Explosion Green tells the twenty-year story of the global green building movement, through the eyes of David Gottfried, the man who helped start it all. Explosion Green reveals the inner workings of the building industry as it comes to grips with the imperative for environmentally friendly practices. It describes how the industry has evolved, and how this evolution has helped fight climate change and prevent further damage to the environment while creating a multibillion-dollar industry. Filled with his unique insight and self-deprecating humor, Gottfried’s riveting memoir demonstrates how one person can start a global movement.
“David Gottfried is the father of the green movement. This book is a must read for any serious student of how to design new systems and green building.”
Art Gensler
“This is a story about an idea. An idea that became an organization. An organization that anchored a movement. A movement that is changing the world. David and his relentless pursuit of the possible helped invent the spark and carry the torch for this revolutionary idea that led us to start the USGBC and later the WorldGBC.”
Rick Fedrizzi
President, CEO and Founding Chair
U.S. Green Building Council
“No organization has had a bigger impact on the environment than [the USGBC]. In sharing himself and the fabric of a life well directed, we can find ourselves and know that little or nothing exceeds our grasp if we love the world as well as David has.”
Paul Hawken
Author, Ecology of Commerce
“Explosion Green shows us how our passions can accelerate sustainable business and change the world. I’ve been privileged to participate in David Gottfried’s story describing the world’s most incredible transformation of its largest industry.”
Kevin Hydes
CEO and Founder, Integral Group;
Former Chair, U.S. and World Green Building Councils
“I’ve known David for over a decade and been hugely inspired by his work in founding and growing the global GBC movement. This book can change your life and help inspire you to not only dream big, but put it into action.”
Jim Allen
President & CEO
Sloan Valve Company
“David Gottfried’s work has been instrumental in connecting the marketplace to game-changing products. Read about it and get in the game.”
Rao Mulpuri PhD
CEO
View, Inc.
“Transformation of the most important sector in the nation’s energy economy resulted from David Gottfried’s pioneering work. Students and professionals will be inspired by this book as it describes the pathway that led to such monumental results.”
Gil Masters
Professor Emeritus of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Stanford University
“Explosion Green will not only inspire you, but change your life. This beautifully written book portrays the creation of the global green building movement, while catalyzing each of us to proactively foment the change we hope for the world.”
L. Hunter Lovins
President and founder, Natural Capitalism Solutions
Coauthor, Natural Capitalism
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"This book is inspiring and also a great story of how one man can change the world."
"David Gottfried not only accelerates the cause with a contagious passion, he also provides a clear path towards delivering the transformational change the world needs."
"A remarkable story of a remarkable transformation. David Gottfried’s efforts transformed the building industry and himself. This beautiful memoir illuminates the challenges of change."
"David's inability to accept the imperfect nature of systems and institutionalized practices have required him to move forward without a map. He has shown us that we each have the potential to reshape our personal behaviors and recalibrate the value systems for entire global markets."
"David inspires us to believe we have the ability to envision a future that we might create. He has lived it first hand and generously shares his learning with us."
"A refreshing, delightful and candid memoir of how a young, bright 'Type A' developer created a revolution in how buildings are design and built, and finds his higher self in the process."
"David Gottfried set a world of improvement in motion. The global built environment is now incorporating sustainability as standard practice and as a result is making better buildings that are profitable for the bottom line, the planet and its people."
"There are serial entrepreneurs, who have founded multiple, successful companies, and serial change agents, who have guided change in multiple institutions, but David Gottfried is the exceptionally rare individual who is a serial founder of change movements. Embedded in the stories he tells in Explosion Green is David’s secret formula for success."