Nigel Howard quits U.S. Green Building Council

Nigel Howard, the affable British chemist responsible for guiding the implementation of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, has quit his post as chief technology officer at the Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Green Building Council.

Howard handed his resignation in to USGBC CEO Rick Fedrizzi on December 17 and left for a planned family holiday in his native England. He could not be reached for comment. At this writing, the USGBC national office was closed for the holidays.

He joined the USGBC in 2001 as vice president for LEED and international programs, having gained an international reputation in green building circles as director of Britain's Centre for Sustainable Construction at the U.K.'s Building Research Establishment. There, he helped develop the BREEAM (BRE Environmental Assessment Method) green building rating tool, as well as the life cycle tool Envest.

Several months ago, Howard's direct responsibilities for LEED were assigned to Tom Hicks, formerly a program manager for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star label initiative, who was named VP for LEED; Howard was given the new title of CTO, but without portfolio.

Over the last 15 months, Howard put most of his energy into spearheading the "LCA into LEED" effort to incorporate life cycle assessment criteria into the next version of LEED.

Howard's immediate plans were unclear, but one source said he might be taking a post with the Green Building Council of Australia, which sponsors the Green Star building rating program.