EDWARD H. BRZEZOWSKI, PE, LEED AP
President and Founder
Noveda Technologies

Session: 31 TANNERY: THE NATION'S FIRST NET-ZERO-ELECTRIC COMMERCIAL BUILDING

Edward H. Brzezowski is a nationally recognized executive-level mechanical engineer with more than 30 years of industry experience. His expertise includes computer technologies, energy management, building-management systems, and commissioning. He holds a U.S. patent for optimization of multiple boiler plants and is a co-inventor of Noveda's proprietary technologies. He engineered the first net-zero-electric commercial building in the United States and serves as the lead commissioning engineer for the new World Trade Center Transportation Hub.

Brzezowski is a member of ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers); the Association of Energy Engineers; and HPAC Engineering’s Editorial Advisory Board. He has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical-engineering technology.

BEN ERPELDING, PE, CEM
Director of Engineering
Optimum Energy LLC

Session: HIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC RETROFITS: ACHIEVING 40% TO 70% ENERGY SAVINGS

Ben Erpelding has more than 13 years of experience related to energy efficiency, demand response, HVAC design, measurement and verification, and commissioning. To date, he has worked on more than 1,000 chilled-water plants throughout the United States, China, and the Middle East.

Ben has a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and a master-of-science degree with an emphasis in combined heat and power. He is a member of HPAC Engineering's Editorial Advisory Board.

MARK S. LENTZ, PE
President
Lentz Engineering Associates Inc.

Session: EVAPORATIVE COOLING: THE GREENEST OF HVAC PROCESSES

A member of HPAC Engineering’s Editorial Advisory Board, Mark Lentz is nationally recognized for having successfully developed, tested, and proven several advanced HVAC-system strategies designed to exceed the performance requirements of ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, while meeting or exceeding the requirements of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62.1, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality. He is the recipient of numerous national engineering awards, including an ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers) Energy Award, an ASHRAE Symposium Paper of the Year Award, and an ASHRAE Distinguished Service Award.

PAUL MCCOWN, PE, LEED AP, CEM, CxA
SSRCx LLC

Session: BUSTING THE MYTH THAT GREEN COSTS MORE

In his role as a consulting engineer with the Sustainable Solutions Group of SSRCx, McCown provides LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System facilitation, retrocommissioning and energy-analysis services.

McCown serves on the board of the Tennessee Environmental Council and is an active member of and contributor to state and national professional organizations, including ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigeating and Air-Conditioning Engineers), the Associated Air Balance Council Commissioning Group, the Association of Energy Engineers, the Building Commissioning Association and the Middle Tennessee chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council.

JAMES D. QUALK
Vice President
SSRCx LLC

Session: BUSTING THE MYTH THAT GREEN COSTS MORE

As leader of SSRCx's Sustainable Solutions Group, Qualk manages and directs the marketing and sales of services that include LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System facilitation, LEED feasibility analysis, energy modeling, and commissioning.

Qualk serves on various committees of the Tennessee Environmental Council and acts as its liaison to the Tennessee Pollution Prevention Roundtable of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. Formerly, he served on the board of the Middle Tennessee chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council. He teaches a graduate-level course on electrical and mechanical systems and LEED at Vanderbilt University and lectures at the Lipscomb University Institute for Sustainable Practice.

JIM SECKEL, PE, LEED AP, CXA, CBCP
President
SSRCx LLC

Session: COMMISSIONING: A BASIC INGREDIENT FOR A HIGH-PERFORMANCE SCHOOL

Jim Seckel has 19 years of experience in the building-commissioning, consulting-engineering, and construction-management fields. He has served as commissioning agent on 10 completed or in-progress projects for the New Haven (Conn.) School Construction Program, a groundbreaking high-performance-school program. He also has commissioned several other K-12 schools in other parts of the country. He is a member of the Building Commissioning Association, the Associated Air Balance Council Commissioning Group, The Association of Energy Engineers, the Architectural Engineering Institute, and the National Society of Professional Engineers.

COLLEEN S. SMITH, PE, LEED AP, CXAP
Senior Project Manager
SSRCx LLC

Session: COMMISSIONING: A BASIC INGREDIENT FOR A HIGH-PERFORMANCE SCHOOL

Colleen Smith has more than 23 years of experience in building commissioning, controls engineering, and energy services. Recognized as an authority in the field of K-12 school commissioning, she has managed commissioning efforts on eight successful projects to date. She is an active member of ASHRAE (the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers), serving on its technical committee on electrical systems. She is a past chair of the committee and a past president of ASHRAE’s Florida West Coast chapter. She has a bachelor’s degree in electrical-engineering technology and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering.

RON WILKINSON, PE, LEED AP
AKF Group LLC

Session: THE ROLE OF CONTROLS IN COMMISSIONING GREEN BUILDINGS

Ron Wilkinson is an authority on commissioning LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System projects and sustainable buildings. He is the author of the first commissioning training program for LEED for New Construction and Major Renovations, the chair for the newly formed commissioning advisory committee of the AIA (The American Institute of Architects) Committee on the Environment, and the recording secretary for ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers) Guideline Project Committee 0.2/1.2, The Commissioning Process for Existing Building Systems and Assemblies/The Commissioning Process for Existing HVAC&R Systems.

An ASHRAE Distinguished Lecturer and an AIA Committee Education Lecturer, Wilkinson has spoken on commissioning practices internationally. He is a long-time member of HPAC Engineering's Editorial Advisory Board.

GERALD J. WILLIAMS, PE, LEED AP
McClure Engineering

Session: THE GREENHOUSE-GAS IMPACT OF VARIOUS CHILLER TECHNOLOGIES

A principal and past president of McClure Engineering, Gerald Williams is an expert on chilled water, air systems and systems analysis. Since 1973, he has taught as an affiliate professor of mechanical engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, which awarded him its School of Engineering and Applied Science Alumni Achievement Award in 2009.

From 1984 to 1995, Williams taught air-system design for energy and cost effectiveness as part of ASHRAE's (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers) Professional Development Seminar series.

Williams is a long-time member of HPAC Engineering's Editorial Advisory Board and a past president of the St. Louis chapter of ASHRAE.