Robert K. Watson

Robert "Rob" Watson, is a market transformation expert, international leader in the green building movement and CEO and Chief Scientist of The ECON Group. He founded the LEED Green Building Rating System of the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) in 1993 and was its Founding Chairman until 2006.After helping to pioneer the green building concept as the "Father of LEED", Watson founded the EcoTech International Group (ETI) to meet the fast-growing demand for green building technologies and services in China, Russia, India and the United States. Since 2008, Watson has also been the Executive Editor of GreenerBuildings.com where he blogs about the state of green building. His work on green buildings in China and green technology in general has been featured in numerous publications, including Fortune Magazine and The Economist and has been referenced on multiple occasions by New York Times columnist, Thomas Friedman. In Thomas Friedman's 2008 book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded, Watson is described as "one of the best environmental minds in America."Watson was the only foreigner to have been honored by Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of the People's Republic of China with its first Green Innovation Award in Beijing in 2005. In 2002, he was named as the first recipient of the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership Award For Lifetime Achievement for his work with the organization.