John Porretto
President of VerdeCapitalResources, LLC
Health is more than an individual concern for John Porretto. He believes that health care and education should be delivered in healthful buildings ― constructed in a way that benefits the people who live or work in them, the environment, and the owner’s bottom line.
Drawing on nearly four decades of experience in senior positions in higher education and health care, John helps clients plan, finance and manage environmentally sustainable and disaster-resistant construction projects in not-for-profit markets. He offers expertise and experience in:
- Obtaining financing for new construction and restoration of existing buildings to meet sustainability goals.
- Environmentally sound and cost-effective maintenance and operation of facilities.
- Ensuring that the people responsible for the facilities understand their important role.
Model for Social Responsibility
During 24 years as Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President with fiduciary accountability for a $600 million annual operating budget and a $750 million capital project budget at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, John:
- Led the planning for a 195,000-gross-square-foot academic, research and student services facility, which is a model for economic, environmental and social responsibility.
- Incorporated sustainability principles campus-wide, thereby improving decision-making for the design, construction, renovation, maintenance and operation of facilities.
- Initiated a program using non-toxic chemicals, materials and products in the cleaning, renovation and furnishing of 2.5 million square feet of buildings.
- Initiated a program of healthful food services in concert with the UT School of Public Health Committee on Nutrition. Organic farmers were identified as providers.
- Implemented a simplification/continuous improvement process among more than 630 administrative and financial (A&F) personnel that permanently redistributed $2.5 million from the A&F budget to core university mission endeavors.
As President of Sustainable Building Solutions, John gained hands-on experience with the intricacies of sustainable construction, specializing in building high quality, environmentally friendly, healthful homes, designed to endure the severe weather of coastal locations.
John began his career auditing the IRS, NASA and U.S. Public Health Service hospitals for the General Accounting Office. These experiences prepared John:
- As Chief Hospital Administrator, to successfully open and market a 600-bed private hospital at the UT Medical Branch at Galveston; and to
- Initiate the planning for a 250-bed teaching prison hospital at UTMB Galveston.
Honors
In recognition of John’s accomplishments, the President of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies appointed John to the Roundtable on Environmental Health Sciences, Research, and Medicine. The Roundtable fosters discussion from the academic, industrial, consumer and federal research perspectives.
The Citizens League for Environmental Action Now (CLEAN) named John one of the Houston Heroes, people involved in improving the environment. The organization “recognizes and congratulates those individuals that are truly making a difference in their communities through courage, compassion, activism and dedication.”
John worked with BNIM Architects in developing a sustainable, storm-resistant home in New Orleans as part of Brad Pitt’s “Make It Right” project to help rebuild the Lower 9th Ward, where more than 4,000 homes had been destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.
At Walter Reed National Military Hospital, he was appointed to a committee that recommended ways to incorporate nature into the hospital setting and to combine Eastern and Western philosophies of healing.
Contact
Contact John at 713-703-7300 or john@verdecapitalresources.com.
