NAME TITLE EMPLOYER URL CITY/STATE USGBC CHAPTER CANDIDATE BIOGRAPHY Kevin Stack Ecological Builder, BaDT, LEED Faculty Northeast Green Building Consulting, LLC www.ngbc.us Syracuse, NY USGBC New York Upstate Chapter Kevin is an ecological builder, building scientist, ecoliteracy educator for homes and communities, a Biomimicry Speakers Guild member and BaDT that designs, educations and Builds in Nature's Image. He first evoked the concept of Ecological Performance Standards, performance-based metrics that functionally mimic how the project's surrounding natural community purifies air, water and waste, manages carbon, grows food and builds soil, for example. He teaches as a visiting instructor at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and as adjunct faculty at Onondaga Community College, educating students about building science, advanced residential energy performance, ecological performance standards and ecological building. Kevin lectures, nationally, about Biomimicry from a practitioners view as a member of the Biomimicry Speakers Guild. Kevin serves as LEED Faculty (Homes, Green Rater, New Construction) and chairs the national USGBC LEED for Homes 2012 working group. He has provided building science and LEED technical support, education and Green Rater services to a variety of projects that have been certified under LEED for Homes, including five university dormitory buildings and multiple Habitat for Humanity projects. Current projects include: defining ecological performance standards for a home whose historic ecology was a cedar swamp; forming an inherently local deconstruction infrastructure based on the role of Decomposition in natural systems; providing regenerative/living infrastructure integration with building systems for an adaptive reuse warehouse; and serving as building science and innovation consultant to the three winning entries of the Syracuse University From the Ground Up Competition. Educated in forestry and biology at ESF and Syracuse University, Kevin began evolving his Building in Nature's Image system of ecological construction more than twenty-five years ago. More recently, as an ecoliteracy specialist, he has trained thousands of architects, engineers, students and human-built environment professionals throughout North America. GETTING TO KNOW YOUR CANDIDATE Why do you wish to serve on the USGBC Board of Directors? I would appreciate the opportunity to serve on the USGBC Board to advocate for both the advanced skills and traditional wisdom of previous generations of builders, much of which is being lost. I believe the USGBC can benefit from bringing ecologists, ecological builders, and the practitioner's framework of ecological design into the green building conversation and movement. Both advanced ecological research and traditional ecological knowledge confirm that all human activity is embedded in living systems, including and especially our homes and communities. Our neighborhoods and cities themselves are ecosystems, in the same way as northern forest or hemlock swamp, however unintentional the ecology has been. The USGBC is a key "ecosystem engineer" focused on restoring health and well-being to living communities. My intent in serving is to advocate for future generations, honoring the Haudenosaunee Great Law of deliberating for the Seventh Generation to Come. Summarize your professional qualifications, knowledge, and experience of most relevance to USGBC's activities. Describe your senior management and executive-level experience. I am a builder, ecoliteracy educator and founder of affiliated companies that design, educate and Build in Nature's Image. My work involves adapting the sciences of life to the construction of homes and communities, to restore, preserve and enhance ecosystem services and the health and well being of embedded social-ecological communities. I also work with diverse universities and governmental entities to design, build, and test research and demonstration homes. My consulting practice includes the design of near-zero energy homes, sustainable community initiatives including building an inherently local deconstruction infrastructure, LEED for Neighborhood Development green building, ecology and
technology support, and the development of Ecological Performance Standards. My experience also includes several university and government funded research projects, including the redesign of affordable projects to achieve LEED for Homes certification. My work is dedicated to transferring technologies, systems and building science from the custom home market to the affordable and nonprofit market. My core research includes Biomimicry, ecology, Resilience Theory, and developing ecological metrics of performance such as homes that sequester more carbon than emitted over their life. I own and operate and am responsible for the day to day management of 3 Corporations all dedicated to sustainability in the built environment. Specify and describe your participation and leadership experience in any civic, environmental, and other organizations, as well as any of your affiliations, memberships, and accreditations, that may be pertinent to your leadership at USGBC. The following leadership experience, affiliations and accreditations will help guide my potential service as a USGBC board member: LEED Faculty (Green Rater, Homes, Core Concepts and Strategies, New Construction) LEED for Homes Green Rater LEED AP Homes (2004) Biomimcry Guild - Speakers Guild Member Biomimicry Institute - Biologist at the Design Table (BaDT) RESNET Certified HERS Rater RESNET Certified Green Rater Building Performance Institute Building Analyst and Envelope Professional. National Association of Home Builders Green Verifier Syracuse Center of Excellence Charter Member, and Board Member Homebuilders and Remodelers of Central NY Board member What resources could you bring to help further participation in USGBC by diverse sectors? My background and professional experience is highly cross-pollinated, diverse and interdisciplinary, including first and foremost, working as an ecological builder, visiting/adjunct faculty at two colleges, and building science/ecological design support consultant. My education, both formal and professional, focuses in the sciences of life and of sustainability, including forestry, biology, and Biomimicry. My company also specializes, however, in constructing specialty commercial buildings, providing design support for regenerative infrastructure, adaptive reuse projects under the LEED for Homes Mid-Rise Pilot, and dormitory projects that have attained Gold LEED for Homes certification. I have also served on advisory boards at different colleges, helping to embed sustainable building into existing architectural technology and construction management curricula. I also founded a real estate brokerage, and own and manage properties. RELEVANT EXPERIENCE & QUALIFICATIONS FOR HOME BUILDER How can you help further the USGBC strategic goals of Sustainable Cities and Communities, and Green Building Marketplace? My experience and work focuses on the strategic goals of Sustainable Cities and achieving market transformation for green building. I actively present the LEED for Homes rating system as USGBC LEED Faculty (both LEED 301: Homes and LEED 401: Green Rater), the NY Upstate Chapter's residential green building advocate, and as a builder to a diversity of architects, engineers, code officials and related residential construction professionals. Applying Biomimicry and the sciences of life to our homes and communities, I created a practical framework of Building in Nature's Image, which integrates LEED for Homes, that functionally restores and regenerates living systems based on the concept of Ecological Performance Standards. I have also worked on projects that integrate the symmetries of LEED for Homes and LEED for Neighborhood Development, including the Near West Side Initiative, an existing neighborhood that achieved Gold certification under the LEED ND Pilot program. Relating to the USGBC objective of education, a key focus of my work is Ecoliteracy, developing a pattern language of green building for the building community. What are your local, national, and global experiences and skills in each of the following USGBC core competencies (as described in the USGBC 2009-2013 Strategic Plan): Outreach, Advocacy, and Collaboration? I have learned that Outreach, Advocacy and Collaboration activities are most effective when there is a cross-pollination of thoughts and ideas across these disciplines. My company is a founding member of the Syracuse Center of Excellence, itself an interdisciplinary federation of academic/industrial entities that facilitates sustainable innovations to improve health, productivity, security, and sustainability in built and urban environments. As a founding board member of the NY Upstate Chapter, along with other board members, we organized the first Green Leaders summit in New York State. I am also one of the first, if not the first, ENERGY STAR builder and HERS Rater in the country.
Education My education and ecoliteracy experience includes both university-level teaching as well a diversity of practitioners trainings. I designed and teach a holistic ecological Building in Nature s Image curricula as a visiting instructor at the SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry. The course integrates building science, environmental rating systems, biomimicry, resilience ecology and ecosystem biology as applied to homes and residential communities. As part of the class, students form integrated project teams and assist real affordable and nonprofit builders to redesign existing projects to achieve LEED for Homes certification. I also am Adjunct Faculty at Onondaga Community College, teaching Introduction to Sustainable Construction and Residential Energy Performance. I am a member of advisory boards for sustainable construction at the SUNY ESF Construction Management Department, Onondaga Community College Department of Architectural Technology, and in the past, other institutions, to integrate principles and systems of sustainable construction into their curricula. I am also Chapter faculty for its LEED for Contractors training. My company is a USGBC Education Provider. Research and Development A key element of my professional experience involves both academic and applied research in the areas of advanced residential energy systems design & performance testing, building science, regenerative design, and Biomimicry. My recent funded research projects include the NYSERDA High Performance Residential Challenge and High Environmental Performance Residence, whose partners included the Syracuse Center of Excellence, Syracuse University, including its Building Energy and Environmental Systems Laboratory (BEESL) and School of Architecture, the National Center for Energy Management and Building Technology (NCEMBT) and Energy Resource Center at the University of Illinois, and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. Other experience includes construction of the first LEED for Homes certified project in New York State, which the NAHB Research Center also utilized as a research project for its the NAHB Green Building Standard. Most recently, my research, development and outreach has involved efforts to construct an inherently local deconstruction infrastructure in Syracuse, New York. This outreach includes a proposed research element with SUNY ESF to work with relevant government and industry sources to develop salvaged wood regrading guidelines, as well as the support of Syracuse University incubated student businesses, reuse of salvaged wood products, carbon sequestration design opportunities, and salvaged wood species identification. The essence of my research focuses on bio-centric design, including Biomimicry, functionally restorative bioutilization, regenerative design and design for ecological resilience. My work involves developing ecological performance standards, Place-based metrics based on the unique living system in which the project is embedded, e.g., roofs that manage storm water like a northern forest canopy, inherently local deconstruction infrastructures that mimic the ecosystem service of decomposition, or homes that sequester more carbon than emitted over their life and habitat, as examples. Outreach I serve as an advisory board member to the ESF Green Building Conference. Advocacy I believe this refers to government-level work and activities: NYSERDA Residential Green Building Program Advisory Group. o Member of advisory committee advising primary New York State energy authority regarding standards for the first state residential green building program in the US to provide direct financial incentives to building owners to encourage construction of green residential buildings. Funding of $16.0 million over the program term for the RGBP is identified in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Operating Plan (RGGI) and future years will be tied to the anticipated revenues from the RGGI allowance auctions. NYSERDA Life Cycle Inventory Regional Database Project Advisory Group Member. o Member of group supporting the Athena Institute and NYSERDA to create a regional database for the Athena Impact Estimator software. Assist the City of Syracuse to develop its LEED green building tax incentive program Collaboration. I serve on the board of the Homebuilders and Remodelers of Central New York. Are you a home builder or an executive at an organization that has demonstrated experience in the production of green single- or multi-family residential construction? Please describe. Yes.
Describe your organization's experience in the production of green single- or multi-family residential construction. I am a builder with more than a quarter century of experience, as founder and principal of affiliated companies. I am foremost a residential builder of ecological homes that use natural passive ways to achieve near-zero energy homes. Do you have at least three years of professional experience in the production of green single- or multi-family residential construction? Please describe, including relevant dates. Yes. I started as a laborer, siding and roofer in 1972, working my way up to a supervisor responsible for constructing approximately 250 single-family, patio and town homes within 4 years. Thereafter I formed my first company as a builder, and more recently, an affiliated company to educate the public about green building, specifically how to Build in Nature's Image using the sciences of ecology and frameworks such as Biomimicry and Resilience Theory. The essence of my work is Building in Nature's Image, by embedding the human-built environment as functionally no different than the surrounding ecosystem. In this way, it becomes possible to regenerate the essential ecosystem services of the surrounding living system, as well as functionally restoring, enhancing or preserving the health and well-being of the local and regional biocultural community. Some recent and current projects include a near-zero energy home and site that quantifies and measurably restores and augments surrounding ecosystem services to match those of a reference ecosystem, an applied university research home intended to develop metrics for improved indoor air quality, and the first LEED for Homes certified project in New York State. To which local, regional, or national professional organizations (other than USGBC and its chapters and affiliates) associated with green residential construction do you belong? I am a member of the following: The National Association of Homebuilders. The New York State Builders Association The Homebuilders and Remodelers of Central New York The Building Performance Contractors Association of New York State. The Northeast HERS Alliance GENERAL CRITERIA FOR USGBC BOARD How have you demonstrated a material role in championing sustainability or green building within your organization? I built the first USGBC LEED for Homes certified project in New York State and have committed my companies to sustainable practices and provide green building training for all employees. My office serves as a showroom of Green Building products and services. I also committed my corporation to Ecoliteracy for builders, architects, engineers, code officials and related professionals that design and build the human-built environment, presenting my Building in Nature's Image framework and LEED for Homes, ND, and New Construction to thousands of architects, engineers, students and construction industry professionals. My company provides pro bono LEED for Homes Green Rater, Education & Training, and Coordination services to affordable and non-profit builders, developers and communities, including various Habitat for Humanity Chapters and nonprofit developers. My company housed the daily and financial operations of the NY Upstate Chapter as it developed from an organizing group, to Provisional Chapter, and ultimately a full Chapter with 501c3 status. Have you served on a USGBC National committee or working group within the past three years? If yes, please describe your role, participation, leadership experience, and dates of service on all of the USGBC National committees and working groups on which you have served. Yes. My experience on USGBC National committees and working groups includes: Chair of the current LEED for Homes 2012 Working Group Member of the USGBC LEED for Homes national committee, the group that drafted the LEED for Homes rating system currently in use. Have you served on a USGBC Chapter board or committee within the past three years? If yes, please describe your role, participation, leadership experience, and dates of service on all of the USGBC Chapter boards and committees on which you have served. Yes. My involvement with the local USGBC NY Upstate Chapter includes the following: Current Advisory Board member Regional Representative (2008-2009) Residential Green Building Advocate (2007 - present) Past and Founding Chair of the Board of Directors
Past Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors One of the founding members of the NY Upstate Chapter, including handling all early financial planning, accounting and management functions Helped organize the first Green Leaders Summit with other members of the Chapter s first board of directors I oversaw the Chapter s effort to achieve Section 501(c)(3) status. With other Chapter board members, we planned and convened New York State s first Green Leaders Summit to facilitate collaboration, network building, and sustainable infrastructure for local green building leaders across New York State. Collaborating with other board members and Chapter leaders, we obtained a NYSERDA grant to develop the Chapter s first website, which implements a key recommendation from the Green Leaders Summit, an online, public sustainability events calendar. I also worked with Chapter leaders to create a Sustainable Speakers Series, funded by industry and academic partners including Carrier and the Syracuse Center of Excellence. I also organized and collaborated to hold LEED trainings throughout Upstate New York. Have you served for at least two years within the past five years as an officer or a board member 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization? If yes, please describe. Yes: Syracuse Center of Excellence - Board of Directors 2007 Present; Northeast Home Energy Rating System Alliance - President (2008 & 2009); Secretary (2007). Have you served for at least two years within the past five years as a committee member of a national 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that had at least 5,000 members or was in operation for more than ten years or had a total annual budget of at least $1 million? If yes, please describe. Yes. I am a Syracuse Center of Excellence (SyrCoE) Board Member. My firm is also a Charter Member. The SyrCoE engages collaborators at more than 200 companies and institutions of higher education to solve global challenges in renewable energy, indoor environmental quality, and water resources, through focused research, technological demonstration, commercializing innovations, and workforce education. I also serve on the Syracuse CoE board committees for research and technology and its building committee, for its headquarters which is currently seeking LEED Platinum. Have you been employed for at least two years within the past five years as an executive for a non-profit or forprofit corporation, institution, or government agency with a total annual budget of at least $5 million? If yes, please describe. Yes. I am founder and president of affiliated companies that meet this threshold. In which USGBC membership category is your organization registered? Contractors & Builders To which USGBC chapters, interest groups, or organizing groups do you belong, and for how long? I am a founder, past chair, director, regional representative, and current residential green building advocate for the USGBC New York Upstate Chapter.