HABITAT X - Key Persons
Aaron S. Johnson works with the EPA program Indoor airPLUS for Existing Homes (IAP-X). IAP-X homes are designed with prescriptive requirements from the ground, and help existing homes of any age meet higher levels of IAQ protections through a combination of prescriptive and performance measurements. Aaron is currently working on IAQ measurements, with an intent to set levels for several contaminants that affect indoor air quality. He hopes to open a dialogue at Habitat X on data collection, quality assurance, oversight, management, and marketing.
Job Titles:
- Senior Program Manager for the Tribal Air & Healthy Homes Programs at the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium
AJ Salkoski is the Senior Program Manager for the Tribal Air & Healthy Homes Programs at the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC). He has worked on a variety of HUD- and EPA-funded studies and projects to find the relationship between indoor air quality and need for respiratory medical care among high-risk Alaska Native Children. He also spent time working on solid waste management, community planning, and energy efficiency in rural Alaska.
Alex Glenn has built a 20 year career striving to advance the cause of sustainable housing. He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he works as the lead trainer and building scientist for Advanced Energy, one of the most respected energy-efficiency consultancies in North America. Alex is lucky to have worked across most facets of the construction industry, having served stints as a technical trainer, program developer, curriculum designer, and tradesman. He also has the distinction of having delivered the first Pecha Kucha presentation ever to a Habitat X conference.
Alex is also the proprietor of Launch the Hustle, a private consultancy providing marketing support and motivational training to individuals.
Job Titles:
- Architect With Love Schack Architecture
Andrea Michael is a licensed architect with Love Schack Architecture in Bozeman, Montana. She's primarily involved with residential renovations and additions, with a key focus on energy upgrades. Andrea is currently involved in a major exterior envelope renovation of her own home in Bozeman, which was the site of a field visit at the 2019 conference.
Andy Frank is an expert in sustainable business models, with experience in building and advising companies that make money through positive environmental impacts. He has worked the finance angle for home performance quite effectively, which is not surprising since his knowledge of financial markets runs deeper than just about anyone in the home performance industry. As a co-founder of Sealed, he's now turning a few heads by combining home performance services with in-house finance instruments that produce guaranteed savings for homeowners.
Anna Miller spent several years in the environmental non-profit world, then joined the home performance industry to connect environmental issues with a broader audience. She enjoys bringing sustainability concepts to the household level, allowing people to realize health and economic benefits of better buildings while conserving natural resources. Anna is currently a building performance consultant for Tonsmeire Construction in Fairhope, Alabama. Her responsibilities include residential sustainability audits, team member training, and community relations.
Arthur Beeken brings a 25-year perspective in the construction, remodeling, and historic restoration businesses. He's also worked as a trainer, written curriculum, performed quality assurance tasks, and acted as a proctor for various professional certifications. He serves as the vice-chair of the North Bay Chapter of Efficiency First, a position he says entails even more work than the position of chairmanship he held for years. Arthur is the owner of Hybrid Home Performance in Healdsburg, California.
Ben Bunker supports several of EPA's ENERGY STAR residential energy efficiency programs focused on both the new and existing home markets as an Associate with ICF International. He also serves as a Project Advisor for the Global BrightLight Foundation, a nonprofit that distributes portable solar lanterns to communities in emerging countries to improve economic, health, educational, and safety outcomes. He holds a M.S. from the University of Michigan and is currently pursuing a certificate program with Solar Energy International. Ben lives in Washington, DC.
Ben Walker is the co-CEO of Retrotec, the world's largest manufacturer of blower door and duct testing equipment. He started at Retrotec in 1995, when he was just 22-years-old. He answered a classified ad for a Network Engineer position, the phone rang, it was Colin Genge, the founder of Retrotec. Ben points out that Retrotec products contribute to a cleaner, healthier environment, and that's get him up every day.
Ben lives in Bellingham, Washington.
Job Titles:
- Sales and Marketing Assistant at TruTech Tools
Bill Spohn has been one of our most consistent participants at the Habitat X conferences. As the president and CEO of TruTech Tools, he's also a widely respected expert on combustion testing, wireless tools, and other technologies. He holds degrees from the University Of Rochester, is a registered Professional Engineer in Pennsylvania, and has designed a wide array of test and measurement products in the last twenty-five years. See Bill's self portrait here. Check out the highly respected Building HVAC Science podcast that's produced by TruTech Tools.
Bill's organization TruTech Tools is a 2019 Silver Sponsor of Habitat X.
Bill Spohn Jr. is a Sales and Marketing Assistant at TruTech Tools. With an educational background in small business, he's well-poised to help move his family business towards continued success. He lives in Akron, Ohio.
Bill joined us in 2018 for his first Habitat X Conference. He also spent a semester at the University of Montana recently, and says he fell in love with the state.
Job Titles:
- President and CEO of NorthWestern Energy
Bob Rowe is the President and CEO of NorthWestern Energy, the investor-owned utility that provides gas and electric service across much of Montana, South Dakota, and Nebraska. He's a recent chairman of Western Energy Institute, a current co-chair of the Institute for Electric Innovation, an Institute of the Edison Foundation focused on advancing the adoption of innovative and efficient technologies among electric utilities, and the former chair of the Montana Public Service Commission.
At the start of his career, in the 1980s, Bob was a VISTA volunteer and a Legal Services lawyer, and worked on subjects such as low-income utility programs and customer protections, utility-based efficiency programs, and integrated supply planning. We're fortunate to have Bob involved with the Habitat X Conferences - with a lifetime of focused work on utilities and the environment, he is one of the most respected and progressive executives in the U.S. utility industry. Bob lives in Helena, Montana.
Brad Turner is the Director of Education and Technical Assistance at Southface Energy Institute. He manages the Southeast Weatherization and Energy Efficiency Training (SWEET) Center, plus several other programs focusing on residential energy efficiency. He has also worked in various capacities developing national standards and certifications best practices related to energy efficiency improvements on existing homes. Brad resides in Atlanta, Georgia.
Casey Murphy has been involved in the housing industry for much of his career. With a background in business and construction, he now works as a technical specialist for Pearl Certification. He has recently supported DOE's Weatherization Plus Health initiative, HUD's Energy Innovation Fund for affordable multifamily projects, and the Home Performance with ENERGY STAR program. Casey lives in Washington, D.C.
Casey's recent construction project is profiled in the article The Cobbler's Home in the 2018 Habitat X Journal.
Job Titles:
- Deputy Director of the Weatherization Department for CEDA
Cassandra Fricke is the Deputy Director of the weatherization department for CEDA, the Community and Economic Development Association of Cook County. In this capacity, she manages one of the largest weatherization programs on the planet. She's also worked as the training manager and as the manager of the Residential Energy Assistance Challenge (REACH) pilot program for CEDA. Among all these responsibilities, she recently completed a Masters in Social work.
Job Titles:
- Performance Construction Program Manager for the HVAC Division of Mitsubishi Electric
Chad Gillespie works as performance construction program manager for the HVAC division of Mitsubishi Electric.
Chandler von Schrader is recently retired from the U.S. EPA in Washington, D.C.. Over the years. Chandler has been a main mover at the confluence of home performance, HVAC, and the rest of the construction industry. You couldn't find anyone more qualified for this discussion - as the manager of the EPA ENERGY STAR Verified Installation Program, Chandler was been instrumental in building some of the nation's most-widespread home performance programs. Today he works as a private consultant, and is focused on introducing home performance to the HVAC and remodeling industries.
Chandler lives in the woods of Arlington, Virginia, a few miles outside Washington, D.C.
Charles Segerstrom works as a widely respected consultant to the US utility and energy-efficiency industries. Before his recent retirement, he spent several decades with PG&E in California, where he founded, managed, and supervised the operations of workforce education and training programs for the PG&E Training Centers. He was also instrumental in developing the HVAC Big Bold Initiative, and was the 2011 recipient of the Affordable Comfort National Leadership Award.
Charles resides in Sonora, California.
Chris Dorsi is the founder of Habitat X. He's spent the last 40 years developing best practices for the housing industry, writing and publishing respected books and technical curricula, running successful construction companies, and working as a real estate developer. He's recently retired from a position as the Director of the Montana Weatheriztion Training Center, a wing of Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana.
Chris is the co-author of Residential Energy: Cost Savings and Comfort for Existing Buildings, the Homeowner's Handbook to Energy Efficiency, and other respected titles on sustainable design and construction. Chris' upcoming book, Human Habitat, reports from the intersection of housing, culture, and environment.
Job Titles:
- Energy Consultant and Project Manager for Healthy Home Energy & Consulting
Chris Mari is an energy consultant and project manager for Healthy Home Energy & Consulting in upstate New York. With a degree in Environmental Design from the University of Colorado and a background in private sector planning and real estate, he's well-versed in home performance sales, energy conservation, air source heat pumps, solar electricity, and indoor air quality.
Chris is the recipient of a 2019 Habitat X Fellowship. In his free time, he can be found outdoors during every season: he's a professional mountain bike racer and manages a regional bike racing team.
Job Titles:
- Director of Corporate Communications for Northwestern Energy
Claudia Rapkoch is the director of Corporate Communications for Northwestern Energy, an investor-owned utility with a service area that covers much of Montana, South Dakota, and Nebraska. In this capacity, she manages relations for the public, media organizations, and communities; employee communications; social media, web content and design; printing and graphic services; marketing, advertising and brand management; and stakeholder and change management. Claudia lives in the mile-high city of Butte, Montana.
Job Titles:
- Training Manager for Knauf Insulation
Clint Shireman is a training manager for Knauf Insulation. He works with builders and installers nationwide, teaching building science, spreading best practices, and building a respected training network. He's also heavily involved with the High Performance Insulation Professionals, an insulation trade group that's making good progress towards improving the quality of residential insulation work. Prior to Knauf, Clint worked as a contractor doing whole-house retrofits.
Clint is a recipient of a 2018 Habitat Fellowship.
Colin Genge is the founder of Retrotec, Inc. Recently retired after decades of service in the organization, he's widely regarded as one of the world's foremost experts on the science and practice of measuring the integrity of air barriers in buildings for home performance, fire control, and clean room applications. Colin has provided solid support for the Habitat X initiative for years now. He lives on a houseboat in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Colin is a supporter of a 2018 Habitat X Fellowship.
Job Titles:
- Deputy Director of Weatherization at CEDA
Dan Maksymiw is a Deputy Director of Weatherization at CEDA - the Community and Economic Development Association in Chicago. He's a solid building scientist and an experienced trainer, traits which always give him a respected place at the table in any gathering of Habitat Xers. Among other acts of community engagement, Dan provided solid audio-visual support for the 2018 conference.
Debra Little brings a unique combination of skills to our events with her background in both residential valuation and home performance work. Debra has worked as a classroom and field instructor of appraisers, realtors, lenders, contractors, and associated professionals, and she was recently a finalist for the Innovate Northwest award for the most innovative start-up clean-tech business plan. And she's a prize-winning mountain biker. Debra is the principal of Debra Little Sustainable Design in Grass Valley, California.
Ed Matos has accumulated an impressive record of achievement in the home performance industry. With a background in sales and sales management, he recently closed a total of more than $4M in home performance retrofits.
Ed is a Sales Director at Healthy Home Energy & Consulting, and the proprietor of Competitive Advantage Consulting. His current initiatives include producing The Home Performance Sales Manual, a practical textbook on the language, psychology, and management of sales for the home performance industry. Ed lives on the north shore of Long Island, New York.
Ed is a recipient of the 2016 Habitat X Fellowship. Ed and Habitat X Fellows Michelle Nochisaki and Griffin Hagle are the founders of Brighter Energy Collective.
Ed Matos Sr. is licensed engineer and the founder of Bridger Engineers, Inc. in Bozeman, Montana. He manages civil and structural engineering clients, and serves in project management and planning roles on land development projects.
Ed obtained a BA in Mathematics at New York University, before moving to NW Montana in 1974. He spent ten years there working as a general contractor, and built his own solar envelope house as a test for early high-performance home concepts. Ed received his BS in Civil Engineering from Montana State University and went on to obtain his MS in Civil Engineering (Structural) in 1990, ultimately taking on a teaching role at the MSU School of Architecture and in the Civil Engineering Department.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director of UtilityExchange.Org
Ed Thomas is the Executive Director of UtilityExchange.org. The organization provides association management, strategic consultation, and tactical event production to help enhance learning and networking among energy and water utilities, government entities, and other like-minded companies and organizations. His clients include: Peak Load Management Alliance, Utility Energy Forum, Rocky Mountain Utility Efficiency Exchange, and Edison Electric Institute. Ed resides in Vallejo, California.
Job Titles:
- Trustee and Claims Director of the Zonolite Attic Insulation Trust
Edward Cottingham, Jr. is the Trustee and Claims Director of the Zonolite Attic Insulation Trust. As Trustee, he is responsible for distributing between $60-140 million to an estimated million plus homeowners in the country with asbestos containing Zonolite/vermiculite attic insulation. He also responsible for implementing an education program to alert homeowners and industry professionals to the issues surrounding ZAI/vermiculite.
Ely Jacobsohn is fresh off a decade-long stint as the Program Lead for the DOE Home Performance with ENERGY STAR program, allowing him to bring a world of nuanced knowledge to our deliberations. As the founder of Energy, Livability and You, he's currently working with clients across the US to reduce carbon emissions through the integration and valuation of energy-efficiency and all the associated benefits.
Eric Preston is a VP of TruTech Tools, a Silver Sponsor of Habitat X. He's a technical expert across a whole range of testing equipment, and a brilliant proprietor of small businesses.
Evan Carberry is the Director of High Rise and Commercial Services for ReVireo, an energy-efficiency and green building services firm. Previously, he worked as a Sustainability Consultant at Steven Winter Associates, providing consulting to project teams developing multifamily high rise buildings in the greater New York City area. He gained his introduction to the industry as a Home Energy Analyst with Sealed, performing energy audits of existing single-family homes. He has a particular interest in the intersection of energy efficiency and affordability in housing.
Evan is a recipient of a 2019 Habitat X Fellowship.
Job Titles:
- Executive Vice - President
Garry Upton is an executive vice-president at Decision Analyst, where he has specialized in developing actionable marketing and service procedures for the HVAC and home performance industries. He previously spent years as a branch manager and Director of Research with Lennox International.
In his own words, "Much of my time these days is spent building, conducting, analyzing, and presenting ad hoc primary research. A side line that has been important to me has been the addition of secondary data to complete the primary study we complete for the client. Often the addition of secondary information helps the primary directives we've found, and supports more specific actionable results from the studies."
Garry lives in Denver, Colorado.
Griffin Hagle is a long-standing supporter of Habitat X. He's been involved in weatherization and home performance since 2006, currently as the executive director of the regional housing authority in Utqiaġvik, Alaska. He's also worked as a utility program consultant for Richard Heath & Associates, conducted hundreds of energy audits for SolarCity, and trained auditors throughout Alaska, Oregon, and Southern California.
Griffin was the recipient of the 2015 Habitat X Fellowship and is the current editor of the Habitat X Journal.
Job Titles:
- Energy Consultant for Vermont Energy Investment Corporation
Heidi McCullough is a residential energy consultant for Vermont Energy Investment Corporation, supporting the ENERGY STAR homes programs and Vermont code projects. She holds BPI and RESNET certifications, is an NGBS Green Verifier and USGNC Green Rater.
J West is a training manager at CEDA - the Community and Economic Development Association, in Chicago - and is also the proprietor of High Performance Human Habitats Training & Consulting.
Job Titles:
- Marketing Manager for Retrotec
Jack Duffy is the marketing manager for Retrotec. With a strong background in both marketing and business, he's well qualified to help move the home performance industry towards wider adoption. He lives in Everson, Washington, a home base from which he has launched explorations of a big swath of the Cascade Range.
Job Titles:
- Founder and CEO of Airboxlab
Jacques Touillon is the Founder and CEO of Airboxlab, a startup dedicated to health and wellness in the built environment. They are the makers of the Foobot indoor air quality monitor. With a background in both communications and environmental management, Jacques is well positioned to have an impact on the emerging market of connected devices for home-performance. Read Jacques' interview at Greentech Media.
Job Titles:
- Staff Member for Habitat X. He
James Childre is a year-round staff member for Habitat X. He's also the owner of the building diagnostics company RedPoint LLC in Bozeman, Montana. Their services include residential and commercial building inspections for real estate transactions, energy audits, thermal imaging, blower door testing, duct testing, HERS ratings, ENERGY STAR verification, and tax credit verification. James also has deep experience in international finance and analysis.
Jason Dispenza runs the day-to-day of two companies: a 13-year old energy-services company, EDGE Energy, and a 3-year old fintech company, EnLedger.io. He has over 15 years' executive experience and he has won two nationwide ENERGY STAR awards in energy systems and home performance plus some others technology, finance, and construction.
Job Titles:
- Principal With Osprey Building Performance
Jason Heaton is a principal with Osprey Building Performance in Boise, Idaho. With a journeyman background in the HVAC industry, he has parlayed his experience and acumen into one of the region's most respected home performance companies.
Joe Hall has gathered an impressive background of experience in the last few decades. An experienced trainer and technician, he gains respect among trades-people and program managers alike. He holds a long string of certifications from BPI, NREL, and IREC, credentials that he puts to use as trainer, test proctor, and program evaluator.
Job Titles:
- Building Specialist for Hayward Score
Joe Medosch is a healthy building specialist for Hayward Score. He's also the proprietor of Energy & Environmental Consulting LLC, and the founder and former executive director of HHEA, the Healthy Home Environment Association.
Joe is a master trainer and technical wizard across much of the home performance field. He has been a building contractor since 1990 and a Comfort Consultant trainer since 2003, providing solutions for healthy and energy-efficient home performance. He lives in Denver, Colorado.
Joe holds the distinction of having designed his own personal typeface and font, even hand-grinding the characters of an old Underwood manual typewriter.
John Costello leads the strategic planning team for Everblue Training Institute. He's widely respected as an instructor and curriculum developer, but he also has deep experience in the plumbing, refining, and construction industries. John has been a reliable supporter of the Habitat X initiative since the very beginning. He currently resides in Orange County, California.
John Pady is long-standing supporter of Habitat X. He's the director of the energy conservation program at CEDA: Community and Economic Development Association of Cook County. He's also worked in a workforce development capacity for the Albany Park Community Center in Chicago. He also has years of experience in the construction and telecommunications industries.
Job Titles:
- Owner and Manager of Healthy Home Energy & Consulting
Jonathan Davey is an owner and manager of Healthy Home Energy & Consulting, a vertically integrated energy-efficiency and home-improvement company in upstate New York. In this role, he's gained a ton of valuable hands-on experience over the years, with at least 500 energy audits and 300 home performance projects to his name.
Job Titles:
- Technical Expert for Knauf Insulation
Jonathan Lang serves as a technical expert for Knauf Insulation, specializing in building assemblies, energy efficiency planning, and climate zones. He's a talented technical communicator and trainer, with strong expertise in the building-as-a-system applications. He holds an A.A.S. degree in Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency from Cincinnati State, and was chosen as the commencement speaker for their 2015 graduation ceremony. Jonathan lives near Cincinnati, Ohio.
Job Titles:
- Director of Residential Portfolio Strategy at CLEAResult
Keith Canfield is a Director of Residential Portfolio Strategy at CLEAResult. He was formerly at the Clinton Climate Initiative, where he spearheaded the HEAL program, a workplace lending model that linked employers, lenders, and homeowners with home performance contractors. Keith has been one of our strongest supporters, bringing expertise from the world of foundation development. Keith lives and works in beautiful Little Rock, Arkansas.
Kelly Forster teaches eighth grade social studies at Eben Hopson Middle School in Utqiaġvik, Alaska. Before getting her teaching credential from San Diego State, she served in the Peace Corps in Romania. She has a degree in anthropology and sees equitable development of human knowledge as key to a more sustainable world.
Job Titles:
- President of Brenner Builders
Kevin Brenner is the passionate and energetic president of Brenner Builders and Healthy Home Energy & Consulting (HHEC) in upstate New York. While client satisfaction and environmental awareness drove his dedication to building energy-efficient, custom homes in the greater-New York area for over thirty years, his desire to help people improve the comfort and indoor air quality of existing housing led him to develop and nurture HHEC into a leading regional provider.
In an effort to demonstrate real-time energy savings, Kevin built HHEC's net-zero-energy headquarters as well as the state-of-the-art, net-zero-energy home that he shares with his wife and three dogs.
Kevin Palmer is a seasoned sales rep with Panasonic Life Solutions. With a background across a range of industries, and training in psychology and social science, he's well qualified to tell the story of high-performance housing and how good equipment is a critical part of good design.
Job Titles:
- Energy Services Engineer With the City of Fort Collins
Kim DeVoe is an energy services engineer with the City of Fort Collins municipal utility. He has built an entire career around the construction and efficiency industries, and on both the commercial and residential sides. He's also well-versed in renewables, is a certified inspector for plumbing, wiring, and building systems - and has done a stint as a real estate appraiser. Finally, he's currently focused on helping the City of Fort Collins win the Bloomberg Mayors Challenge. Kim clearly has the commitment and background to join the Habitat X network at the highest level.
Job Titles:
- Technical Sales Representative and Logistics Coordinator at Retrotec
Kirsten Richnavsky is the Technical Sales Representative and Logistics Coordinator at Retrotec. She's been exposed to a wide swath of home performance industry while on the Retrotec tradeshow circuit, giving her a distinct edge when it comes to knowing the players. With a previous stint at the Building Performance Institute, she's also well versed in the arcane details of professional training and certification. She lives in Everson, Washington.
Larry Zarker has been involved with the world of home performance for most of his career. From a start at research center of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), he's now the Executive Director of the Building Performance Institute (BPI). Larry brings an important perspective to our discussions: with his years of experience on Capitol Hill, he has a strong sense of when to use political solutions, and when to rely upon private industry. Larry lives in Washington, DC.
Job Titles:
- Senior Program Manager for the Residential Energy Efficiency Programs at Pacific Gas
Leif Magnuson, is a senior program manager for the residential energy efficiency programs at Pacific Gas and Electric Company. He has also gathered extensive experience in indoor environments and healthy homes as the manager of EPA Residential Green Building Program in Region IX. This background makes him uniquely suited for his current primary initiative of creating a science-based whole-house protocol to reduce the incidence of asthma and other health issues. Leif lives in San Francisco.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder of Love Schack Architecture
Lindsay Schack is a co-founder of Love Schack Architecture in Bozeman, Montana. She has built a career as an architect and educator that leverages her knowledge of design with a background in psychology and research. In addition to private practice, she teaches at Montana State University's School of Architecture in design and research seminars. Her firm is deeply involved in Passive House design and training.
Job Titles:
- Architect from the Bozeman
Lotus Grenier Gleason is a licensed architect from the Bozeman offices of Love Schack Architecture. Primarily active in designing primarily residential structures, her stated approach is to, "value architecture as a collaborative process that can positively impact the people and places it serves." She also has a strong background in the trades, having worked as a sculptor, carpenter, and contractor.
Job Titles:
- Project Manager With ICF International
Mark Pignatelli is a project manager with ICF International, a global consulting and technology services company with long-standing roots in energy-efficiency. He has deep experience in sustainable development, renewable energy, and sustainable business. He's currently the program manager for the Mass Save Residential New Construction Program, which promotes the benefits of residential high performance new construction and renovation projects with a goal to increase energy efficiency.
Matt Golden has made an insightful study of energy efficiency over the years, having worked the industry from several angles: energy service contracting (Sustainable Spaces), software development (Recurve), and bundling of certified efficiency projects (Investor Confidence Project).
His current work at OpenEE puts him at the front of one of the most important things happening in the utility industry today: developing a system for open source metering of energy-efficiency impacts accounts for the time and locational impacts of changes behind the meter on demand. Rather than paying customers for monthly savings in advance, this approach is enabling markets where demand flexibility can be treated and valued like other DERs - unlocking its full value and encouraging private innovation and investment.
Job Titles:
- Senior Account Executive at Sealed
Matt Soble is a senior account executive at Sealed, where he's working hard to scale the value of home performance to homeowners across the country. Sealed makes home performance improvements more affordable by leveraging financial technology to drastically reduce the out-of-pocket cost to customers. Matt says that he has sold home performance projects, "in the home, on the phone, and in my underwear", while always focusing on comfort, health, and property value. He says he's excited about the potential to scale home performance to homeowners across the country, and is passionate about infrastructure, architecture, and the sustainable design of cities.
Matt is a recipient of the 2019 Habitat X Fellowship. He lives in New York City (Astoria, Queens), and enjoys riding his bike around the city.
Megan Carrol l was a recipient of the 2018 Habitat X Fellowship. With a ton of experience in the sustainable and renewable energy industries, she has definitely earned a place among industry movers and shakers. Formerly the manager of Sustainability and Green Building at NAHB - the National Association of Home Builders, she now lives in Washington, DC.
Michael Freedberg is currently the Senior Advisor for Energy Policy and Climate Change in HUD's Office of Economic Resilience, created by the Obama Administration to support sustainable community development, climate adaptation and resilience, energy efficiency, and green building. Previously he was Director of Affordable Housing Technology Research in HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research, and chaired the Department's Energy Task Force, which coordinated the agency's efforts to reduce HUD's $5 billion energy bill.
Michael lives in Washington, DC.
Job Titles:
- Market Strategist, Operations Consultant
Michelle Nochisaki is a market strategist, operations consultant, and resource developer to the home performance industry. She works at present as a program manager at MCE, California's first community choice aggregation program. Combined with her recent service with the Green and Healthy Homes Initiative, the Building Performance Institute, and the former Efficiency First, she has gathered a broad set of experience and contacts that make her a go-to expert on the strategy and marketing for the home performance industry. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Job Titles:
- State Manager for the Illinois Weatherization Program
Mick Prince is the state manager for the Illinois Weatherization Program. Mick started in energy efficiency as a crew leader at a local agency, moved on to the state level as a technical training specialist - at present he manages one of the largest weatherization programs in the country. Mick is an avid woodworker and punk rock enthusiast living in Alexander, Illinois, population unknown.
Job Titles:
- Technical Trainer at the Montana Weatherization Training Center
Nadav Oakes is a technical trainer at the Montana Weatherization Training Center. His educational background spans Environmental Science and Mechanical Engineering, having worked in both fields as a technician and trainer. He has also done a stint in the construction industry, and worked as a well-respected instructor of industrial and alpine rope access and rescue. Nadav resides in beautiful Bozeman, Montana.
Nate Adams is the proprietor of Energy Smart Home Performance. He has made a study of selling home performance, and he's good at it not because he's a talented building scientist (which he is), but because he's a good psychologist who knows how much information to dish up to the buyer. He recognizes that people buy things for emotional reasons, and not usually because they are fascinated with science and technology. Perhaps we could all learn a thing or two from Nate's example.
Job Titles:
- Technical Specialist at ICF Consulting
Paul Raymer is a technical specialist at ICF Consulting, a widely respected international consultancy that has deep roots in the efficiency industry. He's also the founder of Heyoka Solutions, a provider of technical services to the construction industry. He's always had a deep focus on ventilation solutions for the home performance industry, and is the author of at least 15 publications, the Residential Ventilation Handbook and Residential QCI Handbook among them. Paul is also an IREC Master Certified Trainer.
Paul Zabriskie is a leader in the policy and advocacy arenas for energy efficiency and conservation in the state of Vermont. His diverse and extensive experience in environmental engineering drives his passion for whole systems solutions to the inefficient use of resources and adoption of renewables. He directs and administers multiple programs and initiatives that reduce energy waste and CO2 emissions while improving the health, safety, and durability of homes.
At Capstone Community Action he oversees EnergySmart, a social-enterprise home performance contracting service; the organization's Weatherization Assistance Program providing home efficiency solutions to low-income Vermonters; and 3E Thermal a multi-family housing energy retrofit service. Paul is also helping to lead the roll out of Zero Energy Now, an innovative home energy improvement program that takes a comprehensive approach to energy use, providing efficiency upgrades, renewable heating (such as heat pumps and biomass) and solar PVs.
Penelope has been involved in organizational development for many years. She's the president of The Schwiebert Group, Inc., a graduate adjunct faculty for the University of Idaho and Boise State University, and an active advisor for Osprey Building Performance. Penelope lives in Boise, Idaho.
Peter is a brilliant marketer and super-competent businessman. So we won't try to improve on the bio he's written about his company Energy Circle, based out of Portland, Maine:
Job Titles:
- Program Manager for the Efficiency Vermont
Phoebe Howe is a Program Manager for the Efficiency Vermont program that's administered by the Vermont Energy Investment Corporation. In this role, she's responsible for the Zero Energy Modular (ZEM) initiative, with a focus on mobile home replacement and park revitalization. She also works with affordable housing partners, lenders, and builders to fund and develop ZEM projects.
Rachel Hicks is a year-round staff member for Habitat X, and manages many of the daily operations during the Summer National Conferences. She's the proprietor the Rachel Hicks Design studio in Bozeman, Montana, and she comes to Habitat X with a long history of work in graphic arts, organizational development, and event planning. She'll join us for the 2020 Summer National Conference.
Rick Blumenthal has been involved in the housing industry for his entire career. Educated in Environmental Conservation and Planning, he has spent the last half of his career focused on producing high performance sustainable buildings. In 2010 Rick was chosen as the Lead Energy Advisor and Technical Specialist for the RePower Bainbridge Energy Challenge, and he currently serves as a Building Performance Specialist for Knauf Insulation. Rick lives in Bainbridge Island, Washington.
Job Titles:
- Performance Manager With Mitsubishi
Rob Howard works as a performance manager with Mitsubishi. He's also put in his time as an successful HVAC contractor and as a trainer for NAHB. With a background like this, Rob gained enough field experience to make him an expert on quality HVAC installation. He lives in North Carolina.
Robin LeBaron is the president of Pearl National Home Certification. He has made a career of working to bring about transformation in the housing field, with experience in multifamily affordable housing, manufactured housing, and residential energy efficiency. His current endeavor at Pearl Certification may be the most far-reaching yet, with a business plan to touch a million North American homes in the next five years.
Ryan Boswell is a free-lance consultant on energy efficiency, sustainable agriculture, and program finance. He worked for many years on the ground floor of the Clinton Climate Initiative in Little Rock, Arkansas, supporting the HEAL project, a workplace lending program directed toward energy efficiency upgrades in existing homes. Ryan was the 2014 Habitat X Fellow, and joined us for the 2014 conference at Chico Hot Springs, Montana. We are pleased to still count him as an active collaborator at Habitat X for the 2016 Webinar Series and the Compliance Project.
Job Titles:
- Founder and Executive Director of the North Carolina Building Performance Association
Ryan Miller is the founder and executive director of the North Carolina Building Performance Association. He's widely recognized as powerful and effective aggregator of people and resources, and he has built an organization in North Carolina that's having an increasingly relevant national impact. His experience runs deep - he's also done stints with the Georgia Building Performance Association and with Advanced Energy.
Mark Teich is market research manager at Decision Analyst in Arlington, Texas. He joined their client service team 2014; prior to joining Decision Analyst, he spent over 20 years in various marketing research roles for diverse industries that include healthcare, aircraft maintenance, financial systems, and community organizations.
His current projects include the syndicated American Home Comfort Study - an analysis of the HVAC-purchasing habits of homeowners that should be of great interest to the home performance industry.
Job Titles:
- Freelance Marketing and Training Consultant
Sam Myers is a freelance marketing and training consultant. He currently represents Retrotec, Inc. by managing trade shows, conducting field studies, and serving as a field consultant. He's also spent several years as a building scientist with Advanced Energy - one of the most respected efficiency consultancies in North America - where he managed field operations for SystemVision and served affordable housing developers that included Habitat for Humanity. He holds a Master of Science degree in Sustainability from East Carolina University, is a certified HERS rater, and is a licensed real estate broker. Sam lives in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Sam is a recipient of a 2018 Habitat X Fellowship.
Job Titles:
- Project Manager and Senior Technical Consultant at Lightly Treading, Inc
Sarah Allison is a project manager and senior technical consultant at Lightly Treading, Inc. specializing in residential and commercial energy management and building performance services. Sarah is a RESNET certified rater and a Passive House US rater. She lives in Denver, Colorado.
Sherri Marenkovich works on low-income housing issues for the Community Action Partnership of Lake County. She lives in Waukegan, Illinois.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director of RESNET
Steve Baden is the Executive Director of RESNET - the Residential Energy Services Network. Widely regarded as one of the main movers in the residential energy efficiency field, he's been at the head of RESNET since its inception and he ran a state energy office for ten years. Among other accomplishments, he was recently awarded a "Lifetime Achievement Award" from the U.S. Department of Energy.
Steve Malon has spent his entire career perfecting the art and science of insulating and air-sealing buildings. He has not only built a successful business to deliver those services, but he has become a widely respected technical trainer, too. Steve is the president of HPIP, the High Performance Insulation Professionals. He works out of Rapid City, South Dakota.
Susan Davison works at the forefront of California efficiency and finance programs, with recent service at CalCERTS, the Center for Sustainable Energy (CSE), and Build It Green. She has a ton of experience across a range of industries, with specialties in asset ratings, real estate finance, workforce education, and data analysis. She has played critical roles in the PACE map design for the State of California, the California Energy Commission Action Plan for AB758, and the Orange Button solar finance initiative. She currently serves as the President of HHEA - the Healthy Home Environment Association.
Job Titles:
- Senior Program Manager at the Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corporation
Suzanne Harmelink is a senior program manager at the Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corporation (WECC), where she has been a provided solid expertise for 25 years now. She has also served on board of directors for the Home Performance Coalition (formerly ACI) for years now, and she generally acts an an important part of the institutional memory for the North American home performance industry. Suzanne was recently named the educator of the year today by Seventhwave at their Better Buildings: Better Business Conference.
Terry Nordbye has spent much of his life developing practical and realistic ways to integrate home performance into mainstream construction. Terry's current focus is to develop durable and effective air-sealing systems that do not rely on the use of liquid foam, though this is just the tip of the iceberg for what we'll learn from this veteran of the housing industry. Terry is a regular contributor to the Journal of Light Construction, and he recently completed the first new construction Passive House in California with a pending LEED Gold certification. He lives and works in Inverness, California.
Tiger Adolf has been been a major player in the North American home performance industry for years now. With an education in both law and agriculture, and a background in permitting and compliance, she has put solid service as the Executive Director of the Wyoming Energy Council and as the leader of Program Design and Market Development for the Building Performance Institute. She currently serves as the Director of Operations for UtilityExchange.org. Tiger resides in Vallejo, California.
Job Titles:
- President at Energy Stewards International
Tim Hanes is the president at Energy Stewards International. ESI develops energy efficiency programs and software solutions for utility-sponsored residential and light commercial HVAC programs. Their flagship customer is the HVAC SAVE program currently sponsored by MidAmerican Energy, Alliant Energy, Black Hills Energy, and Cedar Falls Municipal Utility, all coordinated by the Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance.
Tom Carter is the former Executive Director of Efficiency First, the national association for the home performance industry in Washington, DC. He's been a main player on the national home performance scene for years, and has directed international, federal, and state government affairs for several industry associations and companies.
Tom White always lends an important perspective to Habitat X, coming from the world of publishing, community development, and small business. He's a serial entrepreneur with 30-plus years of start-up, management, marketing and editorial experience in health, energy, environment, and scholarly trade sectors. Somewhere in his long resume is also a stint with Stuart Brand and the ultra-creative publishers of the Whole Earth Catalog.
Tom lives in Berkeley, California, where he's a developer of affordable single- and multi-family housing-he's also known as the guy who saves threatened homes by moving them to new locations. Tom is the Energy and Sustainability Manager for Eden Housing, and is the former publisher of Home Energy Magazine.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Manager of the DOE Weatherization Program for the State of Illinois
Wayne Hartel is the assistant manager of the DOE weatherization program for the State of Illinois. In this capacity, he manages both technical and policy issues with DOE sub-grantees and industry stakeholders. He's currently stretching the boundaries of typical weatherization work by seeking DOE approval for solar pilot projects on multi-family buildings. He's also done a long term of service with the State Energy Office of Illinois. He lives in Springfield, Illinois.