Member Spotlight

Wayne Cobleigh

Vice President – Client Services, GZA

jeremy latriano

“BuildGreenCT impacted my career and leadership skills through building relationships with industry leaders, green building advocates and a diverse team of passionate people who volunteer to change the status quo.”

Tell us about your work.

Our mission at GZA is to move our clients forward by empowering our people to create innovative, practical, and sustainable solutions.

What’s your role in sustainability?

I’ve been interested in sustainability since attending a Connecticut Green Building Council Awards program in 2008.

At GZA we have a team of dedicated sustainability and climate resilience specialists supported by engineers and scientists with a diverse range of skills. This integrated approach leads to innovative, customized solutions to meet the sustainable development and resilient design challenges our clients face today and into the future.

These solutions have been proven through our project accomplishments with some of the largest clean energy developers, manufacturers, municipalities, state agencies, nonprofit organizations and academic institutions.

What’s your Why?

After enjoying a CTGBC award program, I became a member in 2008. The members were friendly, and they were laser focused on changing the way we design, build and operate our buildings in Connecticut. I joined the Board and later became a Board Chair.

BuildGreenCT impacted my career and leadership skills through building relationships with industry leaders, green building advocates and a diverse team of passionate people who volunteer to change the status quo.

Tell us about a project you are proud of. 

GZA completed several climate resilient plans for coastal municipalities that have resulted living shorelines being designed in New Haven, Stonington and two constructed in Fenwick and Stratford.

We recently helped Groton Long Point, Connecticut College and Stratford apply for state funding to advance designs for nature based solutions and mitigate coastal flood risks to the Stratford Water Pollution Control Facility that will begin construction in 2026.

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What motivates you?

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead

What are your hobbies? 

I’m into gardening, and I’m a singer-songwriter playing rhythm guitars (acoustic and electric) for an indie-rock band, The Whales, formed with high school friends in 1983. I wrote a song,”Last Stand for Now,” about the urgent need to solve climate change including a few poetry lines from Charles Sabukewicz that was first played as a live duet at his Celebration of Life ceremony in 2023. It later became the first single and title track for a double album we released in October 2025 on vinyl and streaming services. It’s our third album and the band is very pleased with the response from our audience.
latriano snow boarding
latriano snow boarding

Fun Fact:

One of the best stages I ever played was at Infinity Hall in Hartford for an ICSC real estate networking event in March 2015 that was nearly cancelled due to snow.

We formed the band, The Real Deal, in January 2015 and learned 10 songs for that one night only appearance. The encore was “Rockin’ in the Free World” by Neil Young. After the show, we each thought we had hit the big time!