Raising a New Generation of Green Building Advocates with Julia Pooler
The Green Building Matters Podcast with Charlie Cichetti
Release Date: 01/21/2026
Raising a New Generation of Green Building Advocates with Julia Pooler
The Green Building Matters Podcast with Charlie Cichetti
🎯 The Green Impact Report Quick take: This episode shines a light on how youth advocacy and sustainability education are creating ripple effects in the green building world. Julia Pooler shares how empowering children with the right tools and mindset today can shape the carbon-zero leaders of tomorrow. 🎓 Meet Your Fellow Sustainability Champion Julia Pooler is a passionate sustainability advocate based in Wisconsin, with deep roots in youth education and environmental leadership. From her early days in Girl Scouts to founding the Carbon Zero Youth Initiative, Julia is committed...
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Scaling Low-Carbon Building Data for Real Impact with Jack Rusk
The Green Building Matters Podcast with Charlie Cichetti
📌 The Green Impact Report Quick take: This episode explores how data-driven design can shift the building industry toward true decarbonization. Jack Rusk, co-founder of C Scale, shares how better data at the right time empowers architects and project teams to make real progress toward carbon reduction goals. 🙋 Meet Your Fellow Sustainability Champion Jack Rusk is the CEO and Co-Founder of C Scale, a company helping architects integrate carbon data earlier in the design process. With a background that bridges ecological science, hands-on construction, and architectural...
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Decarbonizing Campus Design and Mentoring the Next Generation with Allison Wilson
The Green Building Matters Podcast with Charlie Cichetti
📣 The Green Impact Report Quick take: From decarbonization strategies to student-centric campus design, this episode with LEED Fellow Allison Wilson is a masterclass in sustainability leadership for mission-driven institutions. 👷♂️ Meet Your fellow Sustainability Champion Allison Wilson is a newly inducted LEED Fellow and architect at Ayers Saint Gross, where she champions sustainable, student-focused design for higher education institutions. Based in Austin, TX, Allison works nationally on everything from lab planning to decarbonized campus housing, helping clients...
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Impact-Driven Sustainability, LEED Leadership, and Building for Climate Resilience with Dr. Hoda Ibrahim
The Green Building Matters Podcast with Charlie Cichetti
🎯 The Green Impact Report Quick take: What does it really take to deliver LEED Platinum projects across the Middle East and Africa — at scale, in extreme climates, and without blowing budgets? Newly minted LEED Fellow Dr. Hoda Ibrahim shares how impact-driven sustainability, material transparency, and market transformation are reshaping the built environment worldwide. 👷♂️ Meet Your Fellow Sustainability Champion Dr. Hoda Ibrahim is a LEED Fellow, sustainability executive, architect, researcher, and global green building leader based in Cairo. With nearly two decades...
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Scaling Sustainability from Buildings to Communities with Julio Carrillo
The Green Building Matters Podcast with Charlie Cichetti
🎯 The Green Impact Report Quick take: From rural Peru to the skyline of Austin, Texas, Julio Carrillo shares how planners can be powerful sustainability changemakers. In this episode, learn how a LEED Fellow is pushing the green building movement beyond buildings — and into data-driven, community-scale transformation. 👷♂️ Meet Your Fellow Sustainability Champion Julio Carrillo is a Peruvian-born architect, urban planner, and newly named LEED Fellow based in Austin, Texas. With a passion for sustainable urbanism, Julio has helped launch the Peru Green Building Council, works...
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Eliminating Energy Waste with Smart HVAC Optimization with Brad Pilgrim
The Green Building Matters Podcast with Charlie Cichetti
🌍 The Green Impact Report Quick take: This episode matters to green building professionals because it shines a spotlight on how grid-interactive buildings and HVAC optimization can eliminate energy waste, generate new revenue, and play a crucial role in decarbonization — right now. 👷 Meet Your Fellow Sustainability Champion Brad Pilgrim is the founder and CEO of Parity, a Series B company pioneering HVAC optimization and grid interactivity across North America. From his early days as a commercial carpenter to building a 100-million-square-foot energy optimization platform, Brad’s...
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Simplifying Sustainability through Master Planning with Anshul Gujarathi
The Green Building Matters Podcast with Charlie Cichetti
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Healthy Buildings & Predictive Science with Dr. Christa Wright
The Green Building Matters Podcast with Charlie Cichetti
🎯 The Green Impact Report Quick take: How can we protect people as our buildings face hotter climates and evolving chemical risks? Dr. Christa Wright from UL’s Chemical Insights Research Institute shares how predictive science, empathy in research, and bio-based solutions are shaping the future of healthier indoor environments. 🎓 Meet Your Fellow Sustainability Champion Dr. Christa Wright is the Senior Research Director at the Chemical Insights Research Institute, part of UL Research Institutes. A trained environmental toxicologist and strategist, she leads the Center for...
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Building Resilience and Community in Central America with Federico Steinvorth
The Green Building Matters Podcast with Charlie Cichetti
🌍 The Green Impact Report Quick take: In this episode, Federico Steinvorth, a newly inducted LEED Fellow from Costa Rica, shares how he's championing sustainable building practices across Central America through early project integration, renewable energy, and a strong focus on community engagement. 🎓 Meet Your Fellow Sustainability Champion Federico Steinvorth is an engineer, marathon runner, and co-founder of a regional sustainability consulting firm based in Costa Rica. With a background in mechanical and electrical engineering and a master’s in construction management from...
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Giuli Ann Schacht on Designing Green, Living Biophilic & Building Community
The Green Building Matters Podcast with Charlie Cichetti
🌍 The Green Impact Report Quick take: From authentic storytelling to biophilic design and grassroots sustainability, Giuli Ann Schacht shows how creative thinking and a deep respect for nature can transform communities like High Point, NC — and how you can do the same. 👋 Meet Your Fellow Sustainability Champion Giuli Ann Schacht is a passionate creator, businesswoman, and advocate for biophilic design. With a background in brand storytelling, fresh food entrepreneurship, and green real estate development, she’s now bringing it all together to inspire greener communities through film,...
info_outline🎯 The Green Impact Report
Quick take:
This episode shines a light on how youth advocacy and sustainability education are creating ripple effects in the green building world. Julia Pooler shares how empowering children with the right tools and mindset today can shape the carbon-zero leaders of tomorrow.
🎓 Meet Your Fellow Sustainability Champion
Julia Pooler is a passionate sustainability advocate based in Wisconsin, with deep roots in youth education and environmental leadership. From her early days in Girl Scouts to founding the Carbon Zero Youth Initiative, Julia is committed to making green building concepts accessible, actionable, and inspiring — especially for young learners.
🌱 Breaking Ground on Better Building
In this episode, Julia Pooler revolutionizes traditional construction approaches:
🧠 Key Insight #1: Elevating Youth as Catalysts for Carbon Awareness
- The Challenge: Sustainability efforts in construction often overlook youth engagement.
- The Solution: Julia’s Girl Scout troop created an award-winning project on low embodied carbon concrete, even presenting at Greenbuild 2022.
- ROI: Youth-driven outreach reached professionals, spotlighting embodied carbon while building leadership in the next generation.
🧠 Key Insight #2: Turning Green Buildings into Educational Tools
- The Challenge: Green building principles rarely make it into early education.
- The Solution: Julia authored a children's book that demystifies green building concepts and celebrates the professionals behind them.
- ROI: Kids begin to understand and appreciate green design early, creating a lasting foundation for eco-conscious thinking.
🧠 Key Insight #3: Building a Movement with Joy and Accessibility
- The Challenge: Sustainability messages can feel overwhelming or negative.
- The Solution: Julia emphasizes fun, uplifting, and community-driven resources through the Carbon Zero Youth Initiative.
- ROI: More meaningful engagement from students and professionals, driving curiosity and long-term cultural shifts in the built environment.
🎙 Sustainable Soundbite
“There’s so much power in the work green building professionals do... never underestimate the impact of sharing that passion with the next generation.”
— Julia Pooler
✅ Your Green Building Action Plan
Transform your next project with these steps:
- This Week: Share your green building story with a young person in your life.
- This Quarter: Volunteer to speak at a local school, troop, or youth event about sustainable design.
- This Year: Integrate youth-friendly sustainability resources into your company’s community outreach efforts.
🔗 Connect & Learn More
🌿 Access full episode resources: Green Building Matters Podcast
🗒 Read the transcript here
👩🏻💻 Connect with Julia Pooler:
- Website: www.carbonzeroyouth.org
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/julia-pooler-b55512212
💚 Join the Green Building Movement: https://www.greenbuilding.news/subscribe
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