Join this exciting Circular City Week panel as we discuss a variety of tools available for facilities, haulers, and municipalities to achieve large-scale reductions in landfilling waste through emerging programs and zero waste practices.

Together and individually LEED for Cities, TRUE and SWEEP support greater understanding of circular practices and a road map to get there swiftly and successfully. Hilari Varnadore LEED for Cities, Rob Watson of SWEEP, and Celeste McMickle of TRUE will present three unique yet complementary certification tools to help our cities and facilities become more circular regarding their resource consumption and waste generation and processing.

Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about the different scales these tools have to offer from the TRUE standard which is primarily focused on getting to zero waste facilities and portfolios, to the SWEEP Standard for Sustainable Materials Management, primarily used at the municipal government and waste industry service provider level, and finally the holistic approach of LEED for Cities on zero waste planning and comprehensive resource circularity at the larger scale.

Jerome Tinianow will lead the panelists in an engaging conversation to discuss the structure credits and requirements of TRUE, SWEEP, and LEED support and complement one another: the importance of the right combination of policy, operations and infrastructure to closing the materials cycle loop; the role of sustainable materials management in reducing the carbon footprint of the built environment.

We look forward to seeing your there!

Moderator— Jerome Tinianow - Proprietor, Western Urban Sustainability Advisors, LLC

Jerry Tinianow is the proprietor of Western Urban Sustainability Advisors, LLC. WestUrb assists local governments in creating and improving sustainability programs. Jerry’s work at WestUrb reflects the successes he achieved as Denver’s first Chief Sustainability Officer (2012-19). Under his leadership Denver became the fifth U.S. city certified at the Platinum Level of the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED for Cities program. Jerry previously served as a national officer of both the Sierra Club and the National Audubon Society, and directed the Center for Energy and Environment at the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission. Jerry received his undergraduate and law degrees from George Washington University. He was the 2018 winner of the Wirth Chair Sustainability Award given by the University of Colorado.

Panelists:

Hilari Varnadore - Vice President, LEED for Cities

Hilari brings more than two decades of experience in public administration and nonprofit leadership to her role as VP, LEED for Cities. Previously Hilari led STAR Communities as its executive/founding director. In that capacity, she deployed the first framework and certification program for local sustainability in the US, the STAR Community Rating System. She has served as a chief sustainability officer and principal planner in local government and has led two nonprofit organizations as CEO. She holds a Master’s of Arts degree from Northern Arizona University in Geography with an emphasis in Community Planning and a Bachelor’s of Science degree from Unity College of Maine in Environmental Policy.

Celeste Mcmickle – Director, TRUE

Celeste McMickle is the Director of Client Solutions for TRUE Zero Waste certification with the USGBC. TRUE certification aims to support facilities and businesses in achieving their zero waste goals by providing a clear path to certification using a points-based rating system and educational tools such as the TRUE Advisor program. Celeste is trained as an architect and has a background as a sustainability consultant, LEED Green rater and waste expert. She has previously worked with Steven Winter Associates, DSNY, and the New York City Compost Project. She is the vice-chair of the Brooklyn Solid Waste Advisory Board and is a certified Master Composter and Permaculture Designer. She is a 2021 recipient for the 40 under 40 award by Waste360. Celeste holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Syracuse University and a Master of Science in Sustainable Design from the San Francisco Institute of Architecture.

Rob Watson - Founder & President, SWEEP

Rob Watson, LEED Fellow, is an international leader in market transformation in solid waste, green buildings and sustainable tourism. Best known as the “Founding Father of LEED,” which he launched in 1993. Under Rob’s direction, LEED became the world’s largest, fastest-growing green building standard. Author Thomas Friedman called Rob "one of the best environmental minds in America." In 2002, Watson received the U.S. Green Building Council’s first Lifetime Achievement Award.In 2016, Watson founded the Solid Waste Environmental Excellence Performance (SWEEP) Standard, a comprehensive framework for triple bottom line performance of municipal solid waste programs and private solid waste companies. Rob currently is a Principal at Upland Road Advisors, an innovator in waste separation and processing that can recycle 95% of the waste stream. In 2019, Dartmouth Alumni Magazine recognized Watson as one of "25 Most Influential Alumni" in the College's 250-year history.