Grace Farms Selected to Receive a 2026 Leadership Award for Outstanding Commitment to Advancing Green Building
Leadership Award recipients will be honored during annual Greenbuild conference
Grace Farms has been named a 2026 Leadership Award recipient by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Grace Farms is one of seven recipients from around the world who are being recognized for using green building and sustainable practices to drive meaningful action toward wider adoption of sustainability in the built environment. This year’s recipients will be recognized at the USGBC Leadership Awards Ceremony on October 21, as part of the USGBC Experience at Greenbuild in New York City. Sharon Prince, CEO and Founder of Grace Farms, and Adam Thatcher, former Director of Operations and Sustainability, who led the LEED certification efforts for Grace Farms, will accept the award at Greenbuild.
“A building is only truly sustainable if the materials used to make it are ethically and humanely sourced,” said Sharon Prince, CEO and Founder of Grace Farms. “That conviction has guided our work, Design for Freedom, to eliminate forced and child labor from the building materials supply chain globally. Seeing Design for Freedom principles integrated into LEED v5 is a profound step forward, because it means the world’s most widely used green building rating system now recognizes that sustainability must include the people behind our materials. We’re honored to receive this significant recognition from USGBC.”
“As we know, commitment to sustainability in construction doesn’t end after a project is completed,” said Adam Thatcher, former Director of Sustainability, Grace Farms. “LEED certification has helped provide a roadmap for our sustainability journey — through construction and ongoing operations. That’s why we pursued both BD+C and O+M which has led to Grace Farms becoming the first site in Connecticut to achieve both certifications.”
Grace Farms’ commitment to sustainability begins with its architecture. The River building, designed by the Pritzker Prize-winning firm SANAA, was conceived to sit lightly on the land and draw you out into the landscape. Grace Farms’ 80 acres have been restored to 10 biodiverse habitats that support native plants, pollinators, birds, and wildlife. Through ongoing land stewardship grounded in native species and regenerative practices, Grace Farms works to ensure these ecosystems thrive for generations to come. A geothermal system supported by 55 wells heats and cools the building, drawing on the steady temperature of the earth below. Our commitment reaches beyond its own grounds through Design for Freedom, which is advancing a more ethical and sustainable built environment.
About Grace Farms, USGBC notes, “This 80-acre campus and visionary River Building cultural center is recognized for bringing to life the mission of strengthening communities through sustainable design. Grace Farms demonstrates how the built environment can actively regenerate ecosystems through dual LEED certifications, extensive geothermal infrastructure and transformative habitat restoration that has tripled local bird species—all while deeply engaging the public and serving as a model for regenerative design.”
“The leaders we honor this year are proof that transformative change in the built environment is happening right now,” said Peter Templeton, president and CEO, USGBC. “They’ve turned ambitious sustainability goals into operational reality, demonstrating that green building at scale drives measurable environmental benefits, economic value, and improved quality of life. Their collective impact sets a new benchmark for what leadership in our industry truly means.”
The 2026 Leadership Award recipients inspire the industry with their actions and passion, representing the best of USGBC’s more than 5,000 members and its network of committed professionals. The efforts of the award recipients stand out as exceptional examples of sustainability leadership among a strong and growing network of projects, companies and individuals.
