A consequential change in decarbonizing housing stock hasn’t been a priority in this pandemic year, but post-pandemic, it is sure to rise in importance. With nearly 40% of total U.S. energy consumption used in the residential and commercial sector, the housing industry is front and center in creating solutions to this problem.
That’s why we’ve invited Bob Simpson, founder of Simpson Impact Strategies, to moderate a panel at our HousingWire Annual event on Oct. 8, discussing how 2021 may see some definitive changes in the carbon footprint left behind by housing, and who will be leading that effort.
Simpson will be joined by Josh Friend, CEO and founder of InSellerate, Jonathan F.P. Rose, president of Jonathan Rose Companies and Arthur Johnson, vice president of securitization policy at Fannie Mae, on a panel titled: Will 2021 Be the Year Green Housing Takes Off?
A nationally recognized expert in affordable, green and healthy housing, Simpson boasts more than 25 years of experience working at the highest levels of housing finance and public policy. Most recently, Simpson served as vice president and head of the Multifamily Green and Affordable Housing Business at Fannie Mae where he led the creation of Fannie Mae’s green and healthy housing initiatives.
Simpson also helped develop innovative new approaches to financing that enabled Fannie Mae to become a leading provider of affordable multifamily debt in the country and the largest issuer of green bonds in the world.
Over his 20-year career at Fannie Mae, Simpson held a range of senior leadership positions across the multifamily business in the conventional, structured finance, small loans and seniors housing business lines. He also oversaw the company’s investment efforts in rural and Native American markets as well as Gulf Coast communities impacted by Hurricane Katrina. Most recently, he served as a member of the company’s Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) steering committee.
Prior to joining Fannie Mae, Simpson worked for six and a half years as a special assistant and senior legislative aide to Senate majority leader Tom Daschle (D-SD).
He is also the author and co-author of several op-eds and publications focusing on the business and social impact of affordable housing in the commercial residential real estate industry.
Simpson currently serves as the national co-chair of the Urban Land Institute’s Affordable Workforce Housing Council. He also serves on the Stewards of Affordable Housing’s CORES Advisory Committee, the Center for Active Design’s Fitwel Advisory Board and the National Conference of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA) Advisory Group for Health and Housing.
HW Annual will feature other housing luminaries, including Cindy Waldron, vice president of research and analytics at Freddie Mac, Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae, Ed DeMarco, president of the Housing Policy Council, Laurie Goodman, vice president of the Urban Institute, Robert Dietz, chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders, and many more.
We’re focusing this virtual event on The Great Acceleration — the disruption speeding through the business landscape, upending traditional strategies and agendas for those in housing. We’ve got sessions on the future of regulation, increasing homeownership in underserved communities, capital market appetite by channel and much more.
HW+ members can attend for free by registering here. Not an HW+ member yet? You can sign up for free attendance plus get the amazing premium content we publish digitally and in the print magazine. Regular registration can be accessed here.