Systems Project Managers Santiago Beron, RCDD, CTS, of TLC-Tampa (above left) and David Southwick, RCDD, of TLC-Ft. Myers presented a six-hour seminar at the BICSI Winter Conference last week at the Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando. At least 100 people attended the seminar, entitled “What the RCDD needs to know about the NEC;” and judging by the positive feedback, Santiago and David were the hit of the show. Santiago also penned an article in the January/February BICSI News magazine entitled “Ten common NEC violations in low voltage systems”. BICSI is the Building Industry Consulting Service International. John Rippel, PE, CGD, LEED AP, CxA, will give a presentation on the “Fundamentals of Ground Source Heat Pumps” at an educational forum hosted by the American Ground Water Trust on Jan. 17 in Tallahassee. The forum, entitled “Using the Earth’s Renewable Energy,” is aimed at engineers, architects, planners, and professionals in related fields. John, who is a mechanical project engineer in the Tampa office, is one of only two certified geothermal engineers in the State of Florida. For more information or to register, click here. Tampa Division Director Jim White addressed a packed house at the September meeting of the Westcoast Florida Chapter of the American Society of Plumbing Engineers. As the kick-off speaker on the group’s “Plumbing 101: Back to Basics” technical series, Jim spoke about project planning. Drawing on his 35 years of experience (he started VERY young), Jim discussed everything from who obtains a project and establishing the scope of understanding to determining the measure for success. Response from the membership was tremendous, reports Chapter President Rob Shorey, CPD. Jacksonville Division Director Mark Gelfo, PE, LEED-AP, CxA, served double-duty at a sustainability conference Sept. 20 hosted by the Jacksonville Electric Authority (JEA). He and Susan Cleveland, LEED-AP, from ASD in Jacksonville, presented a case study of TLC Jacksonville’s new office, which achieved LEED-CI, Silver certification. Mark also served as moderator for a panel discusson on sustainability’s impact on design decisions. Beth Tomlinson, PE, LEED-AP, mechanical engineer in the Miami Division, gave a one-hour presentation to the AIA (American Institute of Architects) Building Enclosure Council on Sept. 11 about the USGBC LEED program and its impact on architecture. She presented before a packed house of more than 50 people, most of whom were South Floridia architects. Beth is the new president-elect of the Miami Chapter of ASHRAE. Deerfield Beach Division Director Brian Lomel, PE, LEED-AP, CxA, is a busy man. On June 6, he took part in a round table discusssion entitled “From Green to LEED and Everyplace in Between” at a program hosted by the ULI Southeast Florida/Caribbean District Council. On Tuesday, June 19, he spoke at the monthly meeting of the Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW). The program, "It's Not Easy Being Green," included LEED certification, brownfields, and hybrid buildings. Brian’s also slated to give two sustainable design presentations in July, to the Commercial and Industrial Real Estate Brokers Assn. (CIREBA) and the Florida Land Planners Assn. Jacksonville Division Director Mark Gelfo, PE, LEED-AP, CxA, got a great reception when he moderated the “Going Green in Jacksonville” luncheon sponsored by the Society for Marketing Professional Services North Florida and U.S. Green Building Council. The program included a brief review of LEED-certified projects in Jacksonville and projects that are currently pursuing LEED certification. Jim Wamsley, PE, LEED- AP, a principal and senior mechanical engineer at TLC's Cocoa office, was a speaker at the Center for Public Safety's annual seminar, which was held March 22 and 23 in Orlando. His topic, "Green Design-Creating Sustainable Facilities," focused on designing environmentally responsible, energy efficient public facilities for the 21st century. Public works directors and elected officials from the U.S. and the Cayman Islands attended the seminar. Brian Lomel, PE, LEED-AP, Director of the Ft. Lauderdale Office, served as a panelist on a energy roundtable sponsored by the City of Ft. Lauderdale Utility Advisory Committee. The topic was "Conserving Energy and Saving Money." Brian also served as a roundtable panelist last year. Brian also has been busy providing a one-hour AIA Florida Continuing Education Course, "Practical Green Design" to architectural firms. So far this year he's provided the course to PGAL, Retzsch Lanao Caycedo Architects, BEAI, Beame Architectural Partnership, Dorsky Hodgson Parrish Yue, and Oliver Glidden Spina & Partners. In the near future he'll be providing the course to Keith and Schnars, PA. TLC's Director of Sustainable Design Kim Shinn, PE, LEED-AP, was the featured speaker at a presentation in Pensacola on environmentally green office buildings. He told the audience of 100 or so contractors and business owners, “The real ‘green’ in green building is the color of money that can be saved by improving the indoor health of a building and its energy efficiency.” Read an account of the presentation in the Pensacola News-Journal here. . TLC's Structural Division Director Roger Jeffery, PE, LEED-AP, was the keynote speaker at the February meeting of ASCE where he presented an update on the Florida Board of Professional Engineers (FBPE) rules and regulations. Roger is a director of the non-profit Florida Engineers Management Corporation, which provides administrative, investigative and prosecutorial services to the FBPE. Director of Sustainable Design Kim Shinn, PE, LEED-AP, moderated a discussion about sustainable healthcare design at the recent Healthcare Building Expo at the Baltimore Convention Center. Because environmental awareness is gaining momentum and energy costs are starting to rise, there is an increased focus on green design in the healthcare arena. Learn the latest, from both a designer's and contractor's perspective. To download a copy of his presentation, click here. Brian Lomel, PE, LEED, AP, Director of TLC's Deerfield office, presented a two-hour Continuing Education session on sustainable design and LEED criteria at the Florida Association of the American Institute of Architects 2005 Annual Convention.  The session included ways architects can help their building owner clients save the earth's natural resources by reducing waste in water and energy use. Kim Shinn, PE, LEED-AP, presented a program entitled "LEEDership Tennessee - a LEED Update" at the recent Tennessee AIA State convention in Nashville. To download a copy of his presentation, click here. Kim also presented a program entitled "LEED for Existing Buildings at the Aug. 9 meeting of BOMA (Building Owners and Managers International) in Nashville. To download a copy of his presentation, click here.