Elizabeth Gibbons
Level: Architect Member
Title: President
Company: Gibbons Architects
About:
Elizabeth “Liz” Gibbons, AIA, LEED AP, 2018-19 AIA Strategic Counselor At-Large, has held arrange of roles during her career as an architect. Elected to the Campbell, CA (population 42,000) city council in 2014 and 2018, Liz served as mayor in 2017 and 2021. She participated at the A’18 Conference where she moderated the panel “How to House the Next 10,000 in your Neighborhood.” In March of 2019, Liz participated in the AIACA Housing Forum asking if architectural IDEATION, INNOVATION and IMPLEMENTATION can address housing attainability for all? As a Strategic Counselor At-Large, Liz participated in the “Re-establishing the Role of City Architect” and contributed to the AIA Strategic Council workgroup on “The Next Big Thing” including the AIA Climate Action Plan.
Liz’s passion is to connect and leverage the profession of architecture with elected office to address the issues of today and prepare for tomorrow. Liz got her start in politics as a Campbell Planning Commissioner, serving for 17 years. Since 2016, Liz is an appointed representative for Santa Clara County to the Association of Bay Area Governments which is engaged in state housing legislation and greenhouse gas reduction. Liz is the 2022 Chair of Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE) which provides 100% carbon-free power to Santa Clara County cities. SVCE (https://www.svcleanenergy.org ) has reduced GHG emission by 35% from 2015 levels. Even with the impact of ‘clean power’ (not ‘clean’ natural gas) solidly in place, SVCE is keenly aware it is not enough to save our planet. While architects work to decarbonize materials and design to net zero, SVCE has a three-pronged decarbonization Strategic Plan: Power supply; Mobility; Built Environment which collaborate into Energy Efficiency and Grid Integration. Liz completed her two terms as an elected official in Campbell in December 2022.