Sustainable Building Design Feature: An interview with Mark Wilhelm
Director, Climate and Clean Energy with Tierra Resource Consultants, LLC
What year did you start working in Sustainable building design and retrofits?
I started working in this area in graduate school, back in 1979, where I attended ASU for Environmental Planning which was focused on two key areas: energy efficient building design and solar energy systems. I was involved in some building designs for cold and warm climates as a graduate student.
What was the catalyst for your work in this area?
I had an epiphany while I was queued in a line at a Massachusetts gas station during the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo. I spent 90 minutes in that line, which gave me lots of time to think about the stupidity of our situation! I decided that the US shouldn’t rely on polluting, limited natural resources from politically unstable countries halfway around the world. I decided that I would try to do something about that in my career.
This led to my education at UMASS in economics, environmental science, and the intensive Global Survival Freshman Year Program, where I was a student of Bucky Fuller. Bucky taught us that “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” Makes sense, right? That became my mantra.
At UMASS I also learned about anthropogenic GHG emissions and the Keeling Curve from Dr. Haim Gunnar. He taught us that the enormous quantity of greenhouse gasses that we emit to the atmosphere every year from burning fossil fuels could eventually lead to another major extinction event on planet Earth.
Bucky also taught us that “we are called to be architects of the future, not its victims”. I took that literally! I realized that people spend 90% of their time inside buildings, and that buildings use a lot of energy, and as a result, they are responsible for a lot of the greenhouse gas emissions.
So – I figured that is where I would focus my career: developing new models of communities, campuses, and built space that would change the paradigm of building wasteful, carbon-intensive buildings everywhere.
I also leveraged Bucky’s philosophy to chart my career. He said that “society operates on the theory that specialization is the key to success, not realizing that specialization precludes comprehensive thinking”. Systems thinking and synergy are critical! For that reason, I focused on a broad education in economics, architecture, engineering, and planning to expand my focus on the built environment.
Most memorable project?
There are three amazing projects that contend for most memorable:
The APS Environmental Showcase Home. It was a 2640 square foot home that demonstrated 150 sustainable technologies and systems. It consumed 85% less energy and 60% less water than a conventional home in the Sonoran Desert. It attracted 40,000 visitors, reached 10 million Americans through free media, and spawned a book (The Environment Comes Home), a PBS television series (This New House), and the Green GoodCents utility program. This was before LEED, but it would have been Platinum for sure! Our design was originally Net Zero, where there would be no electric bills, but since I was working for an electric utility, I was advised to take some of the solar panels off the roof so that the bills would be about $35 a month…!
The Applied Research and Development Facility at Northern Arizona University was another amazing project. The ARD is a 60,000 square foot laboratory building. It was one of the greenest laboratory buildings in the world. It earned LEED Platinum certification with the third highest point total ever. The ARD used 88% less energy and 60% less water than the baseline building. It was an amazing project that inspired many students, faculty, and staff at Northern Arizona University.
The last “Most Memorable Project” was leading a team to develop a Climate Neutrality Roadmap for Arizona State University. ASU is one of the largest, fastest-growing research universities in North America. While at Ameresco, I engaged a team of 30 professionals, including several subject matter experts from Rocky Mountain Institute and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. We outlined a path to transition ASU’s 23 million square feet of existing buildings, 12 million square feet of planned buildings, and 77,000 students to climate neutrality at a lower net present cost than the business-as-usual scenario. We had never seen such a positive financial outcome from a climate neutrality roadmap. As a result, ASU reached carbon neutrality for buildings in 2019 – six years earlier than planned! Click here to learn more
Current work in this area?
I am focused on many areas, from desk engineering and project development to business drivers and policy.
· The Keys to Passive House Design for the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).
· Roadmapping and digital twinning technology with expert guidance.
· Analyzing heat pumps that perform in the winter (dual fuel, variable capacity, ground source) to reduce winter peaks for electric utility grids.
· Helping clients evaluate net zero and climate positive building strategies.
· Developing microcredential coursework for students and professionals.
· Helping Mohawk College with various sustainability initiatives.
Types of most effective measures to get to net zero?
Passive House design, energy recovery ventilation, heat pumps, solar plus batteries, waste heat recovery, electric vehicles, and integrated, smart controls. The latter can be leveraged together with electric utilities to help defray the cost of construction and operation.
Barriers to change?
Cultural. Knowledge. Too many conspiracy theories. In the US, too much money is being put into media and messaging to keep the status quo and fight the transition to the low carbon economy.
Media doesn’t spend enough time discussing climate change and its impacts, so people don’t really know much about it or the solutions that can be taken to mitigate it.
Decisionmakers need to find the capital needed to fund mitigation and adaptation projects. They can do this through capital stacking and tapping all the tax credits, grants, utility incentives, and such that are available. They also should get creative with project delivery methods, like using an Energy Performance Based Design-Build process instead of a typical Design-Build approach.
Other key barriers are the lack of realistic carbon pricing (its still too low to drive action), regulations, policies, and incentives to stimulate investment in decarbonization.
We also need comprehensive, integrated approaches to decarbonization. Short term, incremental actions don’t drive the transformational strategies that we need.
Lastly, people generally dislike change and the unknown! These are strong barriers to change, and they can be very difficult to overcome.
Factors that affect readiness?
Many factors affect readiness! I usually investigate a litany of factors before proposing work to a client. Why are they interested in building sustainably? What is driving it? What are their sustainability goals? Is the C-suite truly bought in? IS there an engaged executive champion for this effort? Are there KPIs related to sustainable operations and performance within the organization? Is sustainability integrated into their organizational mission and vision? Are resources (bodies and bucks) available to make the work successful? What sustainability programs have they implemented so far? Have they completed a GHG emissions report and published it? If so, then for how long have they done this? How are they reporting internally and externally about their ongoing initiatives and progress? Have they developed a strategic decarbonization plan or roadmap to push these initiatives forward? Is there an empowered team that keeps watch over these sustainability initiatives and can adjust priorities and resources? Answers to these questions tell me how serious the client is about doing something transformational, which is directly proportional to my level of interest!
Leadership qualities required to sustain momentum in this area?
Leadership needs to be visionary and committed to achieving stretch goals in the short-term and the long-term. They need to empower people to search for creative solutions. They should take a systems approach to sustainability initiatives and be willing to report and share their results both internally and externally. Leadership also needs to integrate sustainability goals and initiatives into the organization. They need to implement pertinent KPIs, metrics, tracking and reporting systems to keep the initiatives on the radar.
Biggest opportunity for student learning/engagement?
Stay open to opportunities in the sustainability field because it is always in flux. Educate yourself – don’t just rely on the materials and lessons that your teachers provide. Volunteer and/or take on an internship to grow your knowledge.
Tell me about your experiences with teaching in this area?
I’ve taught sustainable building design, construction, operations, and LEED directly to over 6,000 professionals worldwide. I also owned a training, building science, and consulting company that reached another 20,000 professionals and students through electronic and classroom training.
I’ve served on advisory boards for higher education institutions like ASU, Mohawk College, and the Association of Energy Engineers. I’ve also written and delivered curriculum through microcredential and degree-track courses.
Like you and Tim, I am committed to building the capabilities and capacity needed to accelerate a successful transition to the low carbon economy.
How do you engage stakeholders tell me a bit about that process?
We conduct focused stakeholder interview at the start of most projects. This effort accelerates our understanding of the opportunities and obstacles to achieving targeted goals. By doing this we learn things that aren’t published in the scope of work or annual reports. We also tend to revisit the “quotable nuggets” from these interviews throughout the project to help facilitate progress.
For longer term projects, we like to facilitate summits or symposiums with stakeholders to keep them engaged, vet strategies, help them understand their roles, and make implementation as smooth as possible.
Any important partners in this field to watch out for?
We have many partners in different fields, so it just depends. Some are big and some are small!
ASU and Mohawk College are strong partners and sustainability leaders in higher education. Trane has some nice HVAC solutions with their “storage source heat pump” and thermal storage technology. HH Angus has a growing focus on low carbon district energy systems. Orbis Dynamics has an exceptional way to leverage digital twinning and AI technology to improve sustainable development of cities and campuses. Gray2Green has some great strategies to accelerate sustainability consensus and progress within organizations.
Bio
Mark is Director, Climate and Clean Energy with Tierra Resource Consultants, LLC and a co-founder of Climate Change Leaders and Gray2Green Solutions. He has 36 years of experience in the electric utility and energy industries, with expertise in CSR/ESG leadership and sustainable building design, construction, and operations. He develops and anchors aggressive sustainability, energy efficiency, renewable energy, and carbon reduction strategies for clients. His specialty is guiding clients toward cost-effective, energy efficient and carbon-neutral operations. Mark served as the first chief sustainability executive for Ameresco, the largest energy services firm in North America. His consulting experience covers sustainability management, energy and carbon reduction technology research, evaluation, strategy, program development, and implementation. He has consulted on 70 MSF of high-performance buildings and developed 40 MW of renewable energy systems. He has supported over 100 sustainable developments with Fortune 500 companies, utilities, government agencies, research organizations, colleges, universities, and school districts. He has directed LEED certification efforts for 80 projects and trained 6,000 professionals in sustainable design. He has managed $20 million of energy technology R&D at EPRI and founded and led two successful sustainability consultancies. Mark has lectured university students and addressed over 100 worldwide audiences on four continents. Mark is a Certified Energy Manager (CEM), a Certified Climate Auditing Professional (CAP), and a LEED-AP O+M Accredited professional. In 2017 Mark was named a Top 50 Energy Manager in North America by Energy Manager Today Magazine and earned a Lifetime Achievement Award from AZ Big Media and the USGBC Arizona Chapter. In 2022 Mark was named an Affiliate Global Futures Scholar at the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory and the Global Institute of Sustainability and Innovation at Arizona State University. In 2023, Mark was appointed to the Program Advisory Committee for Sustainability Degrees at Mohawk College.
Education:
1982 Professional Master’s Degree, Environmental Planning (MEP), Arizona State University
1979 B.A., Economics (cum laude), University of Massachusetts/Amherst
Professional Certification:
2014 Certified Carbon Reduction Manager (CRM), License 268, Association of Energy Engineers
2011 Certified Energy Manager (CEM), License 19465, Association of Energy Engineers
2011 LEED AP O+M, License GBCI 19465, U.S. Green Building Council
2002 LEED AP, U.S. Green Building Council
Community Engagement:
2020-Present Arizona State University, Industrial Assessment Center at ASU, Advisory Board Member
2020-2021 AEE Performance Contracting & Funding Professional (PCF) Accreditation, Association of Energy Engineers
2014-2020 Arizona State University, Professional Science Masters, Solar Energy Engineering & Commercialization – Industry Advisor
2018-2020 Arizona State University, Master of Science Degree, Modern Energy Production and Sustainable Use – Industry Advisor
Featured Experience:
See bio.
Professional History:
2023-Present – Member, Program Advisory Committee for Sustainability Degrees, Mohawk College
2022-Present – Affiliate Global Futures Scholar, Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory, Arizona State University
2021-Present – Director, Climate and Clean Energy, Tierra Resource Consultants, LLC
2019-2021 – Managing Consultant, Tierra Resource Consultants, LLC
2017-2019 – Energy, Sustainability & Climate Change Consultant, Quest Energy Group, LLC
2015-2017 – Corporate Director, Sustainability & Climate Neutrality Initiatives, Ameresco, Inc.
2013-2015 – Director, Carbon Neutrality Initiatives, Ameresco, Inc.
2004-2013 – Principal & Co-Founder, Green Ideas Building Science Consultants, Inc.
2000-2004 – Principal and Founder, GreenBuilt Consulting, LLC
1998-2004 – Product Line Leader, Electric Power Research Institute
1985-1998 – Management, Arizona Public Service Company
Professional Services:
2019-Present – Gray 2 Green Solutions – co-founder
2017-Present – Climate Change Leaders – co-founder
2017-Present – Mohawk College – GHG & Climate Change Advisor
2013-2018 – Arizona State University – GHG & Climate Change Advisor
2017-2018 – CECCE – Climate Change Consultant
2017 – Georgian College – GHG & Climate Change Advisor
2018-2019 – CSCNO – Climate Change Consultant
2011-2013 – Paradise Valley Unified School District – Solar Consultant
2008-2013 – Albuquerque Public Schools – Sustainability Consultant
2004-2006 – Agua Fria Union High School District – Sustainability Consultant