Dan LeBlanc

As a senior project manager at YR&G, Dan works with project teams to implement cost-effective sustainability. He has extensive analytical and modeling experience, and is able to provide meaningful cost-benefit data for potential strategies early in the design process. With skills in the design and construction process facilitation, he seeks to guide projects toward sustainability solutions that are appropriate and innovative. As a volunteer, Dan is an executive member of the USGBC-CO Green Schools Advocacy Committee and advises his local Habitat for Humanity Chapter on energy efficiency and green building.

Ghita Carroll

Ghita Levenstein Carroll is the Sustainability Coordinator for the Boulder Valley School District. In this role, she is coordinating existing efforts around sustainability, and garnering support and partnerships for integrating sustainability into operations and curriculum for the district’s 55 schools. She has significantly increased renewable energy technologies and green products throughout the district and implemented several energy, water and waste reduction strategies. Carroll emphasizes the educational opportunity in all of her projects, and has supported many new green teams throughout the school district. She is an instructor for the Sustainable Practices Program at CU-Boulder and a LEED Green Associate.

John Wood

John Wood, PE, CCP, LEED AP, is a Project Manager on Architectural Energy Corporation (AEC) building commissioning projects. He also works on energy research, sustainable design assistance, and diagnostic testing projects. At AEC, Mr. Wood has been involved with a variety of commercial, institutional, and industrial Cx projects, including implementation of LEED commissioning prerequisites and credits. His focus has widened recently to include measurement and verification, energy modeling calibration, building data integration, education and outreach.

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Elizabeth Hallas

Elizabeth Hallas is a Principal with Anderson Hallas Architects. She has a passion for historic structures and believes that recycling older buildings is the cornerstone to sustainability. Her career has been focused on historic buildings working on National Historic Landmarks throughout the state and region. Projects include the award winning Beaumont Hotel in Ouray, Many Glacier Hotel in Glacier National Park and the Littleton Museum.
She is a current AIA member and was a founding chair of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Association for Preservation Technology. She currently sits on the board of Colorado Preservation Inc.

Peter D'Antonio

Peter is the President of PCD Engineering and leads business development, oversees day-to-day operations, and participates in engineering project planning and management, and quality control review and design. Peter has held the role of general contractor, engineer and planner and is an accomplished author and speaker on building energy efficiency. His work has been recognized with design and service awards from various organizations such as the US Environmental Protection Agency, USGBC, Colorado Governor’s Energy Office and Colorado Renewable Energy Society. Prior to founding PCD Engineering Services, Peter served as senior project manager for a national energy services company.

Jim Ketter

Jim Ketter, PE, LEED AP BD+C, is the Principal of KPMC, LLC, which provides Sustainability Consulting and Owners Rep services for High Performance Building projects.  Jim has over 25 years and $500 million in project experience and has served as a juror for the US DOE Solar Decathlon, as PM for the 2007 Colorado Built Green Builder of the Year, and as a champion for several LEED projects. Jim's current related work includes the Durango Discovery Museum and the CDE/BEST funded Ignacio Elementary School.  Jim is striving to engage local school districts in programs and projects to green their schools.

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Mike Peel

Stephanie Barr

Stephanie is an associate at the Institute for the Built Environment at Colorado State University, specializing in green school research and consulting. Stephanie is passionate about advancing the development of sustainable, healthy schools, designed for educating the next generation of sustainability leaders. Her expertise includes managing the integration of sustainability into school design and facility operations, facilitating stakeholder buy-in and education, creating building-focused resources for educational programs, and researching the impact and effectiveness of green building and sustainability programs. Stephanie holds a degree in Interior Design from Oklahoma State University and a Masters of Sustainable Design from Colorado State University.

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Mary Wickersham

Mary Wickersham was appointed to the Capital Construction Assistance (BEST) board by Senate President Peter Groff as the member "with public school finance expertise and knowledge regarding public school trust lands." She has been the chair of the BEST Board since its inception. Mary was involved in the development of the Building Excellent Schools Today Act, which was an initiative of the Treasurer’s Office. Before joining the Treasurer’s Office, Mary was Director of Special Projects for the Donnell-Kay Foundation where she oversaw policy research and analysis around school capital funding in Colorado.

Ted Hughes

Ted Hughes joined the Colorado Department of Education in 2001 to develop and administer a program to assist school districts, charter schools, and institute charter schools with capital construction needs. The program provided grants for projects to address health and safety issues, major maintenance, renovations and additions, and sometimes new schools. In 2008, the Commissioner of the Colorado Department of Education, with input from the State Board of Education and the Public School Capital Construction Assistance Board, appointed Ted to be Director of the newly created Division of Public School Capital Construction Assistance.

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Penny Whitney

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Jessa Ellenburg

Jessa Ellenburg earned a degree in Civil Engineering at the University of Colorado and spent six years assisting in the design of complex bridges throughout the United States. As an engineer, she was active in K-12 outreach by involving students in current engineering projects and related career possibilities. Jessa is now focused entirely on her passion for education and the environment as the Director of Educational Outreach for the GO3 Project in Boulder, CO. She is a registered Professional Engineer and LEED Accredited Professional.

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Margaret DeMichelis

Margaret DeMichelis of Creative Grant Services is a seasoned grant management professional with more than 15 years of success in grant fundraising. Since launching Creative Grant Services in 2002, Margaret has raised over $50,000,000 from foundations, government agencies, corporate sponsors and other funders, to support general operations, core programs, special projects, capital construction and other priorities.

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Jim Faes

Jim has been the Director of Sustainability at Denver Public Schools (DPS) since 2009. Jim has a B.A. and M.A. in Industrial Arts Education from the University of Northern Colorado, and has a wide range of experience including teaching woodworking and then doing energy and conservation management at Jefferson County Public Schools (where he earned his CEM). At DPS, Jim hopes to implement utility tracking and energy conservation programs district-wide, as well as energy incentives and renewables programs. Jim's responsibilities include development of a sustainable program involving education, energy management, energy infrastructure upgrades, bond project oversight and involvement, conservation programs and utility data management in 150 schools with a $16 million annual utility budget. Jim is frequently invited to educate colleagues at conferences.

Julie Sieving

As a Senior Engineer with Brendle Group, Julie puts her 16 years of experience to work for clients in a variety of ways while often leading project delivery and quality efforts. With a BSME from Colorado State University, supplemented by LEED accreditation, building commissioning expertise, and hundreds of energy assessments, Julie contributes a unique bedside manner in working with customers and collaborators alike. Julie has served as project manager for K12 school district sustainability management projects with Poudre, Boulder Valley, Academy, and Denver Public Schools. She is also involved in current, related efforts for Thompson School District.

Laurel Mattrey

Laurel has worked for over 10 years in the environmental nonprofit and consulting fields in environmental planning, program development, grant procurement and administration, community outreach and energy education and training. Her diverse community network and strength in multi-faceted program management are evidenced by her past experiences coordinating federal policy outreach, energy efficiency education programs, community-based Superfund site organizing and county-wide land use planning processes. She has been with Denver Public Schools for over two years, during which she procured grant funding to initiate a Sustainability Management Planning process and manage the SMP process for the district.

Stu Reeve

Stu Reeve currently serves as energy manager for the Poudre School District (PSD), Ft. Collins, Colorado. For the past 37 years, he has held several positions in facility services and business services, managing the installation and maintenance of electrical/electronic systems throughout the district. Under his leadership, PSD created an energy management plan and an energy efficiency team, which evolved into an award-winning program recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In 2006 PSD collaborated with Brendle Group and completed a Sustainability Management System which incorporated environmental stewardship as a “corporate culture” at PSD.

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Kyra Weinkle

Kyra Weinkle is a Program Manager at Investive Building Projects, where she assists clients with implementing sustainable best practices through building design and construction, operational guidance, and occupant engagement. Her work is focused on encouraging sound long-term investments that result in measurable environmental, health, and economic benefits. Since 2006, she has facilitated LEED certifications throughout the Rocky Mountain Region under New Construction, Existing Buildings, and Commercial Interiors rating systems. Her educational background includes a Bachelor of Fine Art in Time Arts and Design from University of North Carolina Charlotte and a Green Building Certificate from Colorado State University. She frequently spends her free time volunteering and photographing at local organic farms.

Allison Dodge

Allison Dodge has a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Michigan and a Masters Degree in Classical Five-Element Acupuncture from the Institute of Taoist Education and Acupuncture (ITEA) in Louisville, CO. Allison has had a private acupuncture practice in Boulder, CO since 2008, and she is a faculty member, Deputy Faculty Chair, and Faculty Representative to the Board at ITEA. Allison and her husband recently became the owners and land stewards of Pachamama Organic Farm in Longmont, CO. In addition to developing a self-sustaining ecosystem that produces pure and diverse foods, they hope that the farm will one day serve as an agricultural educational resource and healing arts center.

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Jesse Schumacher

Director of Operations for Colorado Academy; oversee Buildings, Grounds, Housekeeping & Transportation for 100 acre, 26 building campu. Undergraduate degree in Spanish & Business from CU- Boulder, MS International Business from CU- Denver, 15+ years of commercial construction experience in GC World. Passionate environmental advocate.

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Stephanie Barr

Stephanie is an associate at the Institute for the Built Environment at Colorado State University, specializing in green school research and consulting. Stephanie is passionate about advancing the development of sustainable, healthy schools, designed for educating the next generation of sustainability leaders. Her expertise includes managing the integration of sustainability into school design and facility operations, facilitating stakeholder buy-in and education, creating building-focused resources for educational programs, and researching the impact and effectiveness of green building and sustainability programs. Stephanie holds a degree in Interior Design from Oklahoma State University and a Masters of Sustainable Design from Colorado State University.

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Air to Air Recovery

Ramon Teran

Ramon Teran, P.E. has 17 years as a professional in the industry. His experience includes mechanical contracting, systems design, equipment design, and equipment sales. He graduated from Cal Poly Polytechnic in San Luis Obispo with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and recently graduated from the Daniels School of Business at the University of Denver with an Executive MBA. Ramon is currently a member of ASHRAE, USGBC, and a director for CoGEHPA, Colorado Geo Energy and Heat Pump Association.

Michael Fulton

Michael Fulton, P.E. founded Western Mechanical Solutions to focus on minimizing the energy use of buildings through innovative application of engineering. WMS represents various energy recovery products. Mike has 24 years’ experience in equipment sales, consulting and construction. He graduated from the University of Maine with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He is actively involved with ASHRAE, past president of the Rocky Mountain Chapter (2002-2003), has been involved with the local ASHRAE tech conference since 1996, and has been the north section (Fort Collins) chair since 2008.

Brian Lynch

Brian Lynch, ASHRAE Certified HBDP, LEED-AP, is a partner with Western Mechanical Solutions and been in sales engineering for 13 years. Brian is a graduate of Colorado State University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He is actively involved with the ASHRAE at the Society level as the chairman of the ASHRAE High-Performance Building Design Professional (HBDP) certification committee and a voting member of the ASHRAE Standard 55 Committee (SSPC 55), Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy. He is a past president of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of ASHRAE.

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Integrated Pest Management in Schools

Deborah Young

Deborah J. Young, Colorado State University, is the Co-Director for the Center for Sustainable Integrated Pest Management. As a member of the Colorado Coalition for School IPM, she works with school districts to decrease risks from pests and pesticides. She has 35 years of experience working in three states, from laboratory to applied research to administration. She has a Ph.D. and M. S. from the University of Arizona in plant pathology and a B. A. in biology and Spanish from Indiana University. She focuses on sustainable communities, integrated pest management and environmental stewardship.

Clyde Wilson

Clyde Wilson is President of Aristeal Consulting LLC in Castle Pines, Colorado, and is currently working under contract with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 8 office in Denver to advance their School Integrated Pest Management initiative. He has 30 years of experience in the Chemical and Biotech sector, 25 years at Bayer CropScience working with the development and marketing of low-toxicity fungicides, and at Monsanto Company. Mr. Wilson has an undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences from Southern University in Baton Rouge, LA, and a Master’s Degree in Marketing from Webster University, St. Louis, MO.

Gregory Hronich

Gregory Hronich has received Associates in Occupational Safety and Health from TSJC and a Bachelors degree in Vet Med. and Biomedical Sciences from Colorado State University with an emphasis in Environmental Health. Mr. Hronich has over 10 years experience working in Colorado Public Schools. He has worked as a consultant for RLH Engineering, Adams 12 Five Star Schools, and currently in St Vrain Valley School District serving as the Environmental Compliance Coordinator. His past work experience includes program development/implementation, site investigations, management and mitigation of asbestos, hazardous chemicals, indoor air quality, integrated pest management, lead-based paint , radon and stormwater.

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Jane Crisler, AIA, LEED AP

Since joining Humphries Poli Architects in 2005, Jane Crisler has led the firm's historic preservation projects, including the rehabilitation of historic North High School. Prior to joining HPA, Jane became a nationally recognized historic preservation expert and spent more than ten years at the Federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. Jane has worked on more than twenty K-12 school building projects since joining HPA and completed over 30 Historic Structure Assessments. Jane earned a Master of Architecture from the University of Colorado at Denver and a Bachelor of Arts in Historic Preservation from Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, VA.

Gary Beutler, Senior Project Manager, Denver Public Schools

Gary joined Denver Public Schools in the Spring of 2009 as a Bond Capital Senior Project Manager to aid the implementation of the 2008 DPS Bond Program. Among several other District projects, he provided oversight for the North High School rehabilitation project through to completion. Gary earned an MBA from the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver, and has a Bachelor's degree in Construction Engineering from Montana State University-Bozeman.

Tom Stone

As a project executive with 25 years in the construction industry, Tom Stone brings broad expertise on modernizing and reconfiguring older schools. In addition to his p involvement in more than 75 school renovations, Tom sits on the Board of Directors of the Adams County Education Consortium and the Adams County Economic Development Board and he is a member of the Adams 12 Education Foundation and a Governor-Appointed Member of the Public School Capital Construction Assistance Board. Through his many years of building K-12 projects, he has gained an expert level of knowledge in constructing educational facilities and an understanding of the issues facing the educational market and school districts. Tom attended Minnesota State University-Mankato and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Construction Management.

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