Mr. Wells is a Principal at Raimi + Associates, an urban planning consultancy based on sustainability, equity, health, and authentic stakeholder engagement. Prior to joing R+A, he was Executive Director and Driector of the Green Urbanism Program for Global Green USA, a national non-profit organization headquartered in Santa Monica. He works with local governments, affordable housing developers, and school districts across the country to further sustainable development practices via technical assistance, charrettes and workshops, and developing public policy related to green building, renewable energy, and sustainable development. He is a lecturer in green urbansim and green development at the Claremont Colleges and the UCLA Urban Planning Program.
Mr. Wells has held positions as a Senior Urban Design with Gruen Associates in Los Angeles, an Associate Planner with the City of Santa Monica, and an Urban Planner for the City of Malmo, Sweden. Mr. Wells holds Bachelor's degrees in Sociology and Environmental Studies from the University of California Santa Barbara and a Master’s of City and Regional from the California Polytechnic University San Luis Obispo. He also studied at Lund University and the Lund PolyTechnic Institute School of Architecture in Sweden. Mr. Wells is a certified urban planner, a LEED and EcoDistricts Accredited Professional, and a 2015 Fulbright Fellow to the Swedish Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.
Los Angeles pLAn Shoots for STAR
The newly released Los Angeles Sustainability pLAn aspires to Lead by Example by committing to STAR Communities certification by 2017. Other major cities may now feel compelled to pursue STAR as part of their sustainability plans and program.
A 'Mottainai' Neighborhood: Little Tokyo Embodies the EcoDistrict Model
Little Tokyo in Los Angeles was selected to be part of the EcoDistrict Target City program. Global Green is excited to be part of this collaborative effort to promote neighborhood scale sustainability and further the concept of "Mottainai."
Resiliency Growing Pains
Resiliency is rapidly influencing urban sustainability and hazard mitigation planning. Global Green has identified key questions and findings through Sustainable Neighborhood Assessments in four communities impacted by Hurricane Sandy.
Eco Districts - The Next Frontier
Moving beyond the building is critical to effecting transformative change toward urban sustainability. Several Swedish projects offer points of inspiration. The Eco District Summit is bringing together people engaged in district-scale sustainability.
Green Building in Affordable Housing Reaches Critical Mass
Green building has become a fundamental element of many states Qualified Allocation Plans (QAPs), which guide the distribution of the Federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program.