January/February 2016 Contributors

A version of this article appears in the January/February 2016 issue of Home Energy Magazine.

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Melanie Bretz

“Bay View, Carmel—A Very Water- and Energy-Efficient Retrofit”

Author Melanie Bretz is very aware of California's drought and shares in this issue that “there’s no reason we should be using potable water to flush toilets or water landscaping.” Even more, she says, treated graywater is a viable solution. “Once municipal water is delivered to a home (or business), it can and should be used several times before it’s discarded.”

What you didn’t know about her: “I enjoy change and not knowing what’s around the next corner.”

Chris Dorsi

“Accountability for the Future: The Habitat X Strategic Plan”

The most memorable moment in author Chris Dorsi’s career happened while he was helping a client troubleshoot the performance of a home he had built 20 years before. “I had learned enough in the interim that I was disappointed with the way my firm had designed some of the details in that home,” he says. “At that moment, I knew that I would be a stickler for quality control for the rest of my life.”

What you didn’t know about him: “I'm an accomplished dancer of Argentine tango.”

Jon Harrod

“Preparing for Climate Change”

Jon Harrod’s career in home performance began after he signed up for Rick Karg’s energy auditor training. “Much of the material was totally new to me. I learned more during that week than during any comparable period in my life,” he says.

Now Harrod is spreading the word that “home performance, when done right, not only reduces greenhouse gas emissions but increases resilience to unavoidable climate change.”

What you didn’t know about him: “Before getting into home performance, I got a PhD in Forest Ecology.”

Rob Nicely

“Bay View, Carmel—A Very Water- and Energy-Efficient Retrofit”

Rob Nicely shares his co-author Melanie Bretz’s thoughts on graywater, and his passion for finding energy-saving solutions in the home transfers to his everyday work.

“Any day I get to take someone on their first visit to a Passive House and see their reaction to how different it is from a conventionally built home is a memorable one,” he says.

What you didn’t know about him: “Every year I take two weeks off to do stone sculpture.”

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