Walter Simpson

Buffalo, New York, United States

Retired in July 2008, Walter Simpson held the position of University Energy Officer for 26 years and was director of the UB Green Office at the University at Buffalo (SUNY Buffalo). In that capacity he provided leadership for a nationally recognized campus energy conservation program credited with over $100 million in savings.  He was campus project manager for a $17 million comprehensive energy project awarded "Energy Project of the Year" by the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE) in 1997 and was inducted in the AEE's national Energy Manager's Hall of Fame in 2001.  

Early in his UB career in 1983 Walter received the UB Professional Staff Senate Outstanding Service Award and as he left UB in 2008 he received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Professional Service.

Walter is currently employed as an environmental consultant, presently assisting a local college develop a campus sustainability program.  During the first part of 2009 he provided consulting services to the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) to develop campus climate action resources for the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment.  In 2009 he also provided campus energy conservation training services to 30 colleges through a contract with the Jessie Ball DuPont Foundation of Jacksonville, Florida, and was keynote speaker for a Virginia statewide green campus conference.   In 2010 he was keynote speaker at the statewide Power Shift conference at the University at Buffalo and keynote speaker for WNY Peace on Earth Week 2010.

Walter holds masters degrees in philosophy and environmental studies, and is a Certified Energy Manager (C.E.M.), a LEED Accredited Professional, and an AASHE Senior Fellow.  He is editor and contributing author of The Green Campus: Meeting the Challenge of Environmental Sustainability (APPA, 2008) and author of Cool Campus! A How-to Guide for College and University Climate Action Planning (AASHE, 2009).  He also is author of a series of Earth Day feature Viewpoint essays in the Buffalo News, e.g. “Want Peace?  Solve the Energy Crisis!” (April 2010), “Sea Change Underway: Cities Including Buffalo Must Address the Growing Problem of Climate Change” (April 2009) and “Going Climate Neutral: Adopting a Climate-Friendly Lifestyle – It Can Be Done!” (April 2008).

A former director of the Western New York Peace Center who first became interested in energy issues as a result of concerns about world peace, Walter remains active in the Buffalo, NY, community as an environmental speaker, writer, educator, and activist whose primary commitment is addressing the urgent problem of global climate change. He is co-founder of the Western New York Climate Action Coalition and the Western New York Sustainable Energy Association.  Walter organized and leads a 20 group coalition, the Clean Energy for Jamestown Campaign, which is opposed to the construction of a new coal-burning power plant in Jamestown, NY.  In 2008, he was appointed by NYS Governor David Paterson to chair the statewide citizen Advisory Committee for NYS Governor’s Executive Order 4, “Establishing a State Green Procurement and Agency Sustainability Program,” a position he held until July 2010.

Walter and his wife Nan have been trained by former Vice President and Nobel peace prize winner Al Gore and his Climate Project and they live in Amherst, NY, with their two children in a super-insulated passive solar home with solar hot water and PV solar electric systems.  While they stress the need for political action, the Simpsons have not neglected their lifestyle and have achieved climate neutrality through energy conservation, solar energy, green power purchasing, and carbon offsets.

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