Leadership

If you are interested in learning more about how you can join the BGBG Board of Directors click here.

 Staff

Julie Herman, Executive Director, julie@bgbg.org, 303.926.2684
Julie Herman is a planner and landscape architect with over 15 years' experience developing, implementing, and managing environmental and community development projects. Most recently, Julie was a Program Consultant for the Orton Family Foundation. She also worked with PlaceMatters, a non-profit organization designed to help communities improve the quality of results and the overall democratic nature of land use planning and community development through the application of decision support tools and systems. She has co-authored articles on decision support tools for the American Planning Association, including a chapter on Visualization Tools for Planning and Urban Design Standards, published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. in 2006, and "Visualization Tools to Improve Community Design and Decision Making," a PASMemo American Planning Association Newsletter, November 2003. Julie earned a B.A. in Environmental Studies and History from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and a Master's degree from the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of Colorado at Denver. After graduate school, she served as a project manager at the Colorado Center for Community Development, providing technical planning and design assistance to rural Colorado communities. Julie also provided consulting and project management services to the Colorado Scenic Byways project and the Sustainable Futures Society, and served as manager of the air quality program at the City of Boulder Office of Environmental Affairs.


Meagan Forney, Admin. Assistant/Member Manager, meagan@bgbg.org, 303.447.0901
After a circuitous route through life, overseas travel and then back to college, Meagan graduated from Oberlin College with a degree in Environmental Studies in 2002. As an undergrad, she studied environmental policy and green buildings under the guidance of Professor David Orr, and had the experience of being a student “commissioning agent” of the Adam Joseph Lewis Center, (One of the Top 10 Green Projects in 2002, American Institute of Architects ). After school, she made her way to Boulder, where she has had the experience of assisting many non-profits in defining efficient operations and effective member outreach and volunteer recruitment. She desires to help solve the need for education of sustainable building technologies and promotion of cost effective implementation and is excited to bring her skills to the Boulder Green Building Guild.





Heather Braithwaite, Events and Outreach Coordinator, heather@bgbg.org, 303.447.0901
Heather holds a degree in Environmental Studies with a focus in sustainability from the University of Colorado- Boulder.  Currently she works for both HarcourtBrown Energy and Finance as a Research Analyst and for the Boulder Green Building Guild as the Event and Outreach Coordinator.  As a research analyst, she is responsible for providing research support on issue briefs related to energy efficiency financing including PACE programs, on bill finance and related issues. She has researched building codes and appliance standards for an issue brief for state policymakers, and provided ongoing support for energy efficiency finance and energy policy efforts. As an event and outreach coordinator, Heather is responsible for the development, marketing and outreach of green building educational events in her County.

 Board of Directors

Aaron Nelson, (President) anelson@progressbuilding.net, 303.572.1536
Aaron Nelson oversees operations of the Alliance Center, an Denver-based organization working to advance environmental, economic, and social sustainability in Colorado by building broad support among individuals, nonprofit organizations, businesses, and government. He is a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional (LEED AP) for Existing Buildings (April 2006) and New Construction (October 2006). He also earned a Denver Green Building Program Certificate in December 2005.







Adam Stenftenagel, adam@sustainablybuilt.com, 303.447.0237
Adam entered the field of green building in early 2004. He served as a steering committee member of the Boulder Green Building Guild for 2 years, and is a LEED AP. Adam led a successful campaign to bring FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified dimensional lumber to Boulder, and remodeled two housing cooperatives with green building techniques. With the Center for ReSource Conservation (CRC), Adam managed a construction job site recycling program for the Holiday Development in North Boulder and was a green building consultant for numerous building projects as well as an adviser to the development of Boulder County's Build Smart program. As acquisitions manager of ReSource, Boulder's reclaimed building materials sales yard, he developed a successful materials salvage business, created a pilot program for carpet recycling, and helped craft the deconstruction and recycling requirements for the city and county of Boulder. In the summer of 2007, Adam formed the limited liability company, Sustainably Built. A RESNET-certified energy rater, Adam performs HERS ratings for new construction and remodeling projects throughout the Boulder and Denver Metro area. He also consults on many cutting-edge projects, including net-zero energy homes and the unique cost-neutral energy development, GEOS.


Alex Cassidy, alex@wwreynolds.com,  720.232.6166
Alex Cassidy is a practicing licensed architect currently working for the WW Reynolds Companies in Boulder. A native of Madison Wisconsin, he has an undergraduate degree from CU’s College of Environmental Design and a graduate degree from Arizona State University.  Alex has over 13 years professional experience working on a wide range of public and private sector buildings including houses, schools, public buildings, lofts, retail, mixed use and historic renovation projects.
His love of buildings and the built environment began as a construction laborer and grew as he worked his way through college as a general contractor in Boulder. Professionally Alex has worked for DLR Group in Phoenix, RNL Design Denver and DTJ Design, Communication Arts & P.N. Eklund Interests all of Boulder. Alex has been involved in communities throughout Colorado as a student, professional, volunteer and resident.  Relevant activities include the AIA North Board of Directors, Habitat for Humanity, the Montezuma Colorado Town Board and helping with Historic Boulder home tours. In his spare time Alex loves travel, photography, water coloring, biking and is currently studying for the LEED GA exam.

Ann Livingston, alivingston@bouldercounty.org 303.441.3517
Ann is currently serving as Boulder County's first Sustainability Coordinator. She works to increase the sustainability of the County as an organization and on efforts to improve the sustainability of the County as a whole. This includes numerous collaborative efforts with the municipalities in Boulder County, the University of Colorado, non-profits, utilities, and the private sector. Ann has received a Bachelors degree in English from the University of Florida (1995) as well as a Juris Doctorate and Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Environmental Policy (2000) from the University of Colorado. She has worked in the non-profit, academic, professional association, and government sectors. Her previous work at the Natural Resources Law Center, Environment Colorado, the Wirth Chair in Environmental and Community Development Policy, and the American Institute of Architects among others provides her with a unique perspective on issues related to sustainability. She has extensive experience in working with diverse groups in a collaborative manner in order to promote sustainable communities, including matters related to energy efficiency, renewable energy, transportation, land use, zero waste, forest health, and green jobs.

Clay Dusel, clay@duselbuilders.com 303.523.6631
Clay Dusel is the owner of Dusel Custom Builders, a local remodeling company.  A graduate of C.U.s environmental studies program, clay has been focused on green building for over 15 years.  After working for various outfits, Clay started his own company in 2003, with an eye toward sustainable construction and exceptional customer service.   Clay Joined the BGBG soon after it was formed, and is excited to serve on the board of an organization that has given him so much. Clay is excited to bring his "boots on the ground" perspective to the BGBG leadership team.  Working daily with subcontractors homeowners and suppliers, Clay has the unique perspective of seeing how the general public views green building, and how we can work to educate and inform the general public. Clay wants the BGBG to become the preeminent destination for people seeking information and professionals to make their projects more beautiful, functional and sustainable.





Gwénaël Hagan, (Treasurer) GHagan@solarglass.com 303.442.4277 x103
In 2006, after a twenty-four years career developing global partnerships and alliances, launching international operations, running business units, serving on not-for-profit boards, and securing financing for new initiatives, Gwenael Hagan purchased SolarGlass Window & Door.  SolarGlass, a twenty-seven year-old organization, serves the Front Range with showrooms in Boulder, Denver, and Ft. Collins.  We proudly offer Marvin, Integrity, Milgard, Therma-Tru, and Velux product lines.
In searching for a business to own, Gwenael prioritized an involvement in residential / light commercial construction, a direct relationship with customers, and the ability to differentiate based on service excellence.  After 2 years, the team – with its decades-long tenure - remains intact, significant investments in service are in place, and Santa Fe, New Mexico has become the company’s fourth location.




Karen Strawn  Karen@arcadiadesignstudio.com 303.823.0754

Inspired by her wide range of knowledge in health education, as well as personal struggles with environmental sensitivity, Karen Strawn is committed to educating families and organizations in the benefits of safe, non-toxic environments through her company; Healthy Ecologies.  Karen holds a B. S. in Child Health Education,  is a certified nutritionist and was a practicing gold/ silversmith for over 15 years. Her 18 year partnership in Arcadia Design Inc; a custom design Furniture Company, has allowed Karen to explore and implement sustainable business practices in the industry. As an active member of the Boulder/Lyons community, she takes part in many local organizations and health activism networks.

Kevin Afflerbaugh,afflerbaughk@bouldercolorado.gov   303.441.4191                                    
Kevin Afflerbaugh is currently the Energy Sustainability Coordinator for the city of Boulder.  He focuses on working with the commercial sector to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through increasing energy efficiency and renewable energy.  He has a strong background in creating environmental programs for the commercial sector through his work both in the city of Boulder and the city of Santa Barbara.  Kevin's varied work history, where he has held jobs ranging from a financial auditor to an environmental educator, has help shape his current skill set.  Kevin holds a Bachelor of Business degree from the University of Michigan and a Masters of Environmental Science and Management from the University of California, Santa Barbara.  When Kevin is not working towards sustainability, you can find him either playing outside or watching Michigan football.

Mark Kostovny, mark@solarvillagelife.com 303.247.9400
Mark is one of the founders of Solar Village Homes, one of the leading green focused architecture and design build firms in the country. He was also on the board for the Center for Resource Conservation for 7 years and was intrumental in bring the CRC to a new level including the hiring of Tom Plant. For 8 years he was part of the senior management at Financial Energy Management, EUA Highland, and Architectural Energy Corp where he implemented over $10m in efficient building control, HVAC, lighting and other energy conservation system installation projects across the Denver Metro area.  He is also a LEED AP for Homes professional.

Ron Flax, Ron@rodwinarch.com 303.314.5886
Ron Flax, Associate AIA, LEED AP, is an Associate and Project Manager at Rodwin Architecture and has been a member of the sustainable building community for the past 14 years.  He has experience with both residential and commercial green projects, including the second LEED Platinum Home in Colorado (which was the highest scoring home in the country at the time of its certification).  He has a passion for the technical details of high performance green design.  Ron worked for six years for an innovative local production homebuilder, where he helped lead a number of sustainable design initiatives, including energy-efficient HVAC systems, advanced framing, indoor air quality, mold prevention, building durability strategies, and overall construction quality strategies.  Ron also performed job site inspections and contractor training for new green building techniques.  Ron enjoys teaching and has been giving lectures and classes about green building techniques for a number of regional organizations (both public and private).  Most recently, Ron has worked shoulder to shoulder with many other BGBG members - HERS raters, insulators, HVAC contractors and green materials vendors on his Martin Acres home, transforming it from a HERS 186 to a HERS 20 – affordably.  The green remodeling field is an essential frontier of local carbon reductions and is of particular interest to Ron.  Ron received a Master of Liberal Studies from St. John's College in 1992, and a Master of Architecture from the University of Colorado in 2006.
 

Spenser Villwock, (President, Ex-Officio) svillwock@resourceyard.org, 303.419.8534
Spenser Villwock is the Deputy Director for the Center for ReSource Conservation, CRC (www.ConservationCenter.org), an environmental nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering our community to conserve natural resources.  Spenser oversees the CRC’s energy conservation, water conservation and the ReSource Reclaimed Building Materials divisions.  Spenser was raised in Iowa and has lived in Portland, Oregon, rural Japan, and Baltimore, Maryland prior to relocating to Boulder in 2007.  With professional experience in sustainable building and remodeling, community organizing on environmental issues, population-based philanthropy, leadership development, organizational capacity building, and running two start-up companies, Spenser focuses his current efforts at the CRC on maximizing conservation program impact. 

Additionally, Spenser holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature, a Master's Degree in Non-Profit Management, and is a LEED-AP for Existing Buildings.

Sandra Weeks, (Secretary)  sandra@bluespruceconst.com 303.359.8854
Sandra Weeks has been devoted to building in an environmentally conscious way for over eight years. She has been in construction in Boulder for over twenty five years and is the President/Owner of Blue Spruce Design and Construction, a Boulder-based general contracting company. She has remodeled many residences in Boulder County as well as commercial projects including local restaurants and mixed-use buildings in an environmentally responsible way. She makes it a point to educate her partners and clients about the resources available to make a home or business more energy efficient. Most recently Sandra completed Ellie’s Eco Home Center, and set a standard in the community with the construction of a luxury green residence as well as a mixed use building on 15th Street that was LEED qualified. She has been a member of the BGBG for over two years and is an active member of the Commercial Committee.

Advisory Board

Kim Master,Green Building Consultant, KNL Advisors, kathrynmaster@gmail.com, 303.953.9912
David Johnston, President, What's Working, Inc., david@whatsworking.com 303.444.7044
Michael Shuster, President, Wildwood Joinery & Design, mshuster@indra.com, 303.684.6604
Eric Doub, President, Ecofutures Building, ericdoub@ecofuturesbuilding.com 303.415.9694
Joseph Vigil, President, VAST Architecture, Joseph@VaSTarchitecture.com 303.442.3700