MEET THE STAFF

Tom Perry – Zero Energy Now Technical Director

Tom is the Technical Director of Zero Energy Now.  In addition to managing the program, Tom’s work focuses on the refinement of Zero Energy Now’s CLEAR Tool, which, on a house by house basis, discovers the most effective and affordable strategies to eliminate the home’s reliance on fossil fuels and maximize carbon reduction.  The tool can also be used effectively to verify actual reductions and cost savings in any completed energy transformation project.  

Before becoming involved with ZEN, Tom was a residential building contractor for over thirty years, and a BPI certified weatherization and Home Performance contractor for twelve years.  He continues to do energy audits and residential energy consulting, with an aim to encourage homeowners to take active steps in minimizing their carbon footprint.  He was involved for many years with Building for Social Responsibility and with the Building Performance Professionals Association.  

Tom is also interested in local and regional planning, in rethinking politics in a way that focuses on solving problems rather than leveraging power, and in developing personal, relational, and cultural ethics as a pathway for moving beyond ideological and cultural differences, and for building and maintaining community, both locally and globally.  

Ken Jones – Zero Energy Now Board Member 

Ken Jones is a retired researcher. He started his career in medical research at the University of Vermont, continued in environmental research at an EPA funded non profit organization and finished in economic research for the State of Vermont. He received his education at Cornell University (BA Chemistry), University of Michigan (Ph.D. Biochemistry) and Harvard University (Masters in Public Policy)

His recent work in both state government and in retirement is in energy and climate. This is a hybridization of the environmental and economic arenas. Ken has provided technical support to Vermont’s Climate Action Council, Clean Energy Development Fund and Public Utility Commission.

In addition to his work for the State, Ken is a past Chair of the Montpelier Planning Commission and past member of the Montpelier School Board and is a founding member of the Montpelier Energy Advisory Committee which is working towards guiding Montpelier to a Net Zero future. Ken lives in Montpelier with his wife and has three children, although they have fled the nest to see the rest of the world.

Chuck Reiss – Zero Energy Now Board Member

As owner of Reiss Building and Renovation, a green construction company located in Hinesburg, Vermont since 1982, Chuck has increasingly focused on building high performance homes and moving existing homes closer to net zero energy.  He is a certified BPI professional and a Home Performance with Energy Star contractor, dedicated to getting existing homes off of fossil fuel by a combination of energy efficiency, renewable energy and heat pumps.  His company has won several awards for newly constructed high performance and net zero energy homes.     

Chuck was one of the founding members of Building for Social Responsibility, a Vermont group very active in the 90s and early 2000s in pursuing energy efficiency and green building. He was a director of the Building Performance Professionals Association of Vermont, a trade association for weatherization contractors and the group which ultimately spawned and led the first iteration of the Zero Energy Now (ZEN) program.  The ZEN concept was modeled and spear-headed largely through Chuck’s experience putting homeowners on the path to – and ultimately achieving – zero energy in their homes. 

Chuck was an adjunct professor at UVM, teaching courses on building the green, low energy home. He is also the present Chair of the Hinesburg Energy Committee. 

Visit  http://www.reissbuilding.com  for more information about Reiss Building and Renovation

Li Ling Young – Zero Energy Now Board Member

I'm a 25 year veteran of the energy efficiency industry. After a short, undistinguished stint insulating attics and crawlspaces, I joined Vermont Energy Investment Corp where I provide building science and consulting services to builders, design pros, electricians and heat pump installers. 

Starting in 2012, with the introduction of cold climate air source heat pumps and the falling price of solar PV, I started focusing on packages of building improvements that could convert existing homes from fossil-heated to fully zero energy. In more recent years my work has focused on high performance mechanical design of all-electric systems, refrigerant management, and the challenge of electrical capacity constraints in older homes. 

Helping people be empowered about how they use energy and take care of the buildings that we will pass to the next generation keeps me excited about my work.