Rob Winstead, LEED Fellow,  is  a nationally-recognized expert in learning space design and sustainability. Rob is an advocate for exceptional learning spaces that blend thoughtful design with high performance goals to deliver added value for clients and users. He is a frequent speaker at regional and national conferences and is the former chair of the Large-Firm Roundtable Sustainability Committee.   Rob’s broad portfolio of regional, national, and international work over 25 years of practice supports VMDO’s commitment to serving clients as a regional firm with national expertise. He is well known in the Mid-Atlantic for innovative and award-winning projects and for experience with zero-energy schools. His work has been recognized with numerous awards for planning, design, architecture, urbanism, and sustainability.   Show Highlights   Architecture is the social infrastructure that supports a dialogue in a community.  Three practice areas to focus on when building K 12 buildings.  Rob shares how to be an expert at zero energy schools and how to get communities to pursue that.  Tried and true off the shelf strategies that demystify and provide a recipe for net zero design. Environmental courses on sustainable design to help atone for the materials, resources and energy. A tremendous opportunity to advance sustainable systems without adding additional cost. Existing buildings need green financing to meet the time and communities we serve.  We need to address the ability to adjust existing building stock through high performance renovations to achieve these same goals.   “If you see a problem that needs to be solved, proceed and be bold. Don't wait to be asked. Go out and do what needs to be done. Oftentimes, people need to be shown that something is possible before they can commit to it on their own…Share what you learn. The stuff that we do around sustainability is just too important to be held onto as a competitive advantage or intellectual property. The true innovators keep on innovating. And so when you try something and you fail, share…when you try something and you succeed, share. This will raise others up around you.” -Rob Winstead     Show Resource and Information ​​ Connect with Charlie Cichetti and GBES   GBES is excited our membership community is growing. Consider joining our membership community as members are given access to some of the guests on the podcasts that you can ask project questions. If you are preparing for an exam, there will be more assurance that you will pass your next exam, you will be given cliff notes if you are a member, and so much more. Go to to learn more about the 4 different levels of access to this one-of-a-kind career-advancing green building community!   If you truly enjoyed the show, don't forget to leave a positive rating and review on .  We have prepared more episodes for the upcoming weeks, so come by again next week! Thank you for tuning in to the !   Copyright © 2024 GBES