CEO, Regenerative Ventures
Founder, U.S. & World Green Building Councils
David Gottfried is known as the father of the global green building movement: founding the U.S. Green Building Council and World Green Building Councils (with GBCs in 90 countries). The GBC movement has likely reduced global warming and ecological footprint more than any other organizations in the world. Gottfried’s work started a global industry with over 200,000 green buildings in most of the world’s countries. USGBC alone has 15,000 organizational members representing 10 million employees. 180,000 professionals have passed its LEED Accredited Professional exam.
Gottfried serves as the CEO of Regenerative Ventures. The firm incubates greentech start-up companies and advises leading global building industry legacy organizations. Its Regenerative Network serves as an accelerator for approximately 20 disruptive green building technology companies. RegenAcademy helps professionals grow their personal and corporate ROI by greening their lives and creating legacy. The training is based on Gottfried’s Life Balance SheetÔ – green life rating system (inspired by LEED).
Gottfried had previous tenures as a real estate developer and construction manager, and has served as a strategic adviser to over a hundred global organizations since 1995. His career spans 30 years serving the global building industry. Gottfried’s degree is in Engineering and Resource Management from Stanford University.
Gottfried has received numerous leadership awards, including the inaugural WorldGBC Global Green Building Entrepreneurship Award: the Award is now given out annually in Gottfried’s name. He is a global keynote speaker and the author of two influential books: Greed to Green and Greening My Life. He’s now writing his next book: The Explosion of Green Building. Gottfried’s former residence was the highest rated LEED Platinum home in the world.
Gottfried lives with his family in Berkeley, CA, including his wife, Sara Gottfried, MD, and two girls. Dr. Sara Gottfried’s NY Times bestselling book is called The Hormone Cure. He recently became a modern art painter, with shows throughout the Bay Area.