Solar Design, Project Management, Renewables Consulting, Sustainable Master Planning
I believe we all have a moral obligation to be good stewards of the earth, its resources and to do our best to pass on our only home in good shape to future generations. Throughout my professional career I have chosen to work in the area of sustainable design and planning. Following architecture school at the University of Houston, I designed and installed passive solar thermal systems (green houses, sun rooms, thermosiphoning air panels) in New England. During those years I was hired as the executive director of the New Hampshire Solar Self-Help Program; a program that assisted low and moderate-income families in the design and installation of passive solar heating systems for their homes. As the son of a dairy farmer I have always been interested in agriculture and the beneficial reuse of waste materials. My interest in sustainable systems in the built environment expanded beyond energy to wastewater and its reclamation and reuse.
I worked for two engineering firms, Kruger Engineering and New England Waste Systems, marketing natural wastewater treatment systems for municipal treatment plants in a four-state region of New England. I returned to graduate school at Texas A&M to earn a master of science degree in wastewater treatment technologies for aquaponic food production systems.
My Master of Science research took place on the island of St. Croix at the University of the Virgin Islands, a pioneer in aquaponic technologies. Following graduate school I was hired to design, install, and operate a commercial-scale aquaponic farm for Intercontinental Growers Association. The farm produced and marketed fresh lettuce and herbs to all three US Virgin Islands.
After leaving the IGA farm position I began consulting with local builders and a sustainable design company, Caribbean Infra-Tech (CIT). I eventually became a senior associate at CIT (later to become Sustainable Systems & Design International), working on a wide variety of projects ranging from designing and installing St. Croix’s first natural wastewater treatment system to master planning the conversion of a 1,200-acre brownfield into an eco-industrial park.
After seven year of working with CIT/SSDI, I founded Solar Delivered!, LLC, a renewable energy company providing solar electric and thermal systems to all three US Virgin Islands. Solar Delivered! designs and installs commercial and residential renewable energy systems.
As electric costs spiked to record highs in 2006 I was the organizing force behind bringing together three government agencies, the VI Energy Department, the VI Department of Labor, and the VI Water and Power Authority to create the Territory’s Solar Loan program for solar hot water systems. I developed the curriculum for and trained solar hot water installers at the local technical school. Solar Delivered! was voted the best solar company on St. Croix in 2014 by readers of the Daily News. The company has been in operation for eight years.
Before moving to Asheville, NC in February of 2015 I sold my majority interest in the company but continue as a minor partner and consultant for on-going projects.