Forum discussion

Lance Hosey

Folks, it is with a heavy heart that I write this: Lance Hosey passed away unexpectedly on Friday. 

Many of you know him from the early days of the SDL group, or as an outsized presence at any of the many conferences where we overlap. He's been a list-maker, poll-taker and all around troublemaker in my life for over 20 years; I know I am but one in a cast of thousands of his friends that will profoundly miss his booming belly-laugh and unrestricted love of jazz. 

There aren't a lot of details yet;  I'll update this thread as I hear more. In the meantime, keep his family in your thoughts. 

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Mon, 08/30/2021 - 00:24

This can't be.  I am in shock.  How awful.

Mon, 08/30/2021 - 00:36

I too am in shock and disbelief. This makes no sense.

Mon, 08/30/2021 - 00:54

I agree, this is awful.  But it is what it is, so we can we get to BEST LANCE MOMENTS EVAH! Here is my first shot across the bow... We were at AIA conference and I heard that he was leaving RTKL, going to Perkins Eastman.  I saw him and I asked if i could steal his staff (cause, I am like that).  He said "no, i am taking them with me." I loved him for so many reasons, but his support of the next generation was a big piece of who he was.  He supported all things wonderful and great.  I will miss him always, but for his love of what is good in this world and his dedication to raising up the next generation is a big piece of who he was. Rest in Peace Lance.  You were loved.  

Mon, 08/30/2021 - 01:08

Yes. Impossible news. Kira just shared his wife Kate’s address. Kate Higgins Hosey 6031 Tulane St, San Diego 92122 Sent from my phone maryannlazarus2@gmail.com 314.805.9332 Any spelling errors I blame on autocorrect

Mon, 08/30/2021 - 01:11

What? A stunning and sad piece of news! Lois Vitt Sale, FAIA, LEED Fellow Senior Vice President Wight & Company 2500 North Frontage Road Darien, IL 60561630.969.7000 | d 630.739.7514 | m 630.450.1662 | f 630.969.7979 www.wightco.com

Mon, 08/30/2021 - 01:12

How tragic, I am so sorry. Rachel Rachel Bannon-Godfrey Sustainability Discipline Leader (303) 547 7557 Sent from my iPhone - small screen, big possibility of spelling errors

Mon, 08/30/2021 - 01:12

Oh my god, Hard to comprehend such a tragic loss – yes, what a force and great trouble maker he was – prolific and boundless, shining a light on tough topics - articles, books, policies, classes, and daylighting the most succinct tough issue or question. Who else would sneak out for wine at Bainbridge to “infuse” our conversations and lead us to (make sure we did) commit to actionable plans late into the night. I could never keep up with him but am ever grateful that he ran so fast and so far. Thank you Lance – you paved so much of the way for us From: Eri

Mon, 08/30/2021 - 02:24

Wow--this really IS a shock. Lance had such a huge impact on our movement, and he influenced me directly in many ways. It's no secret that he had some trouble settling down professionally after leaving McDonough and Partners, so I find it especially poignant that he's suddenly gone, after he shared this recently about his latest position in San Diego: "Generally I’m loving HMC. Feel like I finally found my home." Looking back more, I found this bit from a letter I wrote supporting his LEED Fellow nomination that I think captures something about how he affected me personally (and not just professionally):
Lance’s work on Women in Green, however, illustrates an even rarer quality to his leadership: a willingness to put himself on the line and do the unexpected. “Who does this guy think he is?” was my first reaction when I saw Lance coauthoring and then promoting this work. But Lance was unapologetic about stepping up as a man to celebrate the special role of women in sustainability, and open to publicly exploring the questions that arose from his role in that initiative. More than almost anyone I know, he is unafraid to look foolish or face rejection, which allows him a special freedom and power to act and make things happen. It also makes him highly approachable—even endearing—despite his sometimes intimidating intellect, which further increases his effectiveness as a leader.
I think that we can best honor his legacy by doubling down on the challenges we face and kicking some butt. Nadav

Mon, 08/30/2021 - 03:03

This is sudden, shocking, and sad to me.   Lance organized the first GreenBuilding session I ever spoken on with him.  Though our hair styles are very different, we had a great time together.  He is a visionary that can feel the pulse of the profession and lead one step ahead. Should we capture all the stories in this forum and more for his family so they know how much we love, respect, and honor Lance and also let them see the professional side of Lance through our eyes?

Best, Luke 

Mon, 08/30/2021 - 04:23

Following Anne and Luke's push for stories about Lance, I texted him this photo (he didn't come to some event).  In hindsight, I thought his response was especialy poignant given this terrible news.

Mon, 08/30/2021 - 11:07

My respects to a versatile leader. Rest In Peace, Lance. Just finished reading his NYT piece titled ‘Scent and the City.’ It has the same analytical rigor that he would bring to anything he touched. Ramana. ____

Mon, 08/30/2021 - 12:19

Oh, this is so shocking and very sad news.  I remember the Bainbridge wIne... His legacy with the Green Movement is immense. And, he was talented at the piano as well, as observed on the SDL virtual "star" show.  Rest in Peace Lance.

Mon, 08/30/2021 - 12:32

I am so sad and shocked.  Lance was brilliant and a true friend.  I have so many memories with him. Rest in peace Lance. 

Mon, 08/30/2021 - 13:03

Hi folks, we've opened up a Google doc/folder to capture stories/photos to share with his family. I've added the few in this thread already to the doc, but please add your favorites here:  Google doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ahM3_m9vhsRfdVM3sw6c7PDfzIqyqa6th9vu4eSmiPA/edit?usp=sharing Photos folder: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1qr8RSvNdW-QCqegBdqQ50dQs67nMlret?usp=sharing Let's set a deadline of Sept 11 -- Lance's birthday -- to get your stuff uploaded.   

Mon, 08/30/2021 - 13:23

Oh my … This is making me both sad and nostalgic. Lance has always been a presence and I expect this will continue. I will replay his moments in insight and challenges and friendship for years. Rand Rand​ Ekman FAIA, LEED Fellow Chief Sustainability Officer Principal [HKS, Inc] 125 S Clark St, #1100, Chicago, IL 60603 +1 312 262 9750 | m +1 847 420 5577 | www.hksinc.com To send large files, please use my Thru dropbox Fro

Mon, 08/30/2021 - 13:32

I didn't know Lance well, so I pulled out every trick and pitch I had to rope him into coming to Pittsburgh to speak at a conference shortly after I had moved here. It was a much smaller group than he really ought to have been speaking to at that point in his career, but he was incredibly gracious and delivered the presentation as if he was keynoting at Greenbuild. The timing was right about when Lessons from the Leading Edge was released, and he spoke about that work (which many of you contributed to) and findings that came from it. For all of the amazing projects he contributed to, it's these roadmaps to a more sustainable and beautiful world - and he always lobbied for both - that I find most inspiring and enduring. My heartfelt condolences to his family and friends. He will be missed. 

Mon, 08/30/2021 - 15:03

Lance was a new friend and mentor in the last year. I had long admired his outspokeness for what he believed in (read all things green) and in the short time I knew him he was incredibly generous with his time. As others had mentioned he spoke so highly of HMC and finding a spot that was ready to take off. It is heartbreaking to learn that his time was cut short when he was winning new, deeply sustainable work for his team.

Last time we talked he dropped so many nuggets of wisdom on me and we had planned to meet up agian in San Diego for Greenbuild. I am so sad to read this, but also encouraged to see how well thought of he is within this community. I will share in our google sheet how generous he was. I know there were many, many people in the sustainable movement that he encouraged as he storve to make new paths for himself ...

Best, Arathi

Mon, 08/30/2021 - 15:39

What a shock and loss for all of us. Lance was one of the few people who spoke sustainability to a wide audience beyond our industry and leaves a big hole in that critical area. He was very present and was always pushing us to think clearly about our collective goals.

Mon, 08/30/2021 - 16:31

Wow. I know I haven't connected with this group in a few years an just recently rejoined - have missed you guys for sure. This post took my breath away. Lance was one of my most favourite people. I actually have two copies of his book "The Shape of Green", because I am always referring to it myself and often need to loan out the other copy to people. I loved his thinking in that book - the science/neurology perspective and the connection to humanity - which was what Lance really was all about. Such a joy to spend time with him. Always provocative and supportive. So sad to hear this news.

Mon, 08/30/2021 - 16:40

It’s been so nice and comforting hearing from so many of you that I feel compelled to chime in. I find myself thinking of Women in Green, The Shape of Green and The Habits of High-Performance Firms which itself is dedicated to another legend gone too soon, Bill Worthen and can’t help wondering what was yet to come. I mourn that big laugh, warm smile and drive to make this world better. He’s had a great impact on so many people. Saying his passing is a huge loss is an understatement. While I don’t think anyone will be able to fill Lance Hosey’s seat, as Eric shared, I echo Nadav’s thought of the best way to honor Lance is by doubling down and kicking some butt. I’ll raise my glass to kicking some butt. -Meredith Meredith Elbaum, AIA, LEED AP Executive Director Built Environment Plus meredith@builtenvironmentplus.org | 617-752-2422 | builtenvironmentplus.org

Mon, 08/30/2021 - 16:47

I dropped my phone and cried after reading about this. What a powerful force Lance was. At IslandWood one year it was my daughter's birthday. After sneaking in the wine, we were hanging out in one of the lounges and I asked many of you to sing her happy birthday. I still have that recording. There's a point we're Lance's deep tone takes over as he sings "happy birrrrrthday dear...Mike's daughter" that always makes me smile. I posted the video to the photos folder. We'll miss you, Lance. Mike Manzi RA, CSI, CDT, LEED BD+C Associate Principal he/him Bora Architecture & Interiors Working from home, please use email

Mon, 08/30/2021 - 16:53

Lance was larger than life, a towering intellect in our community, plus he was pretty damn funny.  https://twitter.com/LanceHosey/status/1416762499999801349 Such a loss for the green building movement and our group, but I'm thankful to have had the exposure to him that this group provided.

Mon, 08/30/2021 - 17:16

I've resisted even looking here, reading everyone's thoughts makes it feel even sadder collectively... I've known lance for more than 20 years (as many of you have) and known him through so many different permutations in his life and journey. He was such a blend of many things that I have yet to define even in my own understanding of him - but many of those things were surprising (to me) if you only see him in one "mode".  Some of you saw/participated in the Lighter Side of Green that I put together last year - Lance was the ONLY person who was (yes, believe it or not) too shy to want to show that side of himself!! I had to beg, use Kira as additional pressure and be relentless and then he gave that 1 min piano jam (see here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/e12u5tzjg53zr67/Lance%20Hosey.mov?dl=0 ) which was, of course, full of soul, energy and .... Lance! May his memory be a blessing and I am hoping that a scholarship fund is set up in his name to carry forth his dedication, passion and committment to our common goal. 

Mon, 08/30/2021 - 18:25

Agree Meredith – ok architects, as he said… smart systems cant significantly make up for dumb design… From a 6/18/21 Post on Stuck in the 40’s - Lance wrote the below Design. The answer is design. There's a perception among many that performance is driven by smarter systems, but the research shows that up to 90% of the impact of a project is determined by the earliest design decisions (size, orientation, massing, fenestration, etc.). Smart systems can't significantly make up for dumb design. And relying primarily on systems is also why there's a lingering perception that higher performance has to mean higher costs. Without fundamentally changing architects' approach to design, we'll never move the needle significantly. Shameless plug: Collapsing the divide between standards of "good design" and "green design" is the premise of my book, *The Shape of Green*. https://lancehosey.com/writing#/the-shape-of-green/ *Lance Hosey*, FAIA, LEED Fellow Chief Impact Officer HMC Architects From: M

Mon, 08/30/2021 - 20:35

Phew, this is shocking and sad news. I did not know Lance that well, but met him at an SDL summit years ago and saw him from time to time since then in person and on social media. He was extremely approachable, kind, and a force for good in the green building movement. He will be missed. Allison Allison Zuchman, LEED AP BD+C, Fitwel Amb., RA Senior Sustainability Consultant The Green Engineer | Sustainable Design Consulting D: 978.341.5464 | O: 978.369.8978

Mon, 08/30/2021 - 23:38

This is heartbreaking news. Lance was ‘larger than life,’ a real inspiration to me. I assign a chapter of “The Shape of Green” in a class I teach, and I always get comments at the end of the semester that it is always one of the students’ favorite readings. His impact will continue to reverberate… but gosh I will miss his perspective. Virtual hugs to you all. Gwen Fuertes, AIA, LEED AP BD+C C: 401-369-2170 From: Miche

Tue, 08/31/2021 - 02:24

Lance was such a great force in our industry. He had such a presence. He had intention. And a wicked sharp intellect. And as I think about it, the presence of a bear that ya just wanted to hug. He will be missed and his force will continue with us all. Gunnar Hubbard, FAIA, LEED Fellow Principal and Sustainability Practice Leader (M) +1 207 650 9141 ________________________________

Tue, 08/31/2021 - 05:51

  Very sad news.  I generally think of the people in our group as young at heart and full of life - without entertaining the possibility that one of us could be living our last day.   I didn't know Lance well and often found him intimidating - but in a good way.  For me that usually meant that he held a perspective on a topic that I didn't yet fully understand.  He would often present his point of view with such confidence that I wanted to explore the topic deeper to see what it meant for me and my work. The relationship between sustainability and beauty was one of the big ones for me.   He understood the power of effective communication, and knew how to bring important topics into the mainstream sustainability conversation. A larger-than-life instigator! That I will miss. Brian

Tue, 08/31/2021 - 16:31

This is just crushing, and so unexpected. I had to turn email off yesterday so as to not tear up every time one of these messages came through. Reading them last night was bittersweet. I had Nadav’s same preconceived ideas about Lance as co-author of Women in Green, and was secretly glad that Kira was the one to interview me and not “the man”. I met him IRL in 2007 when collaborating on a project. We become instant friends (as has been true with so many of you) and I quickly realized that I shouldn’t have been so fast to judge him based on his gender. He brough so much insight to our movement and to me personally that it’s awfully hard to imagine a path forward in his absence. Lance was always seeking out the lever – the inflection point where we could change the direction of large AE firms. As others have said, he truly felt that he had found his home at HMC. He had recently shared news of a big project win and was practically giddy. In addition to the stealth Islandwood wine, I will forever remember him as a master or ordering amazing fancy cocktails while spreading his wisdom, humor and big belly laugh over a post-conference happy hour. My heart goes out to Kate and the rest of the Hosey crew. Mara Mara Baum​ FAIA, LEED Fellow, LFA, WELL AP, EDAC PARTNER | ARCHITECTURE + SUSTAINABILITY EMAIL mbaum@dialogdesign.ca DIRECT 415.503.5750 500 Sansome Street – Suite 370 San Francisco , CA , 94111‑3215 [cid:image001.png@01D79E48.F28511C0] dialogdesign.ca From: Michelle Am

Wed, 09/01/2021 - 04:04

I never met a better guy to have an argument with.

Wed, 09/01/2021 - 17:49

Lance's obituary has been posted to his website: https://lancehosey.com/ No update yet on services/arrangements from the family, but there may be something informal at Greenbuild, if you're there.

Fri, 09/03/2021 - 19:26

BuildingGreen has now also posted a piece that Nadav and I wrote about Lance: https://www.buildinggreen.com/op-ed/lance-hosey-1964-2021 -Alex Founder, BuildingGreen, Inc. 122 Birge Street, Suite 30 Brattleboro, VT 05301 802-257-7300 ext. 106 802-579-4858 (cell) www.buildinggreen.com www.resilientdesign.org Twitter: http://twitter.com/atwilson

Fri, 09/03/2021 - 21:57

Alex and Nadav. Thanks for these fine words and to all who crafted the obits on Lance. They are moving to read and a terrific reminder of his amazing legacy. We must honor that now and even figure out how to maintain some humor in it all as Lance Have would. Mary Ann Sent from my phone maryannlazarus2@gmail.com 314.805.9332 Any spelling errors I blame on autocorrect

Tue, 09/07/2021 - 20:01

Hi folks, just a reminder that we'll be closing out the "Remembering Lance Hosey" Google doc at the end of the week. If you have thoughts you'd like to share with Lance's family, please be sure to capture them before COB Friday.  Thanks.   

Wed, 09/08/2021 - 15:19

I have to admit, I’ve been holding off on reading this thread – waiting until I had the emotional strength to deal with it. Not sure I ever will, so I dove in. A week ago when I found out of Lance’s passing, I had just given birth to my second daughter earlier that morning – talk about an emotional roller coaster. Lance would have asked me if I named her “Lancina” or something ridiculous like that. I didn’t, by the way. I’ve been reading your comments in bits and pieces since then, and it has been hard, but incredibly helpful for me to process my emotions. As I read through, many things came up consistently – his laugh, his love of cocktails, his larger than life personality, his impressive ability to deliver a compelling message – but the one I’d like to touch on more is his mentorship. I had the privilege of working directly with Lance early in my career, and I’m not sure I’ll ever have a better mentor or boss. Every day I worked with him, I was excited to get out of bed in the morning. The obstacles were big, but Lance inspired me every day to do my best, while allowing me the complete freedom to figure out what that “best” was. In a large organization, he gave our team the freedom and the time to be creative and to have fun with our work, without having to worry about meeting billability targets or showcasing an ROI for ourselves. That freedom allowed me to grow into who I am today, gave me the energy to keep at this sometimes challenging job that we have as sustainability leaders, and honestly, I could use more of that growing time. Lance taught me how to craft a compelling message, how to capture an audience, that it’s not only okay to repeat yourself, it’s necessary. He taught me to not feel self-conscious about my lack of experience – that what architecture needs is someone who can come in with a fresh perspective to shake things up - and that experience can sometimes become a burden instead of a benefit.   One time I was helping Lance pull together a firmwide presentation that he was going to give. I worked with him on it for WEEKS, and was getting increasingly frustrated because after version 85 of this presentation he kept changing his mind and going back to content we had earlier on. It would have been way more efficient for him to compile the presentation himself, and way less frustrating for me. BUT, now when I compile important presentations, I find myself spending a lot of time crafting the right message, the one that is going to get people’s attention and initiate action. I find myself thinking like Hosey. I’m not sure it was intentional like Mr. Miyagi, but it worked. After Lance left Perkins Eastman, we’ve kept in touch regularly. I’ll miss having him as a sounding board, and a cheerleader. I’m sad for the huge loss for the industry, and keep thinking about what he had left to contribute, but emboldened to step up. A few have mentioned how he was not afraid to put himself out there – and I think this post speaks to that - https://www.huffpost.com/entry/stop-building-now_b_4194532 . You’ll notice they took the comments section down, because there was A LOT of backlash from architects who were not okay with Lance’s “modest proposal” to stop building altogether. One of my favorite things to do was scour through the negative comments with Lance – and I remember one in particular that called him a psychopathic midget. Nothing else, no other arguments, just called him a psychopathic midget. That was the name of his college band, by the way :)

Tue, 11/09/2021 - 12:58

Hi everyone, FYI, we collected all of the Lance tributes and bound them into a booklet for his family. You can see an electronic copy here (thanks to Lake Flato for hosting): https://issuu.com/lakeflato/docs/lance_hosey_tribute

Tue, 11/09/2021 - 14:17

What a wonderful rememberance of Lance.   Thanks Michelle for spearheading this, and to everyone else who had a hand in it.

Tue, 11/09/2021 - 16:53

I was introduced to Lance at an AIA meeting by Henry Siegel when they were both serving on COTE. I rememberthing being struck bywhat a warm funny guy he was. I also learned over the years how smart he was, and could go right to the heart of whatever was being discussed. The first time I brought up the idea that maybe we should just stop building all these buildings we keep building, Lance said yeah, he had propsed that and he took a lot of heat for saying it. I went back a read his original piece in Huffpost and what was really brillant about it was his call to repurpose the entire building industry to renovate and upgrade existing buildings and infrastructure. Go Lance, still leading...

Tue, 11/09/2021 - 16:54

Agreed.   Great job!  This will help his family to see him thorugh our eyes.

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