About the Authors

Rob Watson is the Executive Editor of GreenerBuildings.com, the one-stop website for the green design, construction and operation of commercial and institutional buildings. GreenerBuildings.com is produced by Greener World Media, the leading media company focused exclusively on the greening of mainstream business.

Watson also serves as the chairman, CEO & Chief Scientist of the EcoTech International Group, which helps clients around the world achieve cost-effective high performance green buildings through design, technology and operations.

Under Rob's direction as the "Founding Father of LEED" and as its national Steering Committee Chairman between 1994 and 2005, the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED rating system became the most widespread and fastest-growing standard by which green buildings are measured worldwide. A pioneer of the modern green building movement for over 20 years, in 2007 Rob founded the EcoTech International Group to meet the fast-growing demand for green building technologies and services in China, India and the U.S.

Elizabeth Balkan has a background in environmental policy and sustainable development issues. For four years she worked in China conducting social and environmental compliance audits in the manufacturing industry, and monitored Chinese and International regulations. Elizabeth has carried out studies on China's energy intensive industries, energy consumption in Chinese buildings, and energy policymaking in Shanghai. She has been working with EcoTech International and its subsidiary, American SinoTech, to develop market transformation strategies. Elizabeth received a B.S., Foreign Service from Georgetown University and a Master's in International Affairs, Economics and Energy Policy from Columbia University.