Our Bloggers
Marcus T. (Tim) Allen, Ph.D., FIGP
Dr. Allen is the CTAR Endowed Professor of Real Estate and Director of the Carter Real Estate Center at the School of Business and Economics, College of Charleston. Professor Allen is an Editorial Board Member of the Journal of Real Estate Practice and Education (2001 through present), Academic Review Board Member of The Appraisal Journal (2000 through present) and Ad Hoc Reviewer for the Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Journal of Real Estate Research, American Real Estate Society Annual Manuscript Prize Competition, Real Estate Economics, and the Journal of Applied Business Research. Tim is the author of Real Estate Principles, 9th ed., with C.F. Floyd, Dearborn Financial Publishing, Chicago, IL, 2008. Dr. Allen has attained the Fellow (FIGP) designation of the Institute of Green Professionals.
Grant W. Austin, MAI, MMRS, M.S., MRICS
Grant is the current President of the Institute of Green Professionals,an author, expert witness, trial consultant, lecturer, expert in the green-built environment, market researcher, appraiser and land economist. In addition to his professional designations (MAI member of the Appraisal Institute, MMRS member of the Market Research Society, and RICS Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors), Mr. Austin is a Professional Member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (the world’s largest society for the integration of science and technology for sustainable development), a member of the honorary land economics society, Lambda Alpha International, an Associate Member of the Environmental Law Institute, a national Individual Allied Member of the American Institute of Architects and its Committee on the Environment (COTE), and Member of the North American Association for Environmental Education. Mr. Austin is currently on the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors EU Advisory Group on Sustainable Property Investment & Management. Grant is an adjunct professor at Florida Atlantic University, University of St. Thomas (Minnesota), and Boston Architectural College where he has developed a Graduate course entitled "The Economics of Green Building." Mr. Austin is on the Editorial Board of The Journal of Sustainable Real Estate.
Dr Ted Christie, Ph.D.
Dr Christie is a barrister and mediator specializing in environmental and administrative law. Most of the work that he now undertakes is in alternative dispute resolution (“ADR”) in the area of site-specific and policy-level environmental conflicts where divergent expert scientific opinion prevails. Apart from his legal qualifications, he holds degrees in agricultural science [BAgrSc and MAgrSc from the University of Queensland] and a PhD in Biological Sciences [from Macquarie University].
Admission to legal practice, led to the unique experience of being involved in very different roles, in a wide spectrum of public interest environmental conflicts over time, such as – (i) Commissions of Inquiry (‘Fraser Island’ as Principal Adviser to Tony Fitzgerald QC; and ‘Shoalwater Bay’ as Commissioner); (ii) The past Environmental Member of the Commonwealth Administrative Appeals Tribunal; (iii) Chair of Ministerial Advisory Committees as well as a CSIRO Scientific Advisory Committee; (iv) The grant of a Fulbright Award (for practising lawyers). Subject area in the USA, “The precautionary principle and environmental decision-making”; (v) A part-time appointment at Griffith University (as an Associate Professor) convening and teaching of Environmental Law and Alternative Dispute Resolution; (vi) The author of a major chapter on “Environmental Law” in the encyclopaedic series, Halsbury’s Laws of Australia and (vii) Private legal practice as a barrister (‘trial attorney’) and mediator.
The expertise so acquired, in very different roles, enabled him to crystallize the knowledge and to publish a book for the global market in September 2008, titled Finding Solutions for Environmental Conflicts: Power and Negotiation, Edward Elgar (New Horizons in Environmental Law), Cheltenham, UK. Key unifying principles in administrative and environmental law from Australia, the UK-EU and USA are linked to accepted scientific concepts for environmental management and protection to provide a cross-disciplinary approach to collaborative problem-solving using ADR processes to find sustainable solutions for environmental conflicts. Special features of the book are pathways for managing and resolving environmental conflicts, by negotiation, over biodiversity, biotechnology and risk, hazardous chemicals and public health, EIA and sustainability.
Ted Christie was awarded a Centenary Medal for services related to education and the law. The Centenary Medal was established by the Australian Government in 2001 to commemorate the centenary of Australia’s federation in 2001 and to honour the contribution made to Australian society and government by its citizens and other persons.
Gary L. Cole, AIA, Esq.
Gary is an Illinois and Florida-licensed attorney and an Illinois-licensed architect with over twenty years experience in design, construction and real estate development. He combines his architect's experience and insight in the design and construction industry with his legal expertise to offer a broad range of developer and architect-related services including leasing, property acquisition and disposition; design/construction transactional and litigation matters; public finance, tax-increment financing, tax credit and abatement programs and other development economic incentives; construction, mezzanine and permanent financing; land use matters; legal entity formation and joint venture agreements; state and federal (ADA) accessibility law; historic rehabilitation tax incentives and regulatory compliance; and Green construction and alternative energy facilities development. Mr. Coleis General Counsel and on the Board of Directors of The Chicago-Midwest Institute of Classical Architecture & Classical America.
Gary's blog LAW/ARC addresses law, architecture, real estate development, construction, accessibility, sustainability, historic preservation, virtual worlds, and design & emerging technology. Gary can be contacted at garycole@lawarkbuilding.com.
Mark DeKay, M.Arch., FIGP
Professor DeKay is the Director of Graduate Studies in the College of Architecture and Design, University of Tennessee. He specializes in ecological design theory and practice and isa registered architect that hastaught at the university level since 1994. Prof. DeKay’s research interest is in energy and environmental issues in building design and urban design, specifically, the impact of design decisions on environmental quality and the study of how to create ecological integrity through the form and organization of the built environment. His new work is in integral theory and its applications to design and education. Recently completed projects focus on multi-functional green infrastructure planning at the urban and landscape scales.
His book, Sun, Wind, and Light: architectural design strategies, 2nd ed., co-authored with G.Z. Brown, was published in 2001; it is a resource for designers to consider the form-generating potential of climactic forces. Prof. DeKay was the winner of the 1995 AIA Education Honor Award for the course "Environment and Buildings," a 2000 Fulbright Fellowship to the Center of Environmental Planning and Technology, in Ahmedabad, India, and a 2005 AIA/Tides Foundation Award (with Prof. Ted Shelton) for Ecoliteracy in Architecture Schools for his graduate design and technology courses. He co-edits, with Dick Kelso, the UT/RedVector online Certificate in Sustainable Design and Green Building for building professionals. Professor DeKay has attained the Fellow (FIGP) designation of the Institute of Green Professionals.
Stephen Del Percio, Esq.
Stephen is a construction attorney in the New York office of Arent Fox and a LEED AP. He is the publisher of the Green Real Estate Law Journal, holds a degree in civil engineering, and worked in the New York City construction industry prior to attending law school. He focuses his practice exclusively on serving the design, construction, and real estate industries, devoting a significant portion of his time to assisting industry stakeholders in navigating the legal risks associated with green building and sustainability. Stephen is licensed to practice law in New York and New Jersey. You can contact him at delpercio.stephen@arentfox.com or (212) 457-5542.
Grant Dorris, MIGP
Grant Dorris was born and raised in the Nashville area. He attended the University of Georgia in the '80s and returned to Nashville in 1990. He has since worked in residential construction for nearly 20 years and has seen firsthand the errors and consequences of traditional building methods.
While working for homebuilders and other contractors, Grant observed firsthand the overall quality defects, energy inefficient construction practices, and health related issues of traditional building methods. Realizing these shortcomings, Grant founded GREENCHOICE to implement sustainable building practices and applied building science to his construction/ contractor work. Grant believes that Sustainable Building is ultimately about building safe, comfortable living environments that balance with their surrounding natural environments. It is about integrating planning and design with climate and site analysis to maximize the energy efficiency, durability, indoor environmental quality and water conservation of our structures, while simultaneously minimizing waste and our impact on natural resources.
Grant has completed several green building certification processes and is currently pursuing a Master's of Sustainable Design Certificate at Boston Architectural College and holds the Member (MIGP) designation of the Institute of Green Professionals.
Certifications include: LEED AP, NAHB Accredited Green Building Verifier, Energy Star and Indoor airPLUS Partner, HERS Rater, as well as various other Green Builder Certifications. Grant can be contacted by email at grant@greenchoice.pro or 615-477-4105.
Kyle B. Dotson, CIH, CSP, BCEE, Hon. FIGP
Kyle is an independent consulting professional and expert witness in matters of occupational safety, industrial hygiene, indoor environmental quality and environmental management systems. Since 2000 he has been incorporated as the Dotson Group (www.dotsongroup.com) and is based in the San Francisco Bay area. His indoor environmental quality experience includes the evaluation of over 3,000 residential and commercial buildings, including the assessment of nosocomial risks during healthcare facility construction. His 30-year career has included the corporate roles of Vice President, EHS for Calpine Corporation, a Fortune 500 electric power generation company; Vice President, HSE for mining for BHP Billiton of Australia; and Director, Occupational Health and Safety, for the global mining and manufacturing company, Phelps Dodge (not Freeport-MacMoRan). Mr. Dotson holds a Master's degree in Environmental Science from the University of Texas at Dallas. He is a Certified Industrial Hygenist (CIH), Certified Safety Professional (CSP), a Board Certified Environmental Engineer (BCEE), and an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Green Professionals (Hon. FIGP).
Barry Katz, CGP, LEED AP, MIGP
Barry is a sustainability and green building consultant, as well as one of Connecticut’s leading proponents of green design and construction. A home builder with more than twenty years experience in new construction and remodeling, he now works exclusively on green design and construction projects and is the recipient of the 2007 HOBI Award for Best Green House from the Home Builders Association of Connecticut. Barry has attained the Member (MIGP) designation of the Institute of Green Professionals.
Barry's speaking engagements have taken him as far afield as San Diego for “Reinvention 2006,” sponsored by Residential Architect magazine, and to the Boston Society of Architects’ Residential Design Conference where he presents an annual green building workshop for architects and building professionals.
Barry is a former chairman of the Westport, CT Architectural Review Board. He is a part-time painter and an amateur pianist. His published writings have included newspaper columns on home improvement, and magazine articles on green building, architecture and the arts. He is currently at work on a book, “Practical Green Remodeling: Down-to-Earth Solutions for Every Day Homes,” due out from Taunton Press in early 2010. His blog, The Future is Green can be found at http://tfigblog.com.
Ron Wilson, Principal/Electrical, M+NLB
Ron Wilson is a Principal and Mission Critical Sector Lead with Mazzetti Nash Lipsey Burch (M+NLB www.mazzetti.com). He has over 25 years experience in electrical engineering practice for the construction industry, with a specialty in data center and mission critical facility design. Ron has developed technical standards for many firms and performed facility analyses, master planning, and peer review for many Fortune 500 companies, as well as leading electrical engineering efforts for their highly reliable facilities. Ron has also been involved with energy efficiency efforts in data centers since 2003, when he was invited to attend the Integrated Design Charrette on High Performance Data Centers hosted by the Rocky Mountain Institute (www.rmi.org). He has audited dozens of facilities and provided energy conservation recommendations for improving energy efficiency while retaining (or increasing) processing power.
Ron also leads the commissioning group for M+NLB and has significant experience in commissioning and re-commissioning of mission critical, healthcare and higher educational facilities. He currently leads a multi-building LEED commissioning project for the Los Angeles Community College District, which is considered the largest campus-wide green building program in the country.
Andrew Michler, LEED AP, MIGP
Andrew Michler has lived off the grid in Masonville, Colorado since 1995. His work for the last fifteen years has been in sustainable building and design as both a design/builder and consultant. He publishes the sustainable line blog, and guest writes for blogs and newsletters as well as giving regular workshops and presentations. He is the owner of Baosol llc Adaptive Building Consulting, a green building consulting company that specializes in design, education and advocacy. He gives workshops and presentations on how to adopt green building principles by setting priorities and using integrated design. He is co-founder of the Green Collar Guild of Northern Colorado a non-profit that creates partnerships with building professionals, companies, local government and other nonprofits to foster the development of the green building market. He is chair of the Northern Colorado Renewable Energy Society (NCRES) a sub-chapter of the American Solar Energy Society. His work is directed at helping to develop a low entropy society.
He has both a Green Homes and Green Buildings certificate from the Institute for the Built Environment at Colorado State University and is a LEED accredited professional and has attained the MIGP designation of the Institute of Green Professionals. You can email him at andrew@baosol.com or visit his websites http://www.baosol.com and http://www.baosol.blogspot.com.
John Neville
John is the President of Sustainable Arizona, has been involved creatively in sustainable development and communications for more than 30 years. He has helped organizations with sustainability systems, business communications and management practices, culture and leadership development, and diversity enhancement. John has conducted corporatewide sustainability performance assessments and strategic environmental information planning, produced EHS programs for compliance and beyond compliance training, created environmental annual reports and newsletters, codified and encouraged corporate culture programs, written TQEM plans, and prepared ISO and EPA communications. Currently, John is USGBC LEED-AP and is on the board of the Arizona Solar Energy Association. He provides sustainable systems, business development and communications consulting to businesses and municipalities and is a frequent guest speaker. He also serves on the board of the Coconino County Sustainable Economic Development Initiative, co-chairs the Sustainable Tourism Team, works on the education, metrics and policy, communications and development teams. In addition, John consults with the Verde Valley Wine Consortium, is on the leadership team of the Sedona Water Wise Alliance, and assists with green and charitable efforts in his community. The home he designed in Sedona has received four awards for excellence in sustainable building, conservation and low impact living. Recently, John and his wife, Jawn McKinley, were recognized by business groups and the City of Sedona for their efforts in fostering sustainability and leading water conservation activities.
Geoffrey M. White, Esq., FIGP, Senior Associate, Frost Brown Todd LLC
Mr. White's practice is focused on representing lenders, owners, investors, developers and managers in the workout, servicing, financing, purchase, sale, development and management of commercial real estate properties. Healso advises clients on green/sustainability issues arising in relation to real estate and construction matters.
Mr. White has represented life insurance company and FHA-insured lenders in connection with a multitude of servicing related matters for both distressed and non-distressed properties. Mr. White has previously representedlenders in closings of more than $1 billion in loans in forty states. These loans have been for the new construction, purchase or refinancing of retail shopping centers, hotels, apartment complexes, industrial properties, senior housing projects, nursing homes, assisted living facilities and board and care facilities, involving various structures, including, but not limited to condominium regimes, planned unit developments, ground leases, master leases, cross-collateralizations, mezzanine financing, partial defeasance, low income housing tax credits and historic tax credits.
Mr. White has attained the Fellow (FIGP) designation of the Institute of Green Professionals and has also been accredited a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Associate™ by the U.S. Green Building Counsel (USGBC™).
Mr. White graduated cum laudefrom the University of Michigan Law School in 2003 and magna cum laude from Mary Washington College in 2000 where he double majored in history and political science.
Mr. White is also a member of the Firm's Diversity Committee and Website Committee.
Mr. White is very active in the community. He is a member of the Board of Directors and the Director of Diversity of the Young Professionals Association of Louisville, where he helps to connect and engage metro Louisville's young professionals through community, professional and social opportunities. He is a founding member of the Governing Directors of The Crossing Generations Society, the young leaders committee of the Louisville Chapter of the American Red Cross. He has also volunteered for Habitat for Humanity, Brightside and the Special Olympics.
Mr. White's full bio is available at: http://www.frostbrowntodd.com/lawyers/detail.aspx?lawyer=fa4ff8b2-c9b1-4fab-91d5-0002ba992b0e&show=al.
Eric A. Woodroof, Ph.D., CEM
During the past 15 years, Eric A. Woodroof, Ph.D., has helped over 400 organizations and governments improve profits with energy-environmental solutions. Dr. Woodroof is the Chairman of the Board for the Certified Carbon Reduction Manager program and he has been a Board Member of the Certified Energy Manager Program since 1999. Dr. Woodroof has advised clients such as the U.S. Public Health Service, IBM, Pepsi, Ford, Verizon, Hertz, Visteon, JPMorgan-Chase, Universities, Airports, Utilities, Cities and Foreign Governments. Thousands have attended his courses and his work has appeared in hundreds of articles. Dr. Woodroof is a strategic advisor, corporate trainer and keynote speaker. Eric is the founder of ProfitableGreenSolutions.com and his direct line is 888-563-7221. His full bio is available at: http://www.profitablegreensolutions.com/about-eaw.html
