#209 Blue Ocean Sustainability’s Danielle Wilmot

As Manager of Special Programs for the innovation team at Blue Ocean Sustainability, Danielle performs research and analysis to help develop software and technology to improve sustainability within the built environment.

Her focus is on developing new resources for SIG’s [green building consulting sister company] consultant teams as well as cultivating new opportunities to better support green building clients in meeting their sustainability initiatives.

Education

Danielle originally planned to pursue a career in Architecture, earning a B.A. in Art and Architectural History from Columbia University in 2008. After a year of working in the field, however, she changed course and went back to school for engineering, earning a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland in 2013. She has been a LEED Green Associate since 2015.

Experience

Danielle has a diverse background that blends architecture, education, engineering, and consulting. After spending a year at a New York architecture firm, she taught math and science to middle and high school students while simultaneously earning her engineering degree. She then joined an energy efficiency consulting team where she worked with commercial utilities; state, local, and international governments; private sector clients; and most notably, the federal government. Before joining SIG, Danielle spent most of her time on the U.S. EPA’s ENERGY STAR Commercial Buildings team, helping to develop the 1-100 ENERGY STAR scores for commercial buildings and leading the ENERGY STAR certification review team.

Interests

Danielle enjoys traveling as much as she can, especially when her trips can incorporate hiking, food, wine, or scuba diving. When at home, she enjoys cooking, reading, and binging TV shows. She lives in northern Virginia with her husband.

Show Highlights

Balancing ethics and sustainable implications for the industry
Blue Ocean Sustainability’s innovations for green buildings.
Cloud-based software to help with measuring the shift to embodied carbon on construction sites.
1. Energy Star Portfolio Manager experience that led to scoring in our new tool: True Carbon
Rating Systems and Certifications from various agencies for health and safety efforts.
An inevitable change in intensity for mitigating climate change.
A peek into evaluating companies you want to do business with to be a responsible consumer.
How do buildings really tie into climate change and the responsibility we have to fix this.

“One thing I’m really proud of is making the pivot from my original plan of Architecture into Engineering and then more specifically into Sustainability…in your career you have time to change, you can pivot.”

-Danielle Wilmot

Danielle Wilmot Transcript