Page 39 - Green Builder July-August 2018 Issue

someone grows up, she continues. “Access
THE DOERS to nutritious food correlates with educational
performance, and education is an equalizer for
BILL FAY, Coalition Director, Energy Efficient Codes socioeconomic issues,” Migita says. “I get excited
about sustainability and the clear impact it has on
Coalition social justice and overall on society.”
Bill Fay has spent nearly four decades building coalitions and finding ways to An avid adventurer, Migita loves to travel and learn
create common ground between diverse stakeholders—namely the national about different cultures. “Growing up in Hawaii, I was
government, environmental community, manufacturers and consumer groups. constantly exposed to a number of cultures there,” Human hospitality
As a long-time Washington, D.C., insider, Fay has mastered navigating the she says. “I’ve been to about 30 different countries.” leader. Caesars
choppy—and often contentious—waters on the Hill, bringing Democrats and Her global experience is essential, given that she Entertainment Chief
Republicans together to get things done. oversees programs for 50 resorts and 70,000 Sustainability Officer
Fay was the executive director of the Clean Air Working Group, established in employees worldwide. Gwen Migita
conjunction with the Business Roundtable and National Chamber of Commerce, When not conjuring up new sustainability emphasizes the
where he headed up efforts to reauthorize the Clean strategies for Caesars, she and her wife, Cuc, and correlation between
Air Act. their two young children Max and Ava, spend time sustainability,
“When I joined the campaign, the impasse between visiting family in Olympia, Wash., and Hawaii. socioeconomics and
the environmental community and the business gender.
community was so intense that the Clean Air Act KIM SHANAHAN, Executive Officer,
had expired and was kept alive by annual extensions,” Santa Fe Area Home Builders Association
he recalls. “But as the discussions evolved, it They say that once a builder, always a builder. But this outspoken, pioneering,
became clear that the business and environmental hero of sustainability has broken the mold. As Executive Officer of the Santa Fe
communities were 80 percent aligned. By creating
Peace keeper. Making policy based on that 80 percent, we were able to meet Area Home Builders Association (SFAHBA), Kim Shanahan has had the unique
opposing sides in the majority of our objectives and enact a law that has opportunity to show by example how to build high performance, water-saving,
Washington, D.C., work profoundly improved our nation’s air quality.” durable homes. But he also has been able to influence the industry from the inside.
together on Since 2007, Fay has run the Energy Efficient Shanahan’s no-nonsense, collaborative style and his uncanny talent for always
environmental matters Codes Coalition, a broad-based alliance of energy being informed and prepared, make him an excellent liaison between builders,
is one of Energy efficiency advocates that work to advance the policymakers, homebuyers and other stakeholders.
Efficient Codes development and adoption of building energy codes. This is critical, since Shanahan faces the
Coalition Director Bill Today, Fay is focused on getting mayors to ultimate dichotomy on a daily basis—he represents
Fay’s key skills. a conservative industry in a progressive town. As
incorporate building energy efficiency in their climate such, Shanahan does his best to bring the sensibility
action plans. “Mayors instantly recognized the myriad of a small local business owner to controversial
benefits of efficiency to homeowners, tenants, their community power grids, discussions about green building, climate change,
and national energy and climate security.” affordable housing and growth management.
Fay thinks extensively about how to bring civility back to Washington. “Public Leveraging his position in the building industry,
policy works when you can find common ground,” he says. “There is no easy Shanahan has nurtured change at all levels of local, Leader by example.
solution to address the polarity and paralysis we’re experiencing. The only way is to state and national policy in favor of sustainability. He As a veteran green
sit down together with open minds, listen to each other, and develop consensus. helped the City of Santa Fe draft and adopt one of builder and small
That’s how we’ll forge a pathway forward and reestablish a functional system.” the country’s first comprehensive residential green business owner, Santa
When he’s not inside the Beltway, you can find Fay and his wife, Lee Ann, construction codes, based on the National Green Fe Area Home Builders
on the Amalfi Coast or cruising on a riverboat along the waterways of Europe. Association Executive
Building Standard (ICC-700).
Shanahan has also has played a pivotal role in
GWEN MIGITA, Social Impact & Inclusion Vice President shaping a national dialogue about water stewardship. Officer Kim Shanahan
gains an insight into
and Chief Sustainability Officer, Caesars Entertainment He was a central figure in the adoption of strict sustainability that he
As Social Impact and Inclusion Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer standards in the water-starved Santa Fe area, is all too happy to
for Caesars Entertainment, Gwen Migita has turned the hospitality giant’s including an innovative water bank program. As a share with others.
corporate sustainability program into an art form. Migita oversees Caesars’ board member of the Green Builder Coalition, he was
corporate social responsibility strategy and policy through the People Planet instrumental in the development of the Water Efficiency Rating Score (WERS),
Play framework, an overarching program that encompasses CodeGreen, the a rating system that measures a home’s water use.
company’s award-winning global environmental sustainability strategy. “The zero to 100 scale of the WERS program plays right into the competitive
As a female Asian American Pacific Islander member of the LGBTQ community, nature of builders and the marketplace,” says Shanahan. “Consumers can easily
she places a particular emphasis on the impact that sustainability has on human assess the most water-efficient home. A performance-based metric always
beings. “Sustainability can be an equalizer between socioeconomic classes and produces better results than a purely prescriptive standard. It drives innovation
gender, along with other marginalized groups in our society,” Migita asserts. “The and best practices that are quickly adopted by others.”
complexity of the various areas of sustainability has an end result on human When he’s not shaking things up in the building industry, you can find
beings. It’s the impact on reducing marginalization that I find fascinating.” Shanahan hiking, reading, writing, cooking and contemplating life at his cabin
In the U.S., there’s a correlation between lifetime earnings and where in Cow Creek, N.M. GB

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