Robert "Skip" Backus is the chief executive officer of Omega Institute. For more than 20 years, he has played a leadership role at Omega as operations director and campus manager, maintaining all of Omega’s buildings. In this capacity, he helped Omega lay the foundation for its environmental initiatives, creating and promoting innovative conservation efforts, including campus recycling and composting, sustainable purchasing and support of local agriculture, water conservation, and 100% sourcing of campus electricity from wind and solar technology. Backus has provided visionary leadership for the Omega Center for Sustainable Living (OCSL), an environmental education center and natural water reclamation facility. Built to meet the highest standards currently available in sustainable architecture, the OCSL is a pioneering project in the Living Building Challenge™ and is the first green building in America to receive both LEED® Platinum and Living Building Challenge™ certification. For two decades, Backus also operated his own contracting business, including residential and light commercial projects. He regularly speaks about sustainability at a variety of venues. |
