The UK Green Building Council (UK-GBC) has appointed Julie Hirigoyen as its new chief executive after an extensive recruitment process.
Ms. Hirigoyen, who currently serves as UK head of sustainability for property consultants JLL, will replace outgoing chief executive Paul King in April 2015.
UK-GBC says Julie has been at the forefront of sustainability in the real estate sector throughout her career. She was managing director and founding partner of Upstream, a sustainability strategy consultancy, which was acquired by JLL in 2007. Having led the Upstream team through the integration into JLL, Julie oversaw further development of sustainability services to property investors and occupiers across the UK and EMEA. She was promoted to international director in 2010 and joined the UK Executive in 2011, before becoming JLL’s UK head of sustainability in 2013.
Julie Hirigoyen said:
“I’m thrilled by the opportunity of leading UK-GBC through the next stage of its journey. Its outstanding reputation is richly deserved – not least due to Paul King’s own transformational leadership, but also the sustainability know-how and can-do attitude of a professional team and a committed membership.
“We’ve come a long way over the past decade, with sustainability now a mainstream concern for many organisations involved in the built environment. The next step requires mass uptake of sustainability solutions across the entire property lifecycle, breaking down silos and deploying systems-thinking to achieve radical change. I am truly excited to tackle this challenge alongside the existing UK-GBC team, members and Trustees.
Paul King said:
“It’s been a tremendous privilege to lead UK-GBC over the last eight years, in the company of many talented and committed people. While we’ve come a long way in that time, in many ways we are still at the beginning of delivering a built environment that will provide people everywhere with a high quality of life in ways the planet can afford.
“I’m delighted to hand on the baton to Julie, a hugely respected sustainability professional who has a brilliant track record of delivery, and I look forward to supporting her and the team as an active member.”
Andrew Gould, UK-GBC chairman, said:
“Paul has led the organisation brilliantly from its formation, supported by a great team and a wonderfully committed membership. The challenge ahead is formidable – and in Julie we have found exactly the right blend of commercial industry leadership and personal commitment, coupled with persuasiveness and strategic sense to take us forward. The Board of Trustees is really pleased to have secured her as CEO and looks forward to supporting her through the next phase of UK-GBC’s development.”
