7group’s John Boecker today announced that Scot Horst has resigned as president of the nationally known green building consultancy 7group to join the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) as its senior vice president for LEED.
"For anyone else, shifting from the private sector to the non-profit sector for a period of time might be surprising, but in many ways it’s quintessential Scot,” said Boecker. “Truth be told, 7group has long been more of an advocacy organization for improving the health of place than a traditional green building consultancy, due in large part to how Scot, and all of us at 7group have chosen to conduct our business and focus our efforts. Scot’s simply taking a logical next step in this phase of his mission-driven career. He’ll be missed in his role with 7group, but we’re all very excited about the leadership he’ll bring to the long-term vision of the LEED green building program, which is something every single person in the building industry should care deeply about. His clarity of vision, technical expertise, relationship-building skills, and uncanny way of aligning people around common purpose is a special gift - one from which everyone involved in green building will benefit.”
Horst is widely recognized as one of the key leaders of the sustainable design movement. He established his own firm, Horst, Inc., a sustainable materials consulting firm, in 1994, then in 1999 served as a founding partner of 7group, a cohesive team that serves the sustainability consultation needs of owners, developers, designers, contractors and product manufacturers. He is also president of Athena Institute International, a non-profit organization committed to the evaluation of environmental impacts of buildings through life cycle assessment. Scot will also be stepping down as a director and officer of the Athena Institute International. His employees at Horst, Inc. have started their own company and will continue their work through 7group and Athena.
Since 2005, Scot has served as chair of the USGBC’s LEED Steering Committee, the body that has principal responsibility for developing and implementing LEED, both in the U.S. and internationally. LEED is the nationally accepted benchmark for green building design, construction, operations and maintenance. For this work, he is the 2008 recipient of the USGBC’s Leadership Award in the LEED category.
Horst is a LEED AP, former LEED faculty member, and has been a contributing author to LEED reference guides. He is one of the 7group authors of The Integrative Design Guide to Green Building:Redefining the Practice of Sustainability, due out in April. He is a sought-after speaker and a frequently interviewed expert on all aspects of green building and its intersection with humanity.
“This is a very important time in our history as a country and as an organization,” Horst said. “This new role is a great opportunity to help create a built environment that heals rather than harms.”
Contacts:
7group
John Boecker, AIA
404-307-5027
boecker@sevengroup.com