

As I’ve mentioned, hope comes from finding active solutions that can help us not only sustain, but regenerate on a 360 basis, which is the mission of my Regen360 podcast. Listen in to better understand yourself, and help a loved one who’s suffering, as I did.

-David

PS: Have you found the music within? Even in my sugar-and-fat haze, I could hear the important lesson of Mr. Holland’s Opus, the film that I binge watched: “Playing music is supposed to be fun. It’s about heart, it’s about feelings, moving people, and something beautiful, and it’s not about notes on a page.” Back then, it seemed like I couldn’t seem to find the music within. Let’s work together to build your opus by understanding the wrong and right ways to approach food. Remember to subscribe and if you like the podcast, please leave me a review – it really helps to spread the word.

Learn more about Marc David here!

Episode 11 David Gottfried

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Thirty years ago I could hardly recognize that guy in the mirror.

Hair slicked back. Azzaro cologne off-gassing. Face inflamed from gluten and beer. Hazel eyes red and bulging, with sleepless bags beneath.

Bright textured gold tie, draped by a dark gray pinstripe Armani double breasted suit. The fluorescent light was sparkling off his Cartier gold and silver Panthere watch.

Days were centered on negotiating real estate deals to make more money; hungrily trying to get ahead to feel worthy and quiet that bullying superego.

Who was that guy? And how did he stray so far from his core?

I wonder if this story resonates? Has there been a time, maybe even during the past year where you too felt you’ve strayed?

It’s a new year and we’re off to a fresh start. A great time to reflect on how to get back to your purpose, passion and mission.

As I look forward to 2017, I like to be deliberate by writing down my resolutions. This helps me be clear, focused and determined. I use the exercise to help guide me and keep me on track.

This year I’m using a brand new framework I just invented called BuildMove. It has seven simple steps that you can follow. It’s also the basis of my new work, helping build new movements inspired by each of us. A movement can be as small as a new initiative you’ve been dreaming about starting, or something much bigger like what we created when I founded both the U.S. Green Building Council and later the World Green Building Council. For me, movements also need to be clean – where they bring renewable light into the world.

I just created this New Year’s podcast episode to help you bring in the new year. My hope is that it inspires you to think deeper about your goals for 2017 so you can focus on your core mission, driven by passion, purpose and vision.

For me, HOPE comes from finding active solutions that can help us not only sustain, but regenerate on a 360 basis – and that’s the mission for my Regen360 iTunes show. Listen in right now.

You can learn more about David’s upcming event here. Are you ready to BuildMove?

Episode 5 Dr. Pedram Shojai

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Dr. Pedram is a “green” doctor, spanning the medical and sustainability fields. Trained as an oriental medicine doctor and acupuncturist as well as a Taoist monk Dr. Shojai bridges even further into symbiotic capitalism.

Read more about Pedram