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Jacques Vever has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and has been working in Ecologically Sustainable Design since 2007. Jacques is passionate about energy, water and waste efficiency as well as soil, water, air and indoor environment quality and has developed a strong focus in compliance through mandatory and voluntary systems such as the National Construction Code, NatHERS, Green Star and of course EarthCheck. As an EarthCheck Sustainable Design Accredited Professional for the Building Planning & Design Standard, Jacques is well placed to enhance the successful achievement of EarthCheck ratings.
Mr Siow has over 20 years of building services consulting experience in broad range of engineering projects including residential, commercial, institutional and industrial projects. He is well versed in planning, design, specification, contract administration & project management of building services including HVAC, Plumbing & Sanitation, Town Gas Supply, Vertical Transportation and Fire Protection systems. He has practiced for over 20 years in Singapore where he is a registered Professional Engineer who is qualified to endorse and submit building services design drawings to authorities having jurisdiction for approval. He has also been practicing in China since 2007 and is presently involved with Hotel, Cultural & Tourism, Office and Retail Mall projects. He has proficiency in English and is fluent in Mandarin Cantonese and Malay.
Ana Ruiz has a degree in Architecture and Urbanism from Universidad Iberoamericana, as well as a Master’s degree in Advanced Sustainable Design from the University of Edinburgh with merits. She also has a Diploma in Bioclimatic Architecture from one of the best universities in Mexico, UNAM. Ana has been coordinator of sustainability during structural construction processes, supervising that the constructive processes comply with the supporting guidelines following the plans of Indoor Air Quality.
Richard Morris has more than 20 years’ experience as an architect in New Zealand, Australia, the E.U. and S.E. Asia. His career includes projects in the hospitality, residential, healthcare and advanced manufacturing sectors, including high performance energy efficient design. Richard believes adaptation to climate change will bring with it a healthy and robust paradigm shift to project design the hospitality sector. The core inspiration of projects will be environmental and social needs specific to the location. Such starting points could be regenerative agriculture or landscape restoration or marine conservation. These sustainable strategies will in turn generate authentic, unforgettable guest experiences. Richard is co-founder of Pounamu, a Myanmar-based bamboo design and construction firm, and works with Edge5, a Perth-based permaculture consultancy.
Hospitality sustainability practitioner with 24 years experience in energy, water and waste optimisation, EarthCheck standards audits and in sustainable design certifications. Follows a holistic “Permaculture”, “Blue” or “Circular” economy approach. He is a professional, innovative, future oriented and a strategic thinker and believes that there is always a better way to do things. He is passionate about the environment and inspiring people to have a positive impact on their environment so that together we can transform tomorrow today. Piet specialises in Zero Waste to Landfill projects for hotels and islands.
Wenjie heads up the New Buildings department of Building System & Diagnostics, China (BSD). He is also responsible for overseeing BSD’s projects in China. Wenjie is conversant in sustainability frameworks and best practices dealing with the built environment. He has provided Environmentally Sustainable Design (ESD) advisory to building developments in both the private and public sectors. His innovative and integrated advice has helped clients reduce their footprints and assisted clients obtain environmental assessment certificates by minimizing their environmental impacts. His knowledge regarding energy efficient and environmentally responsible designs, green building certification, as well as his sound project management skills has won praises from the majority of the project teams that he has worked with.
Kenneth is a highly experienced senior engineering executive in a diverse range of enterprises across the Asia Pacific region, the US, the UK and Europe, He has a reputation for devising and implementing innovative, cost effective solutions to complex engineering, technical, sustainability and security issues. He has completed both a Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical) and a Master of Science at the National University of Singapore. Kenneth’s experience encompasses operational, environmental and technical services, including all engineering aspects of new projects and pre-openings under demanding circumstances and challenging operating conditions. He is fluent and proficient in English, Mandarin, Malay, Indonesian, Hokkien and Cantonese.
Eco- Architect, Mark Thomson provides design, mentoring, training, auditing and facilitation expertise and has collaborated with EarthCheck since 2004.With 30 years professional experience in the Australian design, development and construction industry, he has built and refurbished multiple hotel projects around Australia. Mark was co-owner in a national hotel chain up until 2005, and is a International Judge for the World Architecture Festival. Mark’s passion is for healthy, resilient design and construction for living and working environments. Mark is a Greenstar Accredited Professional, an EarthCheck Design Accredited Professional and past Adjunct Professor at the Queensland University of Technology. He is eager to mentor and share his extensive industry experience.
Belen Valladares has a degree in Architecture at the Universidad Politecnica de Madrid and she has more than 20 years experience as an architect in Spain, working in an engineering firm specialized in building projects. The last ten years she’s been dedicated to sustainability in building developments . Her commitment has led her to train as a sustainability advisor in the development of new construction and rehabilitation projects. So she has earned credentials as a certified LEED AP with specialty in New Construction; Breeam Assessor with specialty in New Construction, Homes and in Use and as WELL AP and has participated in several projects that had achieved sustainability certifications in Spain. Her role has been to advise the client and design teams on the best strategies to achieve the established goals, to manage the formal assessment process and apply for the certification of the assessment on behalf of the client . Now she`s also an EarthCheck accredited professional (EDAP) and looking forward to sharing her knowledge and experience with her clients to obtain the EarthCheck Certification, and contribute to design and build projects that reduce their environmental impact while seeing that they are energy efficient as well as improving the health and wellbeing of occupants.
YKnot Sustainability, is a sustainability advisory firm providing strategic and implementation expertise to organisations seeking to enhance their sustainability efforts. Prior to setting up YKnot Sustainability, Michael distinguished himself by leading Banyan Tree Holdings’s efforts to formalise and expand its sustainability commitments. This included setting sustainability strategy; evaluating and building systems to empower a global workforce; evangelising sustainability via the creation and delivery of internal training frameworks and external outreach opportunities; building a proactive Risk Management approach to sustainability; and collaborating with internal and external representatives to create innovative solutions and approaches which considered and sought to enhance the social, environmental and economic well-being of all stakeholders.
Daniel Frey’s experience has taken him all over the world with reputed international hotel chains working on both operational and corporate levels for over 20 years. He studied at the Lausanne Hotel School and furthered his studies at Harvard Business School (AMP159). Shortly completing Business Sustainability Management course with CISL (University of Cambridge, Institute for Sustainability Leadership). A Swiss national with a proven track record in the international hospitality industry on various continents and countries (Switzerland, Ecuador, Kuwait, Mexico, China, Thailand, Argentina, South Africa, Portugal), Daniel has accumulated competencies and knowledge with renowned hotel operators, including Kempinski, Hilton and Peninsula amongst others. Founder/CEO of Green Growth – The Way To Go, Daniel launched this niche consultancy firm in 2011, operating across all areas of the hospitality industry including the supply chain and beyond.
Pinpinat Chaiyadej is based in Thailand and Australia. Pinpinat is an environmental specialist with significant experience in Environmental and Sustainability Management System’s as well as Occupational Health and Safety. Extremely passionate about her work, Pinpinat’s long term goal is to assist Thailand’s tourism and hospitality industry transition to a greener and more sustainable business model. Pinpinat’s recent consulting experience includes audits around South-East Asia relating to EarthCheck, ISO 14001, 14064, 50001 and 26000 as well as OHSAS 18001, Carbon Footprint of Products and wider Organisational based audits.
Tuan is an architect with 20 years of experience, possessing multi-disciplinary skills and has a strong background in building energy efficiency and sustainability. Tuan is also a Professor and Teacher of Architecture at the University of Architecture, Ho Chi Minh City (renowned design-related university in Vietnam). He earned his Doctor of Architecture degree from the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s School of Architecture in 2013. Tuan is now the Green Building Manager for Archetype Vietnam and provides consultancy services for sustainable design as well as green building certification for various project types from residential, industry, retail and hospitality in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. In addition to this, he is also LEED AP (BD+C) and EDGE Expert and assists design teams with incorporating sustainable features at different project phases.
Matt is a senior executive within manufacturing, electricity, oil and gas industries with proven results internationally. A professional engineer working with large scale multi-national operations for 30 years in project and property development, mergers and acquisitions, Matt provides a broad range of advisory experience for commercial business developments from conceptualisation through to execution. He has worked on projects across Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific region. Matt brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to drive developments to achieve their triple bottom line outcomes.
Phay Ping is the Co-founder and Managing Director of BSD, a leading consulting firm in the field of energy and environmental design, green building certification, performance simulations and energy audits with 5 offices in the region and a track record of more than 300 projects. He is a firm advocate of green buildings and is active in councils and committees such as the Singapore Green Building Council and the BCA Green Mark Advisory Review Committee. He also teaches the topic at the National University of Singapore.
TongFei has worked in Singapore since 2015 and has more than six years of experience as an Environmentally Sustainable Design (ESD) Consultant. She has participated in numerous green building certification projects across Singapore, China and Malaysia (including Singapore Green Mark, EarthCheck and Malaysia GreenRE, respectively). With her expertise and knowledge, she has provided valuable feedback and consultation for many projects in terms of energy consumption, green construction, environmental protection and optimisation design. With expert experience in HVAC, TongFei has helped many projects optimise their building design and has assisted Singapore Green Mark projects to obtain Platinum awards. TongFei is familiar with China’s local standards, which helps to better understand the applicability of the EarthCheck Design Standards to projects in this region.
Maria is a graduate Architect from the Autonomous University of San Luis Potosí with over seven years of expertise. She has been working in Mexico City since 2015. In 2020 she received her Master’s Degree in Architecture and Sustainable Design with Distinction from the University of Nottingham, United Kingdom. As a Sustainability Consultant, Maria recently joined the Bioconstrucción y Energía Alternativa (BEA) team and is excited to share her passion for the built environment.
As a civil engineer, María Maresa has experience as a resident on construction sites and in construction information modelling (BIM). She obtained a master’s degree in England specialising in sustainability and sustainable design projects. Maresa participated in the National Housing and Sustainable Communities Laboratory and is currently working as Technical Coordinator in Bioconstruccion y Energía Alternativa (BEA) in Mexico City. She has experience as a sustainability consultant in several projects pursuing international sustainable certifications, including airports, offices, hotels, etc.
Robin is an environmental and sustainability professional with over eight years of consulting experience in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. His core competencies cover environmental impact assessment, marine ecology studies, field monitoring, design reviews, construction compliance, stakeholder liaison and project management. Robin is passionate about helping clients realise a holistic and integrated understanding of sustainability risks, fostering competence at the highest levels for informed decision-making, and communicating corporate climate resilience to stakeholders through sustainability reporting and training. Robin has a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Science from the University of Queensland and a Master Degree in Environmental Engineering and Management from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Shawn is a leader in the global sustainability industry. He has dedicated his entire career to sustainable practice. With a career beginning in 1999, Shawn designed systems that reduced pollution from construction activities by controlling soil erosion, waterway sedimentation, and airborne dust. Since then, he has helped facilitate sustainability and wellness measures for thousands of projects worldwide. Shawn regularly conducts numerous sustainability design training and workshops throughout Asia on sustainable building methods and educates professionals on green building practices and strategies. He is also an Assistant Professor in Architecture at Feng Chia University since 2013, teaching high-performance buildings. Shawn is the founding Chairman of the Taiwan Green Building Association and is the current Chairman of the Global Sustainable Healthcare Association.
Heather Pinnock is a Jamaican development professional with formal training in Architecture, Urban Design, Development Planning and Project Management, as well as over 23 years of experience. She is a graduate of the Bartlett Development Planning Unit at University College London and the Caribbean School of Architecture at University of Technology, Jamaica. Heather has worked at home in Jamaica as well as in Saint Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago. Her experience includes working with the Ministry of Water and Housing, the University of the West Indies, the United Nations Development Programme Multi-country Office in Jamaica, and the environmental non-profit, CARIBSAVE among others. She recently concluded a successful stint leading the Urban Development Corporation, one of the Government of Jamaica’s largest implementation agencies, where she championed the cause of ‘making development happen sustainably’. In November 2021, Heather launched LUCEA Caribbean, a development company with a focus on sustainable development, resilience, and conscious living for tropical regions.
Michelle Holland has a diploma in Interior Architectural Design from the Inchbald School of Design as well as a Masters in International Tourism Policy from the University of North London.
With a lifetime interest in the world of travel and hotels, Michelle worked for several years as a Hotel Feasibility Consultant before requalifying in Interior Design. After 15 years working with leading London design agencies on international hotel interior design projects, she more recently joined the Belmond hotel group, working within the Development Team as a Director of Interior Design. From this position, she is well-placed to promote best practice methods in sustainability from the outset of each hotel renovation. With a portfolio of historic buildings, many of which are in protected areas of natural beauty or close to world heritage sites, Belmond has a strong sense of responsibility to protect the surrounding natural resources and runs many initiatives to support local communities. As part of her role, Michelle spends much of her time seeking out and working with local artisans and craftsmen in order to minimise shipping requirements and create a product which is authentic to its location as well as sustainable and supportive of the local economy.
Arianna is an architecture graduate from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (TEC). She is heavily involved in the design and construction industry, both in interior design and sustainability. Arianna also has experience working in furniture design. Arianna supports the Cushman & Wakefield Sustainability Services team, where she has led several projects focused on sustainability and wellness. Over the past several years, Arianna has achieved her accreditation as a LEED AP, Fitwel Ambassador as well as having taken part in courses regarding Sustainability and Project Management.
Robert brings over 25 years of experience as a mechanical engineer and 17 years of experience as a design consultant. He graduated from the Mapua University with a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering in 1995. In 2003, he relocated to Thailand and worked as a MEP design consultant, based in both Phuket and Bangkok. He has been leading MEP design teams in delivering projects particularly in hospitality across Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and the Philippines. Robert joined BECA in 2015 where he has worked as a technical director and a business director. He was motivated to gain his EDAP accreditation so that he can help deliver transformational solutions with his clients, to rise to the challenge of sustainability and make positive impact on this planet.
Juan Pablo is an architect with experience in green constructions and in certifications for sustainable buildings such as LEED, Fitwel, EDGE and PCES. As sustainability manager at Cushman & Wakefield, he has participated in several certification projects since 2015 such as Metlife HQ in Mexico, JUMEX Mty, Plaza Scotiabank in México and Centtral Interlomas. Juan is also a professor at Universidad Intercontinental in the School of Architecture in Mexico City, where he teaches the class “Certifications of Sustainable Buildings”.
There are more than 476 million Indigenous Peoples, found in all regions of the world, from the Arctic to the tropical forests. They make up more than 6 per cent of our global population.
In the spirit of reconciliation, EarthCheck acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout the world and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Indigenous Peoples today.
EarthCheck acknowledges that Indigenous Peoples are guardians of the forests and biodiversity hotspots we all depend on. Research shows that lands managed by Indigenous Peoples, with secure rights, experience lower deforestation rates, store more carbon, hold more biodiversity, and benefit more people than other lands — including protected areas.
We recognise and support the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), the most comprehensive international instrument on the rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Declaration is a positive document that maps out a path for Indigenous Peoples to be free from discrimination and secure in their identities and life choices.
EarthCheck science and products were developed by the Australian Government Sustainable Tourism Co-operative Research Centre (STCRC) over ten years. Our science is reviewed annually to ensure that it meets international standards relative to greenhouse gas protocols, responsible tourism, and certification.
EarthCheck products and services are built on the Agenda 21 principles for Sustainable Development endorsed by 182 Heads of State at the United Nations Rio De Janeiro Earth Summit in 1992 and aligned to the SDGs.
EarthCheck Certified provides a framework for organisations to achieve the desired outcomes for sustainable development as set out in the final report of the World Summit for Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg in 2002.
EarthCheck Certified complies with the Mohonk Agreement (2000), which outlines the guidelines and principles for an international sustainable tourism certification program. It is also a Recognised program of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC).
EarthCheck Certified is a verification standard accepted by CDP. It is also an approved program of the Certification and Accreditation Administration of the People’s Republic of China (CNCA), London & Partners, the Mexican Secretary of Tourism (SECTUR) and the City of Sydney.
EarthCheck Certified is an approved program for meeting the EU Energy Directive for the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (Bundesamt für Wirtschaft und Ausfuhrkontrolle – BAFA) in Germany and the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy) in the Netherlands.
EarthCheck partners with international research organisations to maintain the currency of EarthCheck science and our benchmarking systems.
The EarthCheck brand signifies scientific excellence, better environmental, economic, and social performance, improved community interactions, and savings through more efficient use of resources. It provides recognition and promotional support to a global consumer market.