Background:
Karen Childress is an environmental stewardship consultant to business as well as a frequently sought-after speaker and writer on green consumer topics.
Karen consults with companies and organizations to assess and devise cost effective programs to rise the bar on sustainability practices. She is licensed to administer the sustainability Comprehensive Opportunity & Rating Evaluation (SCORE) for current assessments and the Sustainability Planning and Reporting Kit (SPaRK) for strategic planning. She is also a certifying agent for the Florida Green Building Coalition and Class III energy rater.
Affiliations:
- President, Florida Green Building Coalition (FGBC) 2003-2004, 2005-2006. This organization introduced a Florida focused green home certification program in 2000 and has certified over 1000 houses in the states.
- FGBC committee to write the Green Development Standard for Florida.
- National Association of Home Builders committee to draft the NAHB Green Home Guidelines.
- Chairman 2006-2007 for Sustainable Florida - Collins Center for Public Policy, a statewide collaborator for sustainability headquartered in the state's capital.
- Currently serves on the board of the Green Building Initiative - administrators of Green Globe certification.
- Member of the International Society of Sustainability Professionals (ISSP).
- Environmental Stewardship Manager for a major U.S. homebuilder based in Florida 2000-2007.
Under her guidance, the company built more certified green homes than the total built by all other builders in Florida combined.
Publications:
- Florida Real Estate Journal
- Palm Beach Post
- Florida Green Building Magazine
- Foyer Magazine
- Greenopolis.com - Thought Leader blog
- The Green Home Lady - www.greenhomelady.com blog
Prior to entering the sustainability field, Karen spent 10 years as a research grant faculty member for the University of South Florida in Tampa. She coordinated implementation of Centers of Excellence programs in community colleges and vocational schools statewide. She is experienced in leading group meetings.
An experienced communicator and writer, Karen writes a weekly blog and maintains a website, The Green Home Lady, a friendly consumer's guide for recognizing and implementing sensible sustainability practices in our homes and lives. She also challenges practices which are expensive and impractical. Karen's invitation to the consumer is "Sensible Sustainability - Your home. Your money. Your planet."
Education:
BA from the University of South Florida, College of Arts and Letters.
