Biographies

Marcel Wisznia, AIA - Principal of Wisznia Associates; B - Architecture, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana - May 1973; NCARB Certification - 1979 – Lic. #22834; Architect, Louisiana - 1977 - Lic. #2169; Architect, New Mexico - 1982 - Lic. #1443; Architect, Texas - 1982 - Lic. #9504; Interior Design, Louisiana - 1987 - Lic. #957; Member: AIA; LAA; AIA New Orleans Chapter; as a licensed Architect and licensed Interior Designer, has a tremendous track record in directing and managing multi-consultant firms on projects of all scopes and sizes.

WISZNIA ASSOCIATES (WA) is a multi-disciplinary full service design, and development firm specializing in Architecture, Interior Design/Space Planning, Land Planning/Development Planning, Landscape Architecture and Real Estate Development with 57-years of continuous practice, and additional offices, beyond the New Orleans located in Corpus Christi, Texas and Santa Fe, New Mexico. The firm philosophy is to treat each project as though it is the only one in the office has gained WA many design awards, with several projects published nationally. Specific projects include Environmental and Urban Design, Environmental Planning, Environmental Impact Analysis, Municipal Impact Analysis, Urban Design Plans and Growth Management Plans. The ingredient that sets Wisznia Associates apart is Real Estate Development. The firm has developed, designed and constructed over 1,000,000 square feet of office buildings, residential condominiums, and industrial buildings. With almost one hundred million dollars of real estate development experience, working with a budget, and stretching construction dollars, without sacrificing the product has become a hallmark of Wisznia Associates.

Myron Katz. Ph.D. Mathematics, University of California at Berkeley; Energy and Building Science Certifications: 1998 State of Louisiana Certified Louisiana Energy Rater; 2000 State of Florida Certified Florida Energy Rater; 2002 Indoor Air Quality Association, Certified Indoor Environmentalist; 2005 Oak Ridge National Laboratories, Completed Training on WUFI 3.3; 1-Dimensional, Heat and Moisture Flow Analysis software for the scientific analysis of Building Envelopes; Additional Training: 1985 Uptown Professional Real Estate School, Real Estate Agent; 2003 Certified Lighting Efficiency Professional, Association of Energy Engineers; Tulane University, University College, Adjunct Instructor; Delgado Community College, Instructor of Computer Science; University of New Orleans, Assistant Professor of Mathematics; Arizona State University, Assistant Professor of Mathematics; co-Founder of Alliance for Affordable Energy; Prime Advocate and organizer of the campaign the lead the Sierra Club to accept Global Warming as a National Priority; Board Member of The Green Project; Special Merit Award for Steering the Professional Development of Certified Louisiana; Home Energy Raters, Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, 2001; Professional Associations: Member, ASHRAE, 2006; President, National Energy Raters Association, 2003-2004; co-Founder, Energy Rater Association of Louisiana; Member, Indoor Air Quality Association; Member, Green Builders Education Committee, Louisiana Chapter of A.I.A; Member, Louisiana Chapter of American Institute of Architects (A.I.A); EPA Greenlights Ally; DOE EnergyStar Ally; Member, Geothermal Heat Pump Consortium; Rebuild America Business Partner; currently Energy & Building Science Consultant at Wisznia Associates, AIA ; Partner in NOLA Solar, Building Science Innovators, The ReGen Group & The New Orleans Carbon Exchange.

Dan G. Zollenger, Ph.D., P.E., TTI, Texas A&M University; Associate Professor in Materials Engineering at Texas A&M University specializing in pavement design, behavior and performance, material properties of concrete, and fracture and damage mechanics; an assistant Professor of Civil Engineering at Texas A&M University and an Assistant Research Engineer at Texas Transportation Institute. His major areas of interest include concrete pavement performance, pavement design and mechanical properties of concrete. His teaching duties include pavement design and construction materials. Dr. Zollinger first became actively engaged in pavement work as an airport engineer for Salt Lake Airport. He was responsible for the design and construction control for airfield and entrance road construction and rehabilitation. As a consulting engineer for the firm of Reinard Brandley of Sacramento, California, Dr. Zollinger was involved in pavement evaluation, design, construction, and rehabilitation. He has been engaged in pavement cracking control, instrumentation, testing, and development of mechanistic pavement design procedures; He is President of International Society for Concrete Pavements; a Consultant on Concrete Pavement Engineering; Consultant for Transtec Inc. providing consulting services on various research, design, and forensics on pavement issues; has been involved over the past 8 years in the analysis and development of mechanistic pavement design procedures for concrete pavements. He has conducted extensive research into the effect of sub-base and aggregate type on pavement performance. His recent research on cracking control methodology in overlay concrete pavement considers aggregate effects, sub-grade swelling, concrete mix design characteristics, fracture properties, and volumetric strain (shrinkage, thermal, and creep). A joint research project with Dr. Frank McCullough developing and improving continuously reinforced design analysis and special design features is now underway. Dr. Zollinger currently serves on two TRB committees (A2B02 - Design of Rigid Pavements and A2E03 - Mechanical Properties of Concrete) and one ACI Committee (325 - Concrete Pavements). He has also served many years as a field artillery officer in the US Army Reserve and National Guard and has held several responsible positions involving management and execution of military operations.

Bill Reed,AIA, LEED, An internationally recognized proponent and practitioner in sustainability and regeneration Bill is a principal in three firms, the Integrative Design Collaborative, Regenesis, Inc., and Delving Deeper - green building consulting, living system design, and education organizations working to lift building and community planning into full integration and co-evolution with living systems. His work centers on creating the framework for and managing an integrative, whole-systems design process. The objective: to improve the overall quality of the physical, social and spiritual life of our living places and therefore the planet. Relevant experience: Founding Board Member of the US Green Building Council, Co-chair of the LEED Technical Committee from its inception in 1994 through 203, Co-author of The Integrative Design Guide to Green Building: redefining the practice of sustainability, Served on the national executive committee of the AIA Committee on the Environment, Chair of the ANSI Committee on Whole System Integration, Served as a NESEA Board member, LEED Faculty, Advisory Board, Environmental Building News, Serves on the board of CitiLog.

Bill is a teacher, planning consultant, design process facilitator, lecturer, and author. He has participated in over 300 presentations and workshops relating to Sustainable, Regenerative and Whole System Design. He has consulted on over two hundred green design commissions and dozens of LEED projects - achieving many certifications - the majority Gold and Platinum. He is a guest lecturer at Universities from Harvard and MIT to the University of British Columbia. His clients range from New York City Department of Design and Construction, U.S. General Services Administration, Loreto Bay, Baja, Mexico, Sidwell Friends School, US Green Building Council, Genzyme Corporation, Teknion, LLC, the Willow School, various city planning agencies on the East and West coast, and many private development companies in the US, Canada, and Mexico.

Christophor R.  Faust, After graduating from Boys Town High School in 1976 and serving 8 years in the US Nuclear Navy, Christophor worked in the construction industry before returning to college to complete his education. Currently he is qualified (course & research complete) Ph.D. student in the Department of Interdisciplinary Engineering at Texas A&M University (TAMU), a registered Engineer in Training, USGBC LEED Accredited Professional, and holds BS & MS in Nuclear Engineering. Additionally he is a graduate of The George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management. During the mid-1990's he created an "Interactive" building energy design strategy for hot and humid climates and designed, engineered and built the "Passive Environmental Engineering Research (PEER)" facility on the TAMU Riverside Campus. In 2001 he designed and built the first, full-sized, passive-thermal-engine home in College Station, Texas, which is one of the most all around sustainable dwellings ever built. After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, he came to Louisiana to help empower the sustainable redevelopment of New Orleans.

The Passive Environmental Engineering Research Facility, Texas Transportation Institute, TTI Excellence in Engineering Award, Texas A&M University, Aug 1999, Recipient, A Living Breathing Thinking Environmental System, Energy Efficient Building Association Transactions, Washington, DC, 2000 Winter Meeting, Invited Presentation & Speaker, Development of High Fines Concrete for use in Residential Concrete Building Systems, Stone Review, Nations Stone Association, Jan/Fed 2000, PP 18-24, 2000, Dr. Dan Zollinger, PE, ETAL. Development of High Fines Concrete, International Center for Aggregate Research, 2000 Transactions, Summer Meeting, summer 2000, Presented Paper, The Passive Thermal Engine Hause, the Renewable Energy Round-Up and Green Living Fair, September 2002, Christophor Faust, Presented Paper, New Texas Magazine, Austin, Texas, 2004, LEED AP, US Green Building Council, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, Accredited Professional, Summer 2004, The Levee, Lang Architects/The ReGen Group, Technical Team Leader, Global Green/Brad Pitt International Sustainable Design Contest, summer 2006, Finalists, Presenter, The Standard of Sustainability, New Orleans City, Oct-Dec 2006, Principal Author and Presenter, Living Breathing Thinking Environmental Systems, US Green Building Council's GreenBuild 2006, Education Section: High Performance Buildings, Denver Colorado, November 2006, Invited Paper and Presenter, Risk Based Insurance, Presented Invited Testimony to Louisiana Property Insurance Task Force, LA Senate Insurance Committee, Senator Julie Quinn, (Feb/2007), The Sustainable New Orleans Plan, the Regenerative Net Metering Plan, the Center for Excellence within the Built Environment (CEBE), City of New Orleans, Citywide Planning Process, Jan-April, 2007, Principal Author and Presenter, Designing the Standard of Sustainability for Homes, Joint (Louisiana) Engineering Society Conference in Baton, Rouge, Jan. 18, 2007, Invited Paper & Presenter, Sustainability and the Recovery of New Orleans, City of Portland, Oregon, Jan 2007, Invited Panelist. NOLA Green Power Program, A Sustainable Energy Utility, New Orleans City Council Utility Committee, (Feb 2008), New Orleans Energy Policy Task Force, Steering Committee's "Community Representative", (April 2007-Present).

Charles Reith, PhD, PDC; Certified Environmental Professional; Ph.D. in Ecology, the University of New Mexico; M.S. in Zoology, the University of New Mexico; B.A. in Enyl Studies, the University of California, Santa Barbara; Post-Katrina Activities: Member: Sustainability and Infrastructure Committee of New Orleans Rebuild Organization; Founder: Creative Enterprise Center (Eco-industrial Park in Devastated Quadrant); Consultant: Municipal and Private-sector Clients on Sustainable Redevelopment; Sustainable Systems-Naturally Green--Laughing Crow Organics -Environmental Consulting … Entrepreneurial Activities; Executive Director … Board member of Alliance for Affordable Energy; Air and Waste Management Association (former faculty advisor for Tulane Chapter); Louisiana Latin America Strategic Alliance; National Association of Environmental Professionals (CEP #317); American Association for Advancement of Science (former Division President); Business and Industry Connection (former monthly columnist) Currently Tulane University -Fellow, Visiting/Adjunct Professor: Environmental Programs Univ. of Louisiana at Lafayette-Associate Professor / Department Head: Renewable Resources Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville-Adj. Professor: Dept. of Environmental Science University of New Mexico -Adjunct Professor: Department of Civil Engineering New Mexico State University at Carlsbad -Visiting Lecturer: Department of Biology University of New Mexico -Research Associate: Dept. of Biology AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS " Earned Permaculture Design Certificate in 2004 from Geoff Lawton and Andrew Jones " Received Roosevelt Conservation Award from President George H. Bush for civic leadership in addressing environmental problems in minority community " Earned Board Certification (and subsequent annual re-certifications) CEP # 317 from National Association of Environmental Professionals " Earned certification as Compost Facility Operator; LSU Ag Center Callegeri Research Facility " Appointed by US Congressman Manuel Lujan to chair committee addressing environmental and economic problems in minority community near Albuquerque, New Mexico " Appointed by US Congressman Steve Schiff to serve on Science Advisory Board " Appointed by New Mexico Governor Garrey Carruthers to serve as Vice-Chair of Committee drafting technical guidelines for solid waste legislation " Appointed by US Congress Office of Technology Assessment to review mineral leasing and reclamation issues in southwestern United States " Served as Program Leader and Presenter on award-winning interactive television broadcast series (NETWERC) on environmental management " Elected President of Southwest and Rocky Mountain Division of American Association for Advancement of Science " Received Atlantic Richfield Award and Honorarium for Outstanding Doctoral Research in the Environmental Sciences

Debra Lombard, EIT, LEED AP, is a sustainable design specialist for The RETEC Group. Her background is in civil engineering with particular emphasis on sustainable design, site management, and green building materials. Ms. Lombard received her B.S. in Civil Engineering from Tulane University and attended both Tulane and the University of New Orleans for graduate work in urban planning and environmental studies. Formerly with Steven Winter Associates, Ms. Lombard has more than 14 years experience working with corporate and institutional clients on a wide range of environmental, health and safety programs. She is currently working on projects for Yale University, Yale Medical School, Tufts University and other clients researching and advising on sustainable design strategies and policies. Prior to sustainable design consulting, Ms. Lombard worked as an assistant engineer on a large construction project on the Nashville Street Wharf in New Orleans, was a designer for various architectural firms, a project manager for the St. Tammany Parish Public Works Department on the first Rails-To-Trails project in Louisiana. Ms. Lombard initiated sustainable design in the first ISTEA federally funded Rails-To-Trails project. Additionally, she was a loss control engineer for Travelers Insurance and worked for a chemical engineer on design of the Washington Parish landfill in Louisiana. Ms. Lombard, LEED accredited professional, is a member of the board of directors of the Connecticut Green Building Council and a LEED technical advisor on Materials and Resources to the US Green Building Council. Additionally, she is a member of the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA), the Solar Energy Association of Connecticut and the non-profit group, People's Action for Clean Energy, PACE. She was a participant in the 2003 Connecticut Climate Change Stakeholder Dialogue.

William Adrian Buie, Jr. B.S. Electrical Engineering 1989 (NC State University);with Thomson / Dialog - Sr. Manager - Process Engineering & Project Management; Sr. Manager- Process Engineering; Sr. Manager - Application Services; Manager - Development; Progress Energy - WebMaster, Web Application Developer, Technical Writer Pacific Gas & Electric - Diable Canyon Power Plant: Consultant - Training Support, Supervisor - Accreditation Team, Consultant - Training Augmentation. Carolina Power & Light Company - Harris Nuclear Project - Shift Technical Advisor, Operations Technical Aide, Instructor - Senior Reactor Operator, Instructor - Auxiliary Operator, Instructor - Plant Specific OJT, Instructor - General Employee Training, United States Navy - Electrician's Mate, 2nd Class (nuclear)
TOTAL: 5 years Information Technology management exp. in fast-moving J2EE environment;
10 years experience as Project Manager in nuclear plant operations and software development;
4 years experience leading effort to implement RUP, from ground up, into Thomson/Dialog;
7 years Cold Fusion application development experience for intranet and internet solutions;
8 years performing job-task analysis and implementing results in training programs;
Regen support: Providing electronic/online support for team collaboration as well as web site hosting and presence provider

Prisca Weems, MSc Arch, Center for Alternative Technology/University of East London September, 2004-present. Expected graduation date: February, 2007 Advanced Energy and Environmental Studies Thesis topic: Bio and Phytoremediation of Toxic Public Land in NOLA; M Arch, Tulane University School of Architecture; Board Member, Louisiana Unified Code Council Committee; The Green Building Resource Center's current Co-Director; Built Smart Program; One of three founders of the GBRC, a project for the Alliance for Affordable Energy; current Principal of FutureProof, LLC, office locations include US, UK, Greenland; as such, Consultant in design and project management for developers wanting to integrate sustainable principles into their projects. An example is the Crossroads Clinic, an integrated medical facility to be housed in a purpose built LEED building in Central City, New Orleans; April 1998- May 2002, London, England, Principal in RTii, LLC, a small architectural firm specializing in mixed-use development, office interiors (including company development plans and space planning), bar and restaurant design; as owner of the firm, duties included design, client relations, project, permit and financial management; worked as a Partner's Assistant in one of the UK's leading low-energy design and building services consultancies, Fulcrum Consulting, London, England, where duties included model making and testing, research, general office duties.

Sara Dean, BFA Communication Arts, emphasis in Communication Design and Illustration
from Virginia Commonwealth University, Currently Consultant, Project Manager and Assistant Designer for Sustainable Design Consultancy, Futureproof, LLC of New Orleans, La.: Manages project flow for commercial and residential construction projects;  Organize inner-office and project communication strategies;   Track prices and schedules for projects. WORK EXPERIENCE: Green Building Resource Center - Graphics and Identity Design for community based resource center in New Orleans, a project of the Alliance for Affordable Energy.  Help to coordinate events and outfit space for presentations; Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) -Lead graphic and web designer:  coordinated design concept identity for national campaigns and events promoting social responsibility, corporate responsibility and accessible, affordable housing,  created new web design for the organization, including a new flexible layout system,  created design systems to maintain consistency between local offices, priced all national print jobs, and worked with printers throughout completion of projects,  created identity materials, web sites, and printed material for sister startup organizations, including new book layout system for quarterly academic journal; Circuit Studios -founded and ran a design company specializing in high quality identity and web design for small businesses, created web design from concept to launch,  developed logos and identity related materials for new businesses and managed day-to-day business operations and self-promotion. After Katrina, she has refocused her efforts on the sustainable redevelopment of New Orleans including working through Futureproof, LLC on the Build Smart Program of the Alliance for Affordable Energy.

Stephanie Mezynski,LEED AP, Stephanie has been entrenched in sustainable design for all of her professional life. She started her career in New York City while in school studying architecture and the visual arts under Colin Cathcart. From there she began to see a need to reintegrate human life back into natural cycles, and believes that through design and art we can teach ourselves that humans are a part of nature, and can use it for our benefit. Stephanie is the regional coordinator for the Louisiana Solar Energy Society, and is co-partner in ICE; the Institute for Creative Evolution in New York and New Orleans a construction management and design firm that manages the construction of environmentally minded buildings, consulting on healthy building materials and energy efficiency, solar installations, educational courses and curriculum focused on green building and infrastructure and small scale sustainable design work. She is also currently working with the REGEN Group on making the Standard of Sustainability a reality.
Ross Karson, Master’s Program in Architecture, Tulane School of Architecture, June of 2006;
spent most of my time studying the relationships between the natural environment and the city; won the most outstanding thesis award for “The Elevated Line: Sustainable Infrastructure,” a project which examined the potential reclamation of an abandoned elevated railway which runs through Chicago;  received a second major at Tulane in Philosophy with a focus on American Pragmatism; worked locally for Jon Bendernagel Architects on residential and commercial projects throughout my years at school, and currently working for FutureProof, LLC a design consultancy which focuses on sustainability. 

Eileen Beall, B.A. in Anthropology
Since graduating from Washington University in St. Louis in 2002 with a B.A. in anthropology, Eileen has fostered an interest in sustainable design, conducting independent research and working with a green builder in Wisconsin, the U.S. Forest Service in California and the maintenance department in Yellowstone National Park.
For this competition, Eileen gathered input from the local community, researched sustainable technologies, assisted in translating technological features into lay terms, and contributed text to the presentation.

Susan Marie Borden, B.S. – Individualized Studies (PR, Adv., and Marketing) and B.A.,
Major in Art, Minor in Urban Planning from Buffalo State University, cum laude; spent SP’05 in Manchester, England as an exchange student, with Urban Planning Classes; NYS Certification in Residential/ Light Commercial Building Trades; Dual Associate Degrees in Fine Arts /Humanities and Occupational Science - Property Management and Building Maintenance from Erie Community College, City Campus, Buffalo, New York, Dean’s List; computer theory at the University of New Orleans; Architectural Technology, 44.5 credit hours at Erie Community College, South Campus, Orchard Park, NY; SBA Entrepreneur Survival Training at Niagara Community College, Sanborn, New York; independent study in fine arts at Jamestown Community College, Jamestown, NY; independent study in visual arts [photography/pottery] at State University of New York at Amherst, New York; business management/accounting at Millard Fillmore College Buffalo, New York;  and Commercial Art at Daemen College, Snyder, New York; VOLUNTEERISM: Habitat for Humanity,  NOLA Volunteer – computer entry and fund raising committee;  Preservation Resource Center, NOLA – volunteer; New Orleans Businesswomen’s Association, involved in producing “Empowering Our Daughters” and invited to coordinate the next year’s career presenter’s program; National Association of Student Chapters of AIA - member, club officer, attended ’94 National AIAS Conference; Habitat for Humanity, Western New York - Erie Community College paid work study program, received Certificate of Appreciation. Currently Executive Assistant to Christophor Faust, NOLA Rising Construction Services, - post-Katrina, came cross country from Buffalo, New York to her twice-former home of New Orleans, to promote and assist in a sustainable and hopefully regenerative rebuilding in the City.

Norman M. Witriol, PhD Physics, Brandeis University; Dr. Witriol has thirty-eight years of experience as a research physicist, principal investigator, consultant, research manager, and company president on activities funded at the federal, state, university, and private level. Dr. Witriol is an innovative problem-solver and teacher who is very effective at developing and managing research groups composed of creative, highly intelligent scientists, engineers, and other professionals, and skilled at interfacing with funding agencies, leaders in the academic, science, business and political sectors, graduate and undergraduate students, and the general public. Areas of Expertise include research and research management in building science with particular emphasis on energy efficiency and energy conversation, measuring HVAC duct leakage, heat and moisture flows in buildings, new technologies in energy generation, energy storage, the development of procedures and testing for designing buildings that are healthy, safe, sustainable, comfortable, and energy efficient; also, thermodynamics, physics of materials, optics, robotics, physics modeling and computational simulation, writing and reviewing grant proposals, grant administration, and patenting. Employment and Experience: Dr. Witriol is currently President of Building Science Innovators and has twenty nine years of experience as a Professor of Physics at Louisiana Tech University. He has been a Consultant/Fellow to nine governmental and industrial organizations. He has held two appointments as a Senior Research Associate at the National Research Council (part of the National Academies, which also include the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine). Dr. Witriol was a U.S. Government research physicist at five Federal Research Laboratories. He was also a Lecturer in Physics at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Grants and Contracts: Principal Investigator (PI) for grants totaling over $600,000, with more than $500,000 funded by the State of Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, and the U.S. Department of Energy, for Building Science research. He was a Co-PI on grants totaling over $2,160,000, In addition, while employed as a research physicist for various Federal research laboratories he was a PI or Co-PI on multiple research projects. Energy and Building Science Certifications: WUFI 3.3:One-Dimensional, Heat and Moisture Flow Analysis software for the scientific analysis of Building Envelopes. Awards, Publications, Patents, Reports, Presentations: 8 scientific awards, 43 publications, 5 patents, 25 invention disclosures, and 72 lectures, presented papers, reports, and web publications.

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