BuildingGreen.com LIVE - Authors

LIVE Contributor: Michael Wilmeth

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:03:00 GMT

I am but an egg in the realm of green building (that's a Robert Heinlein reference, for those who don't recognize it; I was named after his Martian, Valentine Michael Smith), and yet I get to sit in the office's most pleasant room here in the old Estey Organ building--the drafting room, airy and bright with large double-hung windows and a delightful clerestory, where in days of old plans for over-ornamented Victorian parlor instruments were drawn. May I be worthy. Before coming to Building Green, I studied anthropology, grew vegetables, and wrote and edited for small-town weekly newspapers.

LIVE Contributor: Jennifer Atlee

Tue, 06 May 2008 18:28:00 GMT

As Research Director at BuildingGreen, I dabble in - or dive headlong into - a wide range of BuildingGreen internal and collaborative projects, and am part of the team working to make the GreenSpec product directory as robust as possible. I have every intention of making my bio personalized, but there are too many other fun things to do than talk about myself – so in the mean time: Through her work with BuildingGreen, Toxics Use Reduction Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Rocky Mountain Institute, and Demand Management Institute, Jennifer has conducted research and analysis in a variety of sustainability topics including green building, commercial and industrial energy efficiency, electronics recycling, and the economics of toxics use reduction. Her activities at BuildingGreen include providing technical and research support for GreenSpec, EBN, and other BuildingGreen activities, as well as collaborating on projects such as the ASID/USGBC ReGreen Guidelines and a policy white paper for the Commission for Environmental Cooperation. A primary focus of hers has been developing and clarifying standards to assess the environmental sustainability of products, processes, and organizations. To this end, her activities at BuildingGreen include researching and updating product criteria for GreenSpec, and providing technical support to the Construction Specification Institute (CSI) on GreenFormat. Jennifer has a dual MS from MIT in Technology Policy and Material Science & Engineering, and a BS in Environmental Science from Brown University.

LIVE Contributor: Peter Yost

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 12:30:48 GMT

Peter Yost is the Residential Program Manager for BuildingGreen, LLC in Brattleboro, Vermont. He has been building, researching, teaching, writing, and consulting on high performance homes for more than twenty years. His expertise stretches from construction waste management and advanced framing to energy efficiency and building durability. Peter has made significant contributions to the work of many leading homebuilding organizations and initiatives — NAHB Researcher Center, Building Science Corporation, 3-D Building Solutions, EEBA, Masco's Environments for Living program, USGBC's LEED for Homes program, and the US Department of Energy's Building America program. Peter is currently an instructor for the Boston Architectural College's Sustainable Design Certificate program and for the University of Massachusetts Department of Building Materials and Wood Technology program in Amherst. He is a past co-chair and current Materials and Resources Technical Advisory Steering Committee member of the USGBC's LEED for Homes program.

LIVE Contributor: Brent Ehrlich

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 13:16:00 GMT

I am the product editor here at BuildingGreen. I, along with a several team members, research products and then write and update listings for our GreenSpec product guide. I also help with overall category research and write an occasional product review for Environmental Building News. Prior to working for BuildingGreen, I was the associate editor for Green Builder magazine, where I wrote feature articles on a variety of topics related to green residential construction. After grad school I worked as a carpenter and freelance writer, among other jobs, and spent years searching for the perfect location to live, work, and enjoy the outdoors. I lived in the nearly every state along the spine of the Rockies, running high altitude trails from Taos to Glacier and doing my share of cross-country ski racing along the way, but about eight years ago I landed in Vermont by accident and I've been here ever since. I now live in Montpelier, the nation's smallest state capital, with my wife and two young children. I love the winters in Vermont, but making our 1860's home energy efficient is a major challenge. When not juggling home repairs, work, family, and diaper changing, I still try to sneak in as much running and cross country skiing as possible. I can't say I'm getting in a lot of miles.

LIVE Contributor: Frank Richter

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 18:13:00 GMT

As the Associate Products Editor for GreenSpec, our database of environmentally preferable building products, I've had a chance to dabble in just about every category of building product that's out there. My interest in green building started in high school and college, helping to build houses with my father's design/build business. Tight, high R-value building envelopes and attention to solar orientation along with reduced material use just seemed logical, especially on the tail-end of the 1970's energy crunch. I learned a great deal about "efficient living" during my two years of working in Germany, a country where efficiency is not only a necessity, it is considered cool. A B.A. in Economics from Bates College, a Master's Degree in Resource Management from Antioch New England Graduate School and years of experience on planning boards, conservation commissions, conservation groups, and steering committees frame my efforts to help others build a better building beginning with site selection and ending with healthy, sustainable interiors.

LIVE Contributor: Michael Wentz

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 18:52:00 GMT

I am the manager of the High Performance Building Database, as well as the manager of network (firm-wide and college/university) sales of BuildingGreen Suite. As manager of the High Performance Building Database (HPB) I get to work with all kinds of fun people on projects such as the HPB Google Earth Layer and the AIA COTE Top Ten Awards. I graduated from Union College in 2004 with a dual degree in Electrical Engineering and French. Shortly thereafter I headed to Portland, Oregon with my girlfriend Lauren and the noble but not-so-specific goal of "working on environmental sustainability". While Portland lived up to its reputation as a hotbed for young, active and green minded people, we moved back east after failing to find our niche in what proved to be a competitive or lackluster job market. Upon arriving at BuildingGreen shortly thereafter, I began working as a sales and marketing intern. Over the last couple years I have been able to narrow my interests to building science, material science, urban design... Who am I kidding? I am still interested in almost anything related to environmental design, nature, sustainable communities, etc. When not trying to change and inform the world through the wonders of BuildingGreen, you can find me telemark skiing, rock climbing, practicing yoga, hiking, drinking beer, and eating cheese.

LIVE Contributor: Tristan Roberts

Tue, 30 Oct 2007 21:11:00 GMT

As managing editor for BuildingGreen, I run our efforts, through Environmental Building News, to monitor key news and product developments in the green building industry and bring them to you, our readers, in a thorough and engaging way. In the last year I've written feature articles for EBN like "Cradle to Cradle Certification: A Peek Inside MBDC's Black Box," "Historic Preservation and Green Building: A Lasting Relationship," and "Antimicrobial Chemicals in Buildings: Hygiene or Harm?"; investigative news articles like "Appraising Green in Vancouver" and "Enertia Double-Envelope Home Still Has Problems"; as well as perspectives like "When Is it Greener to Build?" My life in green building dates back to a high school reading of "Walden Two," by B.F. Skinner. Never mind the specifics of the book—at the time I found the positive vision for creating vibrant communities to be a revelation. I am fascinated not only by healthy and environmentally sound approaches to construction but also the fostering of healthy communities.

LIVE Contributor: Jim Newman

Tue, 30 Oct 2007 20:36:00 GMT

As Director of Online Services at BuildingGreen, Inc., Jim Newman has led the design and development of the BuildingGreen Suite of online tools from BuildingGreen, Inc.—the well regarded publishers of Environmental Building News and the GreenSpec product directory. As part of this work, Mr. Newman has spent several years researching how architecture, engineering, and construction firms integrate sustainable design into their firms' practice. The initial results of this research were published in Environmental Building News, in May of 2004, under the title "Greening Your Firm: Building Sustainable Design Capabilities." Jim Has a Bachelor of Science in Art and Design (Architectural Design) from MIT, and a Masters of Management Science from Lehigh University. In and around those degrees, Jim ran a design/build company in the Boston area, and participated in six software and web start-ups.

LIVE Contributor: Nadav Malin

Tue, 30 Oct 2007 20:24:00 GMT

I am vice president of BuildingGreen, Inc., editor of Environmental Building News, and coeditor of the GreenSpec product directory. I also work with McGraw-Hill Construction on GreenSource magazine, which has earned me a spot on the masthead as executive editor. For the past 5 years I've chaired the Materials and Resources Technical Advisory Group (MR-TAG) for the LEED Rating System. I'm a LEED Faculty Member, which means that I get tapped to lead workshops on LEED (mostly LEED for New Construction and Major Renovations — LEED-NC — but occasionally others). Back in the 1990s I was a principal author of the Applications Reports for the AIA's Environmental Resource Guide that compares the environmental value of different building materials in various applications. I do some consulting and lecturing on sustainable design, with a particular focus on green materials. In addition to running LEED training workshops, I've taught seminars for various USGBC chapters, CSI chapters, state AIA chapters, and private architecture firms. I also serve on the U.S. team for Green Building Challenge, oversee BuildingGreen's management of the U.S. Department of Energy's High Performance Buildings Database project, and generally lead the content development team for Web and software resources at BuildingGreen.com.

LIVE Contributor: Alex Wilson

Tue, 30 Oct 2007 20:09:00 GMT

Alex Wilson is the Executive Editor of Environmental Building News. For more than 25 years Alex has written about energy-efficient and environmentally responsible design and construction. Prior to starting his own company in 1985 (now BuildingGreen, Inc.), he was executive director of the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association for five years; before that he taught workshops on the construction of solar greenhouses in New Mexico in the late '70s. Alex is author of Your Green Home (New Society Publishers, 2006) and coauthor of the Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings (ACEEE, 8th edition, 2003) and the Rocky Mountain Institute's comprehensive textbook Green Development: Integrating Ecology and Real Estate (John Wiley & Sons, 1998). He has also written hundreds of articles for other publications, including Fine Homebuilding, Architectural Record, Landscape Architecture, the Journal of Light Construction, and Popular Science. Along with writing about design and construction, Alex has written four guidebooks on quiet-water paddling published by the Appalachian Mountain Club—covering all of New England and New York State. (You can order Alex's books online.) Alex served on the board of directors of the U.S. Green Building Council for five years and he is currently a trustee of The Nature Conservancy - Vermont Chapter.

LIVE Contributor: Allyson Wendt

Tue, 30 Oct 2007 16:37:00 GMT

I am an associate editor here at BuildingGreen, which means that I contribute to and edit Environmental Building News, edit case studies for our High Performance Buildings Database, and work on other projects as they come along. I also receive, organize, and catalog all of the books that come through the door, and review a good chunk of them for the newsletter and our online bibliography. Unlike others in the company, I haven't been in the green building world all that long. Before I was here, I was pursuing a doctorate in American literature, and before that, I was a roustabout with a small circus for a couple of summers. So how does a gal with a love of literature end up discussing articles on waterless urinals at editorial meetings? I blame Google. A desire to leave graduate school, move back to Vermont, and have a job that involved writing led to an internship BuildingGreen, thanks to the search engine. The internship led to a full-time job, and here I am, still loving it! When I'm not working, I can usually be found fixing up the 1870 house I just bought with my husband, growing vegetables with varying degrees of success, cooking said vegetables, and all manner of fiber arts. I read a lot, mostly 20th century American fiction and books related to work. Oh, yes, and I'm hoping to build a trapeze in my barn.

LIVE Contributer: Philip Scheffer

Tue, 30 Oct 2007 04:00:00 GMT

Hello! My name is Philip Scheffer. I am a web developer/help desk support/ikea-furniture-puter-together-er at BuildingGreen. I have been working here since Feb. '07 while on hiatus from college (I guess I should call it a leave of absence since its been longer than 6 months... I should probably finish eh?) I grew up in the boondocks of Weathersfield, Vermont and rather enjoyed it! I really like living in the city but in the long run, miss the mountains. When I am not working at BuildingGreen I am usually playing video games, snowboarding, skateboarding, biking, having a delicious pint of the bitter stuff, drawing, designing, stenciling, making more work for myself, blogging, cooking, watching cooking shows, beaching, playing guitar, playing drums, playing more guitar, listening to music, working on one of my old German cars, visiting friends, or playing golf. Woah. At BuildingGreen I code ColdFusion, HTML, CSS, javascript, ajax, and SQL. We get to do some in-house design which is a lot of fun. Our office is almost all on Macs (MARK!) and we have an IT Lounge. The Celtics just won their 17th championship. I am still ecstatic. I hope to add some miscellaneous website notes, instructions, or development posts, as well as random tech pieces I find and must write a note about. Cheers!

LIVE Contributor: Mark Piepkorn

Fri, 26 Oct 2007 11:37:00 GMT

I've spent the last few years at BuildingGreen knee-deep in products research. I'm a co-editor of GreenSpec—our print directory and web database of hand-picked, environmentally preferable products; and a co-editor of Green Building Products, a BuildingGreen book from New Society Publishers. I'm also an associate editor for our respected monthly professional journal, Environmental Building News. Not done yet. I'm also the products editor for GreenSource, the member publication for the U.S. Green Building Council. BuildingGreen is a content collaborator that stunning magazine with McGraw-Hill, its publisher. Several personnel here are also on the masthead there. For a couple years in the late '90s, I was the editor of The Last Straw, the international newsletter about strawbale construction and natural building. Yeah, I'm one of those people... but if you want to talk about something like nonchemical cooling tower water treatment systems, or bisphenol-A as a chemical precursor in the manufacture of epoxies and polycarbonates, I'm up for that too. There are plenty of envelopes to push, and I'm fortunate to be among some of the best envelope-pushers anywhere—you, reader, among them. Over the years I've spent too much time on the internet, embarrassing myself as often as not. I'm pleased to be able to continue that tradition. The photo was taken by Bill Steen outside the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, on the Capitol Mall in Washington D.C., during the creation of the Always Becoming sculpture installation. I didn't know he took it until it showed up in my email. If, when you looked at the picture, you said to yourself, "Hey—that's a psychrometric chart on his shirt," you might be a building science geek.