Lisa Matthiessen, FAIA, LEED Fellow, has joined HGA Architects and Engineers as associate vice president and national sustainable design director.

In this newly created leadership position, Matthiessen will help shape the firm’s approach to high-performance building design, guide related research, education, and marketing efforts, and support industry-leading projects.

Matthiessen has more than 25 years’ experience in sustainable design and planning, focusing on architecture and design, engineering and energy-efficient building systems, urban and campus master planning, policy development, and cost management. She was an early proponent of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating system by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) in the late 1990s, and was instrumental in developing LEED for Healthcare and LEED for Labs.

Most recently before joining HGA, Matthiessen led her own consulting firm, Matthiessen Consulting, where she collaborated with architecture, engineering and construction firms to develop and benchmark sustainable initiatives.