Board of Directors
NESEA's Board of Directors consists of 13 independent, voting members who are elected on a rolling basis. Each year, NESEA members elect three Board members and the Board appoints one Board member. In addition, every three years the Board appoints a Member Services Liaison. Board members serve for three-year terms and can be elected for two consecutive terms.
Betsy Glynn
Based in Boston, Betsy has worked to deliver solar savings to residential, commercial, and public customers that meet program goals and investor underwriting requirements and with multifamily building owners to implement energy efficiency and water conservation measures, healthy housing practices and renewable power installations to benefit low- and moderate-income communities. She was an appointed voting member of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Energy Efficiency Advisory Council (2014-2017), served as a member of the steering committee of the Network for Energy, Water and Health in Affordable Buildings (NEWHAB; 2015-2017), co-chaired the BuildingEnergy Boston conference (2017-2018) and currently sits on the board of directors of the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA).
Betsy holds a master’s degree in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning from Tufts University and a bachelor’s degree in Geosciences from Franklin & Marshall College.
Lauren Hildebrand
As the Senior Vice President of Sustainability and Strategic Partnerships at Brightcore Energy, Lauren leads the development and execution of innovative and impactful clean energy projects for strategic customers across various sectors and regions. With over 18 years of experience in renewable energy and sustainability, she is a recognized expert and leader in her field, holding credentials such as LEED AP BD+C and LEED for Homes Green Rater.
Lauren joined Brightcore in Jan 2022, after a successful career at Steven Winter Associates, a leading green building consulting firm, where she managed a team of experts and oversaw the certification and consulting services for over 15,000 homes and multifamily units, achieving multiple awards and recognition for her work. She is passionate about advancing the adoption of clean energy solutions and creating healthier and more resilient communities. She has spoken at various events and conferences around the Northeast, sharing her insights and best practices on energy efficiency, building performance, and occupant health.
In addition to her project experience and program guidance, Lauren has managed classroom training and curriculum development for architects, owners, developers and building management staff on green and high performance building design strategies, cost effective building system operation, and energy-saving maintenance practices.
Education
M.A. New York University
B.A. Gettysburg College
Certifications/Licenses
LEED AP BD+C
LEED for Homes Green Rater
WELL Performance Testing Agent
OSHA Certified
Arlen Li, Board Chair
Arlen Li is an architect and Planning Principal at HGA, with over 35 years of experience planning and designing science facilities for higher education, corporate, public, and medical institutions throughout the United States. He has also led numerous feasibility and visioning studies, and promotes a holistic design approach for all building projects. Arlen is active in multiple local and national sustainability groups, and is a NESEA Board member. He is a LEED accredited professional and Fitwel Ambassador.
Andrea Mancino, Board Vice-Chair
Andrea Mancino is the Chief Executive Officer at Bright Power. Pairing her deep technical expertise in building sustainable, high performing projects with an ability to create and execute efficient business processes, Andrea’s goal is to ensure the financial success of the company, while delivering strong, proven services that achieve Bright Power’s mission. Andrea is also extremely passionate about mentorship and employee success, having worked at Bright Power over a decade!
Prior to her role as Chief Executive Officer, Andrea served as the Executive Vice President of the New York Business Unit, overseeing operations for all service offerings in New York. Before that, Andrea led the New Construction and Commissioning divisions, which she co-founded and built from scratch, including cultivating repeat client relationships that we maintain today.
Parlin Meyer
After a first career as a 500-ton Ocean Master licensed captain and deck officer, Parlin Meyer switched tacks to pursue a second career in Architecture and Development. She joined Kaplan Thompson Architects early in 2013, to help develop a unique concept that would marry off-site construction with high-performance assemblies and design. This concept, first born out of the success of Kaplan Thompson’s BrightBuilt Barn in 2009, would officially become BrightBuilt Home in the summer of 2013.
Under her guidance as Director, BrightBuilt Home has facilitated the completion of nearly 200 homes across New England and the Eastern Seaboard. Parlin leads development of new designs, optimization of processes in offsite building, and identification of best practices and materials for creating healthy homes. Regardless of where she directs her focus, the wind in her sails remains the same: fostering a collaborative and creative spirit among designers, builders, and homeowners in order to forge better solutions for the built environment.
James Moriarty
Jim has a passion for understanding the systems perspective of complex environmental, economic, and infrastructure issues in his personal and professional life. In 2014 he co-founded Sustainable Comfort, Inc. with the mission is to create thoughtful, sustainable, and impactful buildings. Since its founding, SCI has grown to over 50 employees and was honored as the 19th fastest growing company in Massachusetts in 2019 and the fastest growing company in Worcester by Inc. 5000.
Jim primarily works with the multifamily housing sector as a consultant to achieve low carbon and energy efficient solutions. He has been responsible for the development of systems and processes to assist in a variety of green building programs, including Energy Star Homes, LEED for Homes, Enterprise Green Communities, Passive House (PHIUS), Energy Star Multifamily High Rise, Integrated Physical Needs Assessments, and has secured over $42 Million in utility incentive programs for clients. Sustainable Comfort has also taken on construction, development, and property management in Worcester, where SCI strives to restore and preserve the existing house stock.
NESEA has proved to be invaluable in shaping his ideas and approach to building efficiency and knowledge sharing. He is helping to expand the NESEA reach into Upstate New York, having hosted NESEA Pro Tours in the Fingerlakes region, and has presented throughout the Northeast on building efficiency. Building upon the rich history and knowledge gained within the NESEA community, the next generation of NESEA leaders will be tasked with bringing this vision of healthy, climate resilient buildings into reality for all. We look forward to this challenge together.
Renwick Paige
Renwick Paige, who founded EIP in 2011, has broad planning, development and financial structuring experience. EIP focuses on clean and renewable energy programs and projects, provides strategic and financial advisory and develops environmental justice solutions.
Mr. Paige also has substantial experience with the municipal and governmental sector client base, the MUSH market, and can deliver substantial insights concerning the delivery of goods and services to that constituency. He has executed over $10B of financial transactions. He led airport and energy financings at Lehman Brothers and launched the project finance and air cargo product lines for the GE Capital/FGIC. He led Acquisitions and Development at U.S. Water (Bechtel and Kiewit) and helped to build the alternative assets fundraising banking business at JP Morgan/Chase. He received a J.D. from University of Pennsylvania Law School, attended Wharton Graduate School and received a B.A. from Amherst College.
Matt Root
Matt Root works with owners and design/construction teams to implement strategies for improving building performance and leveraging projects to drive the healthier materials marketplace. Matt works closely with projects pursuing Living Building Challenge certification, and others inspired by the program’s intent. He also supports the development of IES’ proprietary software, Red2Green, which helps project teams identify, track, communicate, and report-out on all building products in the project. Previously, Matt worked at Conservation Services Group/CLEAResult, where he led a team of mechanical engineers, enclosure experts and building scientists. His wide-ranging experience encompasses mechanical systems, enclosure detailing and performance testing.
An active NESEA member, Matt has written articles on healthier materials for BuildingEnergy Magazine and presided as Co-Vice Chair and Conference Chair for BuildingEnergy Boston conferences (‘14 and ’15). He was recently appointed as an inaugural member of the Massachusetts Stretch Energy Codes Technical Advisory committee, helping provide expert review and guidance on MA building energy code language.
Arnold Sapenter
Arnold Sapenter is a highly energetic consultant with over 30 years of professional experience in cultural diversity, environmental planning and sustainability, as well as, organization training, project development and management. He is an adept communicator and analytical thinker with proven ability to develop and lead cross-functional teams. An expert presenter, negotiator, and facilitator he is able to forge solid relationships between government and community partners and across multiple organizations.
Arnold serves as a board member and volunteer for a number of non-profit organizations including the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston, the Fenway Health Center, the National Forum for Black Public Administrators Boston Chapter and the Shirley Eustis House in Roxbury. After retiring from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as Director of Sustainability and previously serving as the Director of Diversity and Program Monitoring; Arnold decided to use his program development, project management, training skills and experience to assist business, and non-profit organizations in achieving their missions and strategic goals related to cultural diversity and sustainability.
Jodi Smits Anderson, Board Secretary
Jodi Smits Anderson has a passion for community-informed, cross-system activated solutions and deep experience in codes and policy, embodied carbon, team cultivation, and process work. Jodi is a FAIA, LEED AP BD+C, WELL-AP, regenerative practitioner, NESEA Board member, past regional and national U.S. Green Building Council committee member, wife, mom, hiker, kayaker, knitter, and storyteller. She has worked for a national think tank, a renowned A+E firm as Managing Principle of a 70-person office, and for nearly 15 years as the first Director of Sustainability in NYS government.
She has spoken at the Living Future conference in Seattle and in Washington, DC, at the NACUBO conference in Austin, TX, at the first Wellness in Design conference in San Diego, CA, and several times each at Greenbuild, NESEA’s Building Energy Boston, and the NYS Green Building Conference, and has been a guest teacher at SUNY ESF, RPI, Ithaca College, NYU, Cornell, and SUNY Albany. She is a NY Energy Code trainer, the 2018 recipient of the Green Building Advocate award, and has assisted in research and writing for Project Drawdown, which cites the 100 market-proven ways we already have in our toolkit to reduce CO2 in our atmosphere.
She had a featured article that appeared in the Journal of Green Building's V14 N3 in July of 2019, on “Excellence in Building Envelopes”, and has co-written a thought leadership paper on ResHalls of the Near Future, learning from COVID, economics, equity, shifts in education styles, and health in buildings. Jodi’s goal is to understand and incorporate informed sustainable practices into design, construction, and living, and to share whatever she has learned and learn still more from whomever will talk with her.
Kate Stephenson, Board Treasurer
Kate is a partner in HELM Construction Solutions, which works with owners, designers and builders to create high performance and sustainable buildings and businesses. She is an experienced leader in the fields of green building, professional education, sustainability, and business management. She’s worked with established and emerging businesses and non-profits to achieve triple bottom line metrics, develop business systems, and plan for a dynamic and resilient future.
Kate helped to develop and is a facilitator for NESEA’s BuildingEnergy Bottom Lines program. Kate serves on the Boards of NESEA, the Studio for High Performance Design and Construction, and the Vermont Farm Fund. She is also a longtime member of the Montpelier Energy Advisory Committee. She holds a MS in Management from Antioch University New England and a BA in Anthropology and Environmental Science from Haverford College.
Andrew Webster
We are a small firm specializing in energy-smart residential design - in existing buildings and new construction. Winner of NESEA's Zero Energy Challenge, and Fine Homebuilding's Best Retrofit award (with C&H Architects) and PHIUS' Best Single Family Passive Home (2nd place). Graphite Studio is a member of Building Energy Bottom Lines.
Rachel White
Rachel White is CEO of Byggmeister Design/Build, a nearly 40 year-old residential remodeling company that is striving to serve as an exemplary steward of homes and to prepare them to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Rachel has been affiliated with Byggmeister since 2008, when she hired the firm to renovate her house. What started as an effort to reduce the energy and carbon footprint of her own home became her life’s work. Prior to joining Byggmeister Rachel taught modern Jewish history to adult learners. She holds a PhD in Religious Studies from Brown University and a BA in Religion from Haverford College.