Asmaa Abdel-Azim is the managing partner of the Royal Global Construction, LLC, an energy efficiency design and development construction firm. She holds a degree in Biosystems Engineer from Michigan State University and works with some of the biggest electric and natural gas utilities in the United States designing and implementing their energy efficiency programs. The programs she designed were implemented for over twenty million customers nationwide. She conducts intensive energy audits in commercial, residential, industrial, and manufacturing facilities. Asmaa specializes in identifying opportunities and verifying energy and demand savings associated with projects in the areas of energy efficient lighting, Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC), Operation and Maintenance (O&M), indoor air quality, controls and motors, and energy efficient ventilation strategies.

Steve Abercrombie is the Faculty Coordinator and tenured faculty in the Sustainable Building Science Technology Program at South Seattle College. Steve has a background as an adult educator, consultant, and program manager and has worked at the intersection of technology, sustainability, and the built environment since 2007. Before teaching full time at SSC, Steve was a project lead launching the Smart Buildings Center; prior to that, he led a consulting team focused on sustainable portfolio management at Paladino and Company. Steve is the Co-Principal Investigator of a National Science Foundation grant focused on building accelerated degrees in the clean energy workforce and sits on the National Green Jobs Advisory Council and the Bates College Facility Maintenance Engineer Technical Advisory Committee.

Jeff Anderson, NCQLP is a senior field specialist for Evergreen Consulting Group, Jeff focuses on lighting and HVAC retrofit projects in the North Puget Sound area of Washington. He coordinates efforts between customers, trade allies and power producers. He also conducts lighting and HVAC audits, which detail the benefits and incentives of lighting and HVAC projects suited to individual sites and help customers make fully informed decisions. Jeff joined Evergreen Consulting Group in September 2010 following more than a decade of assisting electrical contractors, hospitals, schools and industrial customers with lighting retrofits. Previously, he worked on design build projects for an electrical distributor, where he also led the project quotes department. He had been an account manager since 1992 and has worked in electrical distribution since 1984. He earned the Lighting Certified Professional designation from the National Council on Qualifications for the Lighting Professions, NCQLP, in 2008.

Neil Bavins, CEM, CMVP, LEED AP-OM is principle of Windward Consulting NW, and past President of Seattle based commercial service provider PSR Mechanical. Neil holds an AAS in HVAC system design and has 35 years experience assessing, designing and maintaining commercial and industrial HVAC, refrigeration and energy management systems. With a focus on existing building operations and retrofit, Neil has worked as a Resource Conservation Program Manager for a mid size city, Senior Project Developer for a leading energy service company, and as National Energy Director for a multi state commercial service provider. Neil is a Certified Energy Auditor, and an ASHRAE certified Operations and Performance Management Professional. Neil has been a BOC instructor since 2011, teaching a variety of Fundamentals, Level I and Level II BOC courses.

Joe Buhowsky started his electrical career with a four-year I.B.E.W Apprenticeship involving extensive classroom training, as well as residential, commercial and industrial work experience. He then worked as a journeyman, foreman and general foreman on various construction projects. Later, while working as an electrical maintenance team leader at the then state of the art auto assembly plant, NUMMI, in Fremont CA. he returned to college. He earned a BA degree in Human Development from Cal State East Bay, graduating with honors. His desire to learn evolved into a desire to teach. His first teaching assignment was with the Alameda JATC / ETI, Electrical Training Institute, where he still regularly delivers classes. Courses to date include OSHA, National Electrical Code, Solar PV, Lighting Efficiency (CALCTP), Electrical Vehicle Infrastructure (EVITP) and NFPA 70E/Electrical Safety in the Workplace. For more than a dozen years Joe has delivered tailored NFPA 70E Training for electrical contractors, public and private organizations across the U.S.

Karen Chase, MBA, MSPH, has worked at the nexus between building functionality, energy and occupant health for more than two decades. With an Industrial Hygiene emphasis in her MSPH program, and an organizational development emphasis in her MBA program, she is passionate about buildings being conducive to best serving occupants and enterprises. She has worked in the fields of earth sciences and natural resources, public health, affordable housing, planning and development, and energy. She was instrumental in initiating a now wide-ranging program to replace dilapidated manufactured homes with high-efficiency units, improving health and well-being and saving energy costs for vulnerable occupants. She is currently engaged in community-based energy strategies to better address under-served residential, commercial, agricultural, and industrial energy needs. Karen has served in a number of civic and volunteer positions, among which she is currently a director for the Oregon Public Health Association, and a commercial loan reviewer for a rural community development organization.

Dawn Doberenz, LC, is a lighting professional experienced in lighting sales, project management and energy efficiency working with lighting manufacturer rep, electrical contractor, electrical distributor and consulting companies since 1989. She earned her LC certification in 2010 from the National Council on Qualifications for the Lighting Professions (NCQLP). Dawn is an accomplished trainer and speaker on a variety of energy efficient lighting technologies and applications.

Hadley Hartshorn graduated from Stanford University with a B.S. degree in Engineering in 1970. He has over 45 years of experience with facilities operations, maintenance and alteration. After college he became an officer in the Navy Civil Engineering Corps and worked at the Oakland Naval Regional Medical Center, where he developed projects ranging from housing and support facilities to clinical investigation centers, mechanical cooling in the hospital and base-wide utilities distribution systems improvements. Subsequently he was employed by Kaiser Permanente in roles including Senior Facilities Engineer and Regional Construction Manager. After leaving Kaiser in the mid 90’s, Hadley was employed as a Construction Manager for a specific phase of the construction of the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), and then as a Division Leader for Mechanical and Electrical Services focused on supervision of the mechanical operations and maintenance of the facilities at the lab. Hadley became an Adjunct Instructor in Environmental Controls Technology (ECT) at Laney Community College in Oakland, teaching commercial HVAC, building automation, commissioning, and other topics a few days a week for a total of about 14 years, and in 2015 became an approved instructor for the Building Operator Certification Program.

Paul Howland, MBA, CEM, has over 50 years of experience in HVAC systems operation and maintenance. After serving in the US Navy as a Boiler Technician, he worked at many large central heating and refrigeration plants as a Steam Engineer and instrument technician and moved on to manage large factory automation projects at Hewlett-Packard, Beckman Instruments, and Emerson Electric, while attending college. Paul, beginning as Central Plant Manager, retired from the University of California, Irvine after 22 years as Executive Director of Facilities Management and two years as Facilities Director at CSU Long Beach. At UCI maintained an active role in the design and construction of over 50 new buildings and several renovations.

Richard Jackson-Gistelli, P.E., currently works for Cascade Energy as an Energy Saving Industrial Partner for the Bonneville Power’s ESI Program. Prior to joining Cascade, he was the Commercial/Industrial Lead for Emerald PUD’s Conservation Department, where he helped customers develop and implement energy conservation projects as well as helped the utility with power resource management. Prior to joining Emerald PUD, Jackson-Gistelli was a facility mechanical engineer at Sandia National Laboratory. He is a registered professional engineer in California and Oregon and holds a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from California State University, Sacramento.

Greg Jourdan has been working in the HVACR profession since 1976. He has been a full-time tenured HVACR Professor at Wenatchee Valley College since 1985. He has worked for large companies including Honeywell, Trane, Siemens, ATS Controls, and the Fluke Corporation. He has his own HVAC Energy consulting business, performing energy audits, thermography, training, market assessments, and building energy code review. He has written multiple technical articles related to HVACR including several of the original BOC textbooks. He has taught for the Federal government at large hydro-power plants and military bases. He has also taught classes for corporations, private businesses, food processors, and public utilities. Most recently, he has been teaching refrigerant licensing and management classes to developing countries throughout the world for the United Nations Environmental Program to mitigate and minimize refrigerant losses and encourage safe refrigerant handling practices while moving to HC (Hydrocarbon) refrigerants. He has presented tech papers at universities, instructor conferences, and at professional association meetings. His strengths are commercial HVAC, industrial ammonia refrigeration, and refrigerant management emphasizing energy conservation and controls. His special interests are building automation, and DDC/PLC controls to reduce building energy usage while optimizing operations. He has an AS Degree in Air Conditioning Tech, BS in Industrial Technology with a minor in electronics, and a Masters in Adult and Vocational Education.

Dan Kuhl, L.C., is a Senior Lighting Specialist and Manager for Evergreen Consulting. He is Lighting Certified (LC) by the National Council on Qualifications for Lighting Profession and past IES (Illuminating Engineering Society) Officer and Board Member. With substantial field experience designing and delivering quality lighting projects while saving energy, Dan has worked in Electrical Distribution and owned a lighting manufacturers agency. He is also a frequent speaker and instructor at various lighting & controls courses.

Michael Laurie is owner of Watershed LLC, a sustainability consulting company specializing in water efficiency, energy efficiency, green building, and green landscaping consulting. He has over 23 years of experience in the water efficiency field with over 1,000 projects addressing indoor and outdoor water efficiency including hospitals, hotels, industrial sites, parks, and schools. His water certifications include: Certified Landscape Irrigation Auditor, Certified Water Conservation Practitioner, Certificate of Completion in Washington State Low Impact Development Training Program, Master Gardener, Master Composter, and Rainwater Systems Accredited Professional.

Katherine Morgan is a Senior Project Manager at ArchEcology with a multi-disciplinary focus. In the existing building sector, Katherine is a Tune-Up Specialist and supports property managers in benchmarking building performance, and continuous improvement to achieve owner goals and regulatory compliance. For multifamily housing, Katherine serves as the LEED Homes Green Rater and assists multifamily project teams with certification under LEED as well as Evergreen Sustainable Development Standards (affordable housing) and Built Green verification. Katherine also manages LEED BD+C and O+M projects. Katherine works with project teams to help them achieve their goals with as little pain and as much gain as possible. Straddling the new construction and ongoing operations fields provides a unique perspective on prioritizing sustainability through the life-cycle of the buildings, and Katherine shares this through work as a guest instructor with the Building Operator Certification program. Katherine is a LEED AP O+M, Certified Building Operator and BOC Level II. She has a MS in Community and Regional Planning and BA in Environmental Science.

Angela Pilant, L.C., is a Lighting Specialist for Evergreen Consulting and works with multiple energy efficiency programs in the Pacific Northwest, providing efficiency measurement research and site consultations. She has worked in lighting for over 16 years, is Lighting Certified (LC) by the National Council on Qualifications for the Lighting Professions and is a member of Illuminating Engineering Society.

David Ryan, P.E. is principal Engineer at Balance Engineering LLC. He worked for many years for NorthWestern Energy and associated contractors doing energy audits and project implementation for NWE’s efficiency plus programs. Currently David provides engineering support for agricultural energy efficiency under the Natural Resource Conservation Services energy conservation programs, installs and maintains wind measurement equipment for utility scale wind development, and provides design and installation services for solar electric systems. David is a licensed mechanical engineer in Montana, is a member of ASHRAE and ASABE. David has over ten years’ experience teaching both BOC Level I and Level II classes.

Bruce Shapiro, CFM, CEM is currently the Chief Engineer at NorthPark Corporate Real Estate complex in downtown San Francisco. Prior to that he worked in facilities management of higher education research facilities, medical centers and community colleges. He has played a key role in energy conservation, building automation, maintenance and operation, and the identification of viable innovative technologies. He has taught industry related courses in the California University Extension program and specific safety subjects on manufacturing sites in the Bay Area. He is a CFM, CEM (Certified Energy Manager) has his MBA from the University of La Verne and currently working on obtaining his CFM Trainer certification.

Mike Smith, a Principal and IH Practice Leader at WSP Environment and Infrastructure, Inc. has been providing industrial hygiene and indoor environmental quality (IEQ) solutions to clients across North America since 1988. Mike has conducted IEQ projects in a wide variety of building types, from residential to high rise, old to new, across North America. Mike is a Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH) and was recognized in 2011 as Distinguished Industrial Hygienist by the Pacific Northwest Section, American Industrial Hygiene Association (PNS-AIHA). Mike is also PNS-AIHA Past President. Since 2004, Mike has been Seattle Indoor Air Quality Association (IAQA) Chapter Director and leads quarterly workshops with other professionals. Mike enjoys doing BOC 1005 Indoor Environmental Quality, because it’s his passion and he enjoys meeting building operators and learning about their buildings! Mike received a Master of Science degree in Biology from University of Nevada Las Vegas and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychobiology from UCLA.

Alan Suleiman, CEM, L.C., LEED AP, has over 30 years of experience as a utility executive, marketing strategist, electrical engineer, and an educator. He founded the Sacramento Municipal Utility District Energy and Technology Center, an education and demonstration regional center on advanced technologies and energy efficiency, and served as its director for eight years. He also started the Channel Management group focusing on expanding customer channels and implementing a host of programs and self-service options for the electric utility. He also served as SMUD’s Innovation, business development and technology manager, a customer service strategy group deals with customer communication and transactional channels, business technology and marketing programs and services for conservation, green initiatives, energy efficiency and advanced technologies. Currently Alan manages energy projects at the University of California at Davis and also is an adjunct professor at Sacramento State for the last 15 years. Alan has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, and an MBA in Marketing and product development. He is a CEM, LC and LEED AP.

Paul Wingco, CEM, MBA has over thirty years of combined experience in facility operations and energy management. His past roles include serving as Energy and Sustainability Manager, Associate Director of Energy and MEP services, and Director of Facilities Management for California State University, Long Beach. Paul has been actively involved in campus level strategic energy planning and implementation in both the California State and University of California University systems. Paul earned his degree in Construction Engineering Management from California State University, Long Beach and has a Master’s in Business Administration from Vanguard University of Southern California. Paul is currently an instructor for the Building Operator Certification (BOC) program and a regular speaker on energy efficiency for regional investor owned utilities. He also teaches a course in Energy Management for Facility Managers with UC Irvine’s Division of Continuing Education. Paul is a Certified Energy Manager with the Association of Energy Engineers and founder and principal of Wingco Clean Energy Resources LLC, a California DGS registered consulting business specializing in strategic energy planning and clean energy workforce development and training.

Northeast Region Instructors

Cliff Babson, USMM, CEM, CMVP, CEA, BESA, LEED AP(BD&C), is a former ships’ captain, with over 25 years in Energy and Facility Management. He holds or has held credentials by the Association of Energy Engineers as a Certified Energy Manger (CEM), Certified Measurement and Verification Professional (CMVP), Certified Energy Auditor (CEA), and Building Energy Simulation Analyst (BESA). He is accredited by the US Green Building Council as a LEED AP(BD&C). He holds, or has held, multiple specialty certifications from the Building Performance Institute, including Building Analyst, Envelope Professional, Heating Specialist, and Multifamily Building Analyst, and was also certified by the Residential Energy Network as a HERS Rater. In his current role at Energy Solutions, Cliff is the Lead Engineer for multiple utility energy efficiency programs in the Pacific Northwest and throughout the country. Cliff is a practicing Energy Auditor with a Multifamily Specialty and has also worked as an Engineering Manager/Director in several large Multifamily and Commercial Buildings including a 270 unit high rise building, 180 unit mixed use building, and a 250,000 sq ft high rise commercial building. Cliff is the former owner and principal of Four Points Energy Solutions, an accredited energy efficiency consultancy, offering commercial and multifamily energy audits, training, content development, energy procurement, and energy consulting. He is also a past Executive Director of the Building Performance Contractors Association of NY State. Cliff developed a Multifamily Building Analyst curriculum in 2010 and has taught the class approximately 25 times, the curriculum is currently licensed to 7 entities across the US. Cliff has also taught BPI Building Analyst, Envelope Professional, and Heating Specialist courses in addition to Northwest Energy Efficiency Council Building Operator Certification, and various TREAT and ASSET Score energy modeling courses. Cliff has also taught college level credit course in Energy and Sustainability in the Physics Dept. of Ithaca College in the fall of 2013.

Steven Caulfield, PE, CIH is a licensed professional engineer (mechanical) and Certified Industrial Hygienist. Since 1997, he has worked in the fields of mechanical engineering and industrial hygiene, with a special focus on air quality in buildings. Mr. Caulfield is a founding Board member of the Maine Indoor Air Quality Council and is a former president of that organization. Over the last ten years his focus has shifted from mechanical system design and air quality to the commissioning of mechanical systems and building envelopes. Mr. Caulfield is expert at troubleshooting problems with mechanical systems and the operation of automatic control systems.

Ron DePesa is the Manager of Facilities for the State of Massachusetts Office of Court Management (OCM). He has also taught as a certified adult education instructor courses in HVACR, Facilities Management and Oil Heat Technology. He holds several State of Massachusetts journeyman’s trade licenses and is a BOC Level I & II graduate. Ron has an Associate of Applied Science Degree in Building Construction Technology and a Bachelors of Science Degree in Project Management both from Wentworth Institute of Technology. His over 39 years of work experience has been in the mechanical trades in both capacities as a journeyman and as a manager in the private construction industry, public school facilities, State of Mass. facilities and a major private university facilities.

William M. Leahy, CEM, CEA, LEED AP, has been working in the field of Energy Management for over 40 years. Currently he is an instructor, teaching Building Operator Certification (Fundamentals, Level I and II) for the Northwest Energy Efficiency Council in Seattle WA. He is also teaching Professional Development courses for Building Operators at Roxbury Community College’s Center for Smart Building Technology in Boston MA including BOC courses, Commercial Energy Auditing, Portfolio Manager Benchmarking and GPRO Green Building Operations and Maintenance certification course. Leahy spent 12 years teaching High School Tech Education, and has 21 years in energy management, performing energy audits and managing energy efficiency and load management programs for Northeast Utilities. He spent 6 years as Manager of Technical Support for Select Energy, NU’s unregulated ESCo. In his last position, he served for 12 years as Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Institute for Sustainable Energy (ISE) at Eastern Connecticut State University. Under his direction, the Institute received numerous regional and national awards including Energy Star Partner of the Year in 2004 and 2014 for Excellence in Energy Education and Energy Star applications. Leahy holds a BS and MS in Education from Central Connecticut State University and a MS in Business Administration from Rensselaer. He has earned a Certified Energy Manager (CEM), Certified Energy Auditor (CEA) from the Association of Energy Engineers and was also awarded a Certified Sustainable Development Professional (CSDP) and Certified Demand Side Manager (CDSM) by AEE. He is also a USGBC LEED Accredited Professional (AP) in New Construction and Major Renovation.

David Ward, PE, LEED AP, CBCP is a consulting engineer with over 30 years of experience in construction, contracting, engineering, and project development of mechanical system upgrades in the commercial, industrial, institutional and government sectors and is an expert in residential, commercial, and industrial HVAC and refrigeration systems. Dave is a LEED Accredited Professional, a Certified Building Commissioning Professional, a Building Operator Certification trainer, an EPA Star Partner and holds an OSHA 30 certification. Dave collaborates with building owners and operators to improve building performance, health and comfort while reducing operating costs through mechanical improvements, optimization of operating and maintenance procedures and operator training. Dave holds three patents for methods of improvements to HVAC and refrigeration systems. He has been involved with all aspects of the development and installation of Design Build energy conservation projects including facility energy use audits, project development, system design, life cycle cost analysis, construction management, commissioning, and measurement and verification of energy savings.

Kevin Wyman, PE, has over thirty-five years of experience in energy project development including HVAC and lighting installation, demand side energy management and supply side procurement. He has developed projects including building control integration, central chiller plant optimization, thermal storage systems, cogeneration systems, and has building energy modeling and economic analysis, high performance HVAC design subject matter expertise. Kevin brings a wealth of industry experience and knowledge, having previously worked for companies such as Honeywell, Siemens, Trane, UTC Power, Carrier and more recently as CEO of his own company ANJENAIRE, LLC. He has worked in various vertical markets including commercial and industrial buildings, education, healthcare, retail, multifamily housing, hospitality, and data centers. Kevin has identified opportunities for new HVAC system concepts and defined functional requirements for the project to meet customer needs. Kevin holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA in Marketing and Finance from the Keenan-Flagler School of Business, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Kevin is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Connecticut. Kevin has worked with Tunxis Community College as an Adjunct Professor and taught Northwest Energy Efficiency Council’s Building Operator Certification courses for over 24 years.