NAOMI BEAL
phME Executive Director
Naomi Beal is the Executive Director and founding member of passivhausMAINE [phME] and a founding board member of the Passive House Network. Naomi embraces the challenge of developing phME as a sustainable and impactful organisation through local, national and international partnerships. Naomi believes Maine’s economic development can be fostered through a framework of building efficiency and innovative and traditional wood products and prioritizing equitable retrofits as both climate mitigation and adaptation. Naomi lives in South Freeport, ME.
naomi@passivhausmaine.org
DORI LAM
phME Program Director
Dori Lam is the Program Director for passivhausMAINE, working to develop and manage phME’s programming, grow membership, and expand educational programming for the workforce, policy makers and homeowners. She is passionate about sustainability and intersectionality and enjoys bringing that passion to her work. In her spare time, she serves as the President of the Board of Directors for Discover Downtown Westbrook, helping to grow and support the community of Westbrook where she resides with her family.
dori@passivhausmaine.org
RANDY RAND
phME Training Director
Randy Rand is passivhausMAINE’s Training Director, managing our statewide training program which has held day-long sessions from York to Presque Isle. Our trainings, supported by the Harold Alfond Foundation, allow participants to learn retrofitting and passive principles training, and explore the MUBEC building codes and other aspects of construction–all for $25 per session. Randy works with our local instructors and trainers, devises curricula and keeps the training schedule packed. He’s is also the owner of r.haus, a design and building company located in Orono, where he lives with his family.
randy@passivhausmaine.org
MIKA HEMING
retrofitMAINE/ BuildingsUP Project Director
Mika Heming serves as phME’s BuildingsUp Project Director while also working to expand and guide the organization’s retrofitMAINE initiative. Previously, Mika served as the program manager for Flood Ready Neighborhoods in New Hampshire, a part of the NH Sea Grant, as well as spending four years in Mississippi helping local communities mitigate and adapt to sea level rise.
mika@passivhausmaine.org
Mission:
passivhausMAINE is a non-profit organization committed to decreasing carbon in the built environment. phME supports high performance, building science based new construction, low carbon building materials and is committed to scalable retrofits across Maine through local, regional and international partnerships.
Vision:
phME's vision is for a more resilient and energy independent Maine. Through training, education and policy action, we support initiatives to build awareness for a Maine that operates on 100% renewable power. We encourage passive house as a minimum building standard on the path towards 100% Net Zero, Net Positive, and fully regenerative buildings throughout the state.
phME is a proud member of Maine Association of Non-Profits, E2tech and the Environmental Priorities Coalition in Maine and the ABC Collaborative regionally. phME is a recognised UNECE Centre of Excellence in High Performing Buildings for our retrofitMAINE research initiative. Globally, there are numbers of institutions and organisations which are tackling various aspects of building science and contribute to lowering our energy needs and carbon emissions. phME supports all contributions to the collective advancement of building science and energy/carbon reduction in our built environment. phME hosts and supports trainings by NAPHN, PHIUS and PHI.
Board of Directors
A certified passive house consultant, Katrina works as Operations Manager at Maine Passive House, in Bethel. A wood worker and long-time board member of passivhausMAINE, Katrina is a Maine native who graduate from Colby College. She’s passionate about sustainable, healthy buildings and enjoys getting out on the boat when the weather is good.
Katrina Belle, Chair
Maine Passive House
Brad has worked as a carpenter, supervisor, project manager, and director of operations for residential remodeling companies in Maine and Massachusetts. He now works for HELM Construction Solutions leading the project management team and supporting high performance builders as a business consultant, trainer, and mentor.
Living in Portland, Maine with his wife and two young children he recently renovated their home to incorporate energy efficient technology, carbon-storing insulation, and to be 100% free from on-site fossil fuel combustion.
Brad Richards, Vice Chair
HELM Construction Solutions
Denise Moore, Treasurer
George is a brand marketer by training having spent roughly 13 years at PepsiCo in a variety of marketing roles in both New York and California. Since moving to Maine in 2020, he started Cornish River Properties, a real estate investment and management company with multiple properties in Portland, ME. His efforts to improve the performance of these buildings led him to phME and specifically the retrofitMAINE project where he currently leads a committee dedicated to better understanding and sharing knowledge of successful retrofit approaches for high priority building types. George holds a bachelors in Business Administration from The University of Washington and an MBA and MS from The University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
George Cox, retrofitMaine Committee Chair
Cornish River Properties
Kai graduated from Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston in 2014 with a Master’s in Architecture. They decided to pursue sustainable architecture due to their concern for the future of the environment. Kai is first and foremost a maker and will dive with obsessive abandon into nearly any practice in order to see their imaginings come to life. They enjoy metal-working, herbalism, and gardening, and are a collector of orchids and carnivorous plants. Ultimately, Kai’s projects both at home and at the office center around bringing people and nature into closer connection through design. They are a certified Passive House Design Consultant and specialize in creating energy models to help inform energy efficient building designs.
Kai Fast
Kaplan Thompson Architects
Heather is founder, editor and publisher of the Green & Healthy Maine HOMES magazines and producer of the Green Home + Energy Show. She has been educating Mainers about sustainable choices and helping eco-friendly, socially responsible, and locally owned businesses grow and thrive for 20+ years. Heather serves as an advisory trustee of Portland Trails and the Presumpscot Regional Land Trust. She is a graduate of the 10ksb entrepreneurship program at Babson College, the Institute for Civic Leadership, Maine’s Top Gun business acceleration program and she served for two years in the AmeriCorps National Service program in Denver, CO. She is passionate about outdoor adventure, art, local foods and community. In her spare time, you’ll find Heather exploring Maine by bicycle and shrinking the grass in her yard by building new gardens every year.
Heather Chandler
Green & Healthy Maine
Erik Derecktor is an amateur building science enthusiast, hobbyist permaculturist, and a technical project manager. He arrived in Maine on Navy orders to Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and never left. He lives in Portland with Sarah, his partner, and Shelby, their dog. When he's not moving mulch around the yard, surfing, or sailing, he's probably stuck down a rabbit hole researching fringe heat pump technology. He's honored to join the passivhausMAINE board and excited to advocate for accessible passive house practices across the state. His sister, Sarah, also serves on the phME board.
Erik Derecktor
Amogy
Since 2022, Sarah has been an architectural designer with SMRT Architects and Engineers, based in Portland, Maine. Before that, she worked with long-time phME member GO Logic. She is a graduate of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where she studied architecture and, before that, of the Horace Mann School. Her brother, Erik, also serves on the phME board.
Sarah Derecktor
SMRT Architects and Engineers
Elizabeth is an experienced public health professional with global and domestic health experience. She is currently the Executive Director of The Institute for Quantitative Social Science (IQSS) at Harvard University. Prior to joining IQSS, Elizabeth served as the Chief Operating Officer at Greater Portland Health. In several academic, community, public sector, and health settings, Elizabeth has provided health system and community strengthening efforts and worked with partners to translate proven research into the implementation of effective programs in the U.S., Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Elizabeth received her Masters in Public Health from Yale University and her Bachelors from Bates College. Bringing experience from serving on other Boards, Elizabeth is honored to be part of phME and is committed to contributing to the intersection of public health and climate change by supporting the passive house industry and community. You can find Elizabeth personally recharging through physical activity in the beautiful outdoors with her family and friends.
Elizabeth Jackson
IQSS, Harvard University
Austin graduated from Wentworth Institute of Technology in 2017 with a degree in Construction Management. Prior to joining Zachau he worked in the New England area for a construction management firm, working on projects for Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston College, and the City of Portsmouth, NH ranging from laboratory spaces to historic renovations, parking garages, and luxury condominiums.
Austin Moore
Zachau Construction
Will has practiced architecture and design for over 17 years, with a specific focus on sustainable residential, modular and hospitality spaces. He’s worked to develop net-zero (nearly passive house standard) kit homes with a small company in California after the 2017 fires, as well as in Haiti with Architecture for Humanity to launch a sustainable open source school. He currently lives and works in San Francisco, with frequent trips to Maine, where he is building a passive house with his wife.
Will Spurzem
Boundary Works
