She is a national leader in urban sustainability policy. As Deputy Director for Green Building Policy at the NYC Mayor’s Office of Long-Term Planning & Sustainability under Michael Bloomberg, she helped develop PlaNYC, New York’s influential sustainability plan, and spearheaded the development of New York’s innovative green building and energy efficiency policies. These included the first comprehensive policies by any jurisdiction to address energy efficiency in existing buildings, the greening of New York’s codes and regulations, a clause that solves the splint incentive problem in commercial leases, and programs by city government and leading sectors to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30% in ten years.

Laurie Kerr then conceived and launched the City Energy Project at the Natural Resources Defense Council, which is assisting ten major American cities – from Los Angeles to Chicago, Houston and Atlanta – in developing large-scale efficiency policies like New York.

Laurie Kerr holds a BA in engineering and applied science, cum Laude, from Yale University; an MSc in applied physics from Cornell University; and a MArch from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design (GSD).