EcoTextures Sustainability, L3C

About the Company

An L3C, (low-profit limited liability company), the company's purpose is to raise awareness about the main ways buildings emit greenhouse gases and train building operations personnel and occupants how to reduce or offset those amounts.  The income I generate goes toward endeavors such as creating and participating in hands-on volunteer environmental stewardship service projects as well as volunteer hands-on seminars for K-12 students.

 

The L3C structure also allows private foundations a place to fulfill their requirement to disburse 5% of their net assets each year.  Categorizing those funds as program-related investments (PRIs) means those funds are being invested in a program your foundation cares about.

 

At the core of every project I undertake is the goal of conserving energy and saving money for building owners. Wrapped around and woven through conservation grows a layer of knowledge created by teaching, coaching and de-mystifying what "green" really is. The deeper that knowledge ring grows into your organization, the better.  Often the attributes of a healthy and high-performing building aren't readily apparent to individuals not involved in the planning and execution of energy-saving projects. Yet those individuals are the ones who'll gain the most from the benefits.  Enlisting them as partners in your on-going energy saving strategies is essential to long-term savings.

 

By saving clients money and increasing their practical knowledge about conservation, I'm giving back something measurable to them.  It's good business.  I'm also giving back to the education system that shaped me by helping give K-12 kids a jump-start on competing for green jobs and being "green" savvy.  And, carrying out these two missions is my way of giving back to the earth that sustains us all.

 

 

I'm an architect with fifteen years of experience in the profession, licensed since 2005 and a LEED Accredited Professional since 2008.  I've been project architect and project manager on large projects and small, private sector and public sector.   I've been LEED team manager on a five-story mixed use retail/office/apartment building and a member of many LEED certification analysis teams.  While working at Henneman Engineering, I spearheaded the effort to develop their company's 3D Building Information Modeling Revit master template file and initiated some WebEx training sessions for new users. I use Autodesk's Revit building information modeling software to produce everything from color renderings to day-lighting studies to construction documents with material take-offs and costs.

 

My Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Architecture were earned at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. During my junior year I studied in Versailles, France, where I learned valuable lessons about frugality and efficiency. My teaching experience includes an assistantship during graduate school teaching AutoCAD to my classmates.  I also taught AutoCAD at Kankakee Community College near my home, where I developed from the ground up my own lecturers, quizzes, and lab exercises.  Lately, I've guest-lectured to the students in my local K-12 schools about the energy saving features of their respective buildings.

 

I'm USGBC Students' Regional Chair of Region 6, giving back to my profession by mentoring college students in down-state Illinois as they develop their career paths in the building industry.

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Role models: Julia & Paul Child

Where I left my heart: Paris

In my spare time:  Organic "lasagna" gardening