2014 40 Under 40: Eric A. Sheffer, LEED AP, 37

Eric A. Sheffer, LEED AP, 37
Principal, Smith Seckman Reid Inc., Nashville, Tenn.
The Pennsylvania State University, BS Biology and MS Ecology

Sustainability is a journey, not a destination. This is Eric Sheffer’s passion and motto. As a principal at Smith Seckman Reid, Sheffer manages a team of building performance and sustainability professionals who work with contractors, designers, and owners to build and maintain more sustainable facilities. Sheffer leads SSR’s mission of developing innovative, high-performance, energy-efficient sustainable, and water-conserving designs that he executes by educating staff and clients in the concepts of collaborative and integrated building design. Sheffer’s focus on high-performance buildings has led him to successfully create dozens of U.S. Green Building Council LEED certified facilities, including those in health care and corporate and institutional projects for private, state, and federal clients. But his work doesn’t stop with SSR. Sheffer also works as an adjunct instructor at Vanderbilt University teaching building systems and LEED concepts to graduate-level students. In addition to his educational efforts, Sheffer has published several articles on high-performances buildings and the LEED Silver and Gold conversions of preexisting facilities. In a recent project, Sheffer and his team helped the National Nuclear Security Administration convert its $650 million campus relocation in Kansas City into a LEED Gold building. Sheffer has served on the United Nations Sustainable Building Climate Initiative Technical Advisory Committee for Water Conservation and on the board of directors of the U.S. GBC Middle Tennessee Chapter. In his spare time, Sheffer enjoys hiking, mountain biking, woodworking, and going camping in the Tennessee outdoors. He likes visiting his favorite nature spot, Sprague Lake at the Rocky Mountain National Park. Sheffer and his wife look forward to future outdoor explorations with their newborn son. 

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