Internationally renowned pioneer of the green building movement, award winning builder, architectural designer, and the only person ever to serve on the national Boards of Directors for both the U. S. Green Building Council and the National Association of Home Builders…..Ron Jones…..founder of GREEN BUILDER®, co-founder of Green Builder Media LLC and Editorial Director of Green Builder Magazine, is a unique individual within the sustainability arena.

Selected as Chairman of the Consensus Committee to develop the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) National Green Building Standard, his lengthy resume of service bridges a wide variety of organizations, associations, industry groups, sustainability advocates and stakeholders, including seven years of service as an original member of the USGBC LEED for Homes committee.

Ron enjoys a distinguished record of industry leadership and green building advocacy at local, state, national and international levels.  A Life Director on the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Board of Directors, he served five consecutive years on the NAHB Executive Committee from 1998 through 2002, and two years as an NAHB National Vice President.

He has been a clear and persuasive voice for green building, both within the home building industry and across the wider community, throughout his years of volunteer service and elected leadership.  Serving as charter chairman for the NAHB Green Building Subcommittee and as chairman of the steering committee for the inaugural National Green Building Conference, he helped to establish a permanent presence for green building in the policies and priorities of NAHB as well as the mainstream residential building industry in the United States.

He has been a dedicated ambassador for green building, and the housing industry in general, to an impressive variety of organizations and agencies including the American Solar Energy Society, Sustainable Buildings Industry Council, National Arbor Day Foundation, National Recycling Association, American Society of Interior Designers, International Erosion Control Association, US Department of Energy, American Institute of Architects, the US Environmental Protection Agency, and the Housing Industry Association of Australia, as well as numerous private international companies.

His award winning building and design company, Green Builder LLC, specializes in challenging site projects and environmentally appropriate construction.  The firm offers design, construction management and consulting services throughout North America and, increasingly, to the international market.  Projects of Green Builder have garnered Custom Home of the Year Awards, Housing Excellence Awards in custom building and green building categories simultaneously, and recognition in a variety of publications as well as television programs such as HGTV’s DREAM BUILDERS and the upcoming series NEW FOUNDATIONS.

Through numerous design/build projects, Ron and his team have led the home building market by innovations in selections and applications of materials, energy efficiency, water stewardship, construction waste reduction and recycling, indoor environment quality, and creative land use.  They have continually “raised the bar” for green building and sustainable practices in their own market and beyond.

More recently, Ron co-founded GREEN BUILDER MEDIA, LLC, a leading development, education, consultant and media organization in the progressive real estate industry.  GREEN BUILDER® is entirely dedicated to sustainable development and green building, bringing environmental, spiritual, economic and psychological health to people and projects.

He regularly delivers presentations and conducts green building workshops to a variety of organizations and audiences including building professionals, architects and planners, product manufacturers, land developers, public officials, energy/utility companies, and student groups.  His message of stewardship through responsible action and advocacy of sustainable business practices is embraced by business groups, consumers, environmentalists and the public sector alike.

His inter-organizational leadership history is a testament to his knowledge, his integrity, his credibility, and to his effectiveness in advancing green building throughout the country and the world.  Known for his balance of commitment, passion and reason, he was named as the 2006 Green Advocate of the Year (Builder) by NAHB at the National Green Building Conference.

In March 2007, when selected as Chairman of the 42 member ANSI Consensus Committee (formed jointly by NAHB and the International Codes Council ICC to create the National Green Building Standard™, based on the NAHB Model Green Home Building Guidelines) he accepted the challenge to deliver the “most meaningful and achievable standard possible” and to “provide the most valuable platform for public sustainability policy yet devised”.
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So, Ron, how did you get involved in sustainable building? What influenced your decision to build “green?”
 

I came from a very modest background where we had nothing to waste.  I was taught the importance of respecting resources and knowing how hard they are to come by. 

I was also taught to respect the truth.  And the truth is that the building industry has a stubborn, lazy streak that keeps it in a state of perpetual denial about the impact we have as builders on the natural world.

I have spent my whole life fighting bullies and this just seemed like a natural way to keep it up.

Who are some of your personal heroes?
 

First I have to list Jacques Cousteau.  Not only was he a great explorer and inventor of the equipment necessary to access the undersea world, but he was also a great communicator who understood the importance of the media in shaping the way the world thinks about the natural environment and the preservation of the oceans.

The second person is not a household name, but he may have been the greatest adventurer of the 20th century.  Naomi Uemura, of Japan, was the first person known to travel to the North Pole alone by dogsled and to scale Mt. McKinley solo.  He was lost on that trek and his body was never recovered.  To me, he is the epitome of self-reliance and fearlessness.

One last personal hero I would list is a man whose name is not known to me.  I have a newspaper picture of him that I keep in my office and refer to from time to time.  He is a young, slight Chinese man in a white shirt, standing defiantly alone in front of a column of tanks of the People’s Liberation Army in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in June of 1989.  I hope to experience just one moment of that kind of courage in my lifetime.
What are some of your favorite projects?
 

When you are in a Frank Lloyd Wright building, you are in the presence of genius.  A visit to Fallingwater is a sacred pilgrimage that every builder/designer in the world should undertake.

My own best project has not been built yet.  I’m still learning.
Who/what personalities influenced you as a designer/builder?
 

Unfortunately, I can’t point to any of the professors of architecture that I studied under.  They were not only universally impotent as designers (and educators) but they allowed their own insecurities to impact the relationships they had with their students.

The best designer I have ever worked with is Jim Beverly.  He understands the relationship between a site, a client and a proposed building better than anyone I have ever known.

I used to take him to visit a site I had already carefully studied and (without any influence from me) he would not only independently express the majority of the things I had learned about that site on my own but he would expose additional subtle details I had not yet recognized.    

As a builder, I knew that the least informed person to come onto our jobsite could teach all of us something.  So I was careful to encourage every single person – craftsman, laborer, delivery driver…even the guy who serviced the port-a-potty, to openly voice their opinion.  Our clients knew everybody by their first names by the time the project was finished.
What is your personal definition of “green building?”
 

It may sound corny but it’s just about the intent.  It’s about expressing your values through your actions.  I don’t know how to separate the built environment from the natural environment, or why anyone would want to.  For me, there is no other kind of building.
You’re the “Green Builder,” ®, and co-founder of Green Builder media. Tell us about the impetus behind the company?
 

I knew that “green” was the future of the building industry and I decided to capture the intellectual property so I could assure that the label is not misused or abused.  I did not want “Green Builder” to become meaningless like the term “organic” has.

The trademark became “incontestable” in May of 2005.  I own the international trademark in the categories of publications, electronic media and education.  Those are reflected in the main initiatives of Green Builder Media.  We are constantly expanding the use of the “mark”.

The authenticity and integrity are paramount to me.
You are the 2006 Green Advocate of the Year (Builder) presented by NAHB at the National Green Building Conference. How does that feel in a time when “green” is coming of age? 
  The real validation is not in the personal gratification of winning recognition.  In 1998, during its first open meeting, I was told by a fellow member of the newly seated NAHB Environmental Issues Committee:  “I don’t want to hear about ‘green building’!  If you demonstrate that you can do it, someone will make us do it”!  It was a prime example of the “circle the wagons” mentality that ruled the policies of the Association and the industry in general at that time.  The real validation came a decade later during the 2008 International Builders Show in Orlando when NAHB staged the first ever “Green Day” and promoted their newly launched National Green Building Program.
If there were one thing you’d want to impart to people about building green—one takeaway— what would it be?
  It’s not rocket science, it’s just building science.  It’s more common sense and caring about what you’re doing than anything else.