Design-build Sustainability Consultant John Mlade Joins Chicago-based Wight & Company

Chicago-based integrated design & delivery firm Wight & Company announced it has hired sustainability expert John Mlade, LFA (Living Future Accredited), WELL AP and LEED Fellow, as senior project manager, sustainable & healthy environments.

“We are excited for John to join our sustainability practice at Wight & Company,” said Lois Vitt Sale, chief sustainability officer at Wight & Company. “He is a highly credentialed professional whose diverse skill set and experience broadens our competencies in delivering healthy, resource-efficient buildings in which people thrive.”

Mlade has nearly two decades of experience in sustainability consulting and research, and has served on more than a dozen national and local committees and boards throughout his career. He was as a member of the City of Chicago Sustainable Development Policy Working Group, and is currently a member of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Health in Building Roundtable and the Health Product Declaration Collaborative technical committee. He also serves a Living Building Challenge auditor on behalf of the International Living Future Institute (ILFI).

“I am thrilled to be a part of the sustainability team at Wight & Company, working with some of the most experienced and engaged green building and design professionals in the Midwest,” said Mlade. “Through Wight’s integrated approach, which takes projects from design through delivery, I now have the ability to make a greater impact on client projects at each stage of the process.”

Wight & Company has a long history of leadership in sustainable design and as an active contributor to the green building movement. The firm was a founding member of the U.S. Green Building Council and among the first signatories of the AIA 2030 Commitment, which seeks to move the industry toward carbon-neutral buildings, developments and renovations by the year 2030. Most recently, the firm designed the first Passive House, net-zero recreational facility in the country which it is constructing for the Plainfield Park District in Plainfield, Ill. Wight & Company has completed more than 80 LEED-registered and certified projects, including the LEED Platinum-certified Sunset Ridge School in Northfield, Ill.

John’s experience spans commercial fit-outs through developer-driven multi-use projects. Prior to joining Wight, he held senior roles at leading design, engineering and sustainability consulting firms. He holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental science from the University of Wisconsin, Madison; a master of science degree in construction management and green building from Colorado State University; and an MBA from the University of Illinois, Chicago.