BLACK VEST STRATEGY
CLIMATE. EQUITY. HEALTH.
black vest strategy is a unique consultancy that specializes in integrative solutions to the most complicated and interconnected problems in the built environment. our 20 years of experience at the forefront of the buildings industry provides our clients with unmatched insight.
our cross-sectoral experience building effective tools, policies and systems that identify synergies and optimize trade-offs in the built environment is incomparable in the industry.
our clients are searching for a more informed understanding of how their work intersects with the social, environmental and health goals shared by the communities they serve. we focus our expertise to solve challenging and interconnected real world problems.
we’re also a helluva lot of fun to run a marathon with.
ABOUT US
we love buildings – specifically we love to figure out innovative ways to make them serve the people who inhabit them better. we’ve spent the last 20 years building tools that empower practitioners to optimize systems and understand tradeoffs in the creation of buildings and a built environment that helps people thrive.
but the thing that makes black vest strategy unique is our understanding of and insight around the places where built environment systems (buildings, energy, transportation, water, etc.) intersect and, more importantly, interact.
we help our partners see connections and interactions and then work with them to transform the way they do business to improve environmental, social and economic performance.
BRENDAN OWENS,
P.E., LEED FELLOW
brendan’s influence on the built environment can be seen all over the world. during his 19 year career with u.s. green building council, he was a key figure in the creation of the global green building industry. his oversight and leadership of the technical development of usgbc’s leed green building rating system – the global benchmark for high performance green buildings – sparked a fundamental shift in the way buildings are designed, constructed and operated. hundreds of thousands of buildings in over 150 countries have used leed to guide and certify their performance and leed’s success has inspired the creation of dozens of leed-styled market transformation tools targeting other market sectors.
brendan was also the catalyst for the creation of numerous other building sector standards and codes for green buildings, net zero buildings and grid interactive buildings. his interdisciplinary and collaborative approach to problem solving is both inventive and effective.
brendan lives in old town alexandria, va with his wonderful wife, two kids and a very sweet but outrageously loud dog. he’s an avid cyclist and bike commuter, cook, home renovator and bourbon enthusiast. his fashion sense is also legendary.