Florida's Sixth Annual Green Building Conference & Tradeshow
Organized by the Florida Green Building Coalition
Home 2009
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Attendee Information
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Speakers
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Keynotes
Thursday, 8:30 a.m.
Honorable Rick Baker
Mayor, St. Petersburg
Thursday, 7 p.m.
Michele A. Russo
McGraw-Hill Construction
Speakers
Click on a speaker to view his/her biography or scroll down to view all.
Bios
St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker chairs the Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida and in 2008 was named "America's Mayor of the Year" from a slate of more than 20,000 mayors in the United States.
Since taking office in April, 2001, and winning every precinct in his bid for re-election in 2005 by a 70 percent margin, Mayor Baker has led a number of initiatives that have become models for excellence and garnered national and international recognition.
Mayor Baker received a B.S in management, M.B.A. and Juris Doctor Degree with honors from Florida State University, and served as the FSU Senior Class President. He studied comparative law at Oxford University and as Law intern with Florida Supreme Court Justice Ben Overton.
Rick practiced corporate and business law for 20 years, serving as President of Fisher and Sauls, P.A., a law firm in St. Petersburg founded in 1936. He is the author of Mangroves to Major Leagues, a historical account of St. Petersburg from 3,000 B.C. to 2000 A.D.
Elected Mayor of the City of St. Petersburg in 2001, Rick has also distinguished himself in other community service. He has served as President of the Suncoast Children’s Dream Fund, Chairman of the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce, Chairman of the Florida International Museum, Chairman, Leadership St. Pete. In addition, he participated in the YMCA Neighbor to Neighbor Christmas Program, and the CONA Neighborhood Leadership Program.
Catherine (Cathy) Byrd is a licensed General Contractor in the state of Florida, owner of a design-build contracting company, Innovative Restorations Inc., specializing in commercial and residential historic restorations and partner in ARCAT LLC, a commercial infill development company. More recently, Cathy has launched a residential development firm, GreenHeights Development Corp., specifically focused on certified green workforce housing.
Cathy has worked in the construction industry since 1980, primarily in the commercial segments, with a heavy emphasis in complex renovations and historic restorations. She entered the construction industry as an estimator in the subcontracting trades while attending the University of Colorado majoring in Mechanical Engineering. Cathy is currently credentialed as a LEED AP through the U.S. Green Building Council, a Registered Certifying Agent for the Florida Green Building Coalition and a Qualified Green Building Verifier for the National Association of Home Builders
Cathy is very involved in the overall Green Building movement as well as helping to maintain the historic integrity of the Tampa Bay area. In addition to managing her companies, she also serves as a Member of the City of Tampa’s Affordable Housing Advisory Committee, Member of the Affordable Housing and Green Building Subcommittees of the Tampa Bay Builders Association, former Member and Past Chair of the City of Tampa Historic Preservation Commission, is the Past President of the Associated General Contractors of Greater Florida, a member of the Board of Directors of the Gulfcoast Region of the Arthritis Foundation, an active member of the Tampa Chapter of Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW), serves on the Technical Assistance Committee of the Hispanic Business Initiative Fund (HBIF) and is a former adjunct instructor for Hillsborough Community College Continuing Education Department teaching classes in preconstruction and construction services.
Subrato Chandra, Ph.D. is a Program Director in the Buildings Research Division of the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) of the University of Central Florida (UCF). His work has been featured in Better Homes and Gardens, Professional Builder, the ASHRAE Handbook of Fundamentals and the State of Florida Energy Code. He currently directs the Building America Industrialized Housing Partnership project sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, which has provided technical assistance to factory and site builders that has resulted in the construction of over 100,000 energy efficient and durable homes. In addition he teaches at the University of Central Florida and served as a member of the board of the American Lung Association of Central Florida.
Karen Childress is a consultant, writer and speaker on green building and green home topics sharing the experience she has gained as a leader in the green building movement in Florida. She served seven years as Environmental Stewardship Manager for a major Florida developer. She served two terms as president for the Florida Green Building Coalition and as Chairman for Sustainable Florida – Collins Center for Public Policy. Currently she is sustainability consultant to Edison State College-Collier Campus and other businesses interested in greening their operations.
Karen writes a weekly blog at her website www.GreenHomeLady.com where she shares insights on sensible sustainability practices. Her challenge to the consumer is Sensible Sustainability – Your home, Your money, Your planet.
Sylvia Durell is a Senior Communications Coordinator for the Southwest Florida Water Management District in the public education section. She has been project manager for the District’s Florida Water Star Gold Certification program since its inception and led the development of the higher-tier level. She also manages District-funded Florida-friendly landscaping education to builders and developers, homeowners, and boards and members of homeowner/community associations through 12 University of Florida Florida Yards & Neighborhood programs within the District’s 16-county area. In addition, Durell assists in the development of media campaigns and promotional materials for water supply and water quality projects. Durell attended the Art Institute of Pittsburgh for graphic design and the University of Akron for Organizational Communications. She resides in Hernando County, Florida.
Steve Ellis is CEO of MyGreenBuildings, a Sarasota based design/build general contracting firm specializing in environmentally responsible home building and light commercial construction. MGB is currently building two beachfront homes registered under the LEED for Homes designation. They are also involved in several rebuilding and retrofitting projects as well as commercial projects. Their completed homes have consistently scored at the highest levels of FGBC and Energy Star Ratings, and their most recently completed waterfront home on Siesta Key achieved the highest FGBC score of any home new or renovated in the State of Florida at the time of the rating.
Prior to cofounding MGB, Steve founded, grew -- and eventually sold a national environmental waste management consulting business -- after 12 years of steady growth. The firm services national and international fortune 500 customers, and has trained hundreds of small business affiliates throughout North America.
Steve has a BS in business management and marketing from Salem State College and is a LEED Accredited Professional. He speaks regularly to audiences about the benefits of Green Building and is active in local and regional associations dedicated to strengthening green economic development.
Tom is the Sarasota County Recycling Program and the Green Business Partnership Program Coordinator. He has worked in the environmental field for over 20 years and has a varied background in air and water quality, solid waste management and pollution prevention. His most recent efforts have focused on increasing commercial recycling rates in the county. Tom's broad background in the environmental sciences makes him particularly well suited to overseeing the Green Business Partnership program, a program that requires businesses to implement measures to address water and energy conservation and solid waste management. Tom is a graduate of the University of Nebraska with a degree in Secondary Education in the Physical Sciences and retired in 2000 from the US Army Reserves as a Major.
Heather Gadonniex has been entrenched in the green business and green building marketplace, working in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors, for nearly a decade. She is the co-founder of Green it Group, and focuses on sustainable business strategy, green building, and green marketing. Prior to founding Green it Group, Heather served as the Sustainability and Marketing Manager for Timbron International, where she incorporated a complete corporate social responsibility platform into Timbron's business model. As a result, Heather won two awards for Timbron – Social Sustainability and the Environmental Building News 2006 Top Ten Green Building Product Award.
Previous to Timbron, Gadonniex worked for Conservation Consultants, Inc. conducting energy audits and creating energy reduction programs for low income areas. She also worked with The Green Building Alliance where she spent time educating the pubic on green building and implementing the LEED rating system. In April 2002, Heather co-organized the first Sustainability Summit at the University of Pittsburgh, highlighting the topics of corporate accountability, energy security, and green building.
She holds a BA in Environmental Studies and Sustainable Development from the University of Pittsburgh, and is a Built Green certified green building professional and a LEEDAP. Heather is co-author with Trish Riley of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Greening Your Business (Alpha Books 2009).
Deborah Green has been an educator and writer most of her career, specializing in environmental and horticulture topics. She served nine years as Water Conservation Coordinator for 10 small- and medium-sized water utilities in Florida, and now runs the consulting firm Water Media Services. She works with builders to promote water efficiency, particularly in landscapes. She is a Florida Green Building Coalition certified agent, a St. Johns River Water Management District Florida Water Star certifier, and LEED AP. Active in statewide and national water conservation issues, she chaired the Landscape Irrigation subcommittee of the 2007 Governor's Florida Department of Environmental Protection Drought Task Force.
Dale Gulden, a 29 year veteran of the solar and renewable energy industry, is the Chief Executive Officer and Director of Marketing and Sales for Solar Direct and the and The Energy SuperMarket.
He holds a bachelors degree in Business Marketing and Economics from Indiana State University and was the former President of the Gulf Coast Chapter of the Florida Solar Energy Industries Association (FlaSEIA). Gulden often serves as a keynote speaker on the economic and ecological “green benefits” of solar and renewable energy technologies.
In 1986, Gulden partnered with Kirk Maust, a leading solar engineer, establishing Solar Direct as one of Florida’s premier solar contracting firms offering statewide installations in Florida. Solar Direct holds state licensing for solar, electrical, commercial pool construction, and has its own professional engineer on staff. Solar Direct also offers consulting and engineering services for large custom residential and commercial projects.
As the leader of Solar Direct, Dale has directed the company into one of the highest ranking e-commerce destinations for renewable technology. Gulden then expanded this unique model nationwide by establishing Solar Direct’s Internet presence in 1995 with TheEnergySuperMarket.com, becoming the first website to offer renewable product information and consumer eco-education along with the ability to purchase products on the internet.
Gulden’s responsibilities include oversight of the Sales and Marketing Departments, providing consultation to major clients, as well as conceptualizing future growth and direction for Solar Direct.
George Gurlaskie
Progress Energy
George Gurlaskie is a Senior Engineer at Progress Energy Florida, where he develops Alternative Energy and Demand Side Management (DSM) projects, and supports corporate strategic development. George has 22 years of experience in power systems engineering and operation. He graduated from Auburn University in 1986, with a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Florida.
His career began at Florida Power and Light, in Daytona Beach, Florida, where he addressed power system issues in several engineering and supervisory positions. In 1996, he left FPL to work for Westinghouse (later purchased by Siemens T&D), where he engineered applications for inverter based power system devices. Since 2001, George has developed emergency power systems, alternative and renewable initiatives, and DSM projects for Progress Energy Florida.
Dr. Katsvairo is the president of Arc Horizon (www.archorizon.com) which is based in Tallahassee, Florida. Arc Horizon provides consultancy on renewable energy, grant writing, and policy evaluation. Arc Horizon also provides project management services including site selection for refineries, strategic planning, feasibility studies, environmental permitting issues and procedures, evaluation of new technologies, and public relationships. We provide services for a broad range of projects including green building, biofuels (ethanol and biodiesel), wind, solar, geothermal and fusion energy. In addition, Arc Horizon works with companies developing new technologies, educational institutions and nonprofit producer organizations.
Dr. Katsvairo’s exceptional grant-writing skills have brought in over $4.5 million in grant funding. He has managed several multi-million dollar large-impact federal and state grant funded projects of national interest. Dr Katsvairo attributes this success to his unique combination of skills, including a solid foundation in sciences, training in management and understanding of policy. Dr. Katsvairo has given several grant writing workshops across the country. He is an active member of the Florida Renewable Energy Producers Association (FREPA). Dr. Katsvairo is an author of over 70 publications and a reviewer for several scientific journals.
Previously, Dr. Katsvairo worked for a subsidiary of the African Development Bank, where he evaluated projects for bank funding. Tawainga has a M.Sc. from Michigan State University and a Ph.D. from Cornell University. All degrees are in crop and soil sciences and a minor is in managerial economics.
Founder and President of Trifecta Construction Solutions, Dr. Jennifer Languell is a nationally recognized leader in educating the development and construction industries, as well as homebuyers, about the benefits of green building and sustainable development. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Materials Science and Engineering, a Master’s in Civil Engineering and Construction Management, and a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering and Sustainable Construction.
For almost a decade, Dr. Languell has been one of the country’s preeminent consultants in the creation of healthy, efficient and sustainable projects such as single-family residential homes, commercial and multi-family residential construction, land development and green building education and demonstration centers. She conducts approximately 100 educational trainings, seminars and workshops annually for the building and development industries. As a renowned authority on green building, she regularly appears as a speaker at national and international industry conferences.
In 2008 Dr. Languell won the Urban Land Institute of Southwest Florida’s prestigious Pathfinder Award, symbolic of vision and leadership in sustainability. In 2007, Trifecta received the Small Business Award from the Council for Sustainable Florida, and in 2006 Dr. Languell was named the National Association of Home Builders’ Green Advocate of the Year and also won the Council for Sustainable Florida Leadership Award. Languell is an award-winning author, and has been featured in numerous publications and television programs including: BusinessWeek, CNN Headline News, HGTV, and CNBC’s “Bullseye.” She also stars in the Discovery Channel’s environmental series Discovery Project Earth, and also serves on the National Governors Association Policy Academy on Advanced Energy Strategies for Buildings.
Since founding Trifecta, Dr. Languell has consulted with nearly 150 different businesses and organizations on the subject of green building and sustainability. During this period she has also certified approximately two-thirds of the green homes in the state of Florida using the existing Florida Green Building Coalition (FGBC) Green Home Certification Standards. In addition, she has worked on more than 250,000 square feet of ongoing U.S. Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and FGBC commercial projects, and more than 30,000 acres of FGBC Green Development projects.
Dr. Languell also devotes her time to serving on non-profit Boards in the sustainability field. She currently serves as President of the Board of the Florida Green Building Coalition. She is also a LEED Accredited Professional of the United States Green Building Council, and a Certifying Agent with the Florida Green Building Coalition. Dr. Languell and Trifecta are also affiliated with numerous organizations in the environmental, construction and development fields including the National Association of Home Builders, Urban Land Institute, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S Department of Energy and Green Globe.
Karen Leone de Nie is the research manager for Community Affairs at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. She is responsible for building partnerships and leading research and outreach efforts related to community and economic development issues with the objective of improving the policy environment and facilitating sustainable community development practices. She works with colleagues in the Atlanta District (AL, FL, GA, and parts of LA, MS and TN) and throughout the system to study foreclosure issues and neighborhood stabilization strategies, explore green development and green lending, and assess small business access to credit challenges.
Prior to joining the Atlanta Fed she was a researcher at Georgia Tech’s Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development, where she led projects related to public housing, health and built environment, multi-state regionalism, transportation, and land use. Before that she worked for the Dallas/Fort Worth metropolitan planning organization, focusing on smart growth and environmental resource management. Leone de Nie earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Wisconsin – Madison and a master’s degree in city and regional planning from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Todd Louis is a Licensed Real Estate Broker and the Director of Sales & Marketing for Tommy Williams Homes in Gainesville, Florida. For the past five years, Mr. Louis has successfully marketed homes for Energy Star and Building America partners, including Tommy Williams Homes. Mr. Louis has hosted his own radio show and has lent his expertise in radio and print advertising to multiple projects throughout Gainesville. He has won local and regional "Addy Awards" for advertising excellence. His marketing efforts at Longleaf Village, in southwest Gainesville, helped Tommy Williams Homes and Longleaf Village sell more homes over the past two years than any other Gainesville area development.
Mr. Louis has hosted educational "green tours" for many industry professionals from local builders and Realtors® to representatives from the U.S. Department of Energy and the Florida Solar Energy Center. He met with Dept. of Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman at the 2008 International Builder's Show in Orlando where he accepted a building achievement award on behalf of Tommy Williams Homes. Mr. Louis was a featured presenter for Gainesville Regional Utility's "Green Symposium" in July, 2008.
Art Monahan is president of Seacoast Cottage Company and a third generation Florida general contractor, specializing in high-performance construction. A graduate of Florida State University, Art specializes in sensitive coastal areas, and has completed projects in the US Virgin Islands, Antigua, the Dominican Republic, Florida Keys, and coastal Florida.
In 2007 he founded Seacoast Cottage Company (www.SeacoastCottageCompany) to promote traditional Caribbean and Florida architecture using the best available green building science. Their latest design, the 1200 square foot Mango Cottage, is available as a net-zero energy building package and was featured recently on WGCU National Public Radio's sustainable living program.
He currently resides with his family on Fort Myers Beach, where he is a member of the town's Marine Resource Task Force. He is also a member of the Florida Green Builders Coalition and the Structural Insulated Panel Association.
Libby O’Neill is a Senior Policy Analyst at Florida Housing Finance Corporation, a public corporation of the State of Florida, which serves as the state’s housing finance agency. She has worked with ECHO, a Tallahassee social service agency, and Florida TaxWatch, a Tallahassee-based research group. She received her Master of Social Work degree from Florida State University.
Jerry Paul is the President and Managing Member of Capitol Energy, LLC and Capitol Energy Florida Services, LLC, government affairs consulting firms that combine technical engineering, legal, political, public policy and international affairs experience in the energy field representing clients nationwide with legislative strategies and business development strategies related to energy transformation, climate friendly construction policy, alternative energy, solar energy, biofuels market development, facilities development, nuclear energy, power plant siting and energy technology development. He also serves as the Distinguished Energy Fellow on faculty at the University of Tennessee, Howard Baker Center for Public Policy.
Mr. Paul, a nuclear engineer and attorney, formerly served as the elected representative of Florida’s 71st district in the Florida House of Representatives where he served as Deputy Majority Whip, chaired the House Subcommittee on Environment Regulation and chaired the House Subcommittee on Environmental Appropriations. Additionally, he served on the committees of Energy, Appropriations, Business Regulation, Natural Resources and Public Security. His primary areas of policy focus have been energy, environment, national security and homeland security. He is well-recognized both in Florida and Washington as a leading voice on energy policy and government’s role in energy transformation.
As a practicing attorney and member of the Florida Bar for 10 years, Mr. Paul was a partner in the law firm of McKinley, Ittersagen, Gunderson and Bernttson, P.A.
Mr. Paul formerly served as America’s Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Administrator of the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Appointed by President Bush in February 2004 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, he was responsible for coordinating all activities of the NNSA at 3 National Laboratories and 5 production facilities in the U.S. along with foreign offices in Moscow, Tokyo, Beijing and serving as the senior official at the U.S. Department of Energy mission at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) United Nations (UN) offices in Vienna, Austria (2004-2006). .
In 2004, he was selected to serve as the NNSA Central Technical Authority (CTA), which is the senior decision authority for technical nuclear safety decision makingthroughout the U.S. Nuclear Weapons Complex.
Mr. Paul currently serves as an appointed member of the Congressionally-authorized, National Academy of Sciences Study Committee for the Evaluation of Quantification of Margins and Uncertainty (QMU) Methodology Applied to the Certification of the Nation’s Nuclear Weapons Stockpile.
Trish Riley is an award winning investigative reporter who has specialized in environmental journalism for 17 years. Her work has been published in major newspapers, national and international magazines and custom publications, including Hemispheres, E/The Environmental Magazine, Audubon, Natural Home, Natural Health, Subaru Drive, Sam's Club Source, Publix Greenwise, and many others. She is the author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Greening Your Business (with Heather Gadonniex, Alpha Books/Penguin 2009), The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Green Living (Alpha Books/Penguin 2007), Palm Beach, Miami and the Florida Keys: A Great Destination (Countryman Press/W.W. Norton 2005 and 2009) and The Explorer's Guide to South Florida (with Sandra Friend, Countryman Press/W.W. Norton 2009). She is a board member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, for which she co-chaired the annual national conference in 2006 and 2007, and a member of the Society of Environmental Journalists.
Trish is co-founder of www.gogreenalternatives.com, a website designed to help promote green jobs, green businesses, and green innovations in her home community and beyond. She is also the founder of www.GoGreenGift.com, an eco-starter kit to help people learn WHY and HOW to GoGreen.
Trish, her books and GoGreenGift have been featured in The Washington Post, The National Geographic Green Guide, Cooking with Paula Deen, E/The Environmental Magazine, The Miami Herald, and many other publications. Trish has been invited to speak about green topics in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, New York City, Washington DC, Little Rock and Miami.
As Director of Sales for BCB Homes, Barbie Rogers has been responsible for increasing the number of custom home sales, remodels and condo renovations, while driving the overall marketing strategy for the company for four years. She has introduced the Green building process to the owners of the company and since, BCB Homes has had over 10 custom homes certified through the FGBC and NAHB. Barbie continues to research innovative Green building methods so she can provide her clients with the necessary information when they consider building Green with BCB Homes.
Barbie has gained her vast knowledge of the industry from her previous experiences in various positions held at many creditable building and technology firms. At the Collier Building Industry Association, Barbie’s role as a Director of marketing and sales, of a 1500 member Association, allowed her to become knowledgeable within the building industry. During her time there, selling, coordinating and managing 5-10 events at one time was typical for her. She began her professional career working at different technology firms. While in school, Barbie worked part-time and held multiple roles assisting the CEO, handling Public Relations and marketing the firm at regional and national levels. Barbie has applied the knowledge from all of her previous positions and puts them into good use in today’s business environment.
Barbie has earned a respectable Bachelors of Science in Business Administration from the University of Florida. She then went on to complete her Masters in Business Administration at the University of North Florida, with a concentration in marketing.
Michele A. Russo serves as director of green content & research communications with McGraw-Hill Construction. In this role, she is responsible for helping direct the green content across MHC’s portfolio of products and services, directing MHC’s SmartMarket Report series, helping provide green construction intelligence to the media and industry, and providing communications around MHC’s broader analytic offerings. Prior to assuming her current position, Michele served as director of industry communications with MHC. Michele also participates in corporate initiatives around sustainability within The McGraw-Hill Companies.
Prior to joining McGraw-Hill, Michele worked within the nonprofit and state government sectors. Most recently, she served as executive director of the Clean Beaches Council, driving education around clean water; deputy director of the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable; and as a special assistant for the Massachusetts Office of Technical Assistance within its Executive Office of Environmental Affairs.
For the bulk of her career, Michele’s focus has been on pollution prevention and toxics reduction policy, spanning different environmental areas (water, air, solid, and hazardous waste). In all of her work, she has focused on partnership strategies involving government, industry, and the nonprofit community to find workable solutions. She has been a frequent speaker on topics related to environmental policy, pollution reduction, and green building trends.
Michele has a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Cornell University. She is a LEED Accredited Professional by the U.S. Green Building Council.
www.construction.com.
Paul Shahriari served as a USGBC Faculty Member for 2003-2008. Paul has trained over 10,000 green building professional around the world on a variety of green building topics. Paul has been contracted by leading green building organizations to develop and delivery customized training programs for the past 10 years. He developed the USGBC LEED NCv2.2 training manual, LEED Cost and Returns, and LEED for Product Manufactures. Paul has consulted with the USGBC Education department since 2003.
Other organizations around the world for which Paul has created training programs are: University of Florida, Duke University, Turner Construction, DPR Construction, Skanska USA Building, Bovis Lend Lease, Hardin Construction, Whiting-Turner, Siemens, Armstrong Flooring, Dupont, Shaw Flooring, Mannington, Masland, Mohawk, Allsteel, Steelcase, Sherwin Williams, Coldwell Banker Commercial Real Estate, Lennar Development, and BIFMA.
Stephanie Thomas-Rees is a Research Architect in the Buildings Research Division at the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC), where she has been involved with high performance buildings research since 2001. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from Clemson University and a Master of Science in Architecture from Oxford University. She currently is a member of the Building America Industrialized Housing Partnership, sponsored by the US Department of Energy, where she conducts research and provides technical and green design assistance to the home building industry to improve the environmental performance. Mrs. Rees is the co-author of Eco-House: A Design Strategy, which is in its 3rd Edition of printing. Before joining FSEC, Mrs. Rees worked for Columbia County, GA securing land for permanent preservation which included a landmark acquisition that protected one of the largest granitic outcrops in the Eastern United States. Mrs. Rees has also taught building science and environmental subjects at the University and has worked for private architectural firms as a project architect.
Jeff Thorson is the Division President for William Ryan Homes in Tampa, FL. He has been involved in the real estate industry for over 25 years and has worked in various profit center manager capacities for several national builders. He has directed the transformation of William Ryan Homes to become one of the first production homebuilders that requires each of the homes they construct to be certified using the Florida Green Building Coalition Green Home Designation Standard.
Jeff is a Life Director of the Tampa Bay Builders Association and a Past President of the Treasure Coast Builders Association.
For 25 years Michael N. Vanatta has been active in the Florida water arena and turf industry, spending much of his time speaking about the environmental, aesthetic, and performance advantages of natural grasses. He was the executive director for the Florida Water Management Institute, a statewide water-awareness, non-profit organization and served on the board for the Florida Water Wise Council. Mr. Vanatta was also an author and instructor for "WaterSmart Communities," an outreach program directed to local government officials, sponsored by the St. John's River Water Management District.
Sponsors
Thanks to our generous conference sponsors. Be sure to visit their booths during GreenTrends.
Eco-Friendly Sponsors
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Lawson Design & Engineering
(logo coming soon)
Give-a-way Sponsors
Awards Sponsors
Refreshment Sponsors
