Energy, Transportation and Buildings
Ron Kaltenbaugh (CEMWG member, ETB sub-group chair)
David Berliner (ETB sub-group member)
Ronald Kaltenbaugh’s path to being an active and passionate proponent of action on climate change started with going solar on his home in 2010. This led to a personal goal of getting as close to net zero carbon as he could. This also led to active roles and leadership positions with many groups including the Frederick County Sustainability Commission, the Catoctin Chapter of the Sierra Club, and the Electric Vehicle Association of Greater Washington DC (EVADC). In early 2017, Ron attended The Climate Reality Project conference in Denver, CO, and since his return has been giving presentations on the science, impacts, and solutions around climate change. An electric vehicle driver since 2012, Ron regularly extols the virtues of EVs through EV events and demonstrations. Ron has a Masters Degree in Computer Science from American University. The analysis and systems oriented thinking from working in IT are valuable when working on the policy and technical aspects of sustainability and addressing climate change. An avid skier and amateur videographer, Ron has been a Frederick County resident since 2003 along with his wife and daughter.
David Berliner is an advocate for climate solutions and loves hiking, biking and climbing in the outdoors.
He is currently a Director, Clean Energy Finance at Vancity Community Investment Bank (VCIB). Previously he co-founded CoPower, a clean energy financing company, until it was acquired by VCIB in 2019. He currently serves on the Frederick Sustainability Committee.
David has consulted for the New York City Mayor’s Office on renewable energy, was Sustainability Coordinator at the University of Toronto, and worked at the Carbon Disclosure Project. David has been named "Emerging Solar Leader" by the Canadian Solar Industries Association and "Top 30 Under 30" by Corporate Knights.
David holds an M.P.A. from Columbia University in environmental science and policy, and a B.Sc from the University of Toronto.
Milton A. Dahl (CEMWG member, ETB sub-group member)
Milton Dahl is a highly experienced Controls Systems Engineer and Commissioning Agent with Facility Dynamics Engineering. He has over 20 years of experience in the building automation and commissioning fields, specializing in the laboratory and high containment facility environments. Milton also has experience as an electrician and plumber.
Originally from the Philadelphia area, he grew up all over the United States as the son of an Air Force Technical Sargent. He studied Electrical Engineering at both Temple University, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Alabama A & M University, in Huntsville, Alabama, where he gained broad cultural experiences before finally settling in Frederick County and starting a family.
His wife of 24 years is a middle school teacher and they are raising their two wonderful sons as citizens within the Frederick community. Being passionate about baseball, Milton has been voluntarily coaching youth baseball since 2011, and is currently a local Little League board member as well as a Senior Men’s League baseball player.
Bruce H. Zavos, AIA
ETB Sub-Group
Having practiced architecture for over 36 years, Mr. Zavos is an acknowledged expert in creating and preserving affordable housing, designing and managing complex
commercial and educational projects, as well as designing custom residences. His firm is committed to working closely with a project team to incorporate sustainable design
into the overall design process, whether for a new or renovated building. While not every building will ultimately receive official certification, the team works diligently to develop cost-effective and appropriate strategies that enhance, not only the
experience of the people using a particular building, but for the community as a whole.
While not at work, you will find Bruce out on his bicycle enjoying the mountains and hills
that Frederick County has to offer.
Bill Steigelmann (CEMWG member, ETB sub-group member)
William (Bill) Steigelmann retired in July 2018 after a long career as an Electrical Engineer and a Nuclear Engineer. His most-recent opposition was as a senior engineering consultant at Lockheed Martin’s Smart Grid & Utility Services Group in Rockville, MD.
During the past 40+ years, his professional activities have included:
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Designing, implementing, and evaluating energy efficiency programs operated by design, delivery, and evaluation
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Engineering-economic analyses of measures, systems and programs
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Assessments of distributed generation systems, including combined heat
and power [CHP], fuel cells, and renewable energy installations
He has managed the Pepco and Delmarva Power CHP Programs from 2012 to early 2017
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Working with the Programs’ marketing and business-development teams to inform
customers concerning the Programs’ incentives, requirements, and procedures -
Performing CHP preliminary feasibility assessments
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Assisting CHP services providers to develop relationships with customers and to make
presentations that address the economics of specific projects.
For the past four years he has been a key participant in a small team that provides consulting assistance to PSEG Long Island, assisting the utility to develop programs that support the REV initiatives in New York. A key activity has involved Non-Wire Alternatives (NWA) projects, drafting RFPs and evaluating proposals submitted by implementers.
He has been involved in all the various energy efficiency programs across the country that LM Energy implements, doing energy audits and assisting in program design activities by assembling measure data and performing B/C assessments of measures and programs. In addition, from time to time he works with LM’s ESCO and FEMP groups on short-term assignments, such as CHP assessments.
Previously, he participated in and led studies for U.S. DOE and NRC, Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), the New York Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), Columbia Gas, PECO Energy, Atlantic City Electric Company, Jamaica Public Service Company, UGI Corporation, and the states of Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and Missouri.
Joanne Ivancic (ETB sub-group member)
Joanne Ivancic serves as Executive Director of Advanced Biofuels USA, a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to promoting the understanding, development and use of advanced biofuels in the US and around the world which she co-founded in 2008. She has lived and worked in Frederick for 19 years. In 2005, she ran for Alderman with the Green Party. A graduate of George Washington University National Law Center, she worked for Senator Charles Grassley’s Senate Special Committee on Aging focused on long term care. After a career in healthcare law and risk management, she served as a lobbyist for Atlantic Biomass Conversions, Inc., a Frederick-based research company. On Capitol Hill and with executive and international agencies and organizations, she advocates for advanced biofuels research, production and use. A key tool is the website, www.AdvancedBiofuelsUSA.org with an online library of more than 35,000 indexed entries. She puts to use prior experience in public relations and volunteer management (including as executive director of Frederick County Landmarks Foundation). She earned a spot in Biofuels Digest’s “Top 100 in the Bioeconomy” for six years and looks forward to bringing to this work group her knowledge of national and international efforts to mitigate climate change.
Jerry Rusnock (ETB & PAO sub-groups
Christopher R. Izzo (CEMWG member, ETB sub-group member)
Chris Izzo is a retired city planner who worked for the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) and as a private consultant resulting in 30 years of planning experience. He also has experience as a transportation planner and while working at M-NCPPC was a member of the MWCOG Travel Forecasting Subcommittee. He was a project manager for the Joint Land Use Study for Joint Base Andrews and the Sub-region 6 Master Plans.
His thesis topic, while attending graduate school, was The Role of the Federal, State and Local Government in Coastal Zone Management in Maryland. This was the beginning of his interest in sea level rise and Climate Change in general. He has followed the topic throughout his career and incorporated ideas into the plans and projects he has worked on. His interest in the topic continues and he taught a course on Climate Change at Frederick Community College’s Institute for Learning in Retirement
Chris Voell (CEMWG member, ETB sub-group member)
Robert Robey
ETB Sub-Group
Born in Kingston PA. Attended parochial school, spent summers in the Poconos, delivered newspapers, ice skated in winter. Went to Gonzaga college high school, then U of Maryland, graduating with a BS in Computer Studies. After a few years in graphic arts, enjoyed a 40 year career in IT, most recently as a principal systems architect for Lockheed Martin. Retired in 2018. Enjoy reading, drawing, painting, hiking and boating.
Robert (Bob) Robey is an energy and environmental engineer who has had a
long career providing expert, professional consultation to the Department of
Energy, the Department of Transportation, and several federal labs. His most
recent professional association was as a co-founder of STaR, International,
which was the first major effort in the European Union to provide doctoral
and post-doctoral students an opportunity to apply sustainable solutions to
solve real-life environmental problems while being evaluated by recognized
experts from academia, business and government. Mr. Robey has volunteered
time at Frederick arts events and has been an active participant and leader
in a variety of other Frederick County activities.
Joel Rensberger
ETB Sub-Group
Joel Rensberger is a home builder with more than 20 years of experience in residential design and construction from the ground up, literally. He has worked for several of the nation’s biggest developers throughout the Mid-Atlantic and for the last ten years as an independent builder of custom and semi-custom homes in Frederick County and surrounding areas.
Over those years he has seen the good and the bad of residential building. In his own small company (C.E. Rensberger & Family, Builders, delivering 10 to 15 homes per year), Joel strives to learn and adopt the most energy efficient designs, materials and construction methods. This begins with site planning to save trees and includes things like thicker insulation, geothermal heating and electric car charging stations in every garage. “If you don’t have an electric car now,” Joel tells buyers, “you will someday.”
Since 2018 Joel has been a Planning Commissioner of Frederick County. Before that he
was a town commissioner of Woodsboro, Maryland. In the legal realm he has examined, been an expert witness and otherwise helped resolve disputes involving problems related to home building from premature deterioration to catastrophic structural failures.
Joel has a 1998 bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland, College Park, where
he majored in Government and Politics and minored in Afro-American Studies.
Chris Voell has been a resident of Frederick since 1991 and served on the Frederick County Solid Waste Advisory Committee, Frederick County Sustainability Commission, and most recently on the County Executive’s ‘What’s Next’ Waste Committee charged with assessing future waste and resource management options for the County. Chris has been a champion for renewable energy, improved waste management practices and methane capture for more than 34 years, and is currently Head – Waste, Recycling & Biogas for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, Trade Council of North America – helping to bring Danish innovation to the North American market. He has worked for private, non-profit and government organizations to advance organic waste and biogas project development in the agriculture, waste and wastewater sectors both domestically and internationally. Previously Chris worked in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Change Division, heading the AgSTAR and Landfill Methane Outreach programs and acted as Co-Chair of the Global Methane Initiative Biogas Subcommittee. Over his career, he also worked for the Solid Waste Association of North America, SCS Engineers, Cornerstone Environmental, BioCNG, and Aria Energy. Chris served on the Board of Directors of the American Biogas Council and has degrees in Natural Resources Management and Forestry.
Audi Banny
ETB Sub-Group
Audi Banny is IMT’s Associate Director for Private Sector Engagement. As such, she leads the organization’s work with real estate decision makers to drive adoption of innovative solutions that bolster landlord-tenant relationships, such as green leasing. Audi is an expert in bringing together tenants, government agencies, property owners, and other real estate leaders to identify and overcome the most pressing barriers to producing high-quality, high-performance leased space across the country.
Before joining IMT in September 2016, she was Director of Corporate Sustainability Initiatives for Estee Lauder Companies. Her work included drafting and implementing tools to advance high performance building practices for all leased and owned retail, administrative office and supply chain sights globally. In addition, she worked as Global Manager Store Design for a luxury beauty brand Aveda. During her four years there, she drove quality design standards and built effective partnerships with external vendors and consultants in EMEA and APAC, advancing Aveda’s sustainability efforts.
As a new business owner in downtown Frederick, Audi is dedicated to positively contributing to the climate future of Frederick County. Audi holds a bachelor’s degree in studio art from the University of South Florida, a bachelor’s degree in interior design from the School of Art and Design and a master’s degree in sustainability management from Columbia University. She is also a LEED AP.