Jennifer Layke

Washington D.C., USA — Director, Institute for Building Efficiency

Jennifer Layke is the Director of Johnson Controls’ Institute for Building Efficiency, a global initiative to provide information and analyses of technologies, policies, and practices in high performance buildings and smart energy systems from a practitioner’s perspective.  In this role, Jennifer leads the Institute’s research agenda and collaborations with a network of global experts on topical areas including: commercial building efficiency, smart buildings and the smart grid, green building design, and renewable energy technologies.

Prior to joining Johnson Controls, Jennifer was the deputy director, Climate and Energy Program at the World Resources Institute (WRI).  While there, she founded The Green Power Market Development Group, which announced completion of its goal of supporting the development of 1000MW of new, cost-competitive renewable energy projects in the United States for corporate use  Her work included analysis of U.S. climate policy design options as lead WRI staff negotiator in the U.S. Climate Action Partnership and its Call for Action (2007) and subsequent Blueprint for Legislative Action (2009).  Jennifer’s international experience also includes consulting for the World Bank and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on technology transfer under the Montreal Protocol.

Jennifer is an accomplished author on energy and climate action as well as founder of Beyond Grey Pinstripes –a sustainability ranking of business schools conducted in partnership with the Aspen Institute.  She earned an A.B. in Asian Studies and Political Science from Pitzer College in Claremont, CA, a M.S. in Natural Resource Policy and an MBA from the University of Michigan. In 1990, Jennifer was awarded a Watson Fellowship for sociology research in Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan.