About
Aureus Earth
Today’s Challenge
Over the next 40 years, the world’s building stock is expected to double—an increase of >2.5 trillion square feet. This explosion of growth is equivalent to adding an entire New York City to the planet every 35 days for the next four decades.
Without intervention, business-as-usual construction would alone consume 60% of the remaining global carbon budget (500 GtCO2e) if humanity is to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 °C.
In response to these challenges, material suppliers are developing carbon-storing and low-carbon building materials that have the power to transform buildings into carbon sinks. In turn, owners and designers are actively seeking ways to implement these effective materials.
The answer is simple
The Aureus Earth Solution
With an unwavering commitment to decarbonize the built environment and a belief that buildings are one of the best tools to battle climate change, we asked ourselves, “how can we break the financing bottleneck and pave a path to the rapid adoption of low-carbon and carbon-storing building materials?”
The answer – A robust economic tool that monetizes carbon reduction and storage in a building and provides equity funding in advance of construction. This unique offering defeats the green premium; closes the funding gap; and scales the use of these highly impactful materials.
Our first financing tools are targeted to accelerate the adoption of mass timber and will be extended to other powerful materials, such as low-carbon concrete.
Our Leadership Team
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Salmeron Barnes
Adam Orens
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Wil Srubar, PhD
Michele Grieshaber, PhD
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Wil Srubar, PhD
Dr. Wil Srubar is Founder and Managing Director of Aureus Earth. Wil holds a PhD from Stanford University, as well as BS and MS degrees from Texas A&M University and the University of Texas at Austin, respectively. His experience and technical training concerns low-carbon and carbon-storing material technologies for the built environment and environmental sustainability consulting.
In addition to his role at Aureus Earth, Wil is an Associate Professor of architectural engineering and materials science at the University of Colorado Boulder, where he leads the Living Materials Laboratory and co-founder of two “carbon-busting” materials companies – Minus Materials and Prometheus Materials.
His innovative construction biotechnologies have garnered >$12M in sponsored research funding through the US National Science Foundation (NSF), ARPA-E, and DARPA’s Biological Technologies Office. He has authored >100 technical journal articles, book chapters, and conference proceedings on the subjects of carbon sequestration, carbon storage, innovative bioproducts, and low-carbon construction. He was named Top 25 Newsmaker by Engineering News Records (ENR) Environmental Genius Award Nominee. His scientific work has been highlighted in The New York Times, Times Magazine, The Economist, and The Washington Post.
Adam Orens
Adam Orens is Founder and Managing Director of Aureus Earth. Adam has 15 years of consulting experience in environmental economics and public policy, economic development, public finance, and strategic planning.
Prior to his role at Aureus Earth Adam was founder and Managing Director of MPG Consulting, leading strategic advisor firm in the emerging cannabis industry. While at MPG, Adam served as the first regulated cannabis market policy/structure advisor for the Colorado Department of Revenue and subsequently for numerous national, state and local governments.
In addition, as Managing Director of Denver-based BBC Research & Consulting (2005-2017), Adam led and managed numerous projects in land use, land development, resource planning, oil & gas regulation, agriculture-based economic development and public finance.
Adam’s pioneering work on topics as diverse as cannabis and hemp policy and public lands management have been recognized by the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal and the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
Salmeron (Sal) Barnes is Founder and Managing Director of Aureus Earth. Sal has 15 years of international experience in leading strategic, economic, and public policy consulting projects across a variety of industries including Tech, Agriculture, and Oil and Gas. He brings expertise in market analysis, corporate strategic advisory, public and private finance, regional economic analysis, operational excellence, and entrepreneurial strategy. He also has deep experience in statistical analysis, consumer market research, due diligence, and product design. Sal has completed numerous studies and projects that analyze the economic impact and feasibility of new regulations on markets, demographics, employment, and government policy.
Prior to his role at Aureus Earth, Sal was Managing Director at MPG Consulting, the leading strategic advisory firm in the hemp and cannabis industry. Additionally, Sal has held principal positions at Mercer and Oliver Wyman where he provided strategic advisory services to Fortune 500 companies and National Governments with a concentration on strategic execution and policy creation. Sal was a US Army Officer and currently sits on the Advisory Board of St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas.
Sal’s demographic, economic and business analysis related to the emerging markets has been recognized by Bloomberg Canada, NBC, Politico, Finance & Commerce, and multiple local news outlets.
Salmeron Barnes
Dr. Michele Grieshaber is a Strategic Advisor of Aureus Earth. Michele has 25+ years of experience as a business and marketing executive in the IT, semiconductor, and manufacturing industries. She holds a PhD in mechanical engineering from Virginia Tech.
Prior to her strategic advisory role at Aureus Earth, Michele served as the CMO of Silicon Labs, a global innovator in the Internet of Things (IoT).
In addition to her role at Aureus Earth, Michele is active with non-profits involved in food justice and education. She serves on the advisory boards of Virginia Tech’s School of Engineering and St. Edward’s School of Business. She frequently lectures in business ethics and ESG topics at local universities, and she is a former Fulbright Scholar.