2026 Board of Directors Election

Nominations are open for our 2026 Board of Director Election

The Membership of Built Environment Plus will elect up to 6 members to join the continuing directors. Through our annual election process, voting Members are encouraged to consider how the Board represents the community we serve, and how a candidate Director could support the advancement of our mission.

To encourage an appropriate pool of Director candidates, we frame the election by designating seats into categories. When nominating candidates, we encourage a diversity of perspectives, professional categories, skills, experience, and geographic regions, as well as gender, age, race, and ethnicity.

We expect all candidates to be passionately committed to our mission to drive sustainable and regenerative design, construction, and operation of the built environment. Board Members are required to be current members of the organization. Double-check your membership status by visiting your BE+ Join It membership profile.

BE+ Board of Director Positions available for nominations:
Up for election:
(1) – Design Consultant Open: incumbents seeking reelection – Rebecca Rahmlow
(1) – Construction / Manufacturing Seats:
(2) – Owners / Operations Seats: incumbents seeking reelection – Neetu Siddarth
(2) – Other: incumbents seeking reelection – Chad Laurent, NJ Unaka

How it works

Nominations opens on October 7th, 2025, and closes on December 19th, 2025.

Voting opens to Built Environment Plus members on January 13th, 2026 with access to candidate info on our website and voting access sent via email.

The Election closes at 5:45 PM on January 22nd, 2026 at the Annual General Meeting.

Nomination Form

Job Description

Built Environment Plus (BE+) is seeking leaders from our community to join our Board of Directors. Sitting on our Board is an extraordinary opportunity for an individual to serve our community and advance the sustainability of the built environment. The ideal candidate is passionate about strengthening leadership and governance in the nonprofit sector. The BE+ Board of Directors is composed of leaders from nonprofits and for-profits, across the industry, who are dedicated to the organization’s mission of driving sustainable and regenerative design, construction, and operations of our built environment. Our board members champion the importance of leadership and believe that every organization needs an effective board to fully realize its potential for good. In addition to the standard roles and responsibilities of a board member, our board members are active advocates and ambassadors for the organization and are fully engaged in securing the financial resources and partnerships necessary for BE+ to advance its mission. Built Environment Plus is a 501(c)(3) member-based organization. The organization’s strengths are its power to convene a wide variety of stakeholders in the industry and beyond, and its ability to provide a wide variety of programming such as green building education, networking events, advocacy, and leadership opportunities. Our activities are supported and enhanced by the volunteer efforts of our community members and are directed to inform the public about green building practices and transform the market.

Term: BE+ Board of Directors are typically elected for a term of three years, and may serve for a maximum of two consecutive terms. Elections are facilitated virtually and culminate during our Annual General Meeting (January 22nd, 2026). The board term begins in February 2026.

Board Election Procedures

To align with our strategic plan, we are seeking the representation of experts from a variety of sectors involved in the design, construction, and operation of our built environment. BE+ currently has 14 Board members. According to our bylaws, we can have no fewer than seven and no more than 19 Directors. In addition, BE+ seeks a diversity of perspective from its Directors across professions, areas of expertise/interest, as well as gender, age, race, and ethnicity.

In order to increase the diversity of the board and potential participation by members, the BE+ board has embarked on a new process to support greater participation by members:

1. The nomination period is from 10/7/2025 to 12/19/2025.
2. There are three methods to get nominated to the board:
a. Members can nominate themselves
b. Members can nominate other members
c. A Board selected Nominating Committee will nominate members to the Board.

Seats are organized based on the following professional sectors: Design Consultants, Construction/Manufacturing, Owners/Operations, Policy/Advocacy, Other Fields not named above (e.g. Education, Utilities, Law, Community Development, Clean Energy, etc.). Seven of those seats are reserved for one representative from various professions outlined in the table below.

After the nomination period is complete, the Board and the Nominating Committee will vet the candidates and bucket them according to the categories noted in the tables below. The Board has discretion to increase/decrease numbers in each Professional Category by 1 to align with our strategic plan and diversity goals. The Board will vote on the final Ballot and number of Board members for the year.

Board Composition

Professional Sector	Preferred Numbers	Required Minimums by Profession
Design Consultants	5	1 Architecture, 1 MEP Engineering, 1 Other Consultant
Construction / Manufacturing	2	1 Construction
Owners / Operations	3	1 Owner
Policy / Advocacy	2	1 Policy
Other + EPMA	4	1 EPMA (appointed position)

Total

Election Categories

In 2026, we are aiming to have sixteen elected and one appointed Board Members. Eleven Board seats are not up for election this year. There are four incumbents seeking reelection.

Design Consultant:
There is one open seat.

Incumbent seeking reelection – Rebecca Rahmlow

Construction/Manufacturing:
There is one open seat.

Owner/Operations:
There are two open seats.

Incumbent seeking reelection – Neetu Siddarth

Other:
There are two open seats.

Incumbents seeking reelection – Chad Laurent, NJ Unaka

BE+ has identified these priority professional categories for new board members and encourages people from these fields to be nominated: There are two open seats.

Building Operations & Maintenance (energy)
Community Development
Government/Advocacy

Criteria

A BE+ Board Member…

Has knowledge of BE+ mission, goals, and objectives and is able to promote them effectively;
Has the experience and influence needed by BE+ and/or can also represent one or more disciplines that can help balance the Board’s membership;
Has showcased leadership skills in their community and can use their experience to successfully work with the rest of the Board and its committees;
Is capable of being an active public representative of the organization and can successfully include others in the work of BE+;
Is a member in good standing of BE+. Double-check your membership status by visiting the BE+ Join It membership profile.

The Board as a whole cannot have more than two Directors from the same company or organization at a time. A board member should expect to commit an average of 3-6 hours a month. Monthly commitment may vary based on initiatives, committee work, and events.

General Responsibilities

Board members are expected to…

Review financial statements and the budget and to otherwise help the board fulfill its fiduciary responsibilities;
Familiarize themselves with bylaws and other organizational documents;
Attend at minimum fifty percent of board meetings per year either in person or virtually;
Read board materials in advance of monthly board meetings and to come prepared to ask questions and participate in discussions.
Currently the board meets once per month virtually or in person;
Serve on one or more committees of the board and actively participate in committee work. Current committees include; Education, Community Building, Governance, and Advocacy;
Be an active community member of Built Environment Plus
Secure a minimum of $1500 necessary for BE+ to achieve its mission, whether from the Board member’s own organization, from personal contributions or in using personal relationships and connections to actively recruit sponsorships and memberships. Alternatives to actual monetary contributions include supporting efforts to bring in monetary resources (such as teaching courses, participating in panels, etc.).
Responsibly represent the organization to their respective communities and advocate for BE+’s mission, programs, and services as appropriate.
Support initiatives and events, panels, etc. to further the organization’s mission. These may include efforts around DEI, elections, educational programming, advocacy efforts, etc. This is an active and engaged Board.

Specific Tasks

Each board member is required to vote and have an informed decision after a thorough assessment of an issue. Specific tasks which will need groundwork and a vote by Board members include:

- Decisions on policies, goals, objectives, and priorities;
- Collaboration with other Board members and staff in the process, updates, and approval of specific strategies and objectives;
- Nominate and vote officers for the BE+ Board;
- Oversee and evaluate the strength and success of the projects and programs and make sure that these projects and programs are reaching the appropriate goals needed by the organization;
- Approve and oversee operation, property, and equipment budgets;
- Facilitate selection, employment, and evaluation of the Executive Director;
- Support the Executive Director in fulfilling their job duties;
- Review and update the Strategic Plan as required.

Qualifications

BE+ seeks an experienced green industry professional who has connections and the ability to bring new members/sponsors to the organization. We seek a board leader to help cultivate the board’s leadership role in support of staff as part of a broader commitment to increase awareness about the importance of our mission, influence public policy, and expand our reach. Preference for candidates who have prior board member experience.