Robert P. Charette is an associate adjunct professor in the Building Engineering Department of Concordia University in Montreal. He is a member of the ASTM sub-committee that developed building economics standards; the ISO Working Group on Life Cycle Costing, and past co-chairman of the Task Group for UNIFORMAT II, an ASTM Standard Classification of Building Elements. A past member of ASHRAE TC 1.8 on Owning and Operating Costs, he is also qualified as a Certified Value Specialist (CVS - Life) by the Society of American Value Engineers (SAVE), and as a Professional Quantity Surveyor (PQS) by the Canadian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (CIQS). Charette has presented several seminars on Life Cycle Costing, Value Engineering, Energy Management, and UNIFORMAT II Assemblies Estimating for Design Cost Analysis, to various organizations and universities in Canada, the US, and in Europe. These include AIA/BSA, Build Boston, the Harvard Green Campus Initiative, ASHRAE, AACE, CIQS, and the RICS (UK).