Greed to Green - The Transformation of an Industry and a Life by David Gottfried

One man’s journey
From greedy real estate developer to a founder of the green building movement.
David Gottfried transformed not only his life, but the world. He started his career as a successful real estate developer in Washington, D.C., during the go-go ’80s, pursuing wealth and maximum consumption. With the market crash in the early ’90s, he had an epiphany that led to his pioneering role in the green building movement. Gottfried’s twenty-year journey involved great personal struggle as he broke through the traditional teachings of his successful father, Stanford University, and his wealthy developer cousins. He then turned his life around, to take on the $3 trillion global building industry—pushing it to embrace sustainability. Through his inspirational story, David Gottfried teaches us that we can change our industries, and ourselves and help the planet in the process.

Praise for Greed to Green

"Despite his good fortune in the conventional world of real estate development, David Gottfried was blessed with unrest, his unceasing curiosity and concern…. It is a toe-tapping, eye-flashing kinetic….What he took on was the building and construction industry and its relationship to living systems.
In Greed to Green, he shares this passage. He is brilliant, yes. But he is also Everyman…. In sharing himself and the fabric of a life well directed, we can find ourselves and know that little or nothing exceeds our grasp if we love the world as well as David has."
      -- From the Foreword by Paul Hawken
Author of Ecology of Commerce and Growing a Business, coauthor of Natural Capitalism

“A remarkable story of a remarkable transformation. David Gottfried’s efforts … transform[ed] the building industry and himself.”
-- Amory B. Lovins
Cofounder and CEO Rocky Mountain Institute, coauthor of Natural Capitalism

"David Gottfried is, indeed, a pioneer, having led the way into the uncharted territory of environmentally responsible construction…. His legacy is here to stay. Read it and be inspired to create your own."
-- Ray C. Anderson
Founder and Chair, Interface, Inc., author of Mid-Course Correction

“A refreshing story of how one person can catalyze change…. a delightful and candid memoir of how a young, bright ‘Type A’ developer creates a revolution in how buildings are designed and built, and finds his higher self in the process.”
-- Sim van der Ryn
Professor Emeritus of Architecture – U.C. Berkeley, former California State Architect, author of Ecological Design and Sustainable Communities

“David Gottfried’s work has led to the beginning of the transformation of the most important sector in the nation's energy economy….  This beautifully written account should inspire a new generation of young people to choose their own careers based on green rather than greed.”
--Gil Masters
-- Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University

“David Gottfried is an extraordinary person, whose passionate idealism is infectious. Even more surprising is David’s ability to create a vehicle to realize his ideals and to demonstrate a better reality within our current financial and social structures. He is one of the few people I know who talks about a better world, gets us to see it, and then helps all of us to realize it.”
-- Peter Ellis, AIA, RIBA
Design Partner, Skidmore, Owings and Merrill

“Not many people can say that they’ve changed the world for the better… David Gottfried’s journey to self-discovery and market transformation proves that one person can make a truly significant difference. I recommend the book to anyone looking for meaning and value in their lives – from any industry and stage of life.”
--Rick Fedrizzi
President, Green-Think, Founding Chairman, U.S. Green Building Council

“Gandhi said, ‘We need to be the change we wish to see in the world.’ David Gottfried has done this, now the rest of us need to slow down and learn as well.”
-- William D. Browning
Founder Green Development Services, Rocky Mountain Institute, co-author of Green Development: Integrating Ecology and Real Estate

About the Author
 David Gottfried has dedicated the past decade to creating organizations and coaching real estate development projects that strive to lessen our global reliance on limited natural resources and wasteful practices, while boosting our quality of life, economic profitability. His previous decade of work experience was in commercial real estate development and construction management. David has worked on projects totaling over ten million square feet.

David is the President of WorldBuild Technologies Inc., based in Berkeley, California. Since the firm’s founding in 1994, WorldBuild has served as the sustainable development consultant for many of the leading and award winning sustainable building organizations and development projects in the United States. Representative clients include: Yahoo, Starbucks, DreamWorks SKG, Stanford University, Williams-Sonoma, Genentech, the State of California and San Diego Gas & Electric.

David is the Founder of the U.S. Green Building Council. The USGBC is the main green building organization in the U.S., now with approximately 3500 organizational members from all sectors of the building industry. He is also the Founder of the World Green Building Council, with councils being developed in eight countries. David is the founding Chairman of ASTM's Green Building Committee and the Managing Editor of the U.S. DOE and EPA funded Sustainable Building Technical Manual.

David received his degree in Engineering and Resource Management from Stanford University. He is a frequent lecturer for Stanford’s Civil Engineering Department and Business School. David has published numerous articles and conducted hundreds of speeches worldwide. He is the recipient of the Environmental Enterprise Award from the Peninsula Conservation Center in Silicon Valley.

To order a book click here