Expertise: Industrial Decarbonization

Scott Shell

FAIA, LEED® AP BD+C, CPHC®

Scott Shell is an architect with over two decades of experience pioneering low-carbon and sustainable architectural design. At ClimateWorks, Scott focuses on opportunities to reduce the carbon intensity of building materials across the globe, including concrete, cement, and steel.

Before joining ClimateWorks Foundation, Scott was a partner at EHDD Architecture, where he advocated for new policies to promote low-carbon and healthy buildings in California. During his tenure, he led the design of many high-performance buildings, including the net zero energy David & Lucile Packard Foundation and Lick-Wilmerding High School Campus Expansion and Renovation. Scott has been recognized for his work as a leading voice among architects for decarbonization in California, including the 2021 USGBC Regional Leadership Award.

Scott frequently speaks on topics of decarbonization and high-performance design. He currently serves as co-chair for advocacy of the Climate Action Committee at AIA California and climate innovation advisor for EHDD Architecture.

Scott earned a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Auburn University and a master’s in humanities from Stanford University.

Xiaohua Zhang

Xiaohua is the Senior Director of ClimateWorks’ China Program where he manages the overall operation of the Program and our direct grantmaking to support climate action in China.

Prior to joining ClimateWorks Foundation, he was the senior policy advisor on climate action and cooperation in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, headed the International Cooperation Department of China’s National Centre for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation and served as program officer of UNFCCC secretariat. He started his career as the assistant researcher in Tsinghua University.

He has a Ph.D in nuclear engineering from Tsinghua University.

Rebecca Dell

Rebecca Dell directs the Industry program for the ClimateWorks Foundation. Previously, she worked at the U.S. Department of Energy in the Obama administration, where she coordinated implementation of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan and was a lead analyst and author of the U.S. Quadrennial Energy Review. Before her federal service, Rebecca was a scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, studying the interaction between the ocean and land-based ice sheets like those in Greenland and Antarctica. She has a Ph.D. in climate science from MIT.