New CEO for World Green Building Council

The World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) has appointed New Zealander Jane Henley as its new Chief Executive Officer.

Ms Henley will step down as CEO of the New Zealand Green Building Council (NZGBC) to take up the role, beginning in April. She is currently on the board of the WorldGBC.

Ms Henley helped establish the NZGBC in 2005 and was appointed founding CEO in 2006. The NZGBC now has over 400 member companies, five Green Star NZ rating tools and 33 certified projects.

WorldGBC Chairman Tony Arnel said under Ms Henley's stewardship the NZGBC had made major advances, and she was well equipped to oversee the expansion of the world body.

"Jane's experience in developing the NZGBC from its inception will be invaluable in expanding the World Green Building Council as we experience rapid growth in global activity," Mr Arnel said.

Since the WorldGBC's foundation in 2002, global green building activity has experienced steady growth, with the Asia Pacific region increasing from US$10 billion in 2005 to $40 billion in 2008, with growth of market opportunity estimated to increase three fold by 2013 . Green building councils are driving the expansion of these markets worldwide.

"As the single largest contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions, buildings provide one of our greatest opportunities to address climate change," Ms Henley said.

"I'm looking forward to working with the World Green Building Council's member economies to highlight the effectiveness of emissions policies, accelerate the uptake of green building rating tools, and support the development of common carbon metrics to enable consistent measurement of carbon savings from green buildings."

Ms Henley takes over from Andrew Bowerbank. The WorldGBC secretariat remains in Toronto, Canada, with the support of the Provence of Ontario and the Toronto Regional Conservation Authority.

About the WorldGBCA
The WorldGBC has 15 established country councils: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, UAE, Taiwan, United Kingdom, US, Colombia and Romania.

The WorldGBC is working with another 50 countries in either scoping or assisting in the development of national green building councils.

The WorldGBC's vision is that through leadership and collaboration the global property industry will transform traditional building practices and fully adopt sustainability as the means by which our environments thrive, economies prosper, and societies thrive.

For more information
Jane Henley
Chief Executive Officer
World Green Building Council