As a principal at Green Building Services, Inc., Elaine brings a unique perspective to green building and sustainability initiatives. She represents, in her work and approach, the successful merger of the best of the interior design and architectural disciplines, materials specifications, and green building. Her multidisciplinary background and diverse project experience, which ranges from operations of existing buildings, commercial development to state of the art convention centers, distinguishes her in the green building industry.

Elaine is the manager of the Building Management Solutions Division for GBS. The focus is to lead teams through the successful greening of their buildings and facilities management practices and optimize work place performance through commercial interiors consulting.

Elaine’s professional record at GBS includes several important green building milestones including the certification of two volume projects which includes over 80 buildings, four LEED Platinum projects and over 30 LEED projects getting certified through LEED EB, LEED CI and LEED NC.

Rhonda Goyke is a Sustainability Consultant and Co-Founder of Green Sand Inc. Architecture + Sustainability. Rhonda has spent over 23 years in the environmental management field, handling everything from incorporating sustainable strategies such as rainwater harvesting into projects, to sampling and analyzing hazardous materials, to conducting environmental assessments and producing environmental impact statements. Rhonda was on the Board of Directors for the New Hawaiian Home as well as former President and Vice President of the Hawaii Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council.

Rhonda’s credentials include:

Rhonda now focuses on sustainable strategies related to the built environment and reducing those impacts on the natural environment. Her focus includes LEED consulting and general sustainable strategies to help businesses and homeowners adopt more sustainable practices at every level. Notable projects include: LEED Platinum New Hawaiian Home, LEED Gold Oceanic Time Warner Annex, LEED Gold Kumuhau, LEED Gold Lai Opua, D.R. Horton HomeSave Program. And two Living Building Challenge projects.

Eileen Peppard, M.S., Sustainability Specialist, Center for Smart Building and Community Design, Sea Grant College Program, University of Hawaii Manoa. After 20 years’ of experience in scientific research in the field of biology and 15 years’ experience in project management, Eileen has switched to focus her research skills on energy auditing, energy monitoring and data analysis for the UHM campus and for residential military housing for the past 3 years.

Stephen Meder is the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Physical Environment and Long-Range Planning for the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa. He also holds a joint academic appointment there as he serves as the Director of the School of Architecture’s Environmental Research and Design Lab and as the Director of the Center for Smart Building and Community Design at the UH Sea Grant College Program. He is a member of the Hawai‘i Clean Energy Initiative’s Energy Efficiency working group, the Chancellor’s Commission for Climate Change and the University of Hawai‘i Council for Sustainability. He holds a Arch.D. from the University of Hawai‘i and is a LEED AP.

Michael has served as Honolulu branch manager and service manager at Johnson Controls as well as commercial energy efficiency program manager and federal account executive at Hawaiian Electric Company.

Michael holds a mechanical engineering degree and an MBA from the University of Hawai‘i. He serves as president of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Hawai‘i Chapter.

At his previous position, Michael planned and implemented $20 million in energy efficiency projects for city, state and federal facilities; each project saved at least 30% in energy use.

Albert “Alapaki” Nahale-a’s family roots run deep in the Keaukaha-Pana‘ewa Hawaiian homestead communities.

In December, he was appointed by Gov. Neil Abercrombie to Chair the Hawaiian Homes Commission and to lead the team of 180 employees at the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. In February 2011, he was confirmed by the Hawai‘i State Senate.

Prior to his appointment as chairman, he was the Hawaiian Homes Commissioner representing East Hawai‘i Island. From 2008 to 2010, Chairman Nahale-a was board president and then executive director of the Hawai‘i Charter Schools Network. From 2003 to 2009, he was director of Ka Umeke Kaeo Hawaiian Immersion Public Charter School in Keaukaha.

His professional background also includes stints with Hawai‘i Community College, the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, Rural Community Assistance Corporation, the County of Hawai‘i Legislative Auditor’s office and ‘Aha Pūnana Leo. Throughout his service to his community, Chairman Nahale-a sat as a member of the Hawai‘i County Charter Commission, a board member and volunteer mediator with the Kuikahi Mediation Center and a member of the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation board.

Last year, President Obama appointed Chairman Nahale-a as a member of The Commission on Presidential Scholars. Chairman Nahale-a received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania and is a graduate of the Kamehameha Schools.

Jeffrey Au is a co-founder and Managing Director of PacifiCap, Hawai‘i’s largest locally based venture capital investment firm. Since 2000, PacifiCap’s affiliated venture funds have led or participated in investments in more than two dozen high tech, media and emerging growth companies that have raised more than US$500 million in investment capital. Industry sectors include dual use technologies, telecommunications, software, alternative energy, healthcare, digital media and film/TV production. Jeff brings more than twenty years of experience in structuring, documenting and implementing innovative, interdisciplinary, financial, tax and legal solutions to complex problems facing early stage and emerging growth companies. Jeff also has extensive experience in investment fund structuring, documentation, management and operations.

A fourth generation kama`aina born and raised in Honolulu, Hawai‘i, Jeff is a graduate of Punahou School and Mun Lun Chinese Language School in Honolulu. He attended Stanford University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and a master’s degree in International Policy Studies. Jeff received his Juris Doctor degree from the Columbia University School of Law. He speaks Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese and French. He is licensed to practice law in California and Hawai‘i and is a Certified Windsurfing Instructor.

Click here to download a PDF of Jeffrey’s full bio.

Cameron grew up in Kailua, Oahu, and graduated from Punahou. He received his B.S. in Environmental Health and Safety from Oregon State and has 5 years experience in environmental consulting on the West Coast. In 2008, he received his J.D. with Environmental Law Certificate from the University of Hawai‘i William S. Richardson School of Law. After clerking for one year at the First Circuit Court in Honolulu, Cameron joined the Hawai‘i State Energy Office in 2009. Married and presently without children, he spends his free time in the ocean.

Maria Tome is a registered professional engineer with over twenty years of experience in renewable and transportation energy in Hawai‘i. Ms. Tome has been involved with numerous projects in the renewable and transportation energy areas, including energy strategies, resource assessments, policy analysis, and technical review of solar, wind, biomass, methane, hydropower, geothermal, ocean energy, fuel cells, and renewable portfolio standards; as well as ethanol, methanol, propane, biodiesel, electric vehicles, and transportation energy strategies. She’s committed to transform our energy systems within a generation.

“I’m still looking for the perfect analogy. This effort makes me think of a train. We’re changing the fuel and rebuilding the engine while the train is moving down the tracks. And the tracks ahead are being moved, too, by regulations, climate change, and global competition. We need to stay focused, communicate well, and move quickly.”

Margaret Larson is the Vehicles Specialist for the Hawaii State Energy Office and co-chairs the Hawai‘i Clean Energy Initiative’s transportation working group- focused on establishing a sustainable alternative-fuel strategy to help reduce Hawai‘i’s dependence on imported oil within the transportation sector. Margaret is currently helping to manage the Transportation Energy Diversification Project- a program working to transform Hawai‘i’s transportation sector to become less dependent on liquid petroleum fuels by accelerating the adoption of electric drive vehicles and related charging equipment in Hawai‘i. Margaret also co-coordinators of the Honolulu Clean Cities Coalition- a local non-profit 501(C)(3)an voluntary government and industry partnership, alternative fuel/advanced technology deployment program administered by U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s (EERE) Vehicle Technologies Program.

Margaret previously worked in San Francisco, California at the United Kingdom Government’s international business development agency, UK Trade and Investment, as a Business Development Associate, focusing on Renewable Energy and Clean Technology. She holds a bachelor’s in Journalism from Humboldt State University.

Todd Cullison has been the Executive Director of the non-profit organization, Hui o Koʻolaupoko (HOK) since August 2006. The organization’s mission is to: Protect ocean health by restoring the ʻāina: mauka to makai. Current duties and responsibilities include strategic organizational planning, partnership building and project prioritization, development and management.

Prior to Mr. Cullison’s tenure with (HOK), for six-years he was the Director of Watershed Programs for the Columbia River Estuary Study Taskforce (CREST) in Astoria, OR. Mr. Cullison’s focus was community-based watershed restoration with an emphasis on salmon recovery on the North Oregon coast and Columbia River Estuary. Mr. Cullison worked with five watershed councils implementing projects that included design and implementation of large-scale estuarine and riverine habitat restoration, associated project effectiveness monitoring as well as education and outreach.

Mr. Cullison has an undergraduate degree from Washington State University in Technical Writing and focused his Masters-level work on Community-based Watershed Restoration, also at Washington State University.

Brenda is a Facility Planner with the DOE, utilizing her background in architecture and land planning along with four years of classroom teaching experience. Her architectural experience included work in Honolulu, Washington D.C., New York City, Philadelphia, San Diego, and Boston. Brenda is a 1983 graduate of Arizona State University with a B. Arch degree, and has her Post-Bacc. Teacher Certification in Secondary Mathematics from the University of Phoenix. She is a member of the USGBC Hawaii Chapter, AIA Honolulu, and the Council of Educational Facility Planners International.

Vanessa Kealoha is the Student Activities coordinator at Ewa Makai Middle School where she mentors her leadership students on sustainability issues in addition to citizenship and leadership skills. Ms. Kealoha has been with the DOE for over 9 years, teaching and mentoring students at Aiea Elementary School. Her interests include golfing, traveling and spending time with her two chihuahuas, Opihi and Haupia. Ms. Kealoha was instrumental in Ewa Makai’s successful nomination as a state finalist in the first ever national Green Ribbon Schools program. With her today to speak on how they live in their LEED Gold certified middle school are Student Body President Mc Erl Dave Andres (Mick Erl), Justyn Golobic and Student Body Vice President, Daylin Kuboyama, 8th grade members of the leadership program at Ewa Makai Middle School.

Coincidently, Mc Erl Dave Andres submitted resolution, SCR 33, Green Hawaii Program to Senator Espero who presented it to the Senate. SCR33 was heard by the Senate Education Committee on March 16th. Mc Erl, Justyn and Daylin also testified along with other private and public school students in support of SCR 33 that promotes environmental stewardship in all public schools. This resolution proposes that all public schools implement at least five or more green initiatives including school wide recycling, organic gardening, composting, vermi-composting,and aquaponics by 2016.