New York, NY: Nicholas Holt, AIA, LEED® AP BD+C, Director at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM), has been elected to the 2012 Board of Directors of Urban Green Council, the New York chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council. The Board’s primary functions are to establish Urban Green Council’s vision, ensure the organization’s financial health and legal compliance, and provide general oversight. Other individuals on the 20-member Board of Directors include Amanda Burden, Chair of the New York City Planning Commission and Jeff Brodsky, President of Related Management.
A firm believer in the benefits of collaborative practice models, Holt has extensive experience in developing and implementing advanced sustainability strategies and technologies to meet high performance design goals in projects around the world. “I am excited to contribute to Urban Green’s ongoing efforts to make New York a cleaner, healthier city,” stated Holt about his new role within the Council. “By educating the green building community and advocating for more sustainable building practices, the Urban Green Council has a real influence on how we as professionals can reduce our impact on the environment.”
Holt directs the technical efforts for all projects in SOM New York’s office, establishing long-term project strategy, technical standards and protocols, and ensuring that buildings meet their performance goals. His projects include One World Trade Center, which is targeting LEED® Gold certification; a 400,000-square foot clinical laboratory in New York City for Mt. Sinai targeting LEED® Silver; 250 West 55th Street, a 39-story office tower that has been pre-certified LEED® CS Gold; and PS62, a net-zero-energy school in Staten Island designed for the New York City School Construction Authority. He is a senior leader in the High Performance Design Initiative, an internal think tank that is developing the standards and goals by which SOM will approach the design of high performance buildings and ultimately meet the goals for carbon, energy, waste and water usage that we expect to become standard in coming years.
Holt is also a Principal at the Center for Architecture Science and Ecology (CASE), a multi-institutional research collaboration co-founded by SOM and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Focusing on emergent materials and technologies, CASE blends private sector practicality and academic rigor to develop innovative technologies with applications in buildings. A graduate of Auburn University, Holt joined SOM’s New York office in 1995.
About Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM) is one of the leading architecture, interior design, engineering, and urban-planning firms in the world, with a 75-year reputation for design excellence and a portfolio that includes some of the most important architectural accomplishments of the 20th and 21st centuries. Since its inception, SOM has been a leader in the research and development of specialized technologies, new processes and innovative ideas, many of which have had a palpable and lasting impact on the design profession and the physical environment. The firm’s longstanding leadership in design and building technology has been honored with more than 1,500 awards for quality, innovation, and management. The American Institute of Architects has recognized SOM twice with its highest honor, the Architecture Firm Award—in 1962 and again in 1996. The firm maintains offices in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., London, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Mumbai and Abu Dhabi.