The Godfather of Sustainability Daniel A. Huard, LEED Fellow

The Godfather of Sustainability Daniel A. Huard, LEED Fellow, WELL Faculty, PMP, an accomplished lifelong learning proponent Multi-Disciplined Professional has long been a globally sought-after Green Building expert. Daniel A. Huard, LEED Fellow, WELL Faculty, PMP, a lifelong learning proponent received degrees in Mechanical Engineering, from Niagara College; Bachelors in Architecture, Masters of Architecture and Masters of Urban Planning from SUNY at Buffalo.

Beyond his professional degrees Daniel holds multiple professional accreditations: LEED AP O+M as well as LEED AP BD+C and WELL AP from Green Business Certification Inc. and was elevated to LEED Fellow in 2017 with the president of the International WELL Building Institute requesting he becoming a WELL Faculty Member in 2018. A long time PMP from Project Management Institute, Living Future Accredited from International Living Future Institute, GGA, GGP and GPCP from Green Building Initiative, in addition to ASHRAE Commissioning Process Management Professional ASHRAE-ANSI CPMP-CxA.

Daniel’s professional expertise has contributed to numerous domestic and international High‐Performance Building, Sustainable and Restorative Development projects as well as international events including Greenbuild, Global Health and Wellness Summit, WaterBuild, Living Future unConference, WaterExpo, EnergyExpo, Coverings, HDExpo, WaterSmart Innovations, Advanced Energy Conference, Energy Management Congress, CAPAC and Global Gaming Expo to name a few. Perhaps some of the rationale why the Godfather of Sustainability was bestowed upon Daniel A. Huard, LEED Fellow, WELL Faculty, PMP.

MDH Evolution’s Chief Sustainability Officer Daniel A. Huard,  LEED Fellow, WELL Faculty, PMP, continues his efforts to be active for organizations and causes he believes in with US Green Building Council being one of the original entities that started that collaborative impact making with officially. Daniel has been active in Green Building for over 25 years, a commitment that includes his current ongoing role as member of the USGBC’s LEED Advisory Committee charged with the further development of LEED Standards globally.

This 2020 promotional election placement follows his former LEED Technical Committee service as an acknowledged contributor in the development of the LEED v4 and LEED v4.1 Standards as well as his many years of service as Chairperson of the LEED Water Efficiency Technical Advisory Group.

 Further commitment includes being invited as one of nine Globally recognized experts to the Greenbuild Global Health and Wellness Summit for 2021 following his acknowledged contributions to the 2020 GHW Summit.

The Godfather of Sustainability Daniel A. Huard, LEED Fellow, WELL Faculty, PMP was the only non USGBC-staff Waterbuild 2016, 2017 and 2018 Summit presenter and program team member at those three successive Greenbuild Conferences in addition to being part of the Greenbuild 2016 Host Committee team.

2021 marked Huard’s final of seven years of service (term limited as initiated by Huard’s governance efforts) to the NFRC’s Board of Directors holding positions of Vice Chair, Governance Chair and Executive Committee member; Huard as well held roles on the NFRC Board as Director, ANSI Committee Member for the NFRC Standard’s global recognition efforts as well as Audit Committee (financial) as well as roles on several member committees in alignment with his vast Managerial Expertise.

In 2011, Huard initiated his service with the International Living Future Institute becoming one of the organizations first ‘Ambassadors’. The Living Building Challenge remains the most stringent Green Building Rating System on the planet from its launch to today.  As the organization has evolved so did Huard’s involvement representing as an Ambassador at Greenbuild 2011 in Toronto, Canada. Huard shared in a long ago report that the booth for ILFI was overrun with interest and the launch of the planets first Net Zero Energy certification was an amazing experience. Huard became one of the initial Living Future Accredited Professionals as well as was responsible for the launch of the ILFI Las Vegas Valley Collaborative LBC Collaborative as its Founder and past Chair. Huard has participated, presented and keynoted at the ILFI unConference events Living Future 2015, 2016, 2017 Presenter, Living Future 2014, 2015 Program Review Team, , ILFI 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2106, 2017 Project Summit and Ambassador Summit from as early as 2012.

His former commitments to the furtherance of Sustainability, Wellness, Resilience and Green Building include: President USGBC Nevada, USGBC Western Regional Council Chair and Director, USGBC NV Chapter Director and Executive Committee member for a term limited six years, USGBC Emerging Professionals Chair ‐West (South) Region, LEED v4 Rating Systems Regionalization contributing author, LEED v4.1 contributing author, Greenbuild International 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 Program Review Team and Presenter,  in addition to being Technical Subject Matter Expert to the US Department of the Interior since 2009. Huard assisted with the US Department of the Interior’s development of their Federal Standards for Guiding Principles for High Performance and Sustainable Buildings as well as their development of Carbon Footprinting as a precursor to ESG reporting and was key to having the Lower Colorado Region of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation adopt the LEED Standard for all of their new construction from 2012 onward. Huard as well assisted as a Subject Matter Expert to the U.S. Department of Defense since 2016 in their adoption of the Guiding Principles and subsequently gained the GGA, GGP and GPCP designations so that he could as well be an assessor for Green Building Initiative for Green Globes and Guiding Principal Compliance projects.

Certainly The Godfather of Sustainability Daniel A. Huard, LEED Fellow, WELL Faculty, PMP as an IWBI WELL AP is happy to that he engaged with the initiation of the International WELL Building Institute. Again Huard became an early ambassador of the movement. Humann Building Solutions Principal Huard goes on to share… I first became involved with the International WELL Building Institute’s (IWBI) efforts in the summer of 2013 and we had a launch of sorts during committee day at Greenbuild 2013 in Philadelphia when the IWBI founder Mr. Paul Scialla presented USGBC with a donation check for ongoing alignment of wellness research. Since the International Living Future’s spring 2014 unConference Huard has been engaged as and ambassador and steadfast advocate and supporter of IWBI and its programs sharing “The IWBI programs, standards and certifications are science based, fact validated with an approach in alignment with the best ethos of engineering and professional project management.”

Daniel A. Huard, LEED Fellow became one of the planet’s first WELL AP credential holders, became a member of WELL Faculty when his participation was requested by IWBI leadership; additionally served on the IWBI ‘Task Force on COVID-19 and Other Respiratory Infections: Prevention and Preparedness, Resilience and Recovery’ and was a contributor to the WELL Health-Safety Rating.  The official IWBI Press Release dated August 3, 2022 can be found here: https://resources.wellcertified.com/press-releases/well-hits-new-milestone-tops-4-billion-square-feet-of-space

Huard the Godfather of Sustainability a sought out global authority has facilitated numerous presentations on WELL including Workshops attending events all over the globe including Greenbuild Asia. Huard a veteran Keynote Speaker and long time participant in Conferences, Tradeshows and events all over the planet likes the expose WELL to event participants such that they in addition to gaining credential maintenance for their participation will also become familiar with the WELL Building Standard and other programs.