Judy Dodge
County Commissioner Montgomery County
Welcoming Remarks
Judy was born and raised in Dayton, Ohio and was elected to the Montgomery County Commission in November 2006, having served in various other elected and public service roles since 1985. Working to expand food access and security, she established a local Food Policy Coalition. Judy also co-developed a regional sustainability center, now known as DRG3, which is focused on energy reduction and green practices in business, government and residential sectors.
Judy was named a 2012 Women of Influence Honoree by the Dayton YWCA, and recognized by the Dayton Daily News as one of the Miami Valley’s Ten Top Women. She has also been honored with the Law Day’s Liberty Bell Award and the Dayton Women’s Bar Association’s Distinguished Service Award. Judy has served on several community boards and commissions that included Miami Valley Fair Housing Center, Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce’s Legislative and Regulatory Committee, Sinclair Legal Assistant Advisory Board, Vandalia Housing Code Board of Appeals, and Vandalia Rotary Club.
Judy earned her bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Wright State University in 1985 and graduated from the Leadership Dayton Program in 1991.
Dan Scher Vice President, Strategic Planning & Sustainability Medxcel
Dan Scher brings deep experience in strategic development and facilities planning within the healthcare and utility industries. As Vice President of Strategic Planning and Sustainability, Dan is passionate about developing practical long-term plans for the physical environment that align with the organization’s healthcare strategy and sustainability goals.
Dan successfully established an energy efficiency and environmental stewardship program for the largest Catholic health system in the nation. He served as a founding and steering committee member of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hospital Energy Alliance from 2009 to 2012 and has participated on the Facility Guideline Institute’s Health Guidelines Revision Committee since 2015. Dan is currently a steering committee member for the U.S. Health Care Climate Council and member of the Health Care Supply Chain and Infrastructure working group of the National Academy of Medicine’s Climate Collaborative.
Prior to joining Medxcel, Dan served in a variety of roles for Numeroff Consulting, RehabCare Group, Missouri-American Water Company and Burns & McDonnell Engineering. Dan earned a bachelor’s degrees in Economics and Statistics from the University of Missouri at Columbia and a master’s degree in Business Administration from Washington University in St. Louis.
Tommy Tappel, EIT Energy Engineer Go Sustainable Energy, LLC
Tommy, based in Dayton, is a member of Go’s Distributed Energy Resources team, working with renewable energy, demand response, energy storage and grid interactive technologies. He graduated from the University of Dayton (UD) with a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering and a minor in Business Administration. After a few years working in building optimization, Tommy returned to UD to earn a Master of Science in Engineering while working for the School of Engineer’s ETHOS Center. His research focused on energy burden, the percentage of household income spent on energy, and upon graduation Tommy became the Executive Director for the Dayton Energy Collaborative, a nonprofit organization focused on creating sustainable energy programming for neighborhoods and households. This journey has led him to join the Go Sustainable Energy team, where, among other things, he has worked on the Shining a Light project. This data-diving work aims to support municipalities as they work to make informed decisions about how best to support energy equity in their communities.
Dr. Amanda Webb Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering and Construction Management University of Cincinnati
Dr. Webb is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering and Construction Management at the University of Cincinnati. She holds a doctorate in Architectural Engineering from The Pennsylvania State University, a master’s degree from MIT’s Building Technology Program, and a bachelor’s degree from Yale University. Prior to obtaining her doctorate, she worked in professional practice as an environmental design consultant in the New York and San Francisco offices of Atelier Ten, and as an energy auditor working for the Smart Energy Design Assistance Center at the University of Illinois conducting energy assessments throughout Illinois.
Dr. Webb’s research focuses on evaluating and improving the energy performance of existing and historic buildings. Her goal is to use energy data and modeling methods to promote sustainability, equity, and resilience across the existing building stock. Her teaching includes courses on building energy simulation (AE 5130/6030), energy audits and data analytics (AE 5147/AE 6047) and building physics (AE 3043). She was a member of the ASHRAE committee that developed Guideline 34-2019, Energy Guideline for Historic Buildings, and is currently a voting member of ASHRAE’s TC 7.6 on Building Energy Performance and chair of its subcommittee on Monitoring and Energy Performance. She is also a faculty advisor for UC’s ASHRAE Student Branch.
Joe Flarida Executive Director Power a Clean Future Ohio
Lamees Mubaslat, AIA, LEED AP BD+C Dayton Regional Green Director Montgomery County Moderator
Since 2011, Lamees has directed Dayton Regional Green (a Montgomery County initiative). Established and launched a successful Green Business Certification program with over 1000 participants to date to promote greener government, businesses, and personal practices throughout Montgomery County and the Dayton region. Recently expanded the program and launched an online platform to engage individuals, employees and students in energy conservation and sustainable lifestyle challenges through gamification. The platform allows capture of greenhouse gas emissions reductions through lifestyle choices.
Lamees holds a B.S. in Architecture from the University of Jordan. She has designed, directed, and administered capital improvement projects for Montgomery County Office of Administrative Services.
Mark Houdek Clean Energy Portfolio Lead AES Ohio & Indiana
Mark works for AES Utilities as a Clean Energy Portfolio Lead. In this role he works with customers to advance sustainability goals through strategic assessment of energy efficiency, distributed energy systems, and renewable energy procurement opportunities. Mr. Houdek has worked as an energy management professional since 2007 and holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree from Indiana University.
Sumeta Medicherla, LEED AP BD+C, WELL AP Project Manager, Associate Principal HEAPY Moderator
Sumeta is passionate about building a more sustainable and resilient society. Through her role as a Project Manager with HEAPY, she guides clients toward maximizing the efficiency of their buildings, as well as identifying and implementing energy efficient opportunities.
She works as a trusted advisor and partner together with utility companies to administer customer-centric retro-commissioning and energy efficiency programs across the Midwest region. Her clients realize quantifiable savings through reduced resource consumption and costs, while the utilities achieve verifiable savings in accordance with mandated goals. Sumeta is especially skilled as a technical translator, serving as the bridge between engineering, the utility company, and the commercial customers who benefit from these programs and services.
Steve Kendig Executive Director of Energy Utilization & Environmental Sustainability University of Dayton
Steve has 40 years of experience across diverse operations and departments in the electric & gas utility business. Steve has been with the University of Dayton for the past 11 years, and is currently the Executive Director Energy Utilization & Environmental Sustainability for the University of Dayton; he is responsible for all energy efficiency & sustainability projects on campus. Steve continually works with the campus community and staff to implement conscious behavior to conserve energy in their day to day activities. Steve is also the coordinator for the GRF (Green Revolving Fund) for the University of Dayton.
Prior to Joining the University of Dayton, Steve worked many years in utility line clearance, as a gas and electric distribution design technician, five years as a NERC certified transmission operator, worked as an electric and gas utility contractor, and was part of the American Electric Power (AEP) outreach team for the GridSmart rebate program for AEP Ohio.
Kaiser has worked with over a hundred organizations, from emerging businesses to Fortune 500 enterprises, stretching from Princeton, NJ to Los Angeles, CA. Wilderness Agency’s focus has been on manufacturing, education, healthcare, and government verticals, helping to identify opportunities to strategically invest in marketing to grow organizations. Notable clients include The United Way of Greater Dayton, United States Air Force, University of Dayton, Wright State University Alumni Association, Montgomery County, Ferguson Construction, Public Health, ADAMHS, APS Materials, Cenex, Lawter Specialty Chemical, and SciTec.
The Dayton Business Journal has recognized Wilderness Agency as a 2020 Business of the Year and on the Fast 50, fastest-growing companies list: #2 for 2020, #1 in 2019. Kaiser was awarded the 2020 Spark Award from the Better Business Bureau for excellence in community, culture, and character.
Jim Odenweller Manager Fleet, Facilities, Real Estate Services AES Ohio
Jim Odenweller is the Manager of Fleet, Facility and Real Estate Services for AES. His role also includes managing shared services across AES Ohio’s service operations. Additionally, Jim began transforming the Ohio fleet to safer and more cost-efficient vehicles while decreasing operational cost. In 2021, the first electric vehicle was added with the goal of an all-electric light duty fleet by 2030. Key to the implementation is meeting the criteria of selecting models suited to company drivers from sustainability, productivity, and cost standpoints.
Jim is an experienced energy leader with a strong background in transmission and distribution operations primarily in the Dayton region. In 2011, he joined AES Ohio as a Central Dispatch Operations Supervisor and quickly moved to positions of increasing leadership responsibility.
Jim holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Wright State University and honorably served in the US Navy. Jim lives in Vandalia with his wife, Jessica, and their four children.
Debbie Lieberman
County Commissioner Montgomery County
Moderator
After graduating from the University of Dayton School of Law, Debbie worked in real estate and with Legal Aid Society of Dayton. She joined the Montgomery County Auditor’s Office as Director of Real Estate and served in that position for 10 years before becoming the Chief Deputy Auditor in 2001.
Debbie co-chairs the Montgomery County Reentry Council with U.S. Judge Walter Rice. She received the “Liberty Bell” award from the Dayton Bar Association for her work in Reentry. She has also served on the University of Dayton School of Law Alumni Board.
Debbie was recognized as a “Woman of Influence” by the Dayton Area YWCA. She also received the Southern Christian Leadership Conference National Coretta Scott King award for her efforts on inclusion and diversity. She was named one of the 2012 “Ten Top Women” by the Dayton Daily News.
Debbie is the President of the Board of Directors for the County Commissioner’s Association of Ohio (CCAO) and currently serves on many of CCAO’s committees, including the Joint Committee on Administration of Elections.
She is a current Governor appointee serving on the Ohio Housing Trust Fund. Previously, she co-chaired the Ohio Governor’s 21st Century Transportation Task Force and served on the Ohio Local Government Innovation Council.
Guy Jones Founding Member and President Miami Valley Council for Native Americans
Guy W. Jones (Wakuwa la) is a Hunkpapa Lakota and a full-blood member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Guy moved to Dayton in the early 1980s, and in 1989 he co-founded The Miami Valley Council for Native Americans as a non-profit cultural and educational organization. Through his leadership, and in collaboration with local organizations, the council established the “Keeping the Tradition” Pow-Wow, held annually in the Dayton region. Throughout the early 1990s the council sponsored the Inter-Tribal Arts Experience, an annual event that exclusively featured American Indian artisans. The council’s “Our Elders Speak” program brought American Indian elders from around the country to Ohio for speaking and storytelling, and its Anpo O project has delivered school supplies and clothing annually to needy children and their families on reservations in South Dakota.
As a respected elder who has spent most of his life “off the rez,” Guy is commonly sought by other American Indian elders for his thoughts and opinions on societal justice issues and topics related to US government-tribal relations. Over the years, he has also developed a reputation as the “go to” person for American Indians living in Ohio and the Midwest who are experiencing various societal and legal issues. From consulting on Indian child welfare cases, to ensuring freedom of religion for the incarcerated, to standing against violations of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, to advising on Native American mascot issues and more, Guy is deeply involved as an educator, a mediator, and an advocate for justice.
Diana Bolton, GRP Associate Landscape Architect Human Nature, Inc.
Diana began her career as a landscape architect in 2021, following completion of her Master of Landscape Architecture at the University of Cincinnati. Informed by her background in environmental studies and biological sciences, Diana has pursued a range of professional experiences from Denver to Chicago to broaden her knowledge of sustainable development strategies and landscape design practices.
Since joining the Human Nature team in Cincinnati, Diana has worked on projects that implement site-specific design strategies to target rigorous stormwater management goals, introduce pollinator and wildlife habitat to urban spaces, restore natural systems, and help clients meet their bottom line.
Diana currently serves as a Committee chair member of the Cincinnati Design Awards and the UC LAND Advisory Board for the Master of Landscape Architecture program. She enjoys spending her free time outdoors cycling, hiking, camping, and climbing – activities which all influenced her passion for green infrastructure and sustainability.
Dr. Kevin Hallinan Professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering University of Dayton
Kevin joined the University of Dayton in 1988. He formerly served as department chair from 2000-2011. One of his biggest accomplishments was the establishment of a master’s program in Renewable and Clean Energy Engineering in 2009. His research interests have been diverse, beginning with satellite thermal management, which led to the conduct of an experiment aboard Space Shuttle Columbia in 1996, to a present focus on building energy informatics and community sustainability; and now, includes machine learning applications in regenerative agriculture.
His teaching interests are eclectic; they range from traditional engineering modeling courses, to applied machine learning, to transdisciplinary design. He presently serves as a University Teaching Development Faculty for Experiential Learning. Hallinan is author of over 130 papers mainly focused on sustainable energy, has successfully graduated 25 Ph.D. students and has garnered funding in support of his research of nearly $5M. Last of all, he co-founded a company, Dropoly, in 2010 as a software service for community organizations interested in energy reduction. Presently, he serves as the director of Innovation for Clean Energy 4 All, a non-profit bringing clean energy to underserved neighborhoods-while-training workforce and the director of the Renewable and Clean Energy Engineering master’s program.
Lamees Mubaslat, AIA, LEED AP BD+C Dayton Regional Green Director Montgomery County Moderator
Since 2011, Lamees has directed Dayton Regional Green (a Montgomery County initiative). Established and launched a successful Green Business Certification program with over 1000 participants to date to promote greener government, businesses, and personal practices throughout Montgomery County and the Dayton region. Recently expanded the program and launched an online platform to engage individuals, employees and students in energy conservation and sustainable lifestyle challenges through gamification. The platform allows capture of greenhouse gas emissions reductions through lifestyle choices.
Lamees holds a B.S. in Architecture from the University of Jordan. She has designed, directed, and administered capital improvement projects for Montgomery County Office of Administrative Services.
Tyler Hoffman MEP Manager of Maintenance The Cincinnati Insurance Companies
Tyler Hoffman currently serves as MEP Manager of Maintenance for The Cincinnati Insurance Companies. He combines more than 10 years of professional facilities management experience with nearly 17 years of service as an Engineer Officer in the Ohio National Guard to achieve sustainability goals. Tyler previously managed a 500,000+ SF corporate office building that achieved a 91 Energy Star Score and currently manages a 1.2M SF corporate office building that recently achieved an 88 Energy Star Score. Balancing energy reduction efforts with ROI requirements, Tyler applies his engineering technology skills and military planning experience to achieve sustainability goals, effectively reduce single points of failure and increase building system resilience.
Connor Donovan, EMP Project Manager, Associate Principal HEAPY Moderator
Connor is a Project Manager in HEAPY’s Building Optimization Practice with a specialized expertise in using building data to support optimal decision making that improves facility and campus operations. Connor provides leadership to HEAPY’s Intelligent Building Management service, which leverages building analytics to proactively identify operational risks and opportunities for energy savings.
Connor is a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology where he received his Bachelor of Science in Nuclear and Radiological Engineering and a minor in Engineering & Business. He is also an Energy Management Professional.