Tampa Convention Center • Tampa, Florida

High Performing Buildings Thought Leaders

T6S9: High Performing Buildings Thought Leaders Panel

Brendan Owens, USGBC • Ryan Coalker, NIBS 

Rachel Romero, NREL, ASHRAE

Dain Hansen, IAPMO • Kevin Kampschroer, GSA 

August , 2017 

NREL/PR-7A40-70044
Energy Exchange: Connect • Collaborate • Conserve

T6S9: High Performing Buildings Thought Leaders Panel

• This prestigious panel will answer your 

questions on designing, renovating, and 

maintaining your high performance buildings. 

This interactive session will cover 

technologies, strategies, certification 

programs, and project delivery methods for 

success in federal projects for high 

performance buildings. Bring your questions 

for the experts.

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1. How do HPBs perform differently than conventional 

buildings?

2. Where is the industry headed? Where will it be in 5- 10 years? What steps will get us there?

3. How does everyone work together to drive efficient 

policies?

4. What silos do you see that are preventing the 

adoption of HPB best practices and what do you think 

is the best way to break them down?

5. Provide an example where the federal government 

has created a HPB, either with a new building or deep 

green retrofit.

6. What is the role of the government in HPBs?

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Questions
Energy Exchange: Connect • Collaborate • Conserve

• Director of the Consultative Council and Presidential Advisor at the National Institute of 

Building Sciences 

• He is responsible for leading the development of findings and recommendations on 

behalf of the entire building community and transmitting those recommendations to 

Congress and the Administration. 

• He also serves as staff director of the Council on Finance, Insurance and Real Estate; the 

National Council of Governments on Building Codes and Standards; the Off-Site 

Construction Council and the Sustainable Building Industry Council. 

• Prior to joining the Institute, he served as Manager of Government Affairs for the 

American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) 

where he contributed to the development of a robust government affairs program.

• Previously, Colker served as the Program Director of the Renewable Natural Resources 

Foundation, where he was the lead staff member in charge of interdisciplinary 

programs for a 14-member consortium of natural resource professional and scientific 

organizations. 

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Ryan Colker, NIBS
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• High Performance Building Council 2007-2017 

https://www.nibs.org/?page=hpbc_resources

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• Senior Vice President of Government Relations at the 

International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical 

Officials (IAPMO®)

• Chair High-Performance Building Congressional Caucus 

Coalition

• Hansen has overseen the creation and development of 

IAPMO’s Washington, D.C., office, including the 

organization’s legislative and regulatory initiatives.

• Prior to joining IAPMO, Hansen worked for the 

National Electrical Manufacturers Association, and 

before that he worked on Capitol Hill as a senior policy 

adviser.

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Dain Hansen, IAPMO
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International Association of Plumbing and 

Mechanical Officials

HPBCCC (http://hpbccc.org) is a private-sector 

coalition comprised of approximately 200 

organizations that provides guidance and 

support to the High-Performance Buildings 

Caucus of the U.S. Congress. 

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Energy Exchange: Connect • Collaborate • Conserve

• Energy engineer at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory 

(NREL) in the Integrated Applications Center. 

• Competition manager for the U.S Department of Energy Race 

to Zero Student Design Competition. 

• ASHRAE Presidential Elect Advisory committee.

• Named ASHRAE 2016 New Faces of Engineering.

• As a Project Leader for the Department of Homeland 

Security’s energy management program through NREL, she 

has provided energy efficiency and renewable energy 

technical assistance for DHS labs and sites as well as for iconic 

federal buildings around Washington D.C. 

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Rachel Romero, NREL, ASHRAE
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• NREL is the U.S. Department of Energy's 

primary national laboratory for renewable 

energy and energy efficiency research and 

development. 

• NREL is operated for the Energy Department 

by The Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.

• Visit NREL online at www.nrel.gov

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• ASHRAE, founded in 1894, is a global society with 

more than more than 56,000 members committed to 

shaping tomorrow’s built environment today. 

• ASHRAE focuses on improving building systems, 

energy efficiency, indoor air quality, refrigeration and 

sustainability through research, standards writing, 

publishing, certification and continuing education. 

• For more information and to stay up-to-date on 

ASHRAE, visit www.ashrae.org/news. 

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Energy Exchange: Connect • Collaborate • Conserve

• Federal Director, Office of Federal High-Performance Buildings, in 

the US General Services Administration

• His work on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 

accomplished the mandate to move GSA’s Federal building 

inventory toward high-performance buildings. 

• His goal is to influence and accelerate industry capability and 

adoption of high-performance principles across all aspects of asset 

creation, operation, maintenance and disposal. He leads GSA's 

effort to manage incremental weather and climate-related risks in 

prudent federal investments for public safety, health and security. 

• Mr. Kampschroer led the creation of real estate portfolio 

management; the establishment of performance measures linked 

to pay and budget; and was the project manager for the Ronald 

Reagan Federal Building and Trade Center, then the second largest 

office building in the United States (344 M2 ). 

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Kevin Kampschroer, GSA
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Buildings exist to support the people who work in them. 

Our work is to improve federal buildings (assets, 

operations, use, and resilience) to enhance human health 

and performance, and safeguard social, economic, and 

environmental security.

OFHPB was established under the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (§436)

• GSA Office of Federal High Performance Buildings 

www.gsa.gov/hpb

• SFTool.gov

• ESPC Charrette Reports and

Case Studies 

www.rmi.org/gsaretrofits

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Office of Federal High-Performance Buildings
Energy Exchange: Connect • Collaborate • Conserve

• Chief of Engineering, U.S. Green Building Council

• Brendan oversees technical development and integration of 

rating systems at USGBC. In this role Brendan collaborates 

with teams developing LEED, PEER and other rating systems 

and led the team that established the over-arching system 

goals for LEED v4. He is currently working to integrate this 

thinking into the other programs USGBC collaborates with.

• Brendan is a member of the integration committee working 

to align Standard 189.1, the IgCC and LEED. 

• Brendan is a proud Boilermaker, a licensed Professional 

Engineer and was honored as a LEED Fellow in 2012.

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Brendan Owens, USGBC 
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• The Business Case for Green Building: A 

Review of the Costs and Benefits for 

Developers, Investors and Occupants.” 

http://www.worldgbc.org/activities/businesscase/

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U.S. Green Building Council