Advisory Board

Ronald Bielinski, P.E., AIA, CIH, CSP

Mr. Bielinski is a Registered Architect, Professional Engineer, Certified Industrial Hygienist and Certified Safety Professional in the Forensic and Advanced Analytics group. His experience includes more than 26 years of comprehensive forensic engineering/architecture, environmental investigation, and expert testimony consulting. He has led many investigations and provided expert opinion in commercial, industrial and residential settings for a variety of chemical, physical and biological contaminants for Attorneys, building owners, Government Agencies and Insurance Firms.

Gary C. Debes

Gary C. Debes is Senior Project Engineer with Kling Stubbins, Philadelphia, PA. He has over 35 years experience in Consulting Services.

Daniel Kerr, PE

Dan Kerr is the Director of Design Build Services at McClure Company, a full service mechanical contractor in Harrisburg, PA. He has 13 years of experience in both the engineering and construction professions. At McClure, Dan is responsible for oversight of all engineering operations, design-build project execution, commissioning activities and automatic temperature controls work. PPL Energy Services executes all of their energy-related work through Dan’s division of McClure, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of PPL.

Mr. Kerr is a 1991 graduate of the Architectural Engineering program at Penn State. He is a Professional Engineer, registered in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

H. Ezzat Khalifa, PhD

H. Ezzat Khalifa is a Professor of Mechanical, Aerospace and Manufacturing Engineering at Syracuse University. Before joining SU in August 2001, Dr. Khalifa was the Director of the Carrier R&D Program at United Technologies Research Center, where he was responsible for planning and executing a diverse portfolio of innovative technologies aimed at building and transport environmental control, including IAQ. Prior to this, Dr. Khalifa was the Director of Engineering for the Carrier Carlyle Compressor Division, where he was responsible for product development and reliability for all of Carrier's displacement compressors. He has 25 years of experience in advanced R&D on a wide range of environmental control and energy conversion systems, including HVAC/R, geothermal, solar and space power systems. He holds five patents and has authored and coauthored over 50 papers and 15 reports on transport properties of fluids, energy conversion and environmental control systems. He is Editor and Coauthor of "Sourcebook on the Production of Electricity from Geothermal Energy."

Valentine (Val) Lehr, PE

The founding partner of Lehr Associates, Valentine A. Lehr i an internationally known Engineer, lecturer, and participant in numerous technical associations. Mr. Lehr holds degrees from Manhattan College, Bachelor of Civil Engineering, and a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from Polytechnic University. He is actively registered in 26 states and is registered as a Chartered Engineer to the Engineering Council of U.K.

For the firm, Mr. Lehr provides direction in the technical concepts for its major engineering assignments and monitors the development of projects from concept through occupancy. In addition to the conventional array of diversified projects in the private, commercial, and government sectors, Mr. Lehr is noted for his leadership in sustainable environmental design, having both lectured on the application of green design and undertaken significant green projects.

Daniel H. Nall, FAIA, PE

Dennis A. Stanke

Dennis, a mechanical engineer from the University of Wisconsin, has been with The Trane Company for 31 years. As Staff Applications Engineer specializing in airside systems and controls, ventilation, indoor air quality, and dehumidification, he has written numerous applications manuals, engineering bulletins and Trane Engineers Newsletters as well as published articles. He appears regularly in satellite broadcasts of Trane Engineers Newsletter Live. An active ASHRAE member, he currently serves as vice-chairperson for SSPC62.1, the committee responsible for ASHRAE Standard 62-2001, “Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality.” He is currently a member of the ASHRAE Environmental Health Committee and a former member of the Program Committee, Publishing Council and Standards Committee, and actively serves on the editorial board for the ASHRAE publication “IAQ Applications.” Dennis serves on research advisory boards at UC-Berkeley and Penn State University and is a member of USGBC LEED Technical Advisory Group for Indoor Environmental Quality. Dennis applies his knowledge of ventilation system design and control to IAQ-related issues, including moisture management and humidity control, to help designers meet today’s ventilation, IAQ, and energy challenges in commercial, institutional and hi-rise residential buildings.

Alan E. Traugott

Prior to joining CJL Engineering in Pittsburgh in 2003, Mr. Traugott began his career at Flack + Kurtz Consulting Engineers in 1979 in the Energy Conservation group, using computers to analyze new and existing building systems, heating and cooling loads, energy efficiencies, annual utility costs, and life cycle costs. Before joining Flack + Kurtz , he taught Environmental Science and provided environmental consulting for water quality. Mr. Traugott was on the Feasibility Study team for the AIA’s Greening of the White House and for the Department of Defense Environmental Showcase at the Pentagon. Mr. Traugott is a founding member and Director on the Board of the US Green Building Council, USGBC national Liaison to ASHRAE, and on the steering committee for Green Guidelines for Healthcare. In addition, he serves as a Board Member of the Green Building Alliance in Pittsburgh and chairs the R&D Committee (which includes Carnegie Mellon Univ., Univ. of Pittsburgh, and Penn State Univ.).

Lynn Werman, PE

Mr. Werman, a professional engineer in 14 states, has more than 35 yrs. experience in design of HVAC systems. He holds a degree from Cleveland State University, Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering and is the senior project engineer at HDR Architecture in Omaha, NE. He also serves as a lecturer at the University of Nebraska, where he successfully led students on their quest for recognition within ASHRAE’s Student Design Project competition. An active member of ASHRAE, he currently is serving as; Chair of Handbook Committee; Vice Chair of TC9.12, Tall Buildings; member of TC9.6, Health Care, & Subcommittee Chair for the health care facilities chapter in Handbook, Applications (2007); member of TC9.1 & TC9.8; recently received the Distinguished Service Award and appointed to serve on the societies Program Committee.

Mr. Werman has an extensive and varied experience of projects for private, institutional, government and corporate clients including, one-of-a-kind issues in technically complex projects. Specifically, he has held positions as Project Engineer, Project Manager for Mechanical Engineering and Mechanical Section Manager. His projects have been featured in Architectural Record May, 1981; Progressive Architecture Jan. 1972 & 1975; Administrative Management 1982 and have written a feature article for Consulting Specifying Engineer Nov. 1995.

John C. Wimer

John C. Wimer is the Chief Operations Officer for the National Center for Energy Management and Building Technologies (NCEMBT). He brings a successful 30-year career in business operations.

Mr. Wimer manages the operation of the NCEMBT and forges the market transformation efforts to commercial and institutional partners, state and government agencies, and professional and trade organizations. In this role, he provides leadership in advancing the mission of the NCEMBT – to expand educational and professional knowledge, generate employment opportunities (through training) and create policy for the benefit of public health and economic growth.

Prior to joining the NCEMBT, Mr. Wimer spent over 20 years with G.R. Sponaugle & Sons, Inc. where he provided effective business management of day-to-day operations. This included budget and profit delivery and significant contribution to the success of the company.

Mr. Wimer is a member of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) where he is active on various technical committees and is past president of the Central Pennsylvania Chapter of ASHRAE. He has served on the boards of National Energy Management Institute and the African American Chamber of Commerce (AACC). He is involved in the Harrisburg Regional Chamber of Commerce, Association of State Energy Research and Technology Transfer Institutions (ASERTTI), Construction Specifications Institute (CSI), the Harrisburg Downtown Development Committee (HDDC) and a member of the Penn State Indoor Environmental Center (IEC) advisory committee, the California Commissioning Collaborative (CCC) advisory board. In addition, Mr. Wimer has held leadership roles with the Sheet Metal Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association (SMACNA).

Mr. Wimer earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Education from Slippery Rock University.