Meet our 2020 LEED Homes Award judges

Matthew Libby
July 13, 2020
Real Estate

The judges for this year’s LEED Homes Awards represent several key voices in the residential industry and cover a wide range of fields. From landscaping and exterior design to interior design, and single family to multifamily—our judges' expertise covers the full range of LEED residential projects. The esteemed panel who presided over this year's entries selected winners based on each entry’s merits, including the project's story, impact on equality, design, sustainability features, and health and wellness aspects.

Meet the judges:

Dominika Kowalska, Assistant Editor, Green Home Builder Magazine

Dominika Kowalska is the assistant editor at "Green Home Builder," where she oversees content and news for the national homebuilding magazine. She helps industry executives and professionals stay on top of the latest green home developments. Green Home Builder delivers the latest industry trends, events, products and services.

Manscapers

Manscapers New York/Los Angeles is a bicoastal exterior design and landscaping firm that originated in Brooklyn and has recently expanded to Los Angeles. The company consists of three founding members: Garrett Magee, James DeSantis and Mel Brasier. This full-service design firm offers exterior space planning, design and build services, as well as landscape design and installation. Manscapers also has a hit television show, "Backyard Envy" on the Bravo channel, that documents their design process and follows the team start to finish as they create beautiful outdoor spaces in a variety of settings.

Amanda Stinton, Director, Leadership and Sustainability, National Association of Realtors

In her role at the National Association of Realtors (NAR), Amanda Stinton stays tuned in to the shifts in industry trends related to sustainability and educates Realtors and other professionals interested in becoming more engaged in sustainability, energy efficiency, resiliency and home performance. Stinton oversees NAR's Green Designation professional credential. She helps communicate the benefits that come from the constant growth and overlap of sustainability and real estate, and fosters communication among industry professionals and cooperating industries through NAR’s Sustainability Program, research, creation of resources and presentations. Stinton holds a master's degree in real estate from Realtor University.

Robin Wilson, CEO, Robin Wilson Home

Robin Wilson has been a pioneer in ecofriendly and green design since 2000. She was the first woman with a branded line of custom ecofriendly kitchen cabinetry, plus a licensed brand of textile products sold at retailers—generating over $82 million (wholesale) in licensed brand revenue. She is author of two award-winning books: "Clean Design" (2015) and "Kennedy Green House" (2010). She regularly appears as a speaker, on television and in print, with commentary on ecofriendly design, wellness, sustainability and allergy/asthma issues.

Corey Enck, Vice President, LEED Technical Development, USGBC

In his role, Corey Enck collaborates with volunteer technical committees and industry stakeholders to evolve and refine USGBC’s LEED green building rating system. Previous to his technical development work, Enck managed USGBC’s certification team, where he was responsible for working with project teams and reviewers to ensure successful LEED reviews. Prior to joining USGBC, Enck worked at an engineering firm, providing services in building system design and energy management. He holds a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Pennsylvania and is a LEED AP.

Taryn Holowka, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Communications and Advocacy, USGBC

A skilled communicator, storyteller and multimarket brand strategist, Taryn Holowka heads up all marketing, communications and public affairs efforts for USGBC and its popular LEED green building program. Holowka's core areas of expertise are strategic communications planning, messaging and product and brand management; project and people management; business development and analytics; emerging technologies; and leadership. She is a LEED AP and holds a master's degree in liberal studies, social and public policy from Georgetown University and a bachelor's degree in political science from the State University of New York College at Geneseo.

Since 2009, USGBC has celebrated the outstanding residential projects and builders with the LEED Homes Awards. These awards showcase extraordinary projects that stand out above the rest.

This year’s categories are:

  • Outstanding Single Family Project. Recognizes a single family project for outstanding performance in the LEED rating system.
  • Outstanding Affordable Project. Recognizes an affordable residential LEED-certified project for outstanding performance in the LEED rating system and for particular innovation above and beyond the scope, requirements and prerequisites of LEED.
  • Outstanding Multifamily Project. Recognizes a multifamily housing project for outstanding performance in the LEED rating system.
  • Outstanding Developer. Recognizes a developer for outstanding commitment to the LEED rating system.
  • Project of the Year. Recognizes a LEED-certified project for outstanding performance in the LEED rating system and for particular innovation above and beyond the scope, requirements and prerequisites of LEED.

View a slideshow of the candidates for Project of the Year

Related Articles