& Partners
PAST ADVISORS
SS HABIB REHMAN
S.S.H. Rehman is an iconic figure in the Indian hospitality Industry, currently a director on the board of ITC Limited, one of India’s largest FMCG companies. His life is a tale extraordinary. Always leading from the front, his 30 years stint in hospitality business culminated as executive director ITC, in-charge of Hotels & Foods Divisions. During his tenure he converted a cigarette company into a hospitality giant with over 90 prime hotels across 67 destinations in India.His focus on cuisines also led to the creation of the concept of multi-specialty Indian food brands in the hotel industry in India. He is credited with putting Indian cuisines on the forefront of global hospitality. A hands on leader he led to the creation of some of the most respected hotels in India, both for management as well as meaningful architecture and service. His simultaneous concern for both micro and macro makes him a tough director to please, but a great person to work with. His interests lie in creation of brands through assiduous perfection of detailing. His inputs come from his experiences as well as his concern to create viable landmarks.
JAGDISH KHATTAR
Jagdish Khattar is the CMD of Carnation Auto India Pvt. Ltd. He was earlier the Managing Director of Maruti Suzuki Limited. He is an iconic figure in the Asian automobile sector having successfully nurtured and built Maruti, into a dominant player in India. He began his career with the Indian Administrative Service, but gave it up for the challenge of running a Joint venture company between Suzuki and Government of India. He brings with him more than 37 years of rich and wide ranging experience from the running of corporations to the creation of infrastructure and policy both in public sector as well as the private sector. After Maruti, he turned entrepreneur and set up an independent multi-brand pan-India sales and service network in the automobile sector, which is the largest existing today. His experience across businesses makes his observations priceless during board meetings. Outside those, he leads the company with his contrarian approach and ever questioning intensity, designed to keep people on toes.
AJAY PRASAD
Ajay Prasad, hung his boots, as a civil servant, after an illustrious innings in The Government of India. He headed two very important positions, one after the other as Defence as well as Civil Aviation Secretary to the Indian Government. During his tenure in each department he is acknowledged for his proactive, result oriented focus. He has been a catalyst in infrastructure development in areas of both Defence and Civil Aviation. He was a prime mover in the privatization of Indian airports and both Mumbai and Delhi Airports are a result of his efforts. His other areas of specialization include formulating policies in the fields of public health, tourism and textiles and he is familiar with the systems, procedures and policy formulation by governments at both the state as well as the central level. He is a member of the Board of Governors, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore; an acknowledged thought leader in business management, globally. He brings to the company a repertoire of rich experience as well as critical comment with hands on involvement outside the board room as well.
S N MENON
S N MENON was Secretary of Commerce and Industry to the Government of India. He has played a lead role in formulating the concept and policy framework for setting up Special Economic Zones in India. He successfully formulated and negotiated World Trade Organisation agreements and other bilateral agreements with key neighbours such as the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement with Singapore. He also served as a member of the board of EXIM Bank, MMTC, STC, NIFT and NTC and has substantial experience in industrial promotion and investments in the power sector. Menon is a concerned optimist and idealist, encouraging the people in the company with a healing touch after others have engaged with them. His belief in the project stems from his in depth engagement with the company at different levels of project detailing.
INNOVATION PARTNERS
OPEN ARCHITECTURE
OPEN Architecture is an international team of architects, with collaborators across different disciplines to practice urbanism, architecture, interior and the production of strategies in the context of new challenges of our time. OPEN believes that research and collaboration is the foundation for design and creation. OPEN was founded by Li Hu and Huang Wenjing in New York City. It established the Beijing office in 2006. Recently, OPEN won the First Prize of 2012 World Architecture Magazine's Chinese Architecture Award, the Best Architecture Award of China Architecture Media Awards, the Gold Award of Asia Pacific Interior Design Awards 2013 (APIDA) and Re-thinking the Future Awards 2014.
LAWRENCE BERKELEY NATIONAL LABORATORY
In the world of science, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) is synonymous with "excellence." Berkeley Lab was founded in 1931, by Ernest Orlando Lawrence, a UC Berkeley physicist who won the 1939 Nobel Prize in physics for his invention of the cyclotron. Thirteen scientists associated with Berkeley Lab have won the Nobel Prize. Berkeley Lab is a member of the national laboratory system supported by the U.S. Department of Energy through its Office of Science. Berkeley Lab employs approximately 4,200 scientists, engineers, support staff and students. Technologies developed at Berkeley Lab have generated billions of dollars in revenues, and thousands of jobs.
J.H. HEERWAGEN & ASSOCIATES INC
Judith H. Heerwagen & Associates are an environmental and evolutionary psychologist group, whose work focuses on the links between building design and human health, well being, and productivity. Its pioneering findings in the field of design ecology, the study of the relationship between people, psychology, and physical space has been lauded for its innovativeness and practical utility in an environment where the effects of technology on people can trigger behavioral changes. Their work on the impact of physical space on emotional, social and cognitive functioning has been used to integrate research into policy planning. Judith is a renowned author and has written extensively on the subject. She has also shared her research and practice at various platforms across the world.
POINT ENERGY INNOVATIONS
Point Energy Innovations is widely recognized as an innovator in the energy efficiency field. Its leadership has designed more Zero Energy and radiant cooled buildings than any other engineer or firm in the United States. The area of influence of the work of its members is recognized globally across various climate zones. Point Energy Innovations, a company that is redefining the simple and cost effective delivery of net zero and high performance buildings with better health and comfort for the occupants while creating more responsible solutions for better utilization of resources for the environment.
LOISIS + UBBELHODE ASSOCIATES
Loisos + Ubbelohde specializes in high performance buildings, providing architectural consulting, design and research with a focus on energy efficiency and sustainability. Their consulting services include: daylighting, shading, lighting design, energy modeling, alternative energy sources, glazing specification, high performance facades, sustainability, and LEED and CHPS certification. Their perspective integrates both architectural and engineering approaches to building design which enables us to work collaboratively with their clients and as part of an integrated process with design teams in an iterative process moving between technical analysis, research, and the generation of designs. Loisos + Ubbelohde projects have received 33 AIA awards, three AIA/COTE Top Ten Green Projects, and six LEED platinum certifications.
CHINA ACADEMY OF BUILDING RESEARCH (CABR)
Founded in 1953, CABR is the largest and most diverse research institution in building industry in China. It is a technology-based enterprise, affiliated to the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC). As the largest comprehensive research and development institute in the building industry in China, CABR carries out its mission in catering to the needs of building and construction industries nationwide, putting forward solutions for the key technical problems met in engineering based on applied research and development, providing technical development and consulting services. CABR is responsible for the development and management of the major engineering construction and product standards of China.
BUILDING ENERGY RESEARCH CENTER (BERC), TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY
Building Energy Research Centre of Tsinghua University develops building energy-saving standard systems research and evaluates the energy saving in the whole building cycle. The center has formulated a series of Chinese standard systems including National Green Building Evaluating Standard, Green Olympic Building Evaluating System, Beijing Public Building Energy-saving Evaluating Standard, Large-sized Public Building Energy Consumption Ration Management System, Shanghai and Shenzhen Cell Resident Energy Consumption Identification Method. BERC was commissioned by the Beijing Olympic and Construction Committees, the center carried on energy-saving evaluation on all of the design schemes of the new Olympic venues, and offered technical support for the green, energy-saving design of venues including The Water Cube. Twelve Olympics projects were also evaluated by the center.
