UNC News Services

CHAPEL HILL -- Innovation's role in the future of green building will be explored at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business School. Kenan-Flagler's Center for Sustainable Enterprise will present Rob Watson, a pioneer of the modern green building movement, and Dennis Quaintance, owner of Proximity Hotel in Greensboro, in "Wanted: Radical Confidence: Why the Future is in Our Hands Today" in Koury Auditorium.

The event is part of the center's Leaders in Sustainability series and is co-hosted and co-sponsored by the N.C. Triangle Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council.

Watson is considered a founding father of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), the recognized international standard by which green buildings are measured worldwide. He is chairman, chief executive officer and chief scientist of the EcoTech International Group, which provides green building technologies and services in China, India and the United States. Quaintance is the chief executive officer and chief design officer of Quaintance-Weaver Restaurants and Hotels, which owns Proximity Hotel, the only LEED Platinum (the highest level of certification) hotel in the United States.

"Rob Watson has been a global leader in the green building movement, from his role in developing LEED to his more recent work delivering integrated green building solutions to China and India," said Jessica Thomas, managing director of the Center for Sustainable Enterprise. "We are very excited to host him and Dennis Quaintance in partnership with the N.C. Triangle Chapter of the USGBC to provide an opportunity for faculty, students and community members to engage in a conversation with two innovators in the green building arena."

The event is part of the celebration of the 10-year anniversary of the founding of the Center for Sustainable Enterprise. The center provides education, research and outreach to business students, executives, and organizations to help them benefit from the opportunities inherent in sustainable enterprise.

A reception will follow the free event. Respond to cse@unc.edu if you plan to attend. Parking will be available in the business school parking deck. For more information, call (919) 962-1499.