Heather Clark

Heather Clark MSRED ’04 served as Senior Director for Building Sector Climate Policy at the White House under Biden. She led policy for the all-of-government mobilization to transition the U.S. building sector to zero emissions and mitigate the climate crisis.  Heather comes from a background in affordable housing where as a developer she pioneered some of the most ambitious decarbonization and clean energy projects in the country to benefit underserved communities.  

Heather joined the White House from RMI where she worked on climate policy – including the Inflation Reduction Act – to advance equitable decarbonization of buildings with a focus on affordable housing.  Prior to RMI, Heather founded Biome Studio, a creative design and real estate development studio, which uses art, architecture, and public interventions to catalyze built environments that power themselves, cleanse themselves, transform waste, provide wildlife habitat, produce food, and enhance the lives of people. Biome Studio pioneered cutting edge climate-responsive housing, including the first large-scale deep energy retrofit in the U.S. and the redevelopment of vacant historic buildings into affordable housing. 

Heather also established WinnCompanies green building program to implement energy efficiency and renewable energy at 90,000+ apartments of affordable housing and formed WinnSolar, one of the nation’s first solar power purchase entities for affordable housing.  Heather was appointed by Governor Deval Patrick to serve on the Massachusetts Energy Efficiency Advisory Council that oversaw the $3 billion utility energy efficiency programs and the Massachusetts Zero Energy Task Force.  Early in her career at NYSERDA, Heather served as the New York State Director for the US Department of Energy’s Rebuild America Program.  Heather is also an award-winning artist using immersive art installations to convey stories of social justice and environment.

Heather holds an MS in Real Estate Development from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a BS in Environmental Science and Community Planning, summa cum laude, from Cornell University.