The Green Commons Team

Nadav is a seasoned facilitator and strategist known across the AEC industry for helping organizations cut through complexity, find common ground, and move forward with purpose. As CEO of Green Commons, he convenes our Peer Networks and advises leading firms, agencies, and nonprofits on how to turn vision into action.

“With Nadav in the room, people hear each other better. They find alignment. They make a plan.”

That’s the reputation he’s built over decades of guiding groups through high-stakes conversations. He has facilitated charrettes, design processes, and strategic initiatives for organizations including USGBC, AIA, major corporations, government agencies, and architecture firms—always with the goal of turning ambition into tangible progress.

Nadav is also the building industry’s go-to resource on the materials and design solutions that define sustainable practice. He chaired the LEED Materials and Resources Technical Advisory Group through the system’s formative years, and he led the team that created the U.S. Department of Energy’s High Performance Buildings Database. His ability to combine technical rigor with human-centered facilitation has shaped sustainability standards and strategies at every level of the industry.

When he’s not guiding a rich conversation among sustainability professionals, Nadav can be found chasing a hockey puck or soccer ball—depending on the season in his hometown of Brattleboro, Vermont.

Laurel helps people see the bigger picture—and then find their place in it.

A licensed architect turned facilitator and strategist, she partners with mission-driven organizations and design teams to create radical collaboration and lasting impact. Her work blends systems thinking, values-based strategy, and skilled facilitation.

She designs and leads workshops that help teams navigate complexity, find clarity, and align around a shared path forward. With her deep knowledge of the built environment, Laurel grounds big conversations in the practical realities of how work gets done.

She thrives on the challenges others might avoid, bringing curiosity, warmth, and precision to every project. For teams wrestling with complexity, Laurel is the steady hand who helps them transform competing pressures into shared momentum.

Wherever Peer Network Members gather – in-person or in the virtual world – Amanda is the steadying force that makes ideas flow smoothly and collaboration feel effortless. From bringing on new members to bringing our events together, Amanda is the go-to person for our members’ day-to-day.

Having been a campaigns coordinator at a food justice organization prior to joining the Peer Networks team, Amanda is drawn to work that asks how we can take the things we will always be doing – building our buildings, growing our food – and do the best for everyone impacted. They have experience in research, writing, and youth education. They’ve also cared for animals at two sanctuaries, deepening their commitment to building a better future for all. That mix of logistical know-how and big-picture values shows up in everything Amanda does.

Based in Philadelphia, Amanda enjoys painting, dance, and making music. Their presence keeps the Peer Networks grounded, reminding us that sustainability is ultimately about care—for each other and for the planet we share.

Clark is green building OG.

He’s spent more than 40 years shaping both the built environment and the organizations that influence it. As a Principal at SERA Architects for over two decades, he led work to reduce and mitigate the climate impacts of buildings, earning a reputation for pairing visionary goals with grounded practice. Now retired from firm life but serving as Principal Emeritus, he continues to lend his experience where it matters most.

Clark’s impact extends far beyond design projects. He has served on boards and advisory groups for Climate Solutions, the International Living Future Institute, the AIA, and the ZERO Coalition, where he helps advance policies and practices that accelerate climate action across the industry.

Based in Portland, Oregon, Clark finds balance in the outdoors—gardening, hiking, sea kayaking, playing disc golf or cycling, including a 17-month two-wheel road trip across South America. Whether in the boardroom or on the trail, he brings the same thoughtful focus that has defined his decades of leadership.

Jennifer is our go-to when a project is stuck in complexity.

A researcher and strategist with a rare blend of rigor and empathy, she helps teams and networks turn scattered data and competing priorities into grounded strategies that deliver real impact.

For more than two decades, Jennifer has worked at the intersection of green building, energy, materials, and technology policy. Her contributions span from authoring research to designing collaborative processes to advising on civic innovation. She’s also deeply engaged in local housing and climate justice organizing, demonstrating her conviction that community-level work and systemic change are inseparable.

What ties all of this together is Jennifer’s lifelong drive to align collective creativity with thriving communities and living systems. She brings clear analysis, a systems view, and a touch of humor to every collaboration—qualities that make her both a steadying presence and an inspiring partner.

Brent knows more about materials than anyone you’ll meet.

More importantly, he knows what really matters about them. For more than 15 years, he’s been helping designers, manufacturers, and policymakers cut through hype and greenwashing to understand the true environmental and health impacts of the products that shape our built environment.

Formerly with BuildingGreen, Brent researched and wrote widely read product reviews and feature articles, curated its product database, and answered the tough questions practitioners  had when the stakes were high. His expertise has shaped projects ranging from Honda’s Smart Home to state government complexes, and his speaking and consulting have influenced thousands of practitioners across the industry.

Brent’s career began in publishing, editing science journals and green building magazines before turning his attention fully to materials research. Based in Vermont, he balances detail-heavy work with time on skis, trails, or a bike. Whether he’s exploring the woods or parsing regulations, Brent brings the same curiosity and clarity to every pursuit.

If you need a manifesto organized, a tough topic clarified, or a room full of people laughing while learning, p.j. melton is your person.

A writer, researcher, and speaker with deep sustainability expertise, she brings humor, honesty, and rigor to everything she touches.

Her work spans equitable decarbonization, climate justice, life-cycle assessment, regenerative strategies, industry standards, and the messy intersections of adaptation and mitigation. Lately, she’s been digging into climate-smart forestry, tracing forced labor in material supply chains, and demystifying LEED v5. A former BuildingGreen editor, p.j. has presented at Greenbuild, the AIA National Convention, and other national venues.

She also publishes a Substack column, Biggest Little Things, where she explores life, politics, parenting, writing, and the wonder and absurdity of being human. Beyond her professional persona, p.j. is a mother, partner, sci-fi aficionado, and fierce conversationalist—someone who can make sense of chaos and keep you laughing while she does it.

Fran has a knack for taming messy data and teasing out the stories that numbers have to tell.

When she was at BuildingGreen, she applied this gift to product vetting and Peer Network initiatives, giving consulting teams the clarity they need to act.

Fran’s path here has been anything but linear. She’s worked in IT, special education, and small-group instruction, and runs Kinetic Color Foundry, where she designs 3D-printed tools for artists, fidgets, and other imaginative creations. This mix of technical skill, creativity, and play infuses their work with a unique perspective.

Now settled in Essex, Vermont, Fran shares life with two cats, a small dog, a spouse, an adoptive brother, and a growing collection of sewing machines. Whether crunching data, teaching, or inventing, Fran approaches it all with curiosity, precision, and a belief that patterns are worth finding.