A United Voice for Sustainable Home Building
The Green Builder® Coalition is a not-for-profit association dedicated to amplifying the voice of green builders and professionals to drive advocacy and education for more sustainable home building practices. We unite individual small builders, building professionals and suppliers to drive policy-change and education for more resource-efficient home building standards. We work together to determine the smartest leverage points for legislative change and provide valuable opportunities for member networking and education. We are an action-oriented community of green builders and professionals dedicated to uniting and growing our joint expertise, values and voice to create stronger standards for sustainable, more environmentally responsible home building.
Why Become a Member?
Becoming a member of the Green Builder® Coalition gives you access to a determined network of like-minded home builders, building professionals, and related businesses eager to combine voices and create forward progress in the area of sustainable, healthy home building.
History
Formed in July 2010 by Ron Jones and Mike Collignon, Green Builder® Coalition is a 501(c)(6) organization. Kate McLean serves as Finance Director and Laureen Blissard is the Technical Director.
Board members include Steve Onstad of EverGreen Building Solutions, LLC, Bill Lazar of the St. Johns Housing Partnership and Deirdre Irwin of the St. Johns River Water Management District. Drew Brandt of Hyster-Yale Group serves in the Ex-Officio role.
BOARD MEMBERS
Drew Brandt
Drew Brandt is the Director of Industrial Business Units for Hyster-Yale Group. In that role, he is:
- Owner of Industry Profit and Loss – lead change initiatives to improve profitability for Industrial Business Unit
- Responsible for Industrial vertical to include – Building Products Manufacturers, Building Products distribution, Paper and Forestry, and heavy manufacturing
- Leads the production and execution of industry strategies to achieve profitable penetration into Industrial Business Unit
- Leads investigation of Root Cause for current market share and corrective action planning and implementation to improve business outcomes
- Drives Marketing, Application Centers, Account Identification, Market Intelligence, National Accounts, Dealer Sales and Product Solutions in setting short and long-term priorities for leading industry share gain activities and is ultimately responsible for share gain for Industrial Business Unit
- Leads HYG Sales and Marketing in comprehensive annual go-to-market plans (Industry Operating Plans) as critical inputs to the company’s Annual Operating Plan (AOP) and Long Range Financial Forecast (LRFF) planning processes
- Leads execution of industry-focused sales enablement activities. Identify gaps in company performance and develop avenues for closure by vertical and segment.
- Drives efforts to profile segments and audiences to increase direct and dealer sales awareness, participation, and closure. Partner with the HYG Brand Management Team and marketing agencies/consultants to develop and integrate vertical marketing activities with brand marketing priorities
- Collaborates with Product Solutions, SPED, Pricing and Platform teams to create product, pricing and commercial strategies by industry and brand as an output of industry strategy development and communicate throughout organization
- Provides Product Strategy with gap assessments of current portfolio
- Increases HYG company-wide intelligence on assigned vertical.
- Team development and succession planning
Brandt holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with concentrations in Marketing and Management Science from Drexel University.
Steve Onstad
Steve is the Founder of EverGreen Building Solutions, LLC, which provides green building services including building science consulting, Home Energy Rating System analysis, Santa Fe green code compliance, Sustainable Building Tax Credit application assistance and LEED compliance assistance. Steve is a RESNET/HERS and Green Rater, LEED Green Rater, Passive House Institute PHIUS+Rater, National Green Building Standard Green Verifier, Water Efficiency Rating Score (WERS)® Verifier, EPA WaterSense Inspector, Energy Star Partner and DOE Zero Energy Ready Home Partner. Steve has a Bachelor of Science in Business with a minor in Engineering, Magna cum Laude, from the University of Colorado and a Masters of Business Administration from New York University.
Bill Lazar
Bill Lazar is the Executive Director of St. Johns Housing Partnership. For 32 years, he has worked with affordable housing programs in NE Florida. The Partnership provides a variety of housing services from home repairs and new construction (rental and homeownership) to credit counseling and foreclosure prevention. The SJHP owns and manages 65 scattered site rental properties in addition to owning 2 USDA multi-family properties for seniors. Bill is a licensed residential contractor and a former green rater for the Florida Green Building Coalition. He has been a board member with the St. Johns Builders Council for over 20 years and is a strong advocate for high school and apprenticeship programs. He is a founding member of the Florida Weatherization Network, served one term on the board of directors for the Florida Green Building Coalition and one term with the Green Builder® Coalition. Most recently, he has been appointed to the Affordable Housing Advisory Council for the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta.
Deirdre Irwin
Deirdre Irwin is the Water Conservation Coordinator for the St. Johns River Water Management District. With over 30 years of experience at the District, she has worked with the agency’s surface water regulatory program, water resource education program, certification program development and water supply planning. Her work as the Florida Water StarSM Coordinator and Water Conservation Coordinator involves administering the Florida Water Star program and assisting with training and outreach for the program. Deirdre works closely with District staff in the development of regional water supply plans and coordinates a utility water conservation group that meets quarterly.
CO-FOUNDER
Ron Jones
Internationally renowned pioneer of the green building movement, award winning builder, architectural designer, and the only person ever to serve on the national Board of Directors for both the U. S. Green Building Council and the National Association of Home Builders, Ron Jones, founder of GREEN BUILDER®, Co-Founder and President of Green Builder® Media LLC, is a unique individual within the sustainability arena.
Selected as Chairman of the Consensus Committee to develop the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) National Green Building Standard™, his lengthy resume of leadership bridges a wide variety of organizations, associations, industry groups, sustainability advocates and stakeholders, including seven years of service as an original member of the USGBC LEED for Homes committee.
Ron enjoys a distinguished record of industry service and green building advocacy at local, state, national and international levels. A Senior Life Director on the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Board of Directors, he served five consecutive years on the NAHB Executive Committee from 1998 through 2002, including two years as an NAHB National Vice President.
He has been a clear and persuasive voice for green building, both within the home building industry and across the wider community, throughout his years of volunteer service and elected leadership.
OFFICERS
Mike Collignon
Mike Collignon is the Executive Director of the Green Builder® Coalition, an organization he co-founded in 2010. He engages in national and state-level advocacy, and publishes a periodic Member publication and content for Green Builder® Media. Mike is the Chair of the WERS Development Group and the Co-Chair of the Next Generation Water Summit. He has presented at the National Energy Codes Conference, Pacific Coast Builders Conference, Home Performance Conference (National & Portland), WaterCon, EEBA, RESNET, Better Buildings: Better Business (Wisconsin), Green Building Focus, StormCon, AWWA (ACE & Florida), AWRA Summer Specialty Conference, Localizing California Waters, Next Generation Water Summit, Getting to Zero Forum, MEEA Conference, Sustainable Disaster Recovery Conference and WaterSmart Innovations. Mike has also delivered testimony at the IECC and IgCC final action hearings.
Finally, he has served as the moderator or host for Green Builder® Media’s Impact Series webinars since 2012, and is the Program Manager for Housing 2.0.
Kate McLean
After receiving her Bachelor of Science in Corporate Finance and International Business from Drake University, Kate began her career as a consultant at Arthur Andersen.
She later joined the Huron Consulting Group, where she started in their Strategic Sourcing Practice. Kate earned a promotion to Manager, Higher Education Procurement Solutions Practice, where she designed and implemented procurement systems for 2 universities in the California State education system.
STAFF/ADVISERS
Laureen Blissard, AIA, ALA, LEED®AP, LEED®AP HOMES, NCARB
Laureen holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in architecture from the University of Illinois and is a licensed architect in Illinois & Wisconsin as well as having received approval for reciprocal licensure across the country via NCARB certification. She has also built a successful 25-year+ practice in the design and construction of commercial buildings, multi-family projects, single family homes, and interiors. Additional experience includes ratings, inspections, and certification application processing for a variety of commercial & residential properties through LEED BD+C, LEED ID+C, LEED for Homes & LEED for Homes Mid-Rise, Energy Star Homes & Energy Star Multifamily High Rise, Enterprise Green Communities, and the ICC-700 National Green Building Standard. Other accreditations & certifications include RESnet Energy Rater, LEED for Homes Green Rater, LEED AP BD+C, LEED AP HOMES, and USGBC LEED® Faculty™, City of Chicago Self-Certification Architect, City of Chicago Registered Energy Professional (REP), and IECC 2012 Residential Energy Inspector/Plans Examiner.
As the Technical Director of the Green Builder® Coalition and an occasional writer for Green Builder® Magazine, Laureen provides technical advice and specifications in the construction of green homes and buildings as well as green building programs. Additional duties include providing programming and design expertise on the Water Efficiency Rating Score (WERS)®, analysis of green home building programs, and public speaking at national and regional events.
As the principal of the firm LTLB Envirotecture, Laureen has managed or is currently managing the verification for over one-thousand homes and/or units that are either “green” certified or in the process of becoming certified. The firm also does additions and existing home retrofits for aging in place clients on a case by case basis.
Bill Fay
Over four decades in Washington DC, Bill Fay has led seven broad-based national issue campaigns that coordinate lobbying, media, communications, and grassroots advocacy, both independently and as Sr. Vice President for America’s largest public relations firm. He has recognized energy expertise, having worked complex energy issues on Capitol Hill relating to fossil fuels, nuclear, hydropower, and electricity generation and transmission. A coalition builder, he organized and led the nation’s premier coalitions on 1990 Clean Air Act reauthorization, product liability reform, multi-year highway legislation, and President Bush’s Clear Skies Initiative. He was one of Green Builder® Media’s “2018 Eco-Leaders.”
Since 2007, he has led the Energy Efficient Codes Coalition (EECC), which has united a unique support base – from government, environmental groups, businesses, low-income housing and consumer groups, manufacturers, utilities, and labor – to advance the development and adoption of building energy codes that put America on a glide-path of dynamic building efficiency gains. EECC has helped boost the residential and commercial building efficiency of the America’s Model Energy Code (the International Energy Conservation Code) by 38% and 35%, respectively, and has worked with local and state jurisdictions to support its adoption.
From 1978-1985, Fay and served as legislative director in the U.S. House and Senate, specializing in energy, environment, tax, transportation, & natural resource policy/regulation. He has testified before 11 congressional committees, worked for the Idaho Legislature, has degrees in accounting and political science, and successfully completed the Uniform CPA examination.