The Building Performance Institute, Inc. (BPI), a nationally recognized standards development and contractor credentialing organization for residential energy efficiency retrofit work, honored A. Tamasin Sterner of Pure Energy by naming her the recipient of the Tony Woods Award for Excellence in Advancing the Home Performance Industry in a ceremony at the Opening Plenary of the ACI National Conference in San Francisco, CA.
Sterner was nominated by her industry peers and selected by an independent panel of impartial judges, both for her national impact on home performance contractor training and her pioneering work in low-income weatherization, bringing residential energy efficiency to the nation's attention.
"For nearly 30 years, Sterner has been a crusader for conserving energy, a pursuit that's taken her into more than 40,000 homes to advise residents on how to become more energy efficient. More recently she has applied her depth of experience to contractor training," said David Hepinstall, Chairman of the BPI Board of Directors. "Throughout her work in the field and classroom, she has demonstrated a bedrock understanding that the work we do as energy auditors, trainers or QA inspectors depends on effective communication with key audiences, whether they be homeowners, students, contractors or senators."
Twenty-five years ago Sterner founded Pure Energy Coach LLC, an energy services firm that designs and implements energy efficiency programs. Sterner and her team provide inspection, quality assurance, contractor mentoring, and energy auditing services for low-income weatherization programs, improving the quality of life for hundreds of thousands of people.
In 2009, Sterner was handpicked along with four other honorary guests to advise President Barack Obama on the proposed federal HOME STAR program. She famously convinced Obama that "insulation is sexy," and contributed her ideas that have since become Department of Energy policy.
Not satisfied with doing, Sterner has turned her energies to teaching the next generation of home performance professionals. She has taught hundreds of courses on energy efficiency strategies for individuals and organizations in multiple states, from the Northeast to Puerto Rico and the American Virgin Islands to Montana. Last year she launched The Pure Energy Center and Ranch, an entirely new energy efficiency training facility in Montana.
The Tony Woods Award for Excellence in Advancing the Home Performance Industry is an initiative from BPI in honor of Tony Woods, former President of Canam Building Envelope Specialists Inc. and ZERODRAFT®, and a pioneer of the home performance industry. During his career, he served tirelessly in the industry as a volunteer board member with BPI, Affordable Comfort Inc (ACI), as president of the Ontario Building Envelope Council and on more than 10 Standards Committees dealing with air leakage control, air barriers, ventilation and more. He has presented on building envelope retrofit and home performance topics throughout North America and around the world. Woods passed away after a battle with leukemia on May 8, 2009, just over two weeks after the inaugural award in his name was presented by BPI.
Building Performance Industry Hall of Fame Inductions
Also part of the ACI Opening Plenary session, three new individuals were inducted into the Building Performance Industry Hall of Fame. Nominated by their peers and selected by a panel of impartial judges, these individuals were recognized for their significant and lasting contributions to the building performance industry over the course of their careers.
The new inductees are:
Stephen Cowell - For the past 30 years, Cowell has helped create and build the home performance industry through sound public policy, legislation, the establishment of trade ally networks and the delivery of cost-effective residential energy efficiency programs. Among his many achievements, Cowell implemented EPA's first Energy Star Homes program in the Northeast in the 1980s. In 1986 he served as the first president of ACI, and has been advising ACI for 25 years. Last year he co-authored national Home Star legislation and helped establish the Home Star Coalition.
Hap Haven - Dubbed a master educator for the home performance industry, in 1981 Haven pioneered the "home systems approach" toward energy education while directing the country's only urban energy model home, called Te Energy House. Haven's educational materials have been used by tens of thousands of customers and contractors across the United States. Since 2005 he has personally trained over 1,000 contractors for BPI certifications. He holds three BPI certifications as a building analyst, shell, and heating specialist, and has developed two curricula that prepares candidates for BPI certification exams.
Courtney Moriarta is the Northeast Business Development Manager for Masco Home Services. Her contributions to the building performance industry are legion: she has inspected thousands of homes, trained contractors and energy professionals nationwide, and authored technical standards covering a broad range of building performance issues. From 2002 to 2004 she served as Executive Director of the Building Performance Institute. She is a strong proponent of a holistic approach to building improvements and supporting the contracting trades and technicians responsible for carrying out this work.