Jason F. McLennan (born 1973) is an

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and prominent figure in the

green building Green building (also known as green construction, sustainable building, or eco-friendly building) refers to both a structure and the application of processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's li ...

movement. He is the founder, former chair, and current board member of the International Living Future Institute and Cascadia Green Building Council, a chapter of both the

United States Green Building Council The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), founded in 1993, is a private 501(c)(3), membership-based non-profit organization that promotes sustainability in building design, construction, and operation. USGBC is best known for its development of t ...

and the

Canada Green Building Council The Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) was created in 2003 to further the expansion of green building in Canada. Prior to the formation of the Council, Canada had participated in the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) through British ...

. He is the CEO of McLennan Design, his own architecture and planning firm that does work all over the world. McLennan is also the creator of Pharos, an advanced building material rating system, Declare, an ingredient disclosure label for building products, and Just, a social justice transparency platform for organizations. In addition, he developed the Living Community Challenge and Living Product Challenge. Additionally, McLennan formerly served as the chief innovation officer for Integral Group. In 2022, McLennan joined

Perkins&Will Perkins&Will is a global design practice founded in 1935. Since 1986, the group has been a subsidiary of Lebanon-based Dar Al-Handasah (Arabic: دار الهندسة). History The firm was established in Chicago by Lawrence Perkins (1907–199 ...

as its first

chief sustainability officer The chief sustainability officer, sometimes known by other titles, is the corporate title of an executive position within a corporation that is in charge of the corporation's "environmental" programs. Several companies have created such environmen ...

. He merged his company, McLennan Design, with Perkins&Will and became its managing director. McLennan Design located on Bainbridge Island, Wash. is Perkins&Will's 28th studio.

The Living Building Challenge

McLennan created the Living Building Challenge, a

sustainable design Environmentally sustainable design (also called environmentally conscious design, eco-design, etc.) is the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of ecological sustainability ...

performance standard, while he was a principal with BNIM Architects. He transferred the intellectual property for the Challenge to Cascadia Green Building Council when he became that organization's CEO in 2006, and formally launched the program in November of that year.

Awards and honors

He is a member of the

Clinton Global Initiative The Clinton Foundation (founded in 2001 as the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation, and renamed in 2013 as the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation) is a nonprofit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. tax code. It was e ...

, and in 2011, he was named one of Yes! Magazine's Breakthrough 15. In 2012, McLennan's Living Building Challenge was the recipient of the 2012

Buckminster Fuller Challenge The Buckminster Fuller Challenge is an annual international design competition that awards $100,000 to the most comprehensive solution to a pressing global problem. The Challenge was launched in 2007 and is a program oThe Buckminster Fuller Instit ...

Award. McLennan was named an

Ashoka Ashoka, also known as Asoka or Aśoka ( ; , ; – 232 BCE), and popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was List of Mauryan emperors, Emperor of Magadha from until #Death, his death in 232 BCE, and the third ruler from the Mauryan dynast ...

Fellow in 2012 for "creating incentives and new practices so that the built environment improves health, well-being while increasing our access to a diverse and productive natural world." In 2012, he was also appointed to join

Deepak Chopra Deepak Chopra (; ; born October 22, 1946) is an Indian-American author, New Age, new age guru, and alternative medicine advocate. A prominent figure in the New Age movement, his books and videos have made him one of the best-known and wealthi ...

Dick Gephardt Richard Andrew Gephardt (; born January 31, 1941) is an American attorney, lobbyist, and politician who represented in the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he was House majority lead ...

, Mel Matinez and

Terry McAuliffe Terence Richard McAuliffe (born February 9, 1957) is an American businessman and politician who served as the List of governors of Virginia, 72nd governor of Virginia from 2014 to 2018. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat ...

on the advisory board of Delos, a wellness real estate development firm founded by Paul Scialla. In 2013, McLennan was recognized by GreenBiz.com with the VERGE 25 Worldchanger Award. In April 2016, McLennan received the Award of Excellence from Engineering News-Record magazine. McLennan's residence
Heron Hall
was named “home of the month worldwide" b
Architectural Record
in 2017. McLennan is a frequent speaker at green building and sustainability conferences and has presented at events including:

Bioneers Bioneers, under its parent foundation, Collective Heritage Institute, is a non-profit environmental and social justice advocacy organization based in New Mexico and California. Founded in 1990, the organization's philosophy says that there is val ...

, Greenbuild and the Australian Green Building Conference. He was a keynote speaker at Verdical Group's annual

Net Zero Conference The Net Zero Conference is one of the largest annual conferences in the world dedicated to Net zero emissions, net zero design. The conference provides tools, knowledge and inspiration for ways that buildings, products, and corporate operations ...

in 2018 and won their Trailblazer Award in 2020. On November 2nd 2024

Laurentian University Laurentian University (), officially Laurentian University of Sudbury, is a mid-sized Bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public university in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, incorporated on March 28, 1960. Laurentian offers a variety of undergr ...

will name McLennan as honorary doctorate.

Books

* McLennan is the author of seven books: ''Transformational Thought II'' (2016), * ''Transformational Thought'' (2012), * ''Zugunruhe: The Inner Migration To Profound Environmental Change'' (2010), * ''The Ecological Engineer'' (2006), * ''The Dumb Architect's Guide to Glazing Selection'' (2004), * ''The Philosophy of Sustainable Design'' (2004), * ''LOVE+GREEN BUILDING: You and Me and the Beautiful Planet.''

Family

Jason F. McLennan is married to artist Tracy McLennan and has four children, Julian, Declan, Aidan and Rowan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McLennan, Jason F. 1973 births Living people Canadian architects Chief sustainability officers Artists from Greater Sudbury American social entrepreneurs Social entrepreneurs