A World Of Ideas In One Day

Breakout Sessions

Innovative, practical and proven – topics for conference breakout sessions cover a spectrum of issues impacting today’s energy environment, and tomorrow’s energy goals. Attendees will have the chance to attend two morning sessions and one afternoon session. The interaction and information keep on flowing, as you explore industry innovations at exhibits, enjoy compelling keynote speakers and mingle with over 500 colleagues.

John Franceschina, PE

Program Director
Energy Efficiency Demand Response Programs
PSEG Long Island

Donovan Gordon is Director of Clean Heating & Cooling for the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). He leads New York State’s efforts to develop markets that support high-efficiency clean thermal technologies such as air, ground, and water source heat pumps, clean thermal energy networks and infrastructure, as well as thermal energy storage. He is charged with conceptualizing, driving and implementing a portfolio of products to encourage and enable customers and partners to invest in low-carbon clean heating and cooling systems and with advancing New York’s progress toward self-sustained markets.

He also develops and implements educational, workforce training and marketing outreach initiatives for scalable growth of clean heating and cooling technologies partnering with public, private and academic institutions. Donovan received a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management from St. Francis College and a Master’s in Business Administration from NYU, Stern School of Business.

Carrie Meek Gallagher

Director, Long Island Office
New York State Department of Public Service

As Director of the Long Island Office, Carrie and her regional staff will provide increased regulatory oversight of LIPA and PSEG Long Island and ensure fair and reasonable electric rates for ratepayers, while also safeguarding access to secure, resilient, reliable, and sustainable electric, gas, water and telecommunications services in the region. Part of this increased oversight will include enhanced outreach to consumers, businesses, and stakeholders on Long Island to make sure the LIO is meeting the needs of all Long Islanders. Concurrently, the LIO will facilitate development of the clean energy infrastructure in the region that is needed to implement the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA).

Most recently Carrie held the position of Acting Deputy Secretary to the Governor for Energy and Environment, serving as a member of the Executive Chamber under the direction of the Director of State Operations, overseeing all phases of government operations and policy management within the Energy and Environment Portfolio. This portfolio includes the following agencies and authorities: NYSDEC, NYSEFC, NYSOPRHP, NYPA, NYSERDA, LIPA, NYSDPS, APA, LGPC, HRPT, HRBRRD and HRGV.

Previously, Carrie served as the Regional Director for the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), overseeing a staff of 188 personnel with responsibility for implementing environmental conservation programs throughout Long Island. The Department’s mission is to conserve, improve and protect New York’s natural resources and environment and to prevent, abate and control water, land, and air pollution, to enhance the health, safety, and welfare of the people of the state and their overall economic and social well-being.

She also served as the Chief Sustainability Officer for the Suffolk County Water Authority, responsible for implementing a sustainability program, including source water protection, water quality improvement, water conservation, energy efficiency, renewable energy, recycling, green buildings and procurement, waste reduction, and environmental education. Prior to becoming Chief Sustainability Officer, she was the Suffolk County Commissioner of the Department of Environment and Energy, safeguarding the county’s natural resources and providing a single centralized office for consideration of issues and activities from the perspective of their impact on the environment. She has also served as Deputy Director of Planning for Suffolk County; the inaugural director of the Long Island Index, an indicators project that measures the region’s progress toward improving the quality of life for all Long Islanders; head of the Nassau County Economic Development Resource Center under County Executive Tom Suozzi; and developer of Sustainable Long Island’s Brownfields Redevelopment program.

She holds a B.A. in Sustainable Development and Latin American Studies from Amherst College, an M.S. in Conservation Biology and Sustainable Development from the University of Maryland at College Park, and an MBA from the Frank G. Zarb School of Business at Hofstra University. She has been recognized by the U.S. Green Building Council LI Chapter “Leader of the Year (2021), Long Island Contractor’s Association Road Warriors “Natural Born Leader” (Spring 2021), City and State “Long Island Heroes” (November 2020), Town of Brookhaven Women’s Recognition in Government (2012), Networking “A Leading Long Island Environmentalist (August 2011), and Long Island Business “40 Under 40” (2003). Carrie is a member of Energeia (2006), a LEED AP BD+C, and a certified Wildland Firefighter Type II. Ms. Gallagher grew up in East Setauket and currently lives in Stony Brook with her family.

Justin Bell

Vice President, Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs LIPA

Justin Bell is LIPA’s Vice President of Public Policy and Regulatory and is responsible for directing LIPA’s regulatory affairs, rate setting activities and public policy advocacy. In this role, Mr. Bell focuses on influencing energy policy and regulations in support of LIPA’s mission to enable clean, reliable, and affordable electric service for its customers. Mr. Bell joined LIPA in 2014 and previously served as Assistant General Counsel. Mr. Bell holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania, a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School, and an M.B.A. from New York University’s Stern School of Business.

Michael Voltz

Director, Energy Efficiency and Renewables
PSEG Long Island

Michael Voltz is the Director of Energy Efficiency and Renewables for PSEG Long Island. He is responsible for planning, implementing and evaluating energy efficiency and renewable programs, and the preparation of a Utility 2.0 filing including efficiency, advanced meters, battery storage and renewable solutions. Efficiency and renewable programs are available for residential, commercial and industrial customers, and are expected to achieve over 60 MW of peak demand reductions on the electric system in 2024.

Prior to his current role, Michael was a director at LIPA and at Central Hudson Gas & Electric where he had worked for 30 years in power generation, customer services, energy efficiency and regulatory affairs. Michael holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Master’s in Business from Union College. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in New York State.

Diane Cabral

Rheem

Diane Cabral is Rheem’s Northeast and Mid-Atlantic region manager with the Utilities Division, focusing on promoting highly-efficient products and bridging the gap between distributors, installers, consumers and utility programs/incentives. Rheem is currently forging partnerships for better grid management and promoting solutions for green homes.

John Moore

Klima New York, LLC

Klima New York is a leading provider of variable refrigerant flow, custom air handlers, package rooftops and split systems, energy recovery ventilation, dedicated outdoor air (DOAS Systems), and various specialty HVAC products. We also offer a variety of BMS solutions including LG MultiSITE™ VM3, Johnson Facility Explorer and iVu building automation systems.

John leads the owner direct (aftermarket) sales effort for Klima New York. Areas of expertise include: HVAC system retrofit/replacement, ASHP domestic hot water heating, building automation and utility rebate programs.

Before joining Klima New York in 2020, John spent many years with leading HVAC manufacturers with expertise in general management, sales management, product management and energy performance contracting. John is licensed as a Professional Engineer in the State of New York and is a LEED Accredited Professional. He holds an MBA in Finance from Hofstra University and a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from S.U.N.Y Maritime College.

Shrenik R. Ajmera

Netgains Engineering

Mr. Shrenik Ajmera is a licensed Professional Engineer in 15 states and brings over 20 years of engineering and management experience in product design and development, energy studies and design and construction/project management. His experience spans a wide variety of equipment and energy systems including HVAC, building controls, boiler plants, chilled water plants, hydronic and airside systems, lighting and electrical systems. He has extensive expertise in leading complex technical assignments and has personally developed and implemented projects that have helped clients mitigate risks and improve infrastructure reliability and operational efficiency. He has provided energy management and design services for millions of square feet of new construction and renovation projects and has an extensive understanding of complex building systems and realistic decarbonization strategies.

Mr. Ajmera has been directly involved with over 200 energy and decarbonization studies and design projects encompassing various sizes and types from complex laboratories, major mission-critical facility expansions, to large central utility plants. Mr. Ajmera holds a Master of Science (M.S.) degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in mechanical engineering from Virginia Tech.

Jean-Pierre (J-P) Clejan

GreenLogic Energy

Jean-Pierre (J-P) Clejan is a renewable energy subject matter expert, specializing in solar electricity and heat pump systems for residential and commercial buildings which minimize energy bills, carbon footprint and exposure to future rate increases. With certifications from the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP PV Installation Professional) and the International Ground Source Heat Pump Association (IGSHPA Geothermal Installer), he is well versed in the best practices use of renewable energy and energy efficiency in new construction, major renovation and retrofit projects.

JP delivers accredited programs to design professionals seeking his technological expertise to guide their clients towards sustainable construction projects. J-P enjoys working with architects, engineers and LEED professionals in developing zero energy or near-zero energy buildings – many of these are showcased as case studies in his accredited programs. Jean-Pierre received his Bachelor of Science in Engineering and Applied Science degree from Caltech, currently serves as Technology Executive for LI-based solar integrator GreenLogic Energy and is one of DPC Continuing Education’s original speakers (with multiple accredited programs available on-demand).

Angela Gordon

TRC

Angela Gordon, a utility services expert with TRC, has worked in the electric, natural gas and water industries for almost 30 years. Her areas of expertise include rates and regulatory issues, utility business development, industry reforms, EE/DR program design and implementation and utility mergers and acquisitions. Ms. Gordon has been addressing utility industry change and realignments since early in her career during the implementation of PURPA and the deregulation of natural gas pipelines. Ms. Gordon specializes in regulatory strategic planning, rate analysis, utility program design and implementation practices. She holds a B.S. in Economics from Eastern Illinois University. Her core competencies include regulatory and legislative policies, strategic planning, market analytics, rate design and program development.

Jon Hacker

Daikin

Jon Hacker is Daikin’s Director of Decarbonization and Energy Efficiency Development. In his role, he helps to develop partnerships, programs and demonstration projects that support the decarbonization of space heating equipment and increased adoption of variable capacity inverter-driven heat pumps. He has more than a dozen years of experience running energy efficiency and sustainability programs for large commercial real estate owners and administering utility energy efficiency programs in the Northeast. Jon has a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Stony Brook University, and he is a LEED AP for Existing Buildings and a Certified Energy Manager.

Finn O’Brien

Integrated Solutions Sales

Finn O’Brien is a lead on the Integrated Solutions team for the lighting rep agency Illuminations, Inc., providing comprehensive lighting control strategies and designs for commercial lighting projects throughout the New York and Philadelphia metro markets. With 18 years of experience in the lighting industry, Finn brings knowledge of both legacy, as well as cutting edge lighting control technologies such as AI Edge processing and emerging IoT products, that integrate with lighting systems for both indoor and outdoor applications. Finn’s passion is at the intersection of the art and the technology of lighting and controls. He sees the exciting future ahead of a fully integrated built environment, as well as the challenges of cross-functional systems, security, and customer empathy as we deploy these powerful new tools. Finn lives in central New Jersey with his two young boys and dog.

Ryan Carda

Dandelion Energy

Ryan Carda is Principal Engineer at Dandelion Energy. He is primarily responsible for design and engineering standardization, with a focus on co-optimizing for performance and cost. Ryan has been involved in the geothermal heat pump industry since 2004. Prior to joining Dandelion, he was President and co-founder of Geo-Connections until the company was acquired by Dandelion in 2018. There, Ryan oversaw the development of web-based applications LoopLink RLC, LoopLink PRO and LoopLink GSE, which are widely recognized as being the most accurate, most capable geothermal design software packages in the industry today. More than 3,000 contractors, engineers and architects have used these software products for design and analysis for geothermal heat pump systems – large and small.

Ryan co-authored “Design and Installation of Residential and Light Commercial Ground Source Heat Pump Systems,” with the International Ground Source Heat Pump Association (IGSHPA) and is the chair of the association’s Standards Committee. He graduated with a M.S. in Engineering from South Dakota State University in 2006.

Jessica Torsiello

PSEG Long Island

Jessica Torsiello has over 12 years of experience in the energy utility industry, specializing in developing and marketing non-wire alternative programs. She is currently an Electric Vehicle Lead Program Support Analyst for the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Department of PSEG Long Island. Jessica’s present role is managing and implementing the Commercial Electric Vehicle Make Ready and DCFC Incentive programs. Jessica obtained her marketing and management degree from Siena College. Her work also extends to serving PSEG Long Island employees and the Long Island community on the leadership board for the G.R.E.E.N. EBRG project.

PSEG Long Island

H2M Architects + Engineers

Dan Zaweski is currently the Manager of Planning and Evaluation for the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Department for PSEG Long Island. In this role, Mr. Zaweski is responsible for developing the energy efficiency and renewable energy programs offered by PSEG Long Island and reporting on their achievements and the development of Innovative offerings proposed through its annual Utility 2.0 filing. Mr. Zaweski also leads the PSEG Long Island team working on non-traditional, non-wires alternative solutions for PSEG Long Island. Mr. Zaweski holds a BA and MBA with concentrations in Management.

Prior to joining PSEG Long Island in 2014, Mr. Zaweski spent the previous 15 years with the Long Island Power Authority as Assistant Vice President for Energy Efficiency and Renewables, where he also led the development of its Feed-In-Tariffs, Offshore Wind solicitation and oversaw the customer component of its research and development programs.

In addition to his duties at PSEG Long Island, Mr. Zaweski, serves as Treasurer on the Board of the Consortium for Energy Efficiency, serves as the Secretary/Treasurer of the Adirondack Lakes Survey Corporation and is also a former member of the U.S. Department of Energy’s State Energy Advisory Board, as well as former Board member of the Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnership.

Raymond Kumar

Energy Tax Savers®

Raymond Kumar, CPA is a Tax Manager at Energy Tax Savers, Inc., a leading tax incentives specialist firm that has helped companies secure more than $1 billion in tax benefits. He has a Bachelor of Business Administration from Adelphi University and an MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Raymond is the co-author of numerous articles published by leading tax and trade publications and has presented on tax topics at numerous seminars and conferences throughout the country. Raymond was previously at Ernst & Young, focusing on tax incentive services for Fortune 500 companies.

Robert Sedaghatpour

STRATCO Property Solutions

Robert Sedaghatpour is the President of STRATCO Property Solutions. STRATCO is regarded as one of NYS’s pre-eminent consulting firms on energy efficiency incentives. Over the last 10 years, STRATCO has engaged on over 1,500 properties. They are intimately involved with various incentive programs and bringing them to market. Robert has years of experience in the real estate industry and has worked extensively with design professionals, attorneys, city and state agencies. He is a widely published author and sought-after speaker in the real estate industry.

Bruce Bartlett

PlatskyHVAC

Bruce Bartlett has 42 years of experience in the HVAC industry – installing and servicing all types and brands of residential HVAC equipment. He started in the solar hot water industry as a helper and advancing to lead installation mechanic of heating and central air residential and light commercial HVAC equipment. He spent 15 years as Installation Manager for a large oil company overseeing the sales, design, installation and servicing of oil, gas, propane, central and ductless air conditioning systems. For the past six years, he has been the lead technical support and trainer for PlatskyHVAC on all Bosch cold climate heat pump equipment. He has assisted in the installation, design and servicing, as well as the training of contractors of cold climate air source and ground source heat pumps, for many of the PSEG Long Island Home Comfort Partners.

David Lis

NEEP

David Lis oversees NEEP’s Technology and Market Strategies team, which is currently leading a regional market transformation initiative for heating electrification. In this capacity, Dave provides strategic direction for the team’s development, management, and integration with other NEEP teams. Dave also serves as a member of NEEP’s senior management team. Dave began his professional career as a high school math teacher in Boston. Prior to joining NEEP, he also spent two seasons living in Aspen, CO working as the Manager of the Annabelle Inn. His undergraduate degree is in Physics from Middlebury College.

Brett Farbstein

CannonDesign

Brett Farbstein is CannonDesign’s commissioning services leader, overseeing the specialty engineering discipline’s quality assurance and development. With 30 years in the AEC industry, Brett has worked on integrated, multi-disciplinary teams for new construction projects and existing buildings of various facility types and across market sectors. As a senior commissioning project manager, Brett implements a comprehensive and client-focused turnover approach to whole-building commissioning – including MEP, life safety and enclosures. Brett’s experience also includes building management systems and controls integration, ASHRAE energy audits, retro-commissioning, renewable energy systems and energy modeling. Brett is also a resilient design champion and a member of the ASTM E06 Performance of Buildings subcommittee developing a new guide for performing Property Resilience Assessment. Brett received his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, holds his LEED accreditation from the GBCI and certifications from the Association of Energy Engineers.

Raymond Betances

H2M Architects + Engineers

Raymond Betances graduated from Stony Brook University in May 2022. Mr. Betances worked as an intern for Mr. Hochhäusl in 2021 and was hired as a full-time staff engineer in 2022. He brings a new perspective to HVAC design with insights to the goals of his generation. He understands that the decisions he makes today will have a tremendous and real impact for decades. This sense of ownership is fresh and provides a critically important balance to the ‘old school’ thinking of his mentor.

Alexander Hochhäusl

H2M Architects + Engineers

Alexander Hochhäusl graduated from Stony Brook University in May 1991. Mr. Hochhäusl began his engineering career in the area of industrial automation, designing ASRS (Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems) for the printing industry. Early in 2000, he was self-employed branching off into pharmaceutical manufacturing and was the lead mechanical/HVAC engineering consultant at the Wyeth Pharmaceutical Campus at Pearl River NY, whose products included Centrum and Prevnar 13.

In 2014, he joined H2M Architects + Engineers where he is currently the senior mechanical discipline engineer. Actively engaged in systems design and staff development, he is constantly searching for the latest technologies to be integrated into the company’s knowledgebase. His position is that we (engineers) need to guide our clients to the best solution for tomorrow, to meet their goals for today and be ready for, or adaptable to, regulations of the future

William Achnitz III

CDCLI

William Achnitz III joined the CDCLI in 2016 as the Sustainability Coordinator. In that role, he coordinated the efforts of CDCLI’s green initiatives and sustainability programs, including the Long Island Green Homes Initiative and New York State Energy Research and Development Authority’s (NYSERDA) Clean Energy Communities Program. He currently serves as Vice President of the Home Improvement and Optimization Department, which houses all of the CDCLI’s home improvement programs, including the Weatherization Assistance Program, Long Island Home Improvement Program, Access to Home Programs and RESTORE. Additionally, the Department provides large-scale rehabilitation of vacant properties as a developer partner of the Suffolk County Landbank. He also is a graduate of LIU Post, holding Bachelor degrees in Finance and Accounting, and a Master’s degree in Environmental Sustainability.

Michele Bontempi

National Grid’s Home Energy Affordability Team (HEAT℠)

Michele Bontempi has been managing National Grid’s Home Energy Affordability Team (HEAT) program since it launched in April 2017. As a Clinical Social Worker, she has had the unique opportunity to bridge the gap between energy efficiency and consumer advocacy, taking a wholistic approach to serve customers. Prior to HEAT, she worked in various roles within other income-eligible energy efficiency programs, as well as non-profit organizations with a focus on children, youth and families.

Linda Eddy

PSEG Long Island

Linda Eddy has more than 40 years of experience in the utility industry. In her current position, Ms. Eddy has managed the Residential Energy Affordability Partnership (REAP) Low to Moderate (LMI) Income-Eligible Program for more than 11 years. She has 20 years in the energy efficiency arena and has trained and oversees outreach and call center activities for the Program. Ms. Eddy coordinated the transition of program customer database and call center for the REAP Program. Ms. Eddy has attended/presented to over 200 community outreach events to promote energy efficiency programs for the Utility and has served as event planner and host for annual LMI Energy Forum for Advocates providing income eligible assistance program information to over 300 advocacy attendees.

Jay Egg

Egg Geo, LLC

After serving in the US Navy nuclear power field, Jay Egg began a career in mechanical design engineering and contracting. Now, as an expert consultant, Jay sits on several technical code committees internationally; notably the technical committee for the IAPMO Uniform Mechanical Code. Jay has co-authored two McGraw-Hill textbooks focused on geothermal HVAC technologies and continues to write curriculum and lecture on the merits of Clean Heating and Cooling technologies.

John J. Murphy

NYS Pipetrades

John J. Murphy is an International Representative for the United Association of Plumbers, Pipefitters and Sprinkler Fitters representing more than 24,000 members in the state of New York while also serving as a Vice-President of the NYS AFL-CIO, the NYC Central Labor Council and the NYS Building and Construction Trades Council. John serves on the boards of the NYS Helmets to Hardhats program, Climate Jobs NY, Clean Energy Jobs Coalition NY and the Workers Institute Advisory Council at Cornell ILR.

Suzanne Musho

NYIT

Suzanne Marie Musho is a licensed architect and is now serving as the Chief Architect and the Vice President of Real Estate Development and Sustainable Capital Planning and Environmental Health and Safety, at the New York Institute of Technology. Suzanne was Vice President at Zubatkin Owner Representation and is Founder of MUSHO Architecture and Design LLC. At Zubatkin, Suzanne led the Gilder Center for Science, Education and Innovation project along with the Hall of Gems and Minerals both at the American Museum of Natural History and the Jackie Robinson Museum. Suzanne has a background that is extremely unique. She began her career at Pei Cobb Freed & Partners designing three notable projects that include Buck Center for Research in Aging, Vencor Headquarters and the Westchester County Courthouse.

Suzanne founded MUSHO Architecture in 2000 and has been the Creative Director for the firm since its inception. MUSHO has designed key projects including the Boomer Esiason Foundation Corporate Headquarters, Leslie Robertson Associates (LERA) Headquarters, and From You Flowers Headquarters. Suzanne is an entrepreneur and a leader. She is committed to public service and donates her time and talent for the causes that matter to her. She served as Trustee and Chairperson of the Board of Trustees at Dominican Academy High School, a Catholic high school for young women who are seeking a challenging academic environment. Suzanne is a public speaker who speaks about architecture, leadership and inspiration. Suzanne delivered a talk titled “Bringing Inspiration Down to Earth” for Domino Magazine. Suzanne is also featured in a video blog, “Solar Towers,” for her work on the largest Residential Solar Array in Manhattan at Kips Bay Towers.

Zeyneb Magavi

HEET

Zeyneb Magavi serves as Co-Executive Director at HEET, a nonprofit committed to cutting emissions through transformative systems change. Zeyneb believes strategically evolving aging gas systems into bidirectional ambient thermal grids will drive rapid and equitable decarbonization of heating and cooling in urban areas. A BuroHappold feasibility study of her GeoMicroDistrict concept won a national APA award and multiple utilities have proposed to pilot this networked geothermal approach. Zeyneb has a background in physics and global health, and has worked at BBN Technologies, Harvard, MIT and multiple startups.

Donovan Gordon

NYSERDA

Donovan Gordon is Director of Clean Heating & Cooling for the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). He leads New York State’s efforts to develop markets that support high-efficiency clean thermal technologies such as air, ground, and water source heat pumps, clean thermal energy networks and infrastructure, as well as thermal energy storage. He is charged with conceptualizing, driving and implementing a portfolio of products to encourage and enable customers and partners to invest in low-carbon clean heating and cooling systems and with advancing New York’s progress toward self-sustained markets.

He also develops and implements educational, workforce training and marketing outreach initiatives for scalable growth of clean heating and cooling technologies partnering with public, private and academic institutions. Donovan received a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management from St. Francis College and a Master’s in Business Administration from NYU, Stern School of Business.