Rob Watson

Rob Watson is CEO and Chief Scientist of the newly formed ECON Group, which focuses on optimizing building performance over their life cycle. An international leader in the green building movement, Watson is known as the “Founding Father of LEED.” Under Watson's direction, LEED became the largest and fastest-growing international standard by which green buildings are measured. Author Thomas Friedman calls Watson "one of the best environmental minds in America." Prior to launching ECON, Watson founded EcoTech International (ETI) and was a Senior Scientist with the NRDC for 21 years heading up the International Energy and Green Building programs. Watson advises the Steven L. Newman Real Estate Institute and several other organizations and is a former Director and Vice Chairman of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Among numerous international awards for his work, he is the 2013 recipient of the International Conservation Award from the Botanical Research Institute of Texas. In 2011, he was a semi-finalist in the international Zayed Energy Future Award for Lifetime Achievement and was profiled on CNN International. Watson is the only foreigner honored for Green Building Innovation by the Chinese Ministry of Construction and received the first lifetime achievement award from the U.S. Green Building Council in 2002. Watson is a graduate of Dartmouth College and has advanced degrees from Columbia University and UC Berkeley. He is married to Green Schools Alliance Founder Margaret Howard Watson and has a 14-year-old son, Max.