Member Profile: Jennifer Taranto

By Grey Lee

Key Details:
Certified LEED AP ID+C, BD+C
Director of Sustainability at StructureTone, Inc.
Market sector: Construction or Trades

Contact information:
jennifer.taranto@structuretone.com
Phone: 617.348.2800
Twitter: @BeantownGurl

We recently sat down with Jenn Taranto, board member and founding chapter member, to discover who she is and why she's is a part of the Massachusetts Chapter of the USGBC.

When did you first become interested in sustainability?

I remember charging my parents money for not turning off the lights from a very young age . We kept a jar in the house that everyone had to put a quarter into if they forgot. When I went off to college I thought I wanted to be an environmental engineer, but it turned out chemistry wasn't my thing, instead I turned to the familiar – my father was always involved in home improvements and built furniture on the side. At the same time I was reading about USGBC and what they were doing so going into construction engineering seemed like a natural fit.

How are you an environmental steward?

In my personal life, we are a small footprint family. We don't own a car and live in a condo in a dense urban environment. We try to eat organically as much as possible and, while we aren't vegetarians, we don't eat meat Monday through Friday. Professionally I strive to constantly improve our construction waste management process, especially with all the interior fit-ups Structure Tone does. We will have thousands of yards of carpet and hundreds of wood doors when we go into demolition. I look to repurpose as much as possible at other locations even before considering the recycling options.

Why are you a member of the chapter? For me, being a member of the chapter is a great meld of professional and personal environmental stewardship. Not only does it give me the chance to be with like-minded people, but it provides me with volunteer opportunities to make change, both locally or at the state level. It's important to me to be able to give back to the community and work to environmentally improve our state.

If I wanted to find you on a Saturday afternoon, where would you be? During football season I can be found with my fellow North Carolina State University alumni watching the game at the local bar. Go Wolfpack!

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