BuildingWise

• Who we are
• Mission
• News
• Walking the Walk

Who We Are

Barry Giles, CEO

Barry Giles is the founder and CEO of BuildingWise and has been associated with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) since 2002. As CEO of BuildingWise, Barry is responsible for setting the direction of the company, executing on that strategy and leading the organization to achieve its annual goals and objectives. A LEED Accredited Professional since 2004, Barry’s background in construction, facilities management, and the LEED program gives him the perfect combination to lead the effort to upgrade built environments into more energy efficient and high-performance buildings.

Barry is the past Chairman for the USGBC Curriculum Committee, is on the LEED-EB Core Committee and was a board member of the Northern California Chapter of the USGBC. As the Senior LEED-EB Faculty member, Barry has taught over 2,500 people on the subject of LEED for existing buildings. Barry brings more than 25 years of worldview sustainability and operations to BuildingWise from his work in Europe, the Middle East, and the Caribbean. Now deeply rooted in California, Barry has spent the last six years working on his own self-built eco-friendly house where he lives with his wife and seven-year old son.

Jordan Daniels, Director of Business Development

Jordan Daniels is director of business development at BuildingWise. In this role, Jordan is actively engaged in driving new business, promoting and supporting existing projects, identifying key partnerships and ensuring a positive customer experience. Jordan has been a LEED Accredited Professional since 2005 with over eight years of experience in the built environment, most recently as Project Manager for Daniels & House Construction Co., a general building contractor serving California’s Monterey and Santa Cruz counties. Jordan brings his intense passion and great enthusiasm for making the world a greener place to every project, small and large.

In his spare time, Jordan recently made a documentary film to educate communities about LEED and deconstruction as an alternative to demolition. This 30-minute DVD is titled "Cash for Trash: The Case for Deconstruction" and covers principles and practices for performing deconstruction and reuse, as well as ways to include salvaged building materials in building design. Jordan is actively involved in the community as the Co-Chair of the local branch of the USGBC, a member of the mayor’s ad hoc committee for green building in the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea and teaches a course in green building at Hartnell College in Salinas. Jordan has a Chemical Engineering degree from UC Davis, as well as past work experience in the solar and geothermal energy industries.

Max Perelman, Account Director

Max Perelman is an account director for BuildingWise. A LEED Accredited Professional since 2008, Max brings over 13 years of international consulting experience throughout the United States, Asia and Europe to his post. As an account director, Max combines his extensive project management abilities with his environmental and business training to craft complex LEED certification projects, analyze the greenhouse gas emissions of clients, and design sustainability initiatives with strong financial return on investment.

Max has presented at a number of green building conferences and forums including the USGBC’s GreenBuild, West Coast Green, the Project Management Institute, and the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco. He has also published green building research in the Woodrow Wilson Center’s China Environment Series. In addition to consulting on green building projects and regional city planning, Max is the research director and co-producer of the Green Dragon Media Project, exploring opportunities for accelerating the Chinese green building movement. Max is a former Planning Commissioner for the City of Pacific Grove, CA and currently volunteers his time with the Adventist Development Relief Agency (ADRA) to build environmentally preferable homes and schools in rural China. He holds an MBA and a MA in International Environmental Policy from the Monterey Institute of International Studies as well as a BA from Cornell University.

Susan Giles, Marketing Director

Susan Giles heads up BuildingWise’s marketing group. Responsible for all aspects of BuildingWise’s positioning, products and overall brand, Susan combines her marketing and environmental career experience to bring a unique perspective to BuildingWise. Starting her professional life as an art director for Foote, Cone and Belding in New York City, Susan then traveled to the Caribbean to teach scuba diving. After spending many hours underwater and seeing the damaging effects of the ocean environment from tourism, Susan changed paths and received a graduate degree in Environmental Studies. Susan brings advertising, marketing, Internet and environmental experience to the team to help BuildingWise bring green building to the forefront of people’s minds.

Todd Norris, Assistant Project Manager

Todd Norris is an assistant project manager at BuildingWise where he coordinates and prepares project documentation and financial analyses for clients. Todd has been a LEED Green Associate since 2010. His focus includes ensuring proper and timely communication between clients, engineers and third party contractors and vendors. He is also involved with research for client projects and assisting with sales and marketing for BuildingWise.

Todd attended California State University, Monterey Bay and graduated with a major in Business Marketing. His education enables him to apply his finance and marketing skills to evaluate high performance building improvement opportunities. In his free time Todd enjoys spending time outdoors and adds, “Whether it be backpacking, climbing or cycling, there is something to be said about fresh air and beautiful scenery. The BuildingWise team is fortunate enough to live on the beautiful Monterey Bay and we all do our part to enjoy and protect our sanctuary.”