Project Green Home is a low impact home being designed and built by the Thesen-Kramer family in Palo Alto, California. The aim is for the house to be “Zero Net Energy” - to produce as much energy as it consumes. The energy produced would not only balance electricity and gas consumption directly for the home, but also the hidden energy costs of water usage. The project is attempting Passivhaus and LEED for Homes certification.

Collaborators: ARKENTILT ARCHITECTS

CLAM, the Community Land Trust Association of West Marin, taking seriously its mission of creating environmentally responsible affordable homes, is constructing a small affordable home in Point Reyes Station with a goal of reducing carbon emissions that contribute to global warming. This project is en route to become the first new construction Passive House in CA, and is on track for GreenPoint and LEED for Homes certification as well.

Collaborators: ZERO IMPACT ARCHITECTURE

The owners of Peche Merle Winery are endeavoring to build a winery that uses Dry Creek Valley grapes and supports artisan winemakers with a production facility that caters to small lot vineyard designated wines. The majority of the winery will be underground. Features include water re-use, solar electric panels, green roof, energy conservation devices, water-saving systems, and other green construction methods. The tasting room is designed as an earth-sheltered structure. The winery is designed to be LEED Gold Certified, the first winery in Sonoma County with this designation. Currently, most of the Dry Creek grape crop is exported outside the valley. As a local winery, PMW intends to source grapes from within the valley, operating a sustainable practice that benefits local grape growers, wineries and the local economy.

Prudence Ferreira is the founder and Principal of Integral Impact Inc. She is a LEED AP, LEED for Homes Rater, GreenPoint Rater, Passivhaus Consultant, Certified Permaculture Designer, CBPCA/BPI-trained Building Peformance Analyst, Title 24 HERS I, II + PV Rater and Certified Energy Plans Examiner. Prudence’s passion is employing building science and permaculture principles to inform the creation of ultra low-impact, high-performance business and built environments.

Prior to founding Integral Impact, Prudence pioneered and directed the Corporate Social Responsibility Program at Amy's Organics and worked as an independent green building and business consultant. She is active in the green building and business communties and serves as Vice President of the USGBC Redwood Empire Chapter, on the Steering Committee of Passive Buildings California and as an Executive Board Member of the Food Trade Sustainability Leadership Association (FTSLA). Prudence’s clients have included commercial and residential property owners and developers, business owners, building professionals, non-profits, governments, building materials manufacturers, and ecopreneurs. Areas of special focus include cost-optimized net zero building strategies using the European Passivhaus energy standard, LEED for Wineries and CSR Program Development based on LEED EBOM and the Natural Step. Ms Ferreira holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree recieved on a full academic scholarship from Marymount Manhattan.

Mr. Mizrahi is a principle owner of Automated AC Electric, and has more than 37 years of collective knowledge and practical experience working in the field of Engineering, Managing, and Installing HVAC designs, controls (pneumatic, electric, DDC, and PLC's), electrical wiring, and energy management / building automation projects. He is successfully accomplished with Project Estimating, Scheduling, and Project Management of medium sized through multi-million dollar projects. Mr. Mizrahi has also developed preventative maintenance programs for Electrical & Mechanical building systems. His depth of experience and talents spans multiple disciplines including; Master Electrician, graduate of the five year State of California Apprenticeship Council Program.

Joe holds an Advanced Air Balancing Certificate from SMACNA, and the Sheet Metal Workers Local Union 104, and has spent more than five (5) years performing journeyman level HVAC air & water system testing & balancing. Other field experience has been the Installation, repair and Commissioning at the journeyman and foreman level of refrigeration for wineries, milk & food processing plants, grocery stores, and restaurants, and also Bio-Pharma- ceutical, industrial, and commercial HVAC systems. Recently Mr. Mizrahi
has installed more than 175,000 KW of connected load KW monitoring for Demand Response in the SF Bay Area. Leadership, communications and teamwork are paramount to his success.

Being a third generation home improvement expert has given Kevin the tools necessary to help his clients make their projects greener and more energy efficient. Kevin is a Certified Green Building Professional (CGBP). His focus is on locating and resolving issues around energy efficient building practices, interior thermal comfort, and improving indoor air quality. He is a California Building Performance Contractors Association (CBPCA) trained Home Performance Consultant. He is also a Certified BPI Building Analyst, Shell and Heating Expert, a NARI Certified Remodeler (CR) and Certified Kitchen and Bath Remodeler (CKBR), a Certified Energy Plans Examiner (CEPE), a HERS Rater, and GreenPoint and LEED rater.

Kevin has served on the Board of Directors in the San Francisco chapter of NARI (the National Association of the Remodeling Industry) and was acting President of the North Bay NARI Chapter. Kevin is a member of Build it Green and helped found the North Bay Green Professionals Guild. Kevin, who loves to educate his clients, continuously promotes Green Building techniques and products on every project he’s involved with.

Today, Kevin runs BPS- Building Performance Services, a Bay Area Consulting Firm, helping architects, Builders, and Homeowners build comfortable, healthy, energy efficient homes. He also helps train future Home Performance Contractors for the CBPCA, BPI, and PG&E. His next goal is to raise enough capital to build Certified Passive Houses here in the bay area that are not only super energy efficient but also super green.

Todd Groth, MS, LEED AP assists clients in achieving their low impact goals by using a systems-based approach towards integrating principles of sustainability into the design and operation of the built environment and business processes. Prior to starting his own consultancy, Todd was a Sustainable Design Specialist for a medium size engineering design and consulting firm, where he authored the firm’s sustainability program. In addition to influencing the firm’s operations by integrating principles of sustainability, Todd performed preliminary energy modeling studies using DOE-2 and BIM software packages, and promoted effective low impact design strategies in a collaborative, interdisciplinary design team environment.

Todd holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, San Diego and a MS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles. He is a LEED AP and is pursuing certification as a National Sustainable Building Advisor.

Kevin Sotto, LEED AP, Emerging Green Builder works with Integral Impact as a consulting Electrical Engineer and Energy Audit Specialist. Prior to Integral Impact, Kevin was an engineer at a small MEP design and consulting firm, where he managed and assembled the construction documentation for various types of projects. Kevin collaborated with an interdisciplinary design team performing calculations for single phase and three phase electricity while gaining familiarity with the NEC, Title 24 and LEED-NC.

Kevin Sotto holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from Santa Clara University. He is a LEED AP and is pursuing a certification as a National Sustainable Building Advisor and Certified Energy Manager