About the Founder

Clay Nesler

Clay Nesler, Founder and CEO, worked for more than 38 years at Johnson Controls in a variety of senior leadership positions in research, product development, marketing, strategy, manufacturing, corporate sustainability and regulatory affairs in both the United States and Europe until retirement in 2021. For the past 15 years, he was Vice President, Global Energy and Sustainability, leading the company’s Global Sustainability Council. He currently serves as Global Lead, Buildings and Energy, for the WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities.  Clay helped establish WRI’s Buildings Initiative, the SEforALL Building Efficiency Accelerator and the Three Percent Club for Energy Efficiency.

Clay serves on the board of the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, the executive group of the U.S. DOE/EPA SEE Action network, the GSA Green Building Advisory Committee and numerous technical and industry advisory boards. He chairs the Industrial Advisory Board of the U.S.-China Building Energy Efficiency Consortium, is a member of the International Energy Agency Energy Efficiency Industry Advisory Board and co-chairs the Alliance to Save Energy’s Active Efficiency Collaborative.

Clay has previously served as vice-chair of the World Environment Center and participated on the Wisconsin Governor’s Task Force on Global Warming, the Task Force on National Energy Policy and Midwestern Regional Competitiveness and as a sustainable buildings track advisor to the Clinton Global Initiative.  He also served as Interim President of the Alliance to Save Energy. 

A frequent international speaker, Clay has presented at the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting, Fortune Brainstorm Green, VERGE, Greenbuild, US-India Energy Partnership Summit, US-China Energy Efficiency Forum, Asia-Pacific Clean Energy Summit, World Climate Summit, World Future Energy Summit, Abu Dhabi Ascent, Global Green Growth Forum, UN SE4ALL Forum, UN Climate Summit, Rio+20, Global Climate Action Summit and the Clean Energy Ministerial.   He has also participated in events at the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, the European Commission, the European Parliament and the United Nations General Assembly.

Nesler received BS and MS degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is co-inventor on over a dozen patents. He is a winner of the 2005 Corenet Global Innovator’s Award, the 2012 VERGE 25 award, a 2015 Distinguished Alumnus Award, a 2017 leadership award from the U.S. Green Building Council, the 2019 Wisconsin Sustainable Business Council Leadership Forward Award and a 2020 R&D100 award.

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