Nov 28, 2018
Nathan Gauthier is a sustainable real estate professional with global experience in program management and facility design, construction and operations. As Director of FM Integration and Sustainability with Shawmut Design and Construction in Boston. Nathan works to improve the transition of construction projects into the facilities management infrastructure and support efficient and sustainable building operations.
Nathan Gauthier - Marine Biology to Sustainability
Nathan grew up in very rural Michigan and went Texas A&M at Galveston- Maritime Academy and studied Marine Biology. Going from a midwestern town to Texas was quite a change for Nathan. He was loved the water but became interested in sustainability at a younger age by hiking and the outdoors.
“I just really like being outside and have continued throughout whatever I’ve done; I really wanted to spend time outside whether near the water our mountains.”– Nathan Gauthier
Mentors
Nathan was in South Carolina in grad school and recognizes Trish German as an influential mentor. Trish ran the sustainability university initiative and was the first sustainability professional Nathan had met. Nathan interned there and Trish had him working on influential projects and motivated him to finish his thesis. Dr. Phil Barnes, a professor who managed the Environmental Management Systems Program. Nathan became an auditor with him.
"I really liked the explorating nature and problem solving just going into a facility and pulling people aside and asking what their environmental policy was and seeing if they were walking the walk ." – Nathan Gauthier
Teaching and Consulting
Nathan teaches graduate courses on green building at the Harvard Extension School and MMA. He has consulted on real estate projects across 5 continents, more than 100 of which have become LEED certified (14 Platinum). Nathan has chaired the USGBC Energy and Atmosphere Technical Advisory Group and been a member of their board of directors at the state (MA) and national level. Nathan is a Licensed Residential Builder (MI), Certified Energy Manager, Facilities Manager, Energy Auditor, Construction Document Technologist, Ground Source Heat Pump Installer, Cx Process Provider, Existing Building Cx Professional, LEED AP, Fitwel Ambassador, NCI Charrette System accredited, and more. Nathan was selected as a 2014 LEED Fellow.
A Few Current Projects
Nathan is currently working on a solar installation as an owner’s rep. He is learning a lot through this project. Nathan has done a lot of projects on the roof but this is his first parking lot. They have also been dealing with a lot of net zero energy proposals lately and is excited about seeing this in an RFP. Our group does a lot of integrated product delivery and are co-located once a week for one of their projects.
"Construction hasn’t gotten more efficient over the years, it is kind of lacking behind the industry, hopefully IPD will address that." – Nathan Gauthier
Best Practices
Nathan is committed to professional development. He splits his time between technical and managerial to learn and apply more. Nathan also pushes himself to talk at conferences and write case studies.
“I like telling my story on my projects-successful and unsuccessful attempts.”– Nathan Gauthier
Podcast Suggestions:
To hear more about Nathan’s journey, download and listen to the episode!
Learn more about Nathan Gauthier:
Connect with Charlie Cichetti and GBES:
Green Building Educational Services
If you truly enjoyed the show, don't forget to leave a positive rating and review on iTunes. We have prepared more episodes for the upcoming weeks, so come by again next week! Thank you for tuning in to the Green Building Matters Podcast!
Copyright © 2018 GBES